To be honest, I feel that a fine would be more appropriate in cases like these. Suspending every player who dives for two matches would making quite a bold statement. A statement UEFA might not be ready to back up. Do they really want to review every diving incident that takes place? That is what will be expected of them, at least. Either way, I expect this problem to dissipate, without any proper action. It would be a big decision that would indicate the true intentions of UEFA, as well as the extent of their intentions to eradicate diving on the European stage, something I am all for. However, picking out one player in order to inflict a penalty that is clearly an overreaction is not the answer in my eyes.

Wednesday, Arsenal will look to secure their place in the Champions League group stages and then the season will well and truly be under way. They will face Man Utd at Old Trafford next Saturday, and then, after the international break, they’ll go up against Man City at the Eastlands. If Arsenal are able to secure 4 points from those two games, the Gunners will truly establish themselves as title contenders. We will see how the next several weeks turn out though.

There have been a couple of notable players so far this season for Arsenal. Thomas Vermaelen has looked great in every game so far, while players like Abou Diaby and Alex Song have also impressed in their time. The strikers have yet to fully adapt to the new 4-3-3 formation, resulting in a lack of goals from the front three. But in due time, they will adapt and hit their stride. If it happens this week, all the better. Regardless, Arsenal look a lot less suspect at the back as a result of the Vermaelen addition, while Man Utd and Liverpool have already lost games. United finally looked to add some spark in their 5-0 drubbing of Wigan, but their performances against Birmingham City and Burnley, which saw them only net 1 goal between the two games, made them look quite an impotent side.

On the other hand, Burnley and Tottenham have thoroughly impressed in their first three games, leading me to think the former might be able to stave off relegation, while the latter might be able to compete for 5th along the likes of Man City. It’ll be another great season in the top flight, lets just hope Arsenal’s 100% record can continue for just a couple more games..

After seeing Chelsea avoid a home embarrassment to a lively Hull City, and new billionaires Manchester City put in an average display that resulted in a 2-0 victory over Blackburn, it was Arsenal’s turn to secure 3 points and see them join the other early season tips for the top 5, at the high end of the table. And they didn’t disappoint. Not by a long shot.

To say Arsenal dominated the match at Goodison Park is an understatement. The systematic dismantling of the Premier League’s 5th place club, from just a year ago, was just as big a joy on the eyes as it was on any Gooners’ nervy stomach. Arsenal’s ownership of this away match, left many wondering whether they’d made the right decision in doubting the Gunners after all. The tension was high before the match and a good start to this pivotal ‘will they, won’t they’ season was a pre-requisite to shut up any of the ‘experts’ who placed Man City above Arsenal in their start of the year predictions. And I can say with some certainty that Arsenal have proven a point. 

The pre-match tension translated into a cagey first 15 minutes. Both teams had trouble hanging onto the ball, and, by extension creating chances. But, after the 20 minute mark, something seemed to change. Arsenal gained confidence after establishing themselves in this crucial away tie, and the chances started flowing. An early catalyst for the Arsenal attack was undoubtedly Nicklas Bendtner on the right wing. He held the ball up brilliantly and his link up play contributed to some very meaningful chances. Not the least of which led to Arsenal’s first goal. A dummy helped him round Leighton Baines easily, then find Fabregas in the middle, who then slotted it in for a Denilson shot which found itself in the top corner of Everton’s net. 1-0 Arsenal. Everton then held their ground for 12 minutes, seemingly stemming the Arsenal tide, but  Thomas Vermaelen found himself untouched in the box for a headed debut goal from a Robin van Persie free kick. This defensive ineptitude broke their spirit. Four minutes later, William Gallas found himself, again unmarked, to add a third. 3-0 at the half was exactly what the doctor ordered, and the performance only got more exemplary of Arsenal’s title ambitions in the second half. Two Fabregas goals highlighted an Arsenal counter-attack similar to those of the Invincibles era. Fabregas dedicated both of his goals to his late friend, 26-year-old Daniel Jarque, the captain of Espanyol who died just last week in his hotel after a training session. A great gesture, as Fabregas held up the ‘Jarque’ ‘21′ shirt in his honor. This also resulted in some unexpected TV time for kit-man Vic Akers. Go on Vic. Late on Eduardo and Louis Saha traded goals to make the final scoreline a resounding 6-1. Actions speak louder than words, surely. But this 6-1 scoreline sends a message to the rest of the Premier League.

So many idiots in the press have made statements that Arsenal will be somewhat lucky to finish fourth this season. What absolute crap. How dare any of the media doubt a team who have been at the summit of the Premier League for so long, and without fail. Sure there have been troubles in recent seasons, but no one can doubt Arsene Wenger’s managerial and motivational skills to consistently lead to top-four finishes. All the media have done have given Arsenal plenty of dressing room pin-up material for months to come. Every time a journalist slagged Arsenal off, Wenger smiled.

Now, I am not saying that a 6-1 defeat over a woeful Everton means Arsenal are title favorites overnight. Far from it. In fact, this resounding victory might only serve to make things a bit harder on Arsenal, as teams will be more aware of the imposing threat that the Gunners still possess. But, this match did allow for one thing to be proven, if you wrote this team off for a meaningful title challenge, and picked them for a fourth place struggle, you’re going to look quite silly in 9 months time. Lets look at the team “weaknesses”. Alex Song, was almost perfect yesterday in his role as a DM stopper; continuing his outstanding play from the stretch run last season. He never stopped working and he won the ball back time and time again. The 5′10″ Vermaelen, was labeled too short to partner William Gallas at the back. A Man Utd-supporting friend of mine said he looked surprisingly Vidic-like when attacking balls in the air (I’d have to agree), as he was a clear improvement over the aerially-inept Kolo Toure. Nicklas Bendtner looked the real deal on the right flank, making me wonder, for the first time, if Walcott really is a better option. The best part about all of it, is that this “thin” Arsenal squad will have top-quality players fighting for starting spots week in and week out.

While perspective is needed for most Arsenal fans, as this huge defeat was mainly due to Everton’s utter ineptitude at the back, we as Arsenal supporters should at least be thankful for a temporary hush to the media’s shouts for collapse.

There is something that happened yesterday, that had not been seen at Arsenal for the past couple of years. In the second half, captain Cesc Fabregas, shifted the team into a 3rd gear which made their potent attacking dominance all the more beautiful. The 4th and 5th goals showed to me that this team, unlike Arsenal teams in the past, can put teams away. Eduardo, adding Arsenal’s 6th, with the help of Andrey Arshavin, was the exclamation point to an outstanding display; it also proved just how rich with attacking options this team truly is. Its not as if they needed 4, 5 or even 6 to see Everton off, but the continued attacking mentality just exemplified Arsenal’s true intentions yesterday at Goodison Park: to send a message.

Post your comments, and start debate on what you think this victory means here.

But I must admit, when I saw the Times headline ‘Wenger admits selective Myopia’, I thought to myself, “He’s done it! He’s admitted we need defenders!” And I was of course disappointed only to read about these meaningless on-field altercations. As I sunk back down to realizing that Mikael Silvestre will be our third choice center-back until Djourou returns from injury next month, an all too familiar feeling hit me. He’s actually not going to sign any defenders is he?

Sure we want him to. Sure he has the money to. Sure even he must know we need to. But he’s not going to do it is he? If he leaves our defense unchanged from here on out, we’re in big trouble. I expect the Senderos transfer to Everton to be completed early next week, and then we’re really in a mess. Maybe he’s waiting to sign another defender before officially unloading Senderos? A man can dream, can’t he? We all know Hangeland would be a good short term solution. But at 28, it’d be an awfully expensive buy in my opinion. Personally, long-term I want PSG’s Mamadou Sakho. He’s not ready yet, so I’d wait till next summer to snap him up, but he will be one of Europe’s top defenders in a matter of years. So who should we sign on a short-term basis to shore up our defensive worries? Well I’ll let you lot discuss that, because I’m too apprehensive about the potential inactivity to really make any predictions.

On the plus side, we are about 32 hours away from the start of our campaign. And I couldn’t be more excited. I am currently engulfed in the typical pre-season giddiness, and that really has no price. I was wearing my new away kit yesterday while buying a book at my local Waterstones, and the guy behind the counter asked how I thought Arsenal would fare this upcoming season and I just about talked his ear off about expectations vs. our actual performance and how, usually with Arsenal, there’s an inverse relationship.

Yes, yes, its all talk and no play, but thankfully that is about to change. I was looking at the Telegraph’s match preview and they apparently see us playing five strikers including an injured Walcott with Eduardo pairing with Cesc in a central midfield role, so that was an interesting take. I, on the other hand, see us lining up more like this:

van Persie

Arshavin——————-Bendtner

Cesc

Song———Denilson

Clichy——Vermaelen——Gallas——Sagna

Almunia

Now, I’d personally rather see Arshavin on the right, van Persie on the left with Eduardo up top. But, Wenger has his obsession with the new #52, so I’d be surprised if he were omitted. Well, that’s it from me. I’ll write a match report Sunday, whether we’ll be table toppers, or  wallowing in the early season relegation zone, well we’ll just have to wait and see…

The sports pundits should really have been asking, “When am I going to like soccer?” Soccer is big in the United States. The average American fan can identify some of the world’s premier teams, players and tournaments. While Joe Sports won’t be able to tell me what IFK Göteberg is anytime soon (for the record, the Gothenburg Angels are one of Sweden’s top clubs), he knows that last year we were suppose to really like David Beckham, and this year he is suppose to find Beckham distasteful. He knows that the Confederations Cup is in fact, pronounced with an “s.” He is aware that South Africa is hosting next year’s World Cup, and that Brazil is really, really good. And that is just the average fan. A growing number of soccer junkies can rattle off Arsenal’s starting lineup, Real Madrid’s anthems and will proudly explain to you just how exactly the Champions League works. The fact of the matter is the game of the world’s masses is no longer simply in the realm of the US’ richest classes.

We don’t have to look further than our homegrown league, Major League Soccer. While the level of play is often criticized, MLS has expanded in recent years, adding the Sounders FC in the 2009 season, with plans to add teams in Portland, OR; Vancouver, B.C. and Philadelphia, PA over the next two seasons. While attendance varies across the country, with some teams like the Sounders attracting crowds of 67,000 (yes, that is five digits), and FC Dallas seeing an average attendance of 9,288. Seattle’s regular attendance is 30,000 fans, which includes 22,000 season ticket holders. One can cast away Seattle’s figures as the result of a first-year team in a floundering sports city, or that perhaps Washingtonians are particularly un-American and just like soccer a little too much. I have another explanation. Seattle is a young town, with residents between the ages of 18-44 accounting for 50.5% of the population according to the last US census. Seattle also has a large proportion of families–a full third of Seattle’s households are family households, and half of those have children. My explanation is simple: US soccer is rooted in families and younger fans.

If anything, soccer is a sport of the youth in the US. Perhaps the product of twenty-plus years of little league soccer as a staple of middle class childhood, the sport has caught on with the most coveted Nielsen’s Ratings demographic–persons 18-49 years of age. Soccer fans in the US are likely going to be on the younger side of this range. Just look at the MLS sponsors. Of the 10 American teams with jersey sponsors, a clear pattern emerges. A good chunk of the sponsors are geared directly at a young audience. This includes Xbox Live, which sponsors Seattle, Red Bull, which sponsors New York, Best Buy, which sponsors the Chicago Fire and Xango, Salt Lake’s sponsors. The remaining sponsors are companies that target families or households. These include a number of painting companies, Amway, and Volkswagen. MLS’ fans are not Budweiser-guzzling, Lowe’s-frequenting NASCAR types. They are Red Bull-drinking, Home Depot-frequenting mom and dads, and their twenty something kids. These are the kids who watch Sportscenter every day. No real surprise then, that a soccer play is normally highlighted in the week’s top plays.

Soccer is big in the US, but isn’t the traditional sports demographic. It is an emerging demographic, that is fueled by the next two generations of Americans. While MLS doesn’t yet turn a profit, its spouse, Soccer United Marketing does. Soccer United Marketing, which holds a virtually monopoly on soccer marketing in the United States, is landing major deals with broadcasters for international soccer rights, and has attracted over a billion dollars of investment in 2004-2006 alone, according to Business Week. This money is pumped right into MLS, so the lack of profit on the league’s part is deceiving. SUM has helped to build eight soccer specific stadiums in the US for MLS. Also, SUM’s exclusive right to sell US broadcasting privileges for the upcoming World Cup means that commercially successful international soccer only helps fuel America’s own soccer league.

There is no denying that soccer has a growing place in the American sport’s lexicon. Its premier professional league is on the precipice of profitability, and it is fueled by a savvy marketing arm with a one track mission to expand. Young fans will continue to consume home grown soccer and will bring even more fans in. Next year’s World Cup will again underscore the fact that American audiences do enjoy soccer, and those all important Nielsen ratings will show it.

2009/10 Predicted Table

1. Arsenal
2. Chelsea
3. Manchester United
4. Liverpool
5. Everton
6. Manchester City
7. Aston Villa
8. Tottenham
9. West Ham
10. Fulham
11. Blackburn
12. Sunderland
13. Bolton
14. Stoke City
15. Wigan
16. Portsmouth
17. Burnley
18. Birmingham City
19. Wolves
20. Hull City

Champions League: Okay, so lets discuss. Arsenal are top?! How could this be?!?! Well, first, I’m an Arsenal supporter, but secondly I see no overriding reason why any of the other big four teams should be chosen above them. And while many people have bought into the ‘the sky is falling’ stories surrounding Arsenal, I just don’t see it. With Eduardo and Rosicky, who will be back at full strength come the stretch run, Arsenal have regained two of their most potent and impactful players. Combine that with Wenger’s new interest in the 4-3-3 set up (modeling it after that of Barcelona) things seem to be on the up and up. Chelsea got a year older and changed managers once again. Lampard’s impeccable bill of health has been a point of pride for Chelsea over the seasons, but how long can it continue? Furthermore, I feel as though Ancelotti’s appointment has indicated Chelsea’s true aim, to win the Champions League. Manchester United, on the other hand, lost fay Ronaldo and replaced him with an out and out winger in Antonio Valencia. Valencia is not a goalscorer. He can score terrific goals, sure, but not with consistency. Sir Alex will probably switch back to a 4-4-2, and we’ll have to wait and see how that will work out. Liverpool lost their cog in Xabi Alonso, and signed a walking injury in Alberto Alquilani. Not having started more than 11 Serie A games in a season since 2006 doesn’t bode well for the already injury-prone Scousers. Also, £18m for Glen Johnson? Mental.

Europa League Challengers: As for the rest of the top half, Everton have had no big losses this summer, which leads me to believe that David Moyes’ men are in for yet another 5th place finish. Tim Cahill hopes to have an injury-free season, and a frontline of Yakubu and Jo should be rather useful now that they are growing more accustomed to one another. Man City for me, don’t have what it takes to finish sixth right now. However, I feel that with additions that are yet to be made, both in the next two weeks and in January, they should get there. A hot trot in the second half, due to the team’s eventual cohesion, should see the Citizens overcome a tired Aston Villa. Villa though, also have reason to be optimistic, despite losing Gareth Barry to the Manchester al City, Villa have made some good additions in Boro’s Stewart Downing and Leeds’ Fabian Delph. Look for Martin O’neill to work more wonders at Villa park.

Zola's Magic at Upton Park Set to Continue

Tottenham look to round out the list of Europa Cup hopefuls, finding themselves in 8th. Harry Redknapp has had a very busy summer, bringing in the likes of Newcastle’s Sebastian Bassong as well as Crouchy from Portsmouth. Despite this though, I don’t feel Tottenham have what it takes to upset any of the top 6 fixtures just yet.

Mid-table: Gianfranco Zola’s West Ham looked really good last season. They play some really attractive football, and I expect this to continue. I really hope City don’t get their hands on Matthew Upson though, as he has become a very important cog in their defense. Rumors also abound that Zola is looking to sign either, former teammate, Eidur Gudjonson or Luca Toni…not bad. Next on my list were last years overachievers Fulham. I say Fulham were overachievers not because of their talent, as Roy Hodgson has built a talented squad at Craven Cottage. I say this because of Fulham’s squad size. They were very lucky last season in terms of injuries and I just don’t see it happening again, especially with their foray in the Europa Cup going peachy thus far, meaning more games. I expect a resurgent Blackburn under Sam Allardyce to make some noise this season. Ugly, physical football will be the name of the game, and Ewood park will not be a place anyone will relish visiting. In 12th, I have Steve Bruce’s Sunderland. With multitudes of cash after the clubs most recent takeover, Bruce has found himself with more spending money than he’s ever had (not saying much). He’s bought Albanian nutter, Lorik Cana from Marseille, and the ever combustible Darren Bent from Spurs. I feel that all in all, Bruce’s squad should have enough to be at the top of the bottom and safely away from relegation. Bolton, I feel are the last team listed, who should find themselves safely clear of relegation come April and May. Gary Megson has quietly done quite well with his team over the past several seasons. And with no big departures, I can’t see this squad falling too far, or for that matter, rising too far this season. I expect a safe mid-table finish for the Wanderers.

Battling Relegation: Surprising Stoke City will experience a small sophomore slump this season under Tony Pulis. They play a very physical direct style of football which makes things very difficult for the Arsenal’s of the world. Especially when, thanks to Rory Delap, every throw-in on Stoke’s side of the pitch is essentially a set piece. I still expect them to nick points in some big games, however, I feel that many teams will be simply more familiar with their game plan. However, after some adjustments, I expect Pulis to steer Stoke clear of any final day hysteria. Next, I have Roberto Martinez’s Wigan. The former Swansea boss joined on after Bruce’s departure to Sunderland. And, I feel that Wigan found the right man for the job. Swansea, believe it or not, played pretty football under Martinez, and that could be a worry for Wigan supporters. In the past, Wigan have ground out 0-0’s against the bigger clubs and snuck wins against lower opposition. It was a byproduct of how they played. This year, however, if Wigan are looking to switch things up and play attractive football, they could be in for a rude awakening. Paul Hart will have a number to do if he is going to help Portsmouth out of their current position. Having lost almost their entire strike force

Expect Stunts Like These to Haunt Phil Brown

(seemingly minus David Nugent) in the last 6 months, without making any impactful additions, Pompey look destined to be cellar-dwellers this time around too. Whether or not the proposed takeover has happened yet is still unclear, and nobody will pray more than Pompey fans that some cash is infused into the club, before its too late. Owen Coyle’s Burnley strike me as a team that could escape relegation but barely. Playing Man Utd, Everton, Chelsea and Liverpool in their 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th games respectively, They will undoubtedly have around 2/3 points come mid-September. The question then is, how will they respond?

Relegation Station: As usual, Birmingham City shouldn’t get too comfortable in the top flight. Boss, Alex McLeish has made some decent signings in Ecuador’s Christian Benitez. But questions over how he’ll adapt to the English game still loom large. All in all, the blues will have a tough time scoring goals and by extension earning points. Wolves on the other hand, will have little trouble scoring goals under Mick McCarthy. They however, will concede the most goals of any other side in the Premier League. Without fail. Their defensive needed work last year. And after promotion to the best league in the world, proper work has still yet to be done. Expect to see some 4-3’s at Molineux this season. Lastly, we have Hull City. Lets see, love the club, hate the manager. Phil Brown’s antics will finally catch up with him this season. He won’t get his miraculous start this year and should continue Hull’s desperate run of form from January. They’ll be lucky to finish outside of the bottom three.

My Picks:

Golden Boot: Wayne Rooney

Best Buy: Lorik Cana, Sunderland, £5m

Worst Buy: Glen Johnson, Liverpool, £18m

Rising Stock: Jack Wilshere, Federico Macheda and Fabian Delph

Falling Fast: Ryan Giggs (as if he hasn’t fallen far enough), Ashley Cole, Roque Santa Cruz

First to win the Sack Race: Mark Hughes (Man City)

As with what always seems to happen in Europe, whenever two British teams can be drawn together, they often are. Arsenal will play Celtic in the Champions League 3rd qualifying round play-off. The first leg will take place at Celtic Park on August 18/19 with the second taking place a week later at the Emirates on August 25/26. Arsenal could have also been drawn against FC Timisoara, Anderlecht, Fiorentina or Atletico Madrid.

In what should definitely be a cracking tie so early in the season, Arsenal will need to be wary of their northern opposition.

Now, many of you may look at this as a non-issue, and until Arsenal make a formal bid/enquiry for the player, it most certainly is. However, for a boss who never tips his hand, this is a big step. It was reported that a £5.5m bid for Sevilla defender Fazio was rejected. Fazio’s agent then came out and squashed any would-be rumors stating the 22-year-olds preference to stay in Spain with the club. This tells me that, believe it or not, Wenger is looking at strengthening the back four. So perhaps, after attempting to pull off a steal in Spain, Wenger’s next option is to submit a bid for an established Premier League defender, for a higher price…

Fulham manager, Roy Hodgson, along with the likes of Mark Schwarzer, have declared their intent to hold on to Hangeland. And why shouldn’t they? He is far and away the player most responsible for Fulham’s climb up the Premier League table last season. Fulham conceded a stingy 34 goals last season. Partly because of Schwarzer’s brilliant campaign, but also because of Hangeland’s defensive capabilities as an aerially dominant ball winner, and as a defensive organizer.  Despite being at the club for just on 18 months, Hangeland has already been named the club’s vice-captain.

In response to Wenger’s interest, Hodgson said, “When a bigger club is interested or connected with one of your players, of course it is a source of worry because Brede is a very important person for us.” This is a good sign. The word ‘worry’ indicates that were Arsenal to table a bid in the region of £8-11m, Fulham would find it difficult to refuse. 

One snag that many have mentioned is that Hangeland is cup-tied in Europe, playing in both Europa League qualifying legs against Lithuanian side, FK Vetra. However as per UEFA rules, Hangleland would only be ineligible for the group stage, not the entire competition. This is because he has not yet played in the Champions League. Therefore, Arsenal would only have to get through the play-off and group stage without Hangeland.

The draw is in about 30 minutes time, lets hope for the Romanians…

Tomas Rosicky has “reportedly” picked up an injury to his hamstring that will see him out of action for 5-6 weeks. I’m sorry, but no. The Sun did this just one week ago with a story stating that Eduardo would be out for up to two months. After proceeding to notch a goal in the Emirates Cup a few days later, I took this to mean that he would be okay. Now the same publication is claiming Rosicky has picked up a serious knock, and maybe he did. Its just largely suspicious that no sources were quoted, and that not one official publication (BBC, Arsenal.com, Sky Sports, et al) has even run the story yet. Not even one of those ‘Report: Rosicky Injured’ ones, where the ‘Report:’ gets them out of any liability for the story’s congurency with the truth. Until you read about it on a real news site, ignore this along with the rest of the transfer squabble. 

Update: It looks as though this story does have the legs. Tomas apparently came up lame during yesterday’s practice. The immediate estimate appears to be 3-4 weeks. Meaning his return should be around the end of August, maybe in time to face United on the 29th.

Next on the pain train, are indications that Arsenal are “bracing themselves” (what this means, I’m not quite sure) for an “audacious” bid from AC Milan for Cesc. The same paper (The Sun) is claiming that the bid is in the region of £31m. In this transfer climate, that is the kind of bid someone would have to table to pry Walcott from Arsenal, not Fabregas. A Fabregas departure for anything less than £55m would be ludicrous to even consider. And why should a 22 year old Cesc be worth less than a 27 year old Kaka? That being said, even if Milan were to table a gargantuan bid for the maestro, who’s to say he would want to go to the San Siro anyway? Surely, he’s heard from close friend Matthieu Flamini how desperate their position is…both financially and in a footballing sense. This one was a poor attempt by either the English or Italian media to sell some papers. Surely they could have come up with something more convincing though? ( More along the lines of ‘Milan to flip Kaka fee to Arsenal for Fabregas’ would have caught my eye, a least for a few seconds…)

Next, Arsene Wenger has, once again, exhibited his superior intelligence in the transfer market, by thoroughly embarrassing Bordeaux president, Jean-Louis Triaud. Two clubs showed advanced interest in striker Marouane Chamakh, Arsenal and Sunderland. After telling Sunderland they were nowhere near a big enough club to sell too, Bordeaux expected Arsenal to snap the 25 year-old attacker up. Then, despite a £15m price tag, Wenger low-balled the hell out of them with a £5m offer. Bordeaux dismissed the offer out of hand and claimed that if Arsenal wanted to make a serious offer, they would be prepared to listen. Chamakh then went on the rant that I posted previously; bringing up his desperation to leave next summer for free, when his contract runs out. Wenger then withdrew his interest stating:

“In five months, if he doesn’t prolong his contract, Chamakh will be free to talk to any club and Bordeaux won’t get anything. In the current context, to me, it is over. Let’s say that at the moment it is terminated.”

The French Ligue 1 champions then proceeded to send a letter of apology to Sunderland, ensuring the club that their intention was not to insult, but to inform. Haha. Now that Chamakh has made it clear that his dream is to be a Gunner, Bordeaux are in a very bad spot. They have to sell him now, lest he cause a dressing room rift or, worse, leave for free in 12 months time. Either way, Bordeaux’s success on the field has not exactly translated to savvy front office behavior. That’s football, though, you can tell in a heartbeat, which individuals are ready to deal with power plays and which aren’t.

Finally, tomorrow morning is the Champions League 3rd Qualifying Round Play-off draw. Needless to say, Arsenal should beat any of these sides, it would just be best to get an easy draw so that we don’t have any misguided concentration at the start of the Premier League campaign. Timisoara would be a lovely draw, although the club wouldn’t exactly relish a trip to Romania this early in the season. Let’s just hope we aren’t thrown any surprises and its business as usual on the European front.  Here are the 5 teams that Arsenal can be drawn against:

1. FC Timisoara (ROM)
2. Anderlecht (BEL)
3. Celtic (SCO)
4. Fiorentina (ITA)
5. Atletico Madrid (SPA)

Have a good one.

When he gets the ball, the crowd sizzles; the oohs and aahs he generates after his cuts and turns are a testament to how revered this young boy already is by the Arsenal faithful. The one thing that Wenger can be applauded for is that he is not the type to prevent someone playing time because they are too young. For Arsene, it really is the case that if your good enough, your old enough. We should be thankful for that. Therefore, if Jack consistently plays the way he has been, he’ll be a regular first-teamer come Christmas; he’ll have probably bagged some goals too.

While the future is very much ‘wait-and-see’ for Wilshere, Theo Walcott has to step it up this season. I really hope to see Walcott make bigger strides this year in a more central role, otherwise he might just be overtaken by this lad. As you know, TW14 also had heaps of pressure thrown onto him at a young age, and last season we saw him make strides for Arsenal and leaps and bounds for England. Unfortunately for Theo, its been harder for him, with shoulder troubles and as he has not been given adequate time in his natural position. It is quite clear he is not a right-midfielder. His speed and acceleration are unmatched, but its harder for him on the flanks as most of his attacking contributions rely heavily on his crossing and link up play, two things he’s not particularly known for. If he is up front, there will be goals that he will create out of nothing simply due to his pace, which will be exciting to see and reminiscent of another Arsenal #14. I imagine Theo is all too aware that this is his season to stake his claim as a can’t miss starter with the likes of Cesc and Arshavin. Lets hope his shoulder problems are behind him, and that he can turn his Arsenal performance this season into an important role for England next summer.