Milan dominated / Celtic to get spanking today / Wenger’s prudence killing me…

July 31, 2010

The Emirates Cup began in earnest when Celtic kicked off against Lyon. The Scot’s being sponsored by Tennent’s is a synergistic dream for a club with a fanbase that is 72% borderline alcoholic. Perhaps United could pick up a sponsorship deal with Ocean Finance and Chelsea with femme fresh?

I can’t really be bothered to give you the Celtic run down. Bastos scored a screamer of a freekick and Celtic managed to level things late on. Both teams looked very poor to me.

The main course served us up a very exciting line up. Sky had us down for a 4-4-2 with Chamakh up top with Arsh. We knew that wouldn’t happen… Frimpong was playing a make or break game for this season and I felt it was a great opportunity for Kozzer to show us his worth.

Well, it didn’t take long for our Frenchman to make an impact. He was straight in with an early tackle. In fact, he was everywhere and looked strong in the air.

Chamakh was linking in like he’d been with us forever, Frimpong looked at home in the middle bullying the Milan old boys at times! He reminded me of a young Seedorf in the middle of the park. Very promising.

Flamini was in a menacing mood, he jumped on a deflection and managed to hit the bar! Gulp… Frimpong showed his youth with his day dreaming.

Our old boy was at it again when Frimpong allowed him to ghost into the danger zone. If he’s available for 4mill, I’d have him. As for booing him, well, people should look into why he left before doing that. He should have been given a new and improved deal after he impressed at left back in the Champions League… instead he was shown the middle finger and asked if he’d like to play for Birmingham. Think before you boo people…

Wilshere was quiet, his style reminds me of Hleb. Intricate interplay between team mates keeping the ball moving at pace. I’m hoping he’s a little more direct than the shot shy Belarussian.

Our opening came from a super run by Arshavin, he powered through the middle showing great strength, that was matched with a super finish from Chamakh who showed good run timing and great composure.

Fabianski was off his line quick to deny Pato a one on one opportunity. If Fabianski gets the chance to be number one this year, I’m hoping he’ll feel less pressure than last season. I’d still like a proper keeper in who he can learn from. His kicking was terrible this afternoon.

Chamakh and Arshavin interacted cleverly with a super Moroccan style drag back! It nearly ended in a goal but a smart save denied us.

Vela looked sharp when he came on, he broke free of his marker and just shot wide. I’m expecting a big year from our new number 11.

Pato nodded in late on with a header. Yep, the set piece monster had reared its ugly head again and that was a timely reminder of our problems last season. I think Vermaelen was the perpetrator. Having a giant leap is ok when you’ve got time to react, not when you’ve miscued your run. I can’t help but think the keeper could have been more decisive.

Randall nearly made amends the other end but was denied twice. I really like him… it seems I’m alone there which I find grossly unfair. I think he has bundles of aggression, he moves the ball around nicely and I personally think he has a lot of skill. People don’t like him because he looks like an arrogant Essex boy. Well, screw you lot, I’m backing him. This is like Nik B all over again.

Randall, you’re the man… don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Fabianski made a great save late on to deny Zambrotta.

The game finished in a 1-1 draw and you couldn’t help but think that was a touch unfair considering our possession dominance.

De ja vu? You bet! Still, not bad considering many of the big guns are yet to return. I mean, imagine what we’ll be like when Denilson returns to the starting line up!

Jokes aside, Tom and Koz looked like they’d formed good partnership already. Dreams of Mertesacker or a £16million replacement for Sol are wide of the mark for me. The trouble is, it’s easy to get carried away after watching your defence do well against a team who prefer to play football. How will the new boy do against Stoke or Drogba? Still, he does read the game well and he possesses a lot of technical ability. That’ll see him through until he packs on some muscle.

Arsenal performed well. The brutal truth is that we’re not league winning material. We need at least another centre back and we need a proper keeper. Without those two the best we’ll do is third…second at a push. We are Arsenal, we’re the third most profitable club in Europe and Barca is our bench mark. We’re no where near them and that’s the truth. We should aspire to be like them. This team isn’t there yet and won’t be until Wenger starts paying market rate for top quality.

I always thought the idea of saving through the boom years was so you could pick up bargains in the bust years? Well, we’re in the bust years, no one has any money and we’re crying austerity? We should be able to go to most clubs in Europe and nick their players. Marseille have absolutely no money and they’re not the only ones in a similar problem.

Arsene’s analogy about buying a house is rubbish. If someone has a house worth £250k and you offer £100k, they’ll tell you where to go regardless of their situation. That shouldn’t mean you give up and sulk because someone is savvy to say no. What you should do is up your bid until you get your man because a good player is a good player regardless of your perceived value. If you don’t think a player is going to turn into a world beater, why are you looking at them in the first place?

Get your bulging cheque book out Arsene and make us a force this year… our lack of assertiveness in the market is embarrassing. The fact we’re a couple of weeks away until the season starts and our squad is still defensively weak is worrying. No wonder Cesc is asking questions. You’d think this summer debacle would have spurred Wenger into action… apparently not… so far.

Celtic up today. We should smash them. However, a word of warning Grovers, don’t be taken in by good results against weak teams. These results won’t matter a jot in Christmas when we’ve resorted to calling Tony Adams out of retirement because we’ve only got one recognised centre back!

See you in the comments!

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Posted by Pedro

Milan will show us if we have it, and who is on their way?

July 31, 2010

Well today we play Milan, Flamini returns and the kids get their head, should be interesting, no Song, no Cesc and no Robin, I hope Frimpong siezes his chance today, we need an alternative, I hope he shows Flamini what we didn’t miss.

I was listening to the muppet show on the way back from golf last night and Adrian Durham was telling the world that because Cesc came from Barca, that we had a moral obligation to enter into negotiations with them, what a complete wanker that bloke is, he also said that if Barca thought he was worth £30mil, then that was what we should sell him for, he accused Arsenal of taking him prisoner.

Well when I listened to Wenger’s press conference, I believed he went back to being Arsenal’s manager again, he said Cesc will finish out his 6 year contract, yes 6!

He also intimated we were going to sign at least one centre back and if the papers are correct, that will be the big German on the 4th of August.

Cesc need 4 weeks off as he played in the world cup, he’s only had three and a half so far so will return on the 5th of August, Arsene, that is so anal, he won the world cup!

Thing is, he won the world cup because Spain had a top, top side, Arsene is challenging Cesc to help us win the EPL, you would think that Cesc might tell him why he wants out wouldn’t you? I wish he’s just say that playing with spinning head and his mates will never win him the league. Maybe then and only then will Wenger listen and do something, let’s see what happens today, maybe we’ll take them apart, Chamakh will get a hatrick, Samir Nasri will dominate midfield with Wilshere and Frimpong will be the wall we need with pace.

Today will be fun, Milan should be a good game and will show us how far we’ve come and how far we have to go, come on Arsenal, surprise me!

And before the Fulham fans start bragging about City flop Hughes, don’t forget, that Barca reject only got the job because fat boy Jol turned it down.

I’ll be there tomorrow, Pedro will be there today, so the match report will be his. Have fun if you’re going.

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    Posted by Geoff

    So Cesc has finally spoken and we will do better than last year.

    July 30, 2010

    Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

    Been there, heard all this before and now it’s beginning to worry me. Cesc tells the world Arsene Wenger is like his dad, great, I would like it if he was like his football manager, that might be more fitting.

    He must be the tenth player to say Wenger is like his dad, what are we, an orphanage or a football club?

    It hasn’t done us much good has it, I mean we haven’t won much on the back of that have we.

    Cesc Fabregas should want to be here because he’s an Arsenal player, not because Wenger is the second most important dad he has. So what does that mean then, all our players will walk away if Wenger goes?

    This really is becoming a club where the most important person is the manager, what happened to the club being bigger than anyone?

    So let’s look at who we’ve signed and who we’ve let go. Let me begin this by saying that Arsene identified that defence was his priority, we’ve conceded way too many goals he said, since then, we have let go of 4 centre backs (2 top ones) and signed one (complete unknown). And we are going to finish above 3rd this season, err, how’s that then?

    And don’t say Djourou, he’s a perma-crock.

    I assume Chamakh replaced Ade, so no change there, perhaps we didn’t earn enough last year, perhaps when Wenger finally said he could compete with Chelsea, he meant because they haven’t spent much either.

    Ok bitch over, I’m looking forward to tomorrow and Sunday, at least we get to see some football.

    I do think we look good all over the pitch but we have significantly weakened the defence, whichever way I look at it, it’s weaker, I really can’t see how the boss thinks we’ll finish higher than last season with the same keepers and a far worse by miles defence.

    And if he is to buy a couple before the season starts, how will they bed in? To save a few quid in purchases to cost us the league yet again, I feel we have been here before, I know we’ve been here before, if someone out there can explain how we are stronger than last season, I would love to know. Defence wise I mean.

    Have a nice day Grovers, you never know…

    P.S. Win an ipad with our Metro Fantasy football game…

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    Posted by Geoff

    Cesc valued at £8.8million?

    July 29, 2010

    Sorry folks, not in the real world of football… in the Metro’s new Fantasy football game! Yep, the game where even Barcelona could compete financially!

    The last 3 years have seen us use the Budweiser sponsored Premier League Fantasy game… this year we fancied a change and lucky for us the Metro have been in touch with promises of a better game and a prize more befitting of Le Groves prestigious followers!

    Here are the details!

    The game has a Championship Manager-inspired interface and a number of innovative features including:

    • Live-updated scoring, so you can track how your team is doing while matches are being played
    • Both public and (fully customizable) private leagues so you can take on the world or just your friends
    • Opportunities to win weekly jackpots in our brand new 5-a-side game (pick 5 players with an unlimited budget and the highest scoring team wins their manager a minimum of £1000)
    • iPhone and iPad applications to track and manage your team over the course of the season
    • Opportunities to win big by betting against your friends and blog buddies, or backing yourself for the trophy!
    • The chance to win an exclusive Le Grove first prize!

    Team page

    I feel we’ve negotiated a pretty good deal with them too! Le Grove is the only Arsenal blog they are setting a league up for this year, so we can all unite and make sure our club comes out with the highest points total… plus, first prize this year is a fantastic brand new Apple ipad! A big thanks for the Editors at the Metro for signing that off… originally the offer was an nerdbox360!

    Bigger than an iphone, smaller than a mac book.

    The chaps over at Tatty Nut Nut are also going to donate 2 hand painted t-shirts to the runners up!

    Last year we managed to accrue nigh on a 1000 punters using just the promise of beer… so I’m figuring this year we should be able to hopefully exceed that total!

    Make sure you get all your buddies to enter the league, the more the merrier! I’d say pound for pound, the Le Grove fantasy league is the most competitive blog league on the web (Our league finished 66th out of 90,000 leagues last year), so if you fancy yourself as a bit of a superstar of the Fantasy Football world… put mouse where your hand is and sign up to our FREE league and make that ipad yours!

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    Get joining! After you’ve done that, head back to todays post for more comment section banter!

    P.S. Just so you know, no fee was taken by the authors of Le Grove… we’re still keeping it real.

    UPDATE:

    Metro newspaper’s fantasy football game already has live-updated scoring; now you can manage your team live from the terraces with the release of custom-made apps for both the Apple iPhone and iPad.

    The fantasy football app, which is due to go live on the Apple app store in the next couple of days, boasts a scaled down version of the desktop game’s Championship Manager inspired interface and allows players to manage all their substitutions, transfers, and formation changes on the go. Armchair managers will also be able to see how they’re doing in the mini-leagues they’ve entered and leave notes for their friends on league messageboards.

    The app also displays the live updated scoring system which has already proven so popular with Metro fantasy football managers and which allows players to influence their success in real time as games happen.

    Metro’s free fantasy football game is one of the most popular in the UK with well over 110,000 players and the top manager earning a prize of £15,000 (and over £1,000 up for grabs every week in the 5-a-side side-game). The Premier League incarnation builds on the massive success of the Metro Fantasy Football World Cup game which also drew thousands of players from across the UK.

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    Posted by Pedro

    We must be getting another player soon, unless… And how Arsenal have improved massively on last season.

    July 29, 2010

    Unless of course the boss is thinking of playing Song or Nordvtveit as our spare centrebacks, it may well be the thinking as he has been trying out Frimpong as a new DM, he still has Denilson and he could save some money, we can speculate all we like, but we know what it’s like in the wonderful world of Arsene’s transfer windows! So don’t hold your breath.

    Telling the keepers there’s no number one is a tad humiliating for Manuel, regardless of making him the captain, so I still expect a new keeper, the question is, will it be one that we already have? Or we we sign a new one from Primark.

    The bit that does make me laugh is he seems to be saying he won’t be playing the fab 3 because of injury and tiredness. Nikki B is fast becoming our new crock, so him not featuring doesn’t bother me too much, Robin did play in nearly all the Holland games, so I expect him to take a while, but Cesc only seemed to play 15 minutes in the whole world cup, so I’m a little bemused as to why he needs additional time off, he’s our captain, our best player and not to have him for the season opener seems a little bonkers to be honest, he played in the world cup final for goodness sake, he didn’t do 3 weeks on Devils Island did he? He should be on cloud 9!

    Still, all that press talk may well have worn him out. Even though it was just noise, and we have to live with that.

    Celtic got battered by Portuguese titans Braga, 3 zip last night, so they ought to give us as big a test as the southern Celtic, Barnet. But the chance to see our young team beat them, will be one I look forward to, however, it’s the Liverpool game that sends a shiver down my spine. The thought of watching both Gerrard and Joe Cole diving in the box against the inexperience of Koscielny and Fabianski fills me with dread, buy hey ho, we may be better than last season and we may pull off a big shock much the same as we did against Everton last term, I would have taken a draw then, wouldn’t you?

    Sol Campbell going to Newcastle didn’t come as a major surprise, Wenger probably offered him a 1 year deal on £10k a week and no promise of first team football, and for him to favour Newcastle over us, shows me he is still one sandwich short of a picnic, so we are well rid.

    The question I do have though, is if Koscielny and Djourou need time, if Frimpong and Wilshere need time, if Robin and Cesc need time , if Nikki B is still injured and if Chamakh needs 6 months to bed in and if we haven’t changed our keeper, what exactly have we done to improve on last year?

    Well I’ll tell you where we have improved, our new kit, it’s awesome, and I’m gagging for the weekend to see how it performs against Milan and Flamini.

    And that my friends is it, the real reason we will concede less goals, and if that’s all it takes to win the title, bring it on, I already have my new away shirt (birthday present) and the new one is on order, so I really am hopeful of some silverware this season, regardless of who we sign.

    Have a great day Grovers, I’m getting confident, bring it on!

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    Posted by Geoff

    The Don denies / Who deserves to stay / Mertesacker evidence mounts…

    July 28, 2010

    Just before we kick off proceedings, it’s Geoff’s birthday today and a few of his favourite people asked if I’d post up a card for him. Cheers to Dave, Sam, Alex and Denilson for getting around a table and making it happen.

    Happy birthday to the Bear!

    Who’d have thought any stadium in the world could make Underhill look like the Colosseum in its prime? Spectacularly awful. If a stadium is a representation of a team, this team were going to be poor. Anything other than resounding win would be a weak showing.

    The big disappointment was seeing the gaunt looking figure of Manuel Almunia lining up. Apparently Osasuna are in for him…wouldn’t that be handy (read more here)? I can’t believe Wenger gave him the captains armband.

    *FYI: Neusiedl is a hard word to consistently spell, so I’ll be using NEU to describe them in this post.

    Starting 11

    • Manuel Almunia
    • Havard Nordtveit
    • Laurent Koscielny
    • Johan Djourou
    • Kieran Gibbs
    • Tomas Rosicky
    • Jack Wilshere
    • Andrey Arshavin
    • Emmanuel Frimpong
    • Theo Walcott
    • Jay Emmanuel-Thomas

    Theo was sporting a facial thatch. Rumour has it JET keeps on giving him wedgies in the changing rooms… Theo hopes the beard factor will scare the big winger off.

    Jack Wilshere had the first chance of the game with a mazy run into the box that ended in him being shoved over unfairly.

    This team was truly awful as was the laboured pace of the game

    Nasri was looking very slim. I reckon the fat jokes have to stop… Anyone else noticed the amount of Nasri pre-season photo shots we’ve seen so far? If he’s as vain as everyone keeps telling me, I’ve no doubt he’s probably been bunging the photographer to snap when he’s breathing in…

    It struck me that a future midfield grouping of JW, Frimpong and Rambo would be very, very small…

    The game was flatter than a warm can of stella… the best chance of the first 20 minutes fell to NEU after Kozzer failed to track his man allowing him a free diving header on goal. Lucky Sammy was on hand to clear off the line. Worrying the Frenchman has still yet to impress at all…

    Arshavin’s start was almost as poor as Theo’s. I’m guessing our lazy Russian has actually been asked to par-take in some running this preseason. Bless his cottons…

    The NEU keeper looked remarkably like Joe Hart. Perhaps we could sign him and swap him with the real Joe Hart in some sort of hilarious twin switch caper. Highly fraudulent, but I’m becoming desperate on the keeper front…

    Theo drilled home the first goal after Jack dummied a Nasri (I think) pass. A good finish. The sad yet not unsurprising news was that JD picked up an injury in the build up.

    For the record may I just say this…

    JD is injury prone, this can be no surprise to the management. Therefore I suggest that we buy two centre backs for such an eventuality and make sure one of them is a very good one because until he can prove his fitness, he can’t be considered as first team. As far as I’m concerned, both Kozzer and JD are rookies this year. Jagielka would be a start.

    The next goal came when Gibbs cut a cross back to JET who turned his man and buried the ball low and hard. No one seems to know what his position is… could lone striker work for him? He has great control, he’s a bulldozer of a man, has great feet and he can score goals.

    I was struggling to keep track of the changes at half time so I didn’t bother. Blog pre-season laziness if you will. It was nice to know that Rosicky’s favourite holiday destination is the Maldives. Top half time interviewing whoever that was…

    Chamakh latched onto Nasri’s through ball in the 49th minute and was promptly chopped down. He stepped up to his penalty and scored his first for Arsenal sending the keeper the wrong way.

    He was off the mark!

    Vela jinked through the NEU defence but was cunningly denied by the spitting image of Fabianski. We knew he was an imposter as he didn’t fumble the ball into his net.

    Carlos was rewarded soon after his miss when some good work between Nordtveit and Nasri ended up with Vela scoring… yep, you guessed it, with a dink over the keeper. The Mexican only knows one route to goal… up an over.

    Chamakh handled in the box a few minutes later and the ref pointed to the spot. I never really felt they were going to score for some reason and our Italian keeper didn’t disappoint me with a comfortable save down low. Looking back on last season, I think it would be hard to argue otherwise that Mannone was our best keeper. I’m not saying that’s a remarkable achievement, but it’s still a fact. Experience is what he needs and I’d like to see him go out on loan to a Premiership club to gain that.

    Frimpong was looking superb in the middle of the park. He’s a bulky holding midfielder who looks very assured on the ball. He has what the others don’t in pace and he’s a very good tackler. He’s surprisingly disciplined, like he was born to play that role. I like him. He oozes class and I really don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that?!

    Jack Wilshere was also a star performer. You can see he’s a fighter and  his technical ability wouldn’t look out of place in the Spanish team. We’ve got a real gem in the making here and a I hope this is the season he’s afforded Denilson like first team time. No one minds waiting for true talent to develop.

    Gibbs played well and I’m sure that if he’d had an additional year in the first team, Clichy would be making way for him and we’d be thrashing out whether the Melo swap deal was going to work for us. I’m happy to have Gael though, I think he’s a top player but he’ll need to rescue some of that 2008 form this season if he wants to make that left back slot his long term.

    The game finished up 4-0 and we had another hammering under our belts. 16 shots, 4 goals, a penalty save and some very promising performances from our youngsters.

    The only disappointing parts of the evening were obviously that JD is injured again and the captaincy being handed to Almunia. I hope it was a parting gesture and that the Cagliari Chairman isn’t lying about Arsenal being the only team in for the Italian number two.

    Next stop, the Emirates Cup. If you’ve got any spares for the game, let me know and I’ll I find a home for them. This year I’ll mostly be advertising the spares via the @arsenal_legrove twitter account. Remember, every time you let a spare ticket go to waste, Denilson gets an extra month extension to his contract.

    Stay tuned this morning for an announcement of an exciting competition with a very special prize lined up for the winner! If you thought a crate of Peroni and a cap was impressive, you might just do one of those excitement wee’s dogs do when you hear what we’ve got lined up! I know I did… thank god I was sitting on my girlfriends couch when I got the news!

    P.S. Before I go, new pictures have surfaced that suggest Mertesacker was in fact in England yesterday… big thanks to happy snapper Simon Reynolds for supplying the damning evidence. Remember it was Le Grove (here) who told you that the giant German was a Gooner over a year ago… keep em’ crossed! We’ve got money and we’ve been sniffing around top players this window regardless of the inaction you see.

    UPDATE: JD’s injury is just a tight hamstring, so nothing long term. Rosicky’s absence was just a precaution for a tight groin, he should be good for the weekend.

    Proof

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    • 947 Comments | Match report | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Pedro

    Tonight will show us the team taking shape, no more bargain basements please.

    July 27, 2010

    Big game tonight people, this game should see the way the team is shaping up for the Emirates Cup this weekend, I’m interested to see if he plays Song with Diaby, Eastmond or Frimpong, it’s quite obvious we won’t be signing a DM, so we’ll have to choose from what’s on show tonight, it won’t be Denilson, that’s for sure.

    So will he elect to play 4-3-3 or will he go for 4-2-1-2-1 leaving Chamakh up top alone? Will Cesc be back for the weekend, will he be back at all? We’ve done that to death so we’ll let time take care of that one.

    We hear that Ramsey has bulked up and we know that Jack has, maybe we’ll see a completely new look team from the back through. maybe he’ll play this team at the Emirates Cup.

    Stekelenburg/Hart (please)

    Nordveit Koscielny Vermaelen Gibbs

    Song Frimpong

    Nasri

    RVP Arshavin

    Chamakh

    or

    Chezzer

    Sagna Vermaelen Djourou Clichy

    Song Wilshere Nasri Diaby

    Chamakh RVP

    or

    Fabianski

    Sagna Vermaelen Campbell Clichy

    Frimpong

    Wilshere Nasri

    RVP Rosicky Chamakh

    And a bench of Theo, Vela and Cesc (if he’s around!)

    Either way, as I’m writing, apart from the keeper, we do have some options this season if we buy no one else, so my message to the boss is, buy decent or don’t buy at all, with all these frees on the market, we don’t need them.

    Maybe there are a few DM’s out there that are available now, Mascerano, De Jong, Kompany, Ireland and Van Der Vaart. Some of you may not see some of those as DM’s, but I think they could all do a job and if we retain Campbell, and Koscielny and Djourou come good, then the Keeper and the DM spots are what we need to push on, as make no mistake, the others, the chasing pack, will be chasing hard.

    A last word for the Mancini revolution, what revolution? That toe-rag is buying his team, he said the big 4 has spent big in the past and Man City are catching up, someone needs to explain to him our buying policies!

    Have a great day Grovers, tonight is the last big experiment before it all begins again in ernest!

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    Posted by Geoff

    £100k fines for everyone / Cesc is definitely staying / Training camp goss…

    July 26, 2010

    Good morning and welcome to Monday mornings packed post of Arsenal news and blogging fun. We’ve got loads to get through today, so no time for idle chit-chat… not even time to tell you how devastated I was to find out the office is out of tea bags this morning and how I feel that one small incident might have a profound affect on my ability to perform this week at work. A truly dark day for supply chain optimisation…

    First up, can everyone stop suggesting petitions for Arsenal fans to sign? Yep, stop those, stop the facebook groups and the twitter groups. I don’t think I’d have to look far to find which subsections of fans are doing it… it’ll be the British. A typically organised style of inoffensive protest which is admirable, but pointless.

    You can’t petition FIFA against Barcelona if they haven’t done a single thing wrong. I think a petition makes the Arsenal fans look weak, it highlights the Cesc story further and it has zero benefit to the outcome of the Cesc saga.

    If Arsenal thought for one second any foul play was at hand I can assure you they’d have lodged a complaint on Sepp Blatters table before you could say ‘pass master’ or ‘he’ll be like a new signing’. What the clubs should be doing is lobbying FIFA to change the rules of engagement when it comes to any member of a clubs staff talking about another clubs staff or players.

    That would be unworkable?

    Well, you might think that, but maybe I could provide a case study.

    The NBA has extremely strict rules when it comes to speaking about another clubs players. LeBron James, one of the most highly rated basketball players of recent times is on a free transfer this summer. Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks was asked if he’d be interested in the player this summer to which he responded,

    ‘Anybody would be interested’

    This comment had him hauled in front of the NBA Panel and fined $100,000 straight up. A rival official at the Phoenix Suns joked about offering $11million dollars less for his services and he was fined $10,000. It’s hard to disagree with this stance. Talking about a contracted player in a bid to destabilise him is unethical, immoral and it’s an unprofessional business practice.

    If FIFA act, it’ll be in the best interests of football as a whole. It will create better relationships between clubs, it’ll stop rogue agents and Chairman sullying the good name of football and it fits in nicely with UEFA’s aim of bringing football into the real world.

    However, when managers like Aragones are picking up £2k fines for racist captured on film, you have to question whether a £100k personal fine for talking about Cesc could ever be a reality.

    Now the Barcelona stories have taken a nose dive I think this is a good time to give Cesc a few pointers before the season starts.

    1) Cesc, we all still love you as a player and a person. However, you’ve got to come out in a press conference and make us all feel comfortable about you being the captain of our great club.

    2) You’ve been played like a British tourist in a Spanish time share office. Barcelona have clearly offered you the world in the full knowledge that the only way they’d be able to nab you was if you blackened your name amongst the fans who’ve given you everything over the last 8 years. You’ve been embarrassed by Sandra Rossel and Laporta. You’ve allowed the older boys in the Spanish camp to treat you like a chump and you’ve come out of the situation with nothing.

    Arsenal have respected you all summer and in the main, the fans have given you the benefit of the doubt you didn’t deserve.

    3) Barcelona not only made a fool of you, they prioritised David Villa over you. If they wanted you so much, they would have bought the future of Spanish football first, then played hardball with Valencia. They rate a 28 year old striker at £10million more than they rate the best creative midfielder in Europe. That is disgusting in my books. They don’t think you’re worth more than James Milner. Pretty harsh I’d say.

    4) If they end up spending £20 million of their £40million transfer budget on Ozil, they won’t have any money left for you next year. Your value will sky rocket again and their financial power will diminish once again. Basically Cesc, I think I’m saying the Barcelona dream is dying. Arsenal will never sell you to a team that doesn’t have the funds. If you really do want to leave Arsenal at the end of next season, Madrid and City will be your only choices.

    Be honest Cesc… you know both of those are a bad option.

    Spend this season with us, see what Arsene can muster in the transfer market and make a proper decision this time next year. My guess is that we’ll probably be poaching Barca players this time next year because the banks won’t be able to loan them another £140million to pay the wages…

    The fact is, unless Barca muster £80million, he isn’t going anywhere.

    In other news I had a brief chat with someone in the know over the weekend and the feeling in the Arsenal camp is that a centre back is still the priority. From what I understand, Fabianski will still be at the club this summer but Almunia might leave if given the opportunity. I don’t think there is going to be an opening for Chesney at this point.

    Jack Wilshere has impressed in Austria and there is a good chance he’ll be given the opportunity to fight it out for a first team place this year. The belief is that he is ready this year… something I think we’d all welcome in the wake of losing out on Joe Cole.

    Kozzer is supposed to be a very able player. His technical ability is excellent, he’s far better aerially than Gallas and his positional sense and ability to play a zonal marking system is also excellent. Apparently, there are high hopes that this boy is going to be the real deal although it is accepted he will need to bulk up.

    People have rightly voiced their concerns about him versus Drogba. May I just point out that Lucio is hardly a beast when it comes to weight, but he is a fighter and extremely powerful. Aggression and positional sense more often than not will out do raw power.

    I can also confirm that Denilson is not leaving Arsenal at this moment in time. Well, if he is, no one knows about it in Austria. Sorry to be the one to have to tell you that…

    The keeper stories keep coming thick and fast. I find it amazing we still haven’t sorted that area and I too am desperate for some action on that front, but talk of David James is more embarrassing than setting up a petition to stop the petitions. He was never good enough for a top flight team when he was young, on an individual level his form for Pompey was shocking last season, he’s far too old and he is just as calamitous as Almunia. I know we’re desperate, but come on, David James?!

    Finally, as you know, we always have a successful run at the old Fantasy football. Well, I’m  speaking with a respected brand who are looking to sponsor a Le Grove league and for the privilege of doing it they will supply us with three very tasty prizes (Tastier than a crate of Peroni…). All I’m waiting for is for the prizes to be signed off, then we’re good to go!

    Almost as exciting as Geoff getting buy in on this podcast malarkey. We’re going content crazy this year!

    Right, see you all in the comments section, plenty to talk about!

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    • 712 Comments | New Review | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
    Posted by Pedro

    Akinfeev offers himself, Jagielka’s back and Real join the pack of rabid dogs from Spain.

    July 25, 2010

    First things first, Igor Akinfeev has told Andre Arshavin he wants to join next years Champions league and EPL double winners Arsenal, Andre has recommended him to the boss, which means that he also thinks we need a new keeper.

    Is he what we need, or do we need Stekelenburg, Schwarzer or Hart? My personal choice would be Joe Hart, though Akinfeev is not huge, he is very Given(ish) and only 24 and Stekelenburg played in the World Cup finals so is confident as well as good. Tough call.

    What we are all in agreement on, is that we need someone and apart from Chezzer, we have no one at the Arsenal that can improve our goals conceded stats.

    It seems we are going to up our Jagielka bid to £15mil, I would have scoffed at that in the past with Wenger and his purse, but after seeing him pay £10mil for Koscielny, £15mil for Jagielka wouldn’t surprise me.

    Madrid are joining the hunt for Cesc it appears, I would prefer to keep Cesc, but not just for a year, and if that’s what’s on the table we should sell him, and not for the silly amount of £30mil, that’s what jughead (Milner) is going for.

    Just because that’s all Barca want to pay, doesn’t mean that’s what he’s worth, offer him for Messi, or strip him of the armband and sell him to the highest bidder, that’s if he still wants to go that is, but if my information of yesterday is true, he’s going no-where. TIME TO SPEAK CESC!

    What is interesting is apparently Andres Iniesta said that the Arsenal fans are dear to Cesc’s heart and he wants to win the title for them with Arsenal before he leaves, Cesc, if you truly said that, then tell us, we would understand, stay with us until we win the league, ha, ha the way we spend money, you could see out your whole career here! (Kidding)

    I’m getting the feeling the new DM is going to be between Eastmond and Frimpong, and no new monster is coming in, disappointing, but I was impressed with Frimpong, no such much with Eastmond, but he did look good in cameos last season, let them fight it out and give Song some competition next season if you won’t buy someone.

    There were a lot of rumours doing the blog yesterday about Denilson, I hope they are true, because although he had a great 2008 he went south in 2009, me, I’m fed up with waiting, just like Cesc is. Bring Frimpong or Eastmond in to fight it out with Song, Denilson’s had way too many chances. WAY TOO MANY. Do you hear me Arsene???

    Enjoy Sunday grovers, there’s the Grand Prix to take your mind off the lack of football, Tuesday we begin, then it’s the Emirates Cup.

    Interestingly Andy Gray said in the Sky Sports magazine, that he thinks if Chamakh brings what he thinks he can to the table, he expects us to push all the way this season.

    Whoohoo!

    645 Comments | New Review | Permalink
    Posted by Geoff

    Cesc turns down barca at last, Campbell is good but not enough.

    July 24, 2010

    So Cesc has finally said no to the bullies from Barca, by all accounts he has decided that to ask for a transfer request will set him at odds with the Arsenal fans and he loves us too much to do that, finally he speaks! Well done Cesc, I welcome you back, we can forget what has happened.

    The good news is that barca will now turn to Ozil, why is that good news? Well in theory, it means they’ll leave Cesc alone now, the strange thing is, like Cesc, they don’t need him.

    And that’s why we should sign him, imagine a midfield with him, Cesc, Ramsey, Wilshere and Nasri to choose from, wow!

    Campbell signing is good news if he does, but at his age, we still need another, from what I have seen, Koscielny isn’t the answer, good squad player, but we need a nasty big bugger there to bully and cut out crosses, keep looking Arsene.

    I have yet to see what Wenger is doing to placate cesc, I had hoped it would be some world class players and not the customary £10mil a year bribe, I’m still hopeful it will be a big DM and a keeper, if it’s not, then I hope like hell Frimpong can step up, he did look good and composed and maybe he is the answer, Eastmond didn’t look as good, but it’s only when we play the bigger teams we’ll find out if we have a potential Essien there, they both came from Ghana so who knows eh!

    Vermaelen says we can win the league and we will be having a go, well what do you expect someone who wants to be the next captain to say? I admire him and believe he will become a modern day Keown, but I still think we are short and will struggle until we put that right.

    And that my friends is all I think Cesc is saying, 3 more players boss and we’ll rule the world.

    I can’t wait to see Chamakh, RVP and Arshavin all charging at fat boy Reina on the first day of the season, that really is a mouth watering prospect, let’s just hope that Robin can stay injury free between the Emirates cup and that game, hey who knows, maybe even longer!

    Have a great day Grovers, today is the last Saturday before the real football begins, today is your last Saturday off, next weekend it’s Milan and Celtic, I’ll be there, but sadly, my Vuvuzela won’t be!

    560 Comments | New Review | Permalink
    Posted by Geoff

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