Hey, the only way is up right?

Winston Churchill once said, "Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential." We've lost cup finals before and we will in the future, we know the feeling and by supporting Arsenal we know that it won't be the last time. Kudos to Birmingham, they didn't try and break legs, they defended resolutely and looked to nick it, which they did in the end. I wouldn't go as far to say that they deserved it more, but they certainly desired it more and linking back to my Churchill quote in the beginning they seemed to have a bit more determination. There were a few players who would die on the pitch for Arsenal: Nasri was always trying, Van Persie's knee exploded as he scored the equaliser and of course there's Jack Wilshere; unfortunately they were the exception rather that the rule.

Where to begin with young Jack? There's not a single match this season where I haven't watched him and thought "Wow. He will be incredible". The best part is it's true, whisper it quietly, but I think he has the potential to be the best, possibly the very best. That's not the brilliant part though, the brilliant part is that he's Arsenal through and through, obviously he showed it at the final whistle, but make no mistake about it, I would quite happily take this season as successful if Jack Wilshere carried on developing at this rate throughout the season.That was raw passion and real emotion we saw from him and that wouldn't go amiss from a few more players.

More news expected with regards to RVP's shattered knees, but he could be a doubt for the Nou Camp, at least Bendtner knows how to score there though. I suppose the brief respite we can take from the loss is that, after performances like that the team usually bounce back on the biggest stage, but before looking ahead to Barca it's the O's that could pose a problem in medweek, we can't be complacent.

Remember what it means to be a fan, as someone said yesterday on Twitter: "Love me when I least deserve it, because that's when I really need it.". It's times like this the the crowd really have to get behind the team and ensure that the desire is always there for every match, whether we're playing Barca, Birmingham or Bournemouth.


Anger fades and tears dry, but my love for Arsenal will never die. Through think and thin, highs and lows, a Gunner to the end.

A week in and I'm blogging a cup final...

I'm clearly a good luck charm for the Arsenal then!

Well, cup final this afternoon. Win and we're back in business, trophy drought over in ninety minutes, the squad free of self-doubt and confident that they can perform on the biggest stage; lose and it all falls to pieces, doubt creeps in, the team lose their belief. Hey, it's just the Mickey Mouse cup right?

Ahead of the game, Wenger has been speaking about his targets for the season, saying that he wouldn't be satisfied if we just won the Carling Cup, because he believes the team can challenge for more silverware. The right kind of attitude, let's hope to see it in the players as well.

Speaking about young Jack Wilshere, Wenger has speaking about the problems faced by young English talents, i.e. the hyping up as we saw with Theo, and believes that young Jack is grounded enough to keep calm and carry on.

Johan Djourou has been talking about breaking the mental duck as it were, by winning the cup, hoping it will lead on to better and less Mickey-Mouseish things.

Oh well, let's hope for a win! :)

Ooh. I'm so excited!

Only 24 hours to go!!!! I can't wait and I'm sure you can't either. As we already know, Cesc Fabregas will be looking on from the sidelines with us. He's obviously disappointed, but according to the Mail, if The Arsenal win, he'll still be the one lifting the cup. Nice to know because he's put in a lot of effort. Speaking of attacking midfielders, Samir Nasri is rumoured to have signed a new deal according to the Sun, quite pricy though so I'm that sure about it, given that Wenger said it would probably be sorted in the summer.

According to Arsene Wenger, we should be able to win at Wembley and he is confident of lifting the cup. As Wenger has said, the winners aren't just the eleven players in the final, but the players who have contributed throughout the campaign, so Cesc can hold his head high. In the absence of Cesc, Wenger believes that Jack Wilshere will be able to unleash his more creative side to help power the Arsenal side to victory. Finally, Bacary Sagna has been talking about how the team has matured and mentally and have 'lost their fear of winning'.

In non-Carling cup news, it looks like Chelsea have their sights set on Arsenal's chief scout Steve Rowley, who has been very good for Arsenal, but their are some things money can't buy and class loyalty is one of them, so I don't see this as being a problem. Financially, it looks like Arsenal are going to post a small loss, having not sold a major player in the summer, but as someone who understands these things, it's not a big problem so don't worry. :)

That's it for today peoples.

Poor Poor Cesc

Well it's a real shame isn't it, after all the talk he's put in, it looks like Cesc won't be making Wembley at the weekend, with RVP set to take the armband. It's bittersweet, obviously Cesc has stayed put rather than moving to Barca in the hope of winning a trophy and, although he's featured in the campaign and will no doubt lift the trophy on Sunday, it's just a shame he won't take part. Hopefully this will spur the team on to win more trophies in the near future. However, you have to feel happy for Van Persie, he's been at the club throughout the whole trophy drought, never looked liked leaving and is Arsenal through and through. You can tell he loves wearing the shirt and, assuming we win on Sunday, I'm sure he'll relish getting his hands on that cup.

Injury wise, it looks like Cesc will sit out Sunday at least, with the possibility of missing out next weeks midweek tie at home to Leyton Orient, but should be back for next weekends match at home to Sunderland. For Theo, things aren't so bright as it will be a race against time if he wants to play at the Nou Camp. I really hope he makes it as his pace on a pitch like that are a match made in heaven, especially against a full-back like Maxwell who isn't the best at defending against pace.

Looking ahead to Sunday, Szczesny is looking forward to playing at Wembley, admits he is crazy and also lets us know that his dad is his role model. The young lad has a lot to say. He's also been speaking about whether we can overhaul United at the top of the table. Former Gunner Sebastian Larsson will be lining up in blue for Birmingham City but admits that his time at Arsenal helped develop him into the player he is today.

That's pretty much it for today, bad news on the injury front but all quiet elsewhere.
Oh well, see you soon peoples.

From a corner? Who saw that coming?

So, we beat Stoke. Squillaci scored. From a corner. Not the most likely of goal scorers you would have thought. All in all a decent match, injuries aside. Stoke's five-man midfield tried to crowd Arsenal out, failing as Arsenal burst out of the gates and could have been 2-0 up withing two minutes, Walcott hitting the post amidst other good chances. A Jack Wilshere corner was controlled by Bendtner beyond the far post who played it back across goal for Squillaci to head home. Stoke weren't exactly threatening, but a snap-shot towards the end of the half from John Carew required good concentration from Szczesny to palm it away.


After half-time,  Stoke came out looking more determined, i.e. more fouling, particularly a studs-up challenge from Delap on Sagna. Arshavin, on for the injured Fabregas, showed good determination to get past his man, get to the byline and cut it back for Walcott; who was caught on his heels by the pace of the ball and sliced his shot wide when he really should have put us two up. Stoke threatened briefly towards the end of the match, but Arsenal were able to hold onto possession and gain a valuable three points to close the gap on Man United.

Read Le Boss' thoughts here. It's been a while since we scored early and shut out a match, it's nice to see this increasing solidity and resilience around the Arsenal team.

It came at a price however, with injuries to Fabregas and Walcott, the latter leaving on a stretcher. Fabregas looked to have a muscle strain, but the prognosis seems to be that he was taken off as a precaution. After all the talk about winning a trophy for Arsenal, you really hope he makes the final on Sunday and, from the man himself... " I dont know if i'll make sunday or no, but all i know is that from this moment to sunday 16'30 i wont sleep if its necessary. Ive waited too long to captain a final for arsenal and i wont give up till the last second." Legend.

On the Walcott front however, things look a good deal worse, with him leaving on a stretcher and missing our Wembley date at least. It's a shame for both of them, particularly with Theo's ability to torment Maxwell in the Nou Camp, but at least Arshavin is coming into the attack with form rather than without.

So overall Szczesny (7) did well saving Carew's snap shot and dealing with Stoke's physicality at set pieces, punching a number of corners. Bacary Sagna (7) was a rock at the back, as usual, but wasn't able to offer that much going forward. Clichy (6.5) had a decent game as well, handling his defensive work well but not able to offer much going forward, like Sagna. Djourou (7.5) was solid as we have come to expect, always dealing with Stoke set pieces and Carew wasn't able to get much change out of him and his partner Squillaci (7.5). It was good to see Squillaci, who has been poor on occasions this season have no major troubles at the back and get on the score-sheet as well.

Song (7) had a decent game, always available for a pass and his physical presence was always going to come in handy. Wilshere (8) carried on his good run of form with mazy runs from deep and solid distribution, he showcased his defensive talents as well, coming back to help defend. Fabregas (6) was only on for about 14 minutes but his absence clearly affected the team as the tempo slowed right down. Given the stats out this week, that's not surprising though, he's officially the best playmaker in Europe. Walcott (6.5) had a bit of a mixed bag, almost scored after a minute and looked to be getting in good positions, but was profligate in front of goal and the injury ended his night earlier than he would have hoped. Nasri (7) stepped into the 'Fabregas role' but was quieter than we've come  to expect, tried to make good runs and used the whole width of the pitch in his distribution.

Bendtner (6.5) had a mixed bag as well, another assist can't be argued with and he played the typical target man well, trying to hold up play and bring other in, but his link-up play could do with improvement. Replaced by Chamakh (6) with about 10 minutes left, didn't really have much to do, just helped play keep-ball as the team looked to see out the win. Arshavin (7.5) came on for Fabregas after about 15 minutes and looked lively, the little Russian looks to be back to his best, even with his dislike of criticism,it's clearly spurred him on as he came on and looked to set people running and was generally quite creative. He mucked out and tracked back when required as well, good to see. Denilson (6) came on for Walcott and sat back next to Song, like Chamakh there's not that much to say, he tried to help the team maintain possession to see the win out, but did give away a silly free kick just outside the box from which Pennant hit the side netting.

So, Stoke aside a few other things have been going on, earlier in the season there were rumblings that despite his dislike of pre-season tours, Arsene Wenger was willing to take the team on a pre-season tour to Japan for a week in late July. Given this article in the Sun backing this up, I'm hearing from numerous sources that this is confirmed and that the club is looking into this possibility. I think Japan is a good choice, a market which hasn't really been looked at, it is estimated that the tour could bring in upto £15m, with sponsors looking to get involved. Aside from his managing experience in Japan, the signing of Ryo Miyaichi, a skillful winger set for a big future has seen Arsenal's eye casting a glance at the ranks of young Japanese players.

Following his impressive performances, RVP has been nominated for PFA player of the month, which is quite nice for him. Also, Neil Banfield has been talking about Ignasi Miquel; Elton Monteiro has signed a contract with the club and YoungGuns has more on the signing of Toral Harper from Barcelona, who are really throwing the toys out of the pram. Mind games? As if a team that big would stoop so low.....

Elsewhere, Aaron Ramsey feels that his goal last weekend against Leicester was the icing on the cake as he returns to top form and it's all eyes on Wembley as Johan Djourou believes lifting the cup could well lead to greater things.

Well that's it for today peoples. :)

Urgh... Stoke.

No doubt we're all excited about the footballing feast we will see before our eyes this evening? I thought not.

Obviously the most important thing is the three points, especially with United playing twice over the weekend, we need a performance like that against Barcelona, both from the players and the fans. So preview-wise Diaby finishes off his suspension tonight whilst Van Persie and Dave Koscielny are mysteriously injured. It looks like Djourou will be able to take Koscielny's place as he returns to the squad from his bad back. This could just be Le Boss being ultra careful, but I won't complain even if it does mean Squillaci being on the pitch. Interestingly, numerous people have pointed out that the referee is Peter Walton, none other than the man who refereed at the Britannia last season. Actually no, that's not really interesting, never mind.

I suppose that leads to a line up somewhat like:

Szczesny----Sagna-Squillaci-Djourou-Clichy--
---Wilshere-Song---Walcott?--Fabregas--Nasri?--Bendtner

I've got Walcott and Nasri down, I think that, despite his upturn in confidence amd his performance against Orient, Arshavin might be benched as he did play 90 minutes at the weekend. I also think Bendtner will get the nod ahead of Chamakh as he looks to have more goals in him at the moment.

So Ryan Shawcross... in case you don't recognise him he's the one on the right, breaking Aaron Ramsey's leg. But don't worry, he's English and not that kind of player, the tackle Adebayor recieved off the pitch from him and Francis Jeffers ankle ligament damage in 2007 were just unfortunate really. Poor Ryan, he's the victim here really. Now I'm not one to bear a grudge but it would seem that the Emirates faithful are, and I don't think he's going to get a warm welcome this evening. It's official according to the Mirror, although once again the journalism is a bit shocking really, I mean talk about hyping it up.

I mentioned United's heavy fixture list earlier, and the boss agress that the run-in will be tough for everyone, but thinks that out home form could swing it our way. Like a massive swinging Premier League trophy. Also, there's something about Pulis targeting 40 leg breaks points this season, I'd much rather his head exploded to be honest, although he'd probably just wear his baseball cap on his shoulders then. One last Stoke-related thing, I personally hope Glen Whelan gets a warm welcome this evening, I'm not sure whether it will happen and I know he's a Stoke player, but he was the first one to realise what was happening and he was there to reassure Rambo, which Rambo said was very comforting. So that's nice.

On the subject of Rambo, SkySports believes that he is set to return to Arsenal next week rather than his loan spell being extended. Wenger pretty much said this on the club's official website, pencilling him in for the match against Leyton Orient. Maybe like Eduardo he could score on his comeback in an FA Cup tie at home. I'm sure the fans would love that.

Elsewhere, Wenger has been talking about debutant Ignasi Miquel who featured at the weekend, on where he is now and where he can go. It seems that the boss rates him quite highly. The reserves came from behind to grad a third successive draw, with Roarie Deacon grabbing the equaliser. Read YoungGuns report for more information on the performance. After the match Neil Banfield spoke to the club, to summarise the team had the lion's share of possession but just couldn't make it count. Sound familiar?

We're near the end now, just two more things. I mentioned an interest in Stefan de Vrij recently, it has been made known to me that he can play either RB or CB and, as I was saying to the editor of the Gunnersphere blog (a first class blog, catch them here or follow on twitter @gunnersphere), it's a while since we had a good young right-back, with the Hoytes and Kerrea Gilbert failing to make the grade and, as he pointed out, with Sagna and Eboue both in their late 20s, we could do with a bit of youth in department. Whether it's de Vrij or not, I wouldn't be surprised to see something happen in the summer.

And finally...  Arsene Wenger and Tony Pulis both cancelled their press conferences yesterday. Is this making something out of nothing or was Wenger just sick of getting the same old questions? I don't know nor do I think it's particularly important. Before I go, take a look at this from Alan Davies r.e. Shawcross. Top stuff.

Well that was a long one (that's what she said ;) until tomorrow peeps. :)

Sammy to Barca? You're having a laugh!

Now as many of you probably know, Samir Nasri's contract runs out next summer and Barcelona, miffed that they can't afford Cesc have decided that Samir would be just as tasty. Wenger has already said that a new contract will most likely wait until the summer and now Nasri has come out and said the same thing. Why this is news I really don't know but hey-ho, that's the English press for you. On the issue of useless news articles, check this out. Clearly a slow news day at the Daily Mirror offices if that's the best that they can do. Also, for some unknown reason Wenger decided to mention Adebayor being talented. I hope he washed his mouth out afterwards. I don't know about you but I couldn't care less what that money-grabbing douche-bag does with his life.

Onto matters remotely interesting and Alex Song has been doing a bit of talking, stating that while he is confident of a win when we entertain Leyton Orient at the Grove, the team have to keep focus with us in all four competitions if we want to have some silverware at the end of the season. Wenger has also mentioned our upcoming match against Stoke, stating that Delap can't trouble us with his long throws if we keep the ball. A cunning plan no doubt.

A piece in the Metro, that most reputable of sources, has Wenger talking about Andrei the meerkat's recent form. We all know he hasn't been as effervescent as we would hope this season, but he's been putting in a ton of effort recently and hopefully, that goal against Barcelona could spur him on to becoming super-Andrei for the rest of the season. Form-wise, you have to worry about Marouane Chamakh, I know he played a lot of games at the start of the season and he isn't used to a lack of winter-breaks, but he looked very out of sorts against Orient. Once again though, you can't really argue with the effort he puts in and it's surely only a matter of time before he's back to his Pepe Reina troubling best.

In other non-first-team news, the well-informed YoungGuns have announced the possibility of a deal for young Barcelona midfielder Jon Miquel Toral, an U16 international for Spain. Being Barcelona, they're throwing their toys out of the pram but let's be honest, nobody cares. Congratulations are also in order for promising young midfielder Kyle Ebecilio as he signs a professional contract with the club. Congratulation Kyle.

Also, the reserves host West Bromwich Albion this afternoon, with the possibility of a Thomas Vermaelen comeback. Reports of a set-back are widely being announced as wide of the mark, but we're yet to see if he will feature*Update: Vermaelen not in the squad for the reserves match, he may feature for the reserves on the 1st or 9th of March depending on how his rehabilitation goes*. More tomorrow if he does. Finally, a piece from Arsenal.com about the rise of partner club Colarado Rapids under their manager, something Smith.

Finally, the England rugby union team has been at London Colney this afternoon to help Arsenal prepare for a Rory Delap's line-out long throw in tomorrows match against Stoke RFC.

I can already see that working, Jack Wilshere lifting up Andrei Arshavin, they would almost make a Robert Huth. Anyways, that's it for now folks. Don't forget to leave a comment be clicking on "comments" (funny that) if you have something to say. I'll do my first ever preview tomorrow. Yay!

My first ever blog!

Well that went well, I almost mis-spelt blog as bolg in the title, not a good omen I'm sure.

A quick word on the weekend action as Arsenal "B" team took to the field against Leyton Orient, there's no point reviewing the match now as I'm sure you've formulated your own opinions as to the result, but it was pleasing to watch the performance of Ignasi Miquel on his debut; the goal aside he was generally composed and held firm against a strong Orient front-line. Let's hope he can build on this and, along with Bartley, challenge for a first-team place in the future.

Speaking the day after the match, Wenger spoke about his opposition to changes to the Cup and about the way in which lower league teams have improved since his arrival at the club.

With the club not in action until Wednesday, it looks like a bit of transfer speculation will have to do for today. Following his impressive performance last week, Barcelona were linked with a move for Jack Wilshere in the summer, an idea that was quashed quite quickly by Pep Guardiola. To be frank, that was never one that really looked like happening, given Jack's affiliation with the club for almost ten years now. However, the Mirror has pulled a stunner here, Barcelona are interested in none other than...... Cesc Fabregas! Who saw that one coming? According to the Mirror's website, the Catalonian club are ready to weigh in with a £38m offer. In all honesty, this get tedious about a year ago. Aside from the fact that they're bloody annoying, is the offer not way under the club's asking price, i.e. £50m?

Elsewhere Arsenal-news-wise, not that much I'm afraid. According to Young Guns Blog, head scout Steve Rowley was watching on from the stands during Feyenoord's weekend action; checking up on the progress of Ryo Miyaichi as he plies his trade on loan, as well as watching 19-year old centre back Stefan de Vrij amidst ongoing speculation around his future. Contracted until the summer of 2012, he is seen as one of Holland's biggest talents.

A few weeks ago, YoungGuns also broke a story about 15-year old Swedish midfielder Kristoffer Olsson joining the club for a second trial following a first trial in the summer. The Daily Mail backed the story up, with the possibility of Olsson's compatriot Robert Mirosavic getting a second trial, having joined Olsson in the summer.

And finally, a round-up of the loanees progress this week by.... YoungGuns. Who else? Carlos Vela, Benik Afobe and Henri Lansbury looked to be the winners this week with Vela coming on, changing the game and equalising for West Brom in the 91st minute as they drew 1-1 with Wolves. Afobe had a hand in Huddersfield's equaliser as he came off the bench with 17 minutes left and Lansbury played 74 minutes before looking tired, but did manage to equalise for Norwich City whilst on the pitch. Kyle Bartley also got big match experience under his belt, having a quiet game in central midfield for Rangers as they lost the Old Firm derby.

Elsewhere, JET came on for Cardiff and caused problems for both sides with dangerous shots testing the Nottingham Forest keeper and what looked like attitude problems testing the patience of Cardiff manager Dave Jones, or maybe Paul Jones. Well it's definitely something Jones anyway. He has talent, but he won't last a minute at Arsenal if he carries on like that. JET that is, not this Jones fellow. Aaron Ramsey wasn't in the squad. Shame, it remains to be seen whether or not his loan will be extended. You would think not.

That's all for now folks. Click on the word comments (below) if there's something you want to say. Until tomorrow. :)