Moving on.

Soo... it's been a while hasn't it?

That's not important though, what is important is that we're moving!
We are now a wordpress blog so you can find the new site here: http://savagegooner.wordpress.com/
Exciting isn't it?

Even better, we're looking at getting in a columnist in the next few weeks who will be publishing a post once or twice a week with his or her opinions.

These are exciting times and wordpress is great fun to use so make sure you don't miss out!
Once again, the new site is http://savagegooner.wordpress.com/ and the blog should be running again by the start of next week. See you there!

Title race? We were never out of it were we?

So we're travelling to visiting les spuds tonight then, at least it's not a long journey, just got to get from the good part of North London to the sh*t part. This is it then, regardless of the result this is where we see whether or not the team want it. Manure didn't pick up the win yesterday, it's a North London derby and questions have been asked about your mentality. If you ever wanted to prove you could perform on the big stage, tonight is bloody well the night. Cesc Fabregas has been speaking as well, saying that the club is at a 'crossroads' and must decide whether to become a bit more ambitious in the transfer market and be champions or become also-rans.

The boss has been urging the side to kick on and prove they have what it takes this evening, you'd think this isn't necessary ahead of a match of this importance, but never mind that, let's focus on the match. In the build up, the boss spoke about the difference STD and Monkey-man have made to Spuds. Let's move on to the good team though, with Song and Sagna both fit to start against the anti-Arsenal Tottensh*t. We should pretty much have a full team then with only Fabianski and Vermaelen still not involved so will probably line up with something like:

------------------Szczesny------------------

--Sagna---Djourou--Koscielny---Clichy--

-------------Song------Wilshere------------

--Walcott-------Fabregas---------Nasri---

---------------------RVP--------------------

As always an Arshavin could creep into the line-up, Nasri played the full 90 minutes on Sunday while Tottertott rested last weekend, but that's a decent shout for the line-up I reckon.

One other thing, speculation about a centre-back in the summer seems to have unsettled Kyle Bartley, make your own mind up about this one but personally I'd rather keep him than buy someone else. As always, videos galore so here's the boss pre-match. Enjoy and let's hope for three points tonight. :)

No rest for the wicked...

Never mind Liddlepuddle, we're facing the Spuds tomorrow. Let's hope Bacary Sagna is able to return after resting this weekend, as Emmanuel Eboue is a bit of a liability at the back as usual. With Carl Jenkinson set to sign in the summer, is this the end of the road for Eboue's Arsenal career? Talkshitesport have been talking as well; with Perry Groves saying we should sell Cesc Fabregas if the right offer comes in. I think the problem is that the right offer isn't coming in, rather than us not accepting it. The club have been linked with Frieburg forward Papiss Demba Cisse, but speculation is that the club will need to part with £13million to sign him. A striker coming in? You'd have to think that this heralds either a return to the 4-4-2 or an exit this summer for one of our current strikers.

I've also heard (from admittedly an unreliable source) that the club have offered PSG £13million for Mamadou Sakho, but the Mirror reckon he's content to stay in France for the next few seasons. The Mirror also have a piece on Jack Wilshere, wanting not only to play for the U-21s this summer, but in the Olympics next summer as well as the European Championships. I understand that he's young and wants to play as much football as possible, but isn't that stretching it a bit?

Wojciech Szczesny has been talking about how he hopes to cement his position as the No.1 at the club so that the boss doesn't need to buy a keeper in the summer. With Fabianski and Szczesny both kicking on this season, I don't see why a keeper would be brought in during the summer, with Mannone more than adequate as a No.3. Theo Walcott has also been talking about how he has kicked on this season, he's been both scoring and assisting more and it's been good seeing him do so well.

Finally, a piece in LadyArse about Benik Afobe's loan spell written by a Huddersfield fan and a match report as Arsenal cruised into the semi-finals of the Dallas Cup with a 6-0 victory over Panamian Chorillo FC.

A few videos for you then pre-match interviews ahead of tomorrow from Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie. A Theo Walcott compilation as well, plus Carlos Vela vs Chelsea and Henri Lansbury vs Nottingham Forest. Enjoy.

Be sure to comment or contact me (details near the bottom) if you have something to say. Have a nice Tuesday and lets hope the barcodes win today. ;)

At least we're still unbeaten right?

It's never dull as a gooner is it. I mean seriously. I was thinking same old story, then we won it in the 98th minute so I was thinking same old story (just a different story). Then we all know what happened next and same old story again. It's funny really, would the result have been that different had it been 0-0? The reaction? Who knows. There's no time to dwell on what might have been now or what could still be. With United playing tomorrow and a match against the Spudlets on Wednesday who knows what could happen. Regardless of what we can win or what we can't lets just win our matches anyway.

Where the hell do you start with that? The boss said we had problems creating chances and I think it's fair to say I agree with that. The atmosphere certainly didn't help, I've been lucky enough to visit the Emirates on a matchday and the atmosphere can be piss-poor most of the time. I've stood up to sing and people have looked at me thinking I was some kind of crazy foreign tourist who's having a fit or something. There's a difference between being a supporter and being a nob-head. Unfortunately, it is the latter which seems to make up the general population of the Emirates. Too often in recent times have we seen the crowd get on the teams back rather than get behind them and be the fabled '12th man'. I know that when you're a new fan you have the child-like expectation that the team 'should win', but there's a difference between acting like a spoilt child and acting like a nob who only goes to the big matches. They might not want to see us play Huddersfield, but I bloody well did.

Anyways, enough Gooner-bashing. As always, the highlights are here on Arsenalist (@arsenalist) and I suppose it's time to see who was hot and who was not. Szczesny wasn't really kept that busy, a few catches from set-pieces and a save or two. He looked decent although he wasn't really tested until the end of the match. Dived the right way for the penalty and I was for some reason quietly confident he would keep it out but credit to Dirk Kuyt, it was sweetly-struck and the 'keeper had no chance. Still good to have him back.

Gael Clichy played. I remember him passing to Samir Nasri a few times and clearing a ball in our area. That's it. That is actually it. Now I think about it, I'm wondering where he was on quite a few Liverpool attacks. That's not an indictment necessarily, but 47% of their attacks came down our left. Not a great night for Gael then. Koscielny and Djourou were decent, coped alright with Carroll and Suarez who luckily didn't get that much service. There seemed to be a lack of communication though, they often both went for the same ball and sometimes lost their markers at set-pieces. Let's hope that was just a side-effect of Djourou's rustiness as they prepare to face Monkey-man and the Beanstalk on Wednesday. As for Eboue; classic Eboue really. Got forward well, clumsy defending. Lucas was always looking for it and almost stopped to impede Eboue and make the contact, but the Ivorian should have stayed on his feet as Ray Wilkins would have gladly told him.

The midfield then, Abou Diaby was better than usual. He may be one-pace, but it was a nice pace today, he was driving and looking to get things moving in a box-to-boxy kind of role. A bit lax defensively though. Could stayed with Suarez a few times. Jack Wilshere has played 40+ games this season and it's starting to show as he looked jaded and not really Wilshere-ish. That doesn't mean that he wasn't giving his all, just that his all wasn't quite as much as it usually is. Fabregas was very much the same, not sure what it was, but he was one of a few players who had a quiet day at the office. Made his little runs and passes, some came off, most didn't. Some say he just doesn't care about the Arsenal; who was it who drove on and won the penalty late on then? Wilshere came off for Bendtner who was shifted out wide. As always with Bendtner, when he was brought on things happened, waste of talent out wide though. We put 44 crosses into the box, an RVP and a Nicky B have more chance of meeting one of them than an RVP on his own. Alex Song also came on in place of Abou Diaby after around 80 minutes. Surprising one. I would have preferred Chamakh to come on as we were chasing a win, or even a Ramsey-esque player who can move through the gears, drive on, pass, shoot and is a better attacker in general. No offence to Song who certainly tried to add going forward, but a holding-midfielder isn't what we needed.

Theo Walcott was way too fast for Fabio Aurelio who did his hamstring after 20 minutes of chasing. Won quite a few corners, got a swerving shot in. Lively at the start, less so as the game went on. Another Theo Walcott wouldn't go amiss, we need more pace. (Ryo Miyaichi?) Samir Nasri was much the same as Fabregas, quiet game same, few passes and maybe a shot or two. Nice flick to set RVP through. That's about it. Andrei Arshavin came on for Theo, made a bit of a difference, a bit of running that was welcome. He's certainly changed as a player this season. Tried to make a difference. RVP had a goal ruled out after he was marginally offside, a few good deliveries from set pieces, a few that weren't so good. Another one who didn't have a brilliant day at the office.

I've already linked to the bosses reaction, but if reading isn't your thing then feel free to have a look at his post-match interview, his post-match press-conference and also Johan Djourou post-match.


In other news, Arsenal Ladies beat Chelsea Ladies 1-0 in the first ever WSL match, but went out of the Champions League after losing their semi-final against Lyon 5-2 on aggregate. We do have some good news though, Jack Wilshere won the PFA Young Player of the Year award.Jack also featured alongside Samir Nasri and Bacary Sagna in the PFA team of the Year as did Hale End product Cashley Cole. Two updates from YoungGuns as well, a loanees watch with Ryo Miyaichi  grabbing two goals and two assists for Feyenoord and Francis Coquelin scoring his first professional goal for Lorient proving to be the highlights. Arsenal also kicked off their Dallas Cup campaign with a 5-1 victory after going behind following a shaky start.

Well, it's been a while...

So I miss a few days off sick and all of a sudden we're back in the title race and have been taken over. First things first then, Stan Kroenke has taken us over. You can read all about 'the offer' here. I won't pretend that I know more about this kind of stuff than most other people and while all the right noises and gestures are coming out of the Kroenke camp, it remains to be seen what will happen in the long-term. One thing I am pleased about is the AST deciding not to sell it's shares to Kroenke. A club like ours has always been tied closely with its fans and hopefully will be in the future. We can save all that for the summer though, for now we have a title to win.

So just in case anyone forgot, we beat Blackpool last weekend. As always, you can catch the highlights here on Arsenalist. We rode our luck at times but apparently that's what champions do, or what United do anyway. Despite joining the starting line-up ten minutes before the match, Jens Lehmann did well. Admittedly he could have given away a penalty and looked a bit rusty, but he made a few decent saves and was talking from the first minute to the last. I won't do a full match report purely because there are already about a million around. Although, I do have a few post-match interviews, with Arsene Wenger, Jens Lehmann and a duo of Jens and RVP. What a legend Jens is. Also, the bosses post-match presser is around here somewhere if you haven't already seen it, or here's the transcript if you have an aversion to watching it.

Jack Wilshere was having a bit of a chat after the match as well, crushing speculation linking him to City (like that was going to happen). He reckons the title race is still on, but would have ended if we hadn't won against Blackpool and that the fixture schedule may hinder United and will help us. In other news Arsenal U-18s scored two goals late on to come back and win against Cardiff City. Emmanuel Frimpong has also been talking about the development of Jack Wilshere and how he hopes to mirror his progress into the first-team. Let's hope that he stays fit next season and can fight with Coquelin for the role of under-study to Alex Song.

A bit of news from YoungGuns as well, a loanees round up with Ryo Miyaichi getting an assist; confirmation of the squad to play in the Dallas Cup and an article on 'What next for Arsenal's loanees?'. All well worth a read.

I've managed to keep it fairly short, quite surprising but hey-ho. Don't forget if you want to get in touch my contact details are near the bottom of the page. Enjoy your Wednesday.

Anyone up for a donkey ride?

We're the famous Arsenal and we're going to... Blackpool. The chances of a post tomorrow are quite small so I thought we may as well get the preview over and done with today. Obviously we've got a bit game tomorrow and every game between now and the end of the season is a big game as some players fight for a successful season and others fight for a future at the club. The Mail has more on that line, with rumours that Clichy, Arshavin and Bendtner amongst are all set for the chop. You can have a look at the article, but it's standard tabloid fare really, a wish list of leavers and signings. I would be sad to see the three I mentioned leave. It looks like there is a real possibility of Gael Clichy leaving, a shame as he's been around for a while. As he showed at West Brom, Andrei Arshavin is one of the few players who can turn a game by creating something out of nothing, not to mention the way he tracked back and slid into a tackle to win back possession vs. Blackburn. Effort. As for Nicky B, I know he never seems to live upto his potential (or his hype), but there's no doubt that he offers something different, a real prescence and goals unlike those offered by Chamakh and even sometimes Van Persie.

That paragraph was a bit of a trek. This one should be shorter though. The Metro reckon (because AW said it) that if Jack Wilshere is used this summer by England-U21s then he won't take place in pre-season, much like Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie after the world cup. The earliest I've been told he would come back is for the Emirates Cup. Anyways, the boss has been saying things again, making up for the last week then. He's stood by his team, hitting out at 'superficial judgement' when we get criticised and Spuds get praised even though we're doing so much better than they are. He's also been defending the way the club go about doing things.

So as I said, I'll do a quick preview for tomorrow. As I said yesterday, we'll definitely have Manuel Almunia in goal while Bacary Sagna is set for a late fitness test after a knock on the knee. Those can be troublesome so I don't think he'll be risked. Which would give us a back four of Clichy-Squillaci-Koscielny-Eboue.

In midfield I reckon we'll see Diaby come in for Song (although it could easily be Denilson) while Wilshere and Fabregas will probably take up their usual roles. Out wide we'll see Nasri and either Arshavin or Walcott, depending on the results of Walcott's late fitness test while I see no reason for Robin Van Persie not to start up front.

So I've found a few videos for you as well, because I'm so generous. I've got pre-match interviews from Nicklas Bendtner and the boss, but I don't remember which is which so I don't know which link is which. Oh well, here's link number one and here's link number two. As promised yesterday, I even have the bosses pre-match press conference. A lot has been said about his comments, I won't dwell on them as I'm pretty sure you're all old enough to formulate your own opinions. Enjoy.

It's been just like a mini-interlull

Having used up it's supply of soft-news in the interlull, Arsenal have been under some kind of media-lock down; with pretty much nothing coming out except a bit of chat from Emmanuel Frimpong. Anyways, Arsene Wenger had his pre-match press conference today, but I'm afraid I don't have a video for you as of yet. I do have the news though, Manuel Almunia is set to continue in goal, Nasri deserves being nominated for PFA player of the Year and that the team 'want to show they're up for it'. Heard it all before springs to mind, seen it all before doesn't, but with reports of a few chats behind the scenes, let's hope some of the players are a bit more motivated than they have been in recent months weeks. Obviously a lot of Arsenal fans have been disappointed with recent results, but I think it's only fair to wait until the end of the season before judging, a la Arsenal Supporter's Trust.

The boss reckons that it's vital to trust the players now, having put in so much energy to bring them this far. I agree with him in general, and I don't think any of us disagree with bringing up young players, youth certainly isn't an impediment to success; but it's hard to trust a player who doesn't show any desire to win. At the end of the day, all we ask of players, at least all I would ever ask is that they give their all. Some of them haven't in the past, so why should I trust them to in the future? Sometimes you have to prove yourself. Anyway, as I said hopefully they've had a banana shoved up their back-sides and are ready to turn over anyone we face in the next eight games.

A bit of an early Blackpool preview then, as already mentioned Manuel Almunia will carry on in goal. Cesc Fabregas is fit to start against Blackpool but Alex Song is set to miss out, he will probably be joined on the sidelines by Bacary Sagna who won't be risked after a knock on his knee. Theo Walcott faces a late fitness test while Aaron Ramsey looks likely to feature in the squad after overcoming a groin problem.

In nice news, Arsenal Ladies travel to Lyon for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on Saturday evening. Let's hope they do better than the men have this season.

Now although I don't have Wenger's pre-match press conference for you (yet), I do have some other videos; a compilation of potential Arsenal full-back Carl Jenkinson playing for Charlton vs. Notts County. Take a look at Eboue's replacement?

We've also got an interview with Jeremie Aliadiere talking about random stuff, I think his Arsenal career is mentioned. He hasn't looked too bad for the reserves barring a bit of rustiness, is a contract really that unlikely? Who knows.

Anyways, that's it for now. I might update later if I get the pre-match press conference soon, it not then I'll probably have it by tomorrow. Have a good Friday night. :)

P.S. Vote in the poll!!! Right hand side of the page: 'Can Arsenal win the League?'