Dull Arsenal Fail To Fire As Gervinho Sees Red On Debut + Ratings

If the game yesterday is a sign of things to come then we can forget the top four this season. No Fabregas, No Nasri & no Wilshere and we lacked cutting edge, sharpness & decisiveness. The game was there for the taking but we didn’t seem interested in taking it.

As expected, Gervinho was handed a debut and Ramsey came in for Wilshere & Rosicky for Fabregas, same formation from last season which is something we should look at changing for this season. It was a dull affair from the start with us dominating possession as is the norm with us but nothing to take home in the final third, Gervinho showed promise with his touch, pace & control but opted to pass the ball everytime instead of shooting which was rather irritating as the game wore on

We were rarely troubled at the back and the midfield trio of Rosick-Ramsey-Song weren’t helping the attack with their lethargic performance. Song was first to go into the book for a stupid challenge and Rosicky quickly followed for a similar one. The end of the first half would have seen us score but for Van Persie’s poor touch from a delightful lob from Andrey Arshavin. We had only one shot on target in the whole 45.

2nd half more of the same, possession with no result, even Wilshere had to tweet for Arsene to throw Theo on which did not happen until the 60 something minute and his first involvement brought a save out of the goalkeeper. One would be forgiven for thinking Arsenal were Stoke in disguise as we had more fouls than chances created.

An attack on the left saw Gervinho weave his way into the box and he went down under the slightest of touches from Tiote, play on said the referee but Barton wasn’t impressed and the c*nt decided to award more punishment as he dragged up Gervinho like a thief and rough housed him, a melee ensued and in the process Gerv hit Barton who went down like he had been shot.

The referee did not see it and I don’t know how the linesman missed it but they all saw what Gerv did, he was sent off & Barton was given a yellow. Bad Officiating 1 : 0 Arsenal . The game played out as expected with us dropping points and losing a player again for the 2nd consecutive opening day.

One has to hope & pray Arsene’s eyes were peeled to the awful showing yesterday and makes him speed up the transfer dealings. Spend some f*cking money and maybe, just maybe we can do well this season. Rosicky is useless and can’t do well for us anymore, Ramsey is not a holding midfielder, and Van Persie needs a partner seeing as he kept dropping to the midfield. SPEND SOME F*CKING MONEY ARSENAL.

PLAYER RATINGS

Szczesny- 6
Was largely uninvolved as the Newcastle attack were asleep for most of the game

Sagna 7
Gave a good account of himself, held his own and did good going forward and staying back

Vermaelen 7
Good to have him back, won so many last ditch challenges & commanded his presence

Koscielny – 7
Made some crucial interceptions in the 2nd half and his understanding with TV5 was there to see

Gibbs – 6
A better team and his lack of positional discipline would have been dealt with severely, otherwise a decent showing

Ramsey – 6.5
Playing in an unfamiliar role of holding midfield and you could see his discomfort, played ok but could have done better

Song – 6.5
Needs to learn discipline, he was rash, poor in his tackles and could of seen Red for his poor stamp on Barton

Rosicky – 5
Useless, for a playmaker he spent more time passing to the side like Denilson and he inspired nothing and slowed down counter attacks.

Gervinho – 7
Bright and bubbly, seemed nervous at times, passed when he should of shot, his debut was marked by a red card, hopefully he’s learnt his lesson.

Arshavin – 5
Barring one excellent lobbed pass to RVP he was poor. Very poor

Van Persie – 6
Spent more time coming back to help the midfield, that’s how poor the service to him was. OK game.

SUBSTITUTES

Walcott – 6
Full of energy when he came on and nearly scored with his first chance.

Udinese are next up for us, then Liverpool, Udinese & United, we need those replacements as early as possible and not some stupid kids. From wherever you’re reading, try not to get your hopes high, or too low at that.

Escobar

Follow us on twitter @goonermemoirs

Ryo Miyaichi Granted Work Permit | Fabregas & Nasri In Champions League Squad

Japanese teenage forward Ryo Miyaich has been granted a work permit which enables him to play for Arsenal this coming season, ruling out any possibility of him going out on loan. This is news that has been well received by everyone related with Arsenal as his electrifying performances during the pre season has wowed fans.

Arsene Wenger had this to say on hearing the news

We are absolutely delighted that Ryo has been granted a work permit. This is almost like a new signing for us as we weren’t completely sure we would be given the authorization. Ryo has worked extremely hard in pre season and performed well in the matches in Asia Germany & Portugal

This has beefed up Arsenal’s attacking department which is still short on the defensive end. But nonetheless, this week continues to bring good news, let’s hope it can continue with new faces. He’ll go straight into the squad for the newcastle game along with new signing Oxlade-Chamberlain

The 25 man squad for the Champions league game against United has been released and surprisingly has both Fabregas & Nasri on it giving the clearest indication they’ll both stay or at least one would depending on late changes. Ryo doesn’t make the list according to @FourFourTom . I’m sure that’s not the complete list as there’s still to be confirmed a centre back signing.

We’ll keep you up to date with breaking news as it happens, follow us on twitter @goonermemoirs for updates.

Eboue On The Move?|Get Cahill and Mata|Forget Jageilka and Cazorla

Top of the morning to you, how was the weekend? Well, mine was spent watching Gervinho nab a brace, Jenkinson score a superb own goal and studying for a test I have this morning and exams coming up in a fortnight but I can’t leave you without one last post. I expect Yemi’ Jr & Faf to treat you well in my absence. Do pray for me. Thanks

Over the weekend, different reports had us considering a double bid for Mata & Cazorla with Jagielka also in the mix. Of all these players Mata & Cahill are what we really need. I’ll tell you why.

Mata & Cahill : YES

First things first, Mata is 23, a world cup winner, u21 winner and has bags of experience at the top after captaining Valencia most of last season. That in itself is a big deal, you don’t make a mug your captain and he’s certainly not one. He can play anywhere in the midfield and attack and has a excellent injury-free record and would fit in well with the lads.

As for Cahill, I don’t think I need to say much about what he brings to the plate, he’s 6’4″, dominant in the air and can command a defence well. Also young and at 24 can play for Arsenal for years to come and could even become the next Tony Adams for us. I don’t know why we just won’t put in a solid bid and wrap up the deal already. If I know AW well, he’s waiting for January when Cahill would be free to talk to & sign for any club as he’s in the last year of his contract. I hope Bolton caves in when we make an offer as they won’t want to lose him on a free. Imagine Vermalean and Cahill at the heart of our defense.

Jagielka & Cazorla : NO!!!

Why you ask? Let me start with Jags, he’s a brute, he’s a commanding presence and a no nonsense tackler, aerially dominant as well and bags of experience. BUT everything Jagielka just screams another Vermaelen, they’re too similar and are virtually the same height. I’m sorry that’s not what we need. Look at United, they have the brute in Vidic and the calm ball player in Ferdinand, Jagielka and Vermaelen won’t give us that. Jagielka is also injury prone and he’s 28.

As for Cazorla, each time I see that guy I just think, ‘Rescue Rangers’ in my head with his beaver/squirrel look, he’s at best a decent player, nothing spectacular, I’d rather we keep Rosicky than go for him. He’s not that bad but he’s not what we need and his injury record is also bad as he spends more time injured than fit. There are better attackers we could be looking at, Mario Goetze of Dortmund and Marko Marin of Bremen to mention a few.

I wonder why we haven’t put in a bid for Per Metesacker, he’s cheaper than what we’re being quoted for the two english lads and has more experience than both and he’s 6’6″, our setpiece problem would ease considerably. A new left back should be a priority after Gibbs’ appalling performance yesterday. Imagine him against Lennon/Valencia/Young/Nani/Kuyt, he fail badly.

Eboue
Galatasaray have offered £4M for Eboue if you believe the Daily Mirror and I hope he’s gone before the end of the week. Jenkinson looks good enough despite his wonderful own goal yesterday.

Fabregas & Nasri
One is leaving, the latter isn’t. Arsenal have put their foot down on Nasri leaving and are willing to lose him for free. Foolish if you ask me. I hope the Cesc saga is completed come end of the week so we can make all our buys. If Wilshere can continue to reel in passes like the one he made for Gervinho’s goal on Saturday then we’ll be alright.

Arsenal To Offer Fabregas Pay Rise. WHY?? | Gazidis Says Buying Not Over

Imagine the rubbish I woke up to this morning, the Daily Mirror is reporting that we’re set to offer Fabregas a contract extension and an improved contract. Again I ask WHY???. Its obvious he doesn’t want to remain at the club and it would take some divine intervention or serious brain washing to make him consider the offer in the first.

The question is why aren’t we offering Samir Nasri a better contract, afterall he hasn’t said he wants to join a particular club, or any one for that matter and he’s remained professional so far. Sometimes I wonder if my dearly beloved Arsenal is haunted or maybe some ex player put a hex on us. Who knows

Another bit on interesting news was Gazidis yesterday. He took time off his busy schedule to talk to Arsenal.com. He had a lot to say but what mattered the most, he had this to say :

We haven’t finished our business at all, we’re just not conducting it publicly, but we’re working hard privately. We understand where the weaknesses have been, we’ve got a substantial amount of money you can invest

The pessimist would point out that he said ‘Substantial(which means Of considerable importance and size) but the average gooner would be glad to know we’re still in for at least 2 players( if you add the Costa Rican kid Campbell.

Before I go, a big welcome to Gervinho who has finally completed his transfer. I hope his French league form continues with us. Good riddance to Denilson who has gone back to Sao Paolo on loan where the new manager said he’s a fast player. I wonder if the coach meant on Football Manager or Fifa ’11.

From wherever you’re reading, have a great day and success to all our Nigerian fans writing exams. Make us proud.

UPDATE: Conflicting reports about the Joel Campbell story despite reporting earlier that he’s having a medical report. Word is, we have pulled the plug on such deal according to Gunner Blog We’ll bring you more on that soon.

DENILSON IS GONE!!! | Fabregas Kidnapped & Barca Dont Want To Pay Ransom + Transfer Rumors

Morning gooners all over, I have some good news and I have some bad news and I also have shocking news, I’ll just hand it to you hot, or cold like the weather today. Arsenal’s much maligned and un-brazilian brazilian is leaving the club, Yes, Denilson is leaving Arsenal, finally. That’s the good news. The bad news is he’s only leaving on loan. His former club Santos have agreed to take him on a year long loan. I hope he never returns, unless he wants to sit and rot in our reserves which at the moment he’s not even good enough to play in. That’s one down, Bendtner, Eboue, Almunia to go.

Remember how we said a few weeks back that we got nominated for Best Sports blog in the Nigerian Blog Awards, that’s another good news, well we did not win,(the other bad news) I don’t even if we came 2nd or 4th or if we were leading the polls and like Arsenal we crashed just before the polls closed, oh well, it was good to be recognized in the first place. And a big THANK YOU to everyone who voted.

To the shocking and quite hilarious(to us gooners) news, apparently we are kidnappers as the Mayor of Fabregas’ town has decided to wade into the ongoing debate of ‘Let Fabregas Go’. He had this to say :

” We want him to come right away, he is experiencing a kidnapping, If the English are so honorable, they should behave properly”

First off, I think he was high when he made this comment, because if making someone the highest paid player in the club and earning loyalty of £2M a year is ‘like kidnapping‘ then I really hope they kidnap me forever. And to add to this, Arsene is not English, the club might be but the potential owner and coach are not so p*ss off. But if we are indeed kidnappers, every hostage has a ransom fee, and until Barca meets that fee, he remains a hostage.

My only disappointment in all this is that Fabregas hasn’t come out to stop all these silly and derogatory comments, instead he’s keeping mum which is disrespectful. If he really wants to leave and has told Xavi and co’ that he’s depressed, he should also tell them he’s worth £50M or at least pay the £45M the club is demanding. He’s losing respect of the fans as each minute passes.

Theo Walcott has come out pleading to be played as a centre forward claiming he’s ready to reveal his ‘Thierry Henry’ so as to be the other 15-20 goals a season striker in the club, a claim I wholeheartedly support. He gets a lot of stick for someone playing out of position and despite that he still does well. Play a couple of strikers on the wings and let’s see if they’ll flourish. I pray Arsene listens to him.

Transfer speculation has been rife in the past two days with reports linking us to Costa Rica U-20 striker Joel Campbell and we’re in advanced talks already, I just hope we bag him and avoid another Alvarez as other clubs have also met the asking price but the lad seems keen on wearing Arsenal’s Red & White. Get him Arsene, and be quick about it. Here’s a clip of him, you should enjoy it, Joel Campbell In Action

The Daily Sun also has us linked with Romelo Lukaku, the belgian starlet widely tipped to join Chelsea and seen as the new Drogba. Apparently officers of Anderlecth met with our officials yesterday after we tabled a £14M bid. Read more about it here Arsenal Bid £14M For Lukaku

It would be a major coup if we could get him, at 6’3″ and just 20 with 38 goals in 71(not sure about the stat) he could fit in well especially in January when we lose Chamakh & Gervinho for the African Cup Of Nations. Yup, some of you have forgotten about that. Imagine the horror of having Van Persie injured during that time……

From wherever you are, have a swell day, I wish I could wish the same on me. See you in the comments.

Escobar

Follow us on twitter @goonermemoirs

Wenger Exclusive : Gervinho Has Signed, Nasri & Fabregas To Stay, Gibbs,Traore or Vermaelen For LB Role

Fresh from the 13hour flight to Malaysia, Arsene Wenger alongside Van Persie and Bacary Sagna addressed the media in a press conference and as expected, the topics were Gervinho, Nasri & Fabregas, and the Left back position.

Thanks to @1nil2thearsenal & @aeroblog we were able to gather news on what he said.

On Gervinho, he had this to say

Gervinho has signed for Arsenal and will start training today at Colney, he hasn’t had any preseason training at all so he won’t be joining us for the Asia Tour

FINALLY

On Nasri & Fabregas, he said

As for Nasri, he’s not going anywhere this year and we don’t know if he will sign an extension. He went further by saying Fabregas isn’t going anywhere and wants him to remain with the team.

@1nil2thearsenal thinks what Wenger plans to do is try and convince Nasri a few months into the season, and if that doesn’t work, will look to sell in January. That might be risky as the ball will be solely in Nasri’s court.

And finally, on the left back position, Wenger mentioned Gibbs, Traore and Vermaelen, I.e any one of those 3 players will be assessed in that position and whoever excels would make the position his.

Well there you have it. Do have a swell day. See you in the comments.

Wegner To Sign ONLY Three Players + Bendtner & Almunia Leaving Arsenal,

Top of the morning to you gooners worldwide, its a shitty day from this side, horrible & unpredictable weather but that hasn’t stopped the media from feeding us lies and us from reading every story on every one we’re linked with, even the useless ones.

The team has finally left for Asia and almost everyone is on the plane barring Fabregas & Eboue(injuries), Diaby, Fabianski, Bendtner & Almunia. The exclusion of the last two mentioned has prompted everyone to believe they are leaving the club and are in talks already, so expect them to be gone before the Emirates cup begins. I wonder why Denilson wasn’t left behind, probably no one wants to buy him, I suggest we loan him out or relegate him to the reserves. Good to see the likes of Miyaichi & Frimpong part of the traveling party.

When giving his press conference before leaving for Asia, Arsene had this to say about potential additions to the squad

“We are working very hard on it, the best thing is not to talk too much about it, the more you speak about things, the less chance you have to achieve it. The only thing I can promise you is we will work very hard & we’ve had some long nights to achieve what we want. My first responsibility is not to lose players and then add to make us stronger, let’s hope we can bring in ONE or TWO quality signings

Either I misread that last part or what Wenger means is that we’ll buy 5 players but only 3 would be quality. I don’t see how everyone sees the changes that needs to be made yet the man in charge of the team is blind to them. I do hope we get at least 4 quality signings especially if Fabregas leaves. Let’s hope Gervinho is an Arsenal player by the time the next post comes up, as he’s already had 351 medicals already.

I’m off to go get a hot cup of tea as its raining bullets right about now. From wherever you are reading have a swell day and stay tuned for our first pre-season game against Malaysia XI on wednesday, I’ll give you more info on that later. See you in the comments.

Escobar

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Wenger Says NO To Nasri Move + No Signings Till After Pre-Season

For Arsenal, its back to training for the players, time to shed the weight gained during the summer break & get in shape. On the transfer front though, its a dull morning, a very boring one. Oh wait, no its not, Arsene Wenger has reportedly said Nasri isn’t going anywhere, not even for £50M. Way to go Arsene, don’t be bullied into selling one of your top players. So I wonder where DailyMail got their headline that says City have clinched the deal for Nasri.

I’m not going to complain and say this needs to be done, quality players need to come in & the dead players need to be expunged like rodents in a fumigated apartment. Or go on about how Arsene needs to change his approach, and how the board needs to be replaced. I’m tired of arguing or complaining for or on behalf of Arsenal because I’m sure you all know & see what’s going on and we don’t want to sound like a broken record.

Fabregas isn’t going anywhere. Daddy Wenger has spoken, unless of course Barca stump up the £40M being quoted. If Fab really wants to leave(which all we Arsenal fans now seem to want) then he should make Barca pay up or shut up, he still has 4 years, so if they don’t pay now, they can always come back. All I know is, with the right signings in the right positions Fabregas WILL STAY, Henry left only because he wasn’t ready to play Moses to a young cast. Surround Fabregas with winners and watch how his attitude would change, not fashion divas and clowns and sorry excuses for footballers.

6th July, 2011, and no significant move has happened asides from Clichy leaving us. Here are a list of what should have happened by now

• Gervinho should have been unveiled seeing how his signing might just be the tonic for Nasri’s possible u-turn

• Gary Cahill & Samba should have also signed, well at least one of them as Clichy has gone and I don’t want Gibbs as his replacement, rather see TV5 there.

• Eboue, Rosicky, Almunia & Denilson should all be frozen out of the team just like City have done with certain players or told to find new clubs. Squillaci too should be on that list.

•And most importantly, try not to lose any of our reported targets a la Alvarez.

There you go, oh before we leave you, newspaper reports have it that Alex Song might be ‘on his way out of Arsenal’ and into Fox River Prison for not assaulting a young girl in Cameroun, well from us to you out there, assault someone so as to avoid jail because not assaulting will send you to jail.

From wherever you’re reading, have a swell day and keep Arsenal in your prayers.

Escobar

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BREAKING NEWS : Arsenal ‘Willing To Sell’ Fabregas IF The Offer Is Right

Breaking news reaching us from BBC is that Arsenal are willing to play ball with Barcelona for Fabregas IF the proper offer is received.
A senior officer within Arsenal, had this to say

“The Offer was made formally in writing to our chief executive officer(Gazidis), and we said no straightaway. And if an improved offer is made, then yes, we’ll possibly have to sell“

We’ll keep you posted on updates but as we reported earlier on why we should sell him, the club must realise they can’t play hard ball for so long. We are expecting an improved offer and if we get 35M + Thiago, then we should sell.

Escobar

EXCLUSIVE : Why Fabregas Must Leave Arsenal & £18M For Mata | Still No Samba & Gervinho

You’re probably wondering if I’m nuts or something and why I’d want our best and most valuable to leave the club. Well, remember the story of the Israelites that wanted to leave Egypt and how Moses kept begging for Pharaoh to LET MY PEOPLE GO. And how it had to come to ten plagues and the near destruction of Egypt beefore that happened.

What’s my point? Well, right now, we’re on the fence with this deal, Barca don’t need Fabregas but they want him. So let’s try and get the best possible deal. If he doesn’t leave this summer, at the end of next summer he won’t be worth much because he’ll have just two years left on his contract and Barca can afford to wait. Let’s face it, barring some freakish Miracle that would see us win the treble next season, Fabregas WOULD NOT sign any other contract or extension with Arsenal.

So I say, get the best possible deal for him now, if we can get 35M & Thiago Alcantara, I’d be happy. Incase you haven’t heard of or seen Thiago play, I have, and like I said on twitter a few weeks back, he’s like The Love Child Of Xavi’s Father & Iniesta’s Mother, yes, he’s that good and ready for the big time. Let’s make it happen.

Transfer news, after getting all hyped from watching clips of Ricky Alvarez who was rumored to be only interested in a move to Emirates, looks like we’re about to be dashed on that front. Inter Milan have reportedly made a better bid than ours, offered more in terms of wages & the allure of Argentine mates at Inter might prove too strong. I hope we still bag him, he’s like a cross between Kaka & Di Maria in his style of play. Nuff said.

Instead, news broke all over spanish media yesterday that we put in an 18M bid for Juan Manuel Mata who is a very exciting player than can play across the midfield. Word is, he wants to join a champions league team seeing as Valencia did not make it(which also rules out long time suitors) and with his club’s account well in red so much its fading to pink, they might sell him. 18M??? That’s not our way but I’m glad and I hope its true. That might just be the end of Nasri OR might convince the likes of him & Cesc to stay. Mata or Alvarez? You pick.

The window is not yet open officially, but where United that just won the league have already bolstered their ranks, we’re no closer to where we were when the season ended. Samba deal is still unclear, despite his public outcry to join us. Just make it happen already as Samba seems to be everyone’s preferred choice ahead of Cahill & Jagielka because of his physical attributes and his footballing ones as well.

Same goes for Gervinho, too many twists and turns, now word is, we haven’t even put in an official bid according to their president, even though the Ivorian has told the club to make something happen. So we’re definitely going to see movement this week.

From wherever you’re reading, have a splendid day and for the impatient ones, we still have 65 days till the window closes. Cheers

Escobar

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