Kroenke Says No To Usmanov| ‘Hands’ Wenger £100M Warchest | No AOC For England

First off sorry we’ve been missing for the past few days, different commitments have taken us away from you but we’re back. So here’s the latest news concerning our beloved club.

Usmanov & Kroenke
Our 2 sugar daddies have different plans for the club with the same goal in mind, to return us to greatness. Usmanov is having to do it the hard way as the board won’t give him a seat. He’s gathering shares faster than Kroenke did in a bid to get to the 30% mark which is the lucky number needed to look into our books and get a seat on the board.

And he got a further 16 shares which he purchased from Rangers owner Craig Whyte to put him within touching distance of the 30%.

BUT, Kroenke and the rest are determined not to let that happen and the American is expected in London for talks today with the board and the following are expected to be discussed.

*Full support for Arsene Wenger to remain in charge till 2035.

*New Contracts for Van Persie & Walcott.

*£100M for Wenger to use on transfers(and possibly Wages) in the Summer.

*No Usmanov on the board because he’ll make the club better on the sporting front and we don’t want that.

I for one I’m not buying the £100M story, seeing as its time to renew season tickets & its come at a convenient period where fans are angry &seeking answers. If it were Usmanov that said it, I’d believe afterall he’s way wealthier than Kroenke.

Team News
The derby is a few days away and no news yet on Koscielny, Squillaci, Ramsey are out after picking up knocks against Sunderland, leaving Djourou & Vermaellen as our only fit CB’s.

Jenkinson is back & played 45mins for the reserves without setbacks. Talking about reserves, a host of first team players also played & shone with Arshavin grabbing 2, Park & Benayoun as well on the scoresheet.

The england team to face holland has been announced and AOC after impressing in recent weeks has been left out, yet Frazier Campell gets called up. SMH I’m not pleased but at the same time I’m happy, let him stay grounded and continue to play for us, England is not going anywhere.

That’s all for now, we’ll be back to give you the Spurs preview, till then, have a great day.

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Arsenal 3 – 0 West Brom : Player Ratings

WHO NEEDS BATMAN WHEN YOU’VE GOT ROBIN read the banner at the emirates. And they were right. One goal one assist means the in-form dutchman continues his red hot form. I might have to get a ‘Van Persie’ tattoo so everyone knows my love for him is real.

Wenger made just one change to the team that played against Marseille and that was RVP for Park. He rewarded that with the first goal, then went on to lay an assist for his vice captain The Verminator and for Arteta later in the second half to win the game. Below are the player ratings.:

PLAYER RATINGS

Szczesny- 7
Wasn’t really troubled by the West Brom frontline. Was called to action a couple of times but held his ground. Good outing.

Jenkinson 7
The young right back was highly impressive as he provided some good balls into the area going forward

Vermaelen 8
The Verminator is back Ladies and Gentlemen. Excellent outing for our assistant captain with a goal Vaan Persie would have been proud of.. Was also on hand with a delicate tackle against Tchoyi. Good game. Let’s hope he stays injury free

Koscielny – 7
The Frenchman wasnt really troubled as his combination with TV5 was amazing. I think this is the start of aa wonderful relationship. Maybe we can use Mertesacker for Champs league duty

Santos – 7
Probably his best defensive showing, not that he did anything note worthy. The brazilian claims his second clean sheet in succession

Arteta – 7
Started the game a bit slow with his side passes and two-dimensional game play. Was able to get a goal after a lovely lay-off from RvP. Really needs to step up his overall game play

Song – 8
Another good game for Song. Brilliant in coordinating the midfield & defense. Good news for Arsene as we won’t be losing him in Jaanuary

Ramsey – 7
Matured performance, without doing anything wrong, had a lot of delightful passes for Walcott in the first 45 mins. Grows with every game

Walcott – 6.5
A better game than the one against Marseille, needs to improve his jekyll and hyde finishing. I think he needs a breather.

Gervinho – 7
The Ivorian seems to be enjoying himself with every passing game, no longer staggers on the ball he’ll be missed in January but till then, let’s enjoy him.

Van Persie – 9
I’m sorry, I’ve run out of adjectives and superlatives to describe RVP, unless of course I use Yorùbá which is my native language but I’ll hold back on that. Super Super player.

SUBSTITUTES

Benayoun 5
Helped in starting the move that led to the third and final goal.

Rosicky N/A

Arshavin N/A

Another win, another clean sheet. Happy times at the Emirates again.

Faf

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Which Arsenal will show up today?

Just a quick preview into today’s game!

Here we are, 7th on the table after a really woeful start to the campaign. The entire team should still be in high spirits after last week’s demolition of Chelsea at Stamford bridge and so its only fair we do some damage to West Bromwich Albion at the Emirates.

The team is bolstered with the return of TV5 who is a major plus in defense as the team is yet to master the art of defending. Man of the moment, RVP will be looking to add to his stunning goal record this year and one can fully expect him to get the job done, Gervinho seems to be forming a telepathic bond with RvP and one can only pray they keep the fire burning. Arteta is getting more comfortable, Alex Song stays improving game after game, and Ramsey is doing his best to fill in for the injured Wilshere.

All in all, the team is looking sharp but there is always room for improvement. Someone needs to take some pressure off RVP. A friend of mine said “Van-Persie would soon be going on his yearly sabbatical (sabbatical being his “normal” injury break), I wonder what will happen then”. . Our exotic number 9 is yet to see any Premiership action but he already has a Carling Cup and Champions league start under his belt.

We can only hope he picks up the blistering form he has in the South-Korean shirt. We welcome a West-Brom side currently 13th on the table who may be looking to at least snatch a draw from the fixture. One man to watch out for will be Nigerian striker Peter Odemwingie who is currently West Brom’s record highest goal scorer in a single season and also knows what is feels like to score at the Emirates. Let’s not forget that West Brom got a 3-2 win in this same fixture last season so we have to be on our toes.

The Arsenal team will wear a special one-off shirt with a poppy embroidered into the Club’s home kit for the fixture. In honour of the many servicemen and women who have given their lives for peace the special shirts will be used for fundraising purposes, with the proceeds raised being donated to The Royal British Legion.

After an amazing win at Stamford Bridge, we witnessed another Arsenal side, one that served us a boring draw against Marseille at the Emirates. I am sure I speak on behalf of all gooners when I say we want to see the Arsenal of Stamford Bridge today. The one that ripped Chelsea to shreds not the one that couldn’t get past Marseille.We can only wait to see which Arsenal turns up.

Predicted Line-Up

Szczesny-Jenkinson-Vermaelen-Koscielny-Santos-Song-Arteta-Ramsey-Gervinho-Walcott-RVP

Prediction : 3-1

With only 11 points out of their last 10 games, we cannot afford to let West Brom get any point from this match as a morale boost. It is left to Le Boss to pick out the defensive pair but I expect the usual Kos, Mertesacker combination. Do you agree? Do let me know in the comments!

From wherever you are reading this. Have an amazing weekend, and Barka de Sallah in advance to our Muslim readers.

I expect to return with a review of a big win!
Keep those Guns Blazing!

Faf

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Arsenal vs Marseille : Post Match Thoughts + Ratings

For only the third game this season, Arsenal shot blanks and failed to find the back of the net. The scoreline did not reflect the nature of the game as we could have won by at least 3 goals with poor finishing & lack of sharpness to blame.

Arsene Wenger chose to rest RVP and Koscielny for Vermaelen & Park with Jenkinson also coming in for Djourou, those were the only changes. The game started off slowly, we kept giving away possession and Marseille spent the better part of the first 10 minutes in our half with nothing to show.

We gained a foothold just after that, with Ramsey and Gervinho posing serious threats with their pace & passing. Ramsey had the chance to put us ahead but held back on the pass to Park and ended up wasting it. Walcott was also set free by Gervinho and Marseille had the goalkeeper to thank after turning it round the post. The half time whistle came and just before that, Gervinho shot at the goalkeeper.

For all of the speed carried by the oppositions attackers they couldn’t make it count. Santos was having a mixed game, poor at the back, excellent going forward. Gervinho full of energy, Arteta ever so careful. The back four rarely untroubled and Vermaelen looked solid, Jenko too. Despite making changes and introducing RVP, Rosicky & Arshavin, we still lacked sharpness but credit to Marseille, they got what they came for.

On the plus side, coming away with the draw meant we still top the group and are on course to qualify and the unbeaten run is still on.

Positives
Good to see Vermaelen back, he did not look out of place, won his tackles, defended well and organized the defence.

•Jenkinson defended well and Song had a solid game. Gervinho is beginning to settle well and improving his range of passing.

•Walcott might be on-and-off offensively, but in the past few games, his defensive input has been solid, the highlight was when Santos lost the ball on the left and Marseille broke with speed, Theo sped back all of 70yards to cover for him. Great stuff.

RATINGS

Szczesny- 6

Jenkinson 6.5

Mertesacker 6.5

Vermaelen – 7

Santos – 6

Arteta – 6

Song – 7

Ramsey – 6.5

Walcott – 6

Gervinho – 7

Park – 4

SUBSTITUTES

RVP – 5

Rosicky – 5

Arshavin – 5

Do have a great day. Cheers

Escobar

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Vermaelen Fit To Tackle Chelsea As Jenkinson Faces Late Test + Notes From The AGM

After coming through 80+ minutes in the Carling Cup on tuesday and coming off with small cramp, The Verminator has been passed fit to take on Chelsea. Although Wenger is yet to confirm if he’ll start, he’s in the squad and that in itself is a welcome boost to the squad ahead of the trip to the neighbors.

Not only that, Carl Jenkinson is facing a race to be fit for the game and would need to pass a late fitness test. The young Finnish-English lad hasn’t played since going off against Marseille two weeks ago.

Finally, the injuries are beginning to ease on us and in no time, we’ll have all our players fit with the exception of Jack Wilshere who is ruled out till the new year and what better time for that to happen than when the team is on the ascendancy. Diaby & Gibbs are still out, with no set date placed on the return of the latter, but we should see them soon.

The Annual General meeting held yesterday at the club and due to different obstacles I couldn’t make it in person to attend and apparently someone asked for PHW to step down and bring David Dein back to the club. To read on all that went down, (open the link in blue) check out Le Grove I also heard Wenger gave a rousing speech. Good man.

That’s all for now, I’ll be here to give you the match preview early tomorrow morning. Don’t miss it. Do have a swell day.

Escobar

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EXCLUSIVE : Vermaelen Back In TEN Days As Jenkinson Is Out For Three Weeks.

Its give-and-take season at Arsenal as great news always seems to come with some misfortune, but this is one piece of news I and gooners worldwide would appreciate. THE VERMINATOR IS BACK!!!!!!!!. For those that don’t know, that’s Thomas Vermaelen, our best defender and most prolific goalscoring one in years. Arsene Wenger had this to say about him:

He’ll be back in full training on friday(today), it would be 10 days to two weeks for him.

The great news did not stop there as he also touched on Abou Diaby and Kieran Gibbs:

“He(Diaby) is getting better but is not ready to play yet. He’s probably back in two weeks, just a fraction behind Vermaelen. While Gibbs is nothing serious and should be back in a week or two”

.

The only downside is Jenkinson who despite his great game at the Stade Veladrome on Wednesday picked up a knew injury which could see him ruled out for three weeks. With Vermaelen returning soon it might not be a huge loss as Djourou & Kozzer have been earmarked as possible replacements and the former having played there already.

One can only pray we continue to get good news as we’re slowly getting back on our feet. Again great credit to the defensive play on wednesday, very solid and matured. Cheers

Escobar

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One Nil To The Arsenal : The Marseille Review

One-Nil-To-The-Arsenal read the scoreline after 90 minutes of play yesterday and despite the poor performance from more than half of the team, the result is the most important thing as it sent us to the top of the table.

Due to fitness concerns of certain players, Le Boss made just two changes as Arshavin and Santos came in for Gervinho & Gibbs. The game in itself had little to show for attacking wise as there were a lot of half chances with both sides having penalty claims which weren’t given.

The pace of Remy & Valbuena repeatedly caused problems in the Arsenal half with no serious threat. Jenkinson made a good account of himself and showed desire, commitment and was ever willing in the game, Koscielny was an absolute rock and nullified every threat he faced. Song picked up an early booking which could have cost us but did not. When I called him an average player, I got a lot of stick, well he did little to change my opinion of him.

The attacking threat which we were supposed to carry with Walcott and Arshavin was absent as they both looked like lost puppies, Arteta can’t make a forward pass and direct one to save his life as he kept on passing to the wings.

Walcott had the chance to put us ahead but fluffed his lines as the defender got back in time to rescue his team. Up next was RVP who saw his shot blocked by the Marseille keeper. Before this, AW had sent on Gervinho , Djourou & then Ramsey for Walcott, Jenkinson(injury) and Arshavin. Djourou would later send a cross into the box which landed gratefully at the feet of Ramsey who took his finish well. Too late for Marseille to muster any comeback as the clock had expired.

For once, we won without playing well and I knew what it felt like to be a United/Chelsea fan. If we can continue to get more results like this without playing well, I and many fans worldwide would be grateful.

PLAYER RATINGS

Szczesny- 7

Jenkinson 7

Mertesacker 7

Koscielny – 8.5 MOTM

Santos – 6

Arteta – 6

Song – 6

Rosicky – 6.5

Walcott – 5

Arshavin – 5

Van Persie – 6

SUBSTITUTES

Ramsey – 7

Gervinho – 5

Djourou – 6

Escobar

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Koscielny was a rock against Marseille

Marseille vs Arsenal : Match Preview

New week, new injuries, same players. At least we’re starting the week on a high, after captain Fantastic RVP bagged all 3 points for us, making it the second time he’s scored freekick winners against Sunderland in the month of October(2007 & 2011). The win came at a cost as perennial absentee Gibbs picked up another injury.

Needing six points from the remaining three games to qualify(nine points to win the group), Arsenal travel to Stade Veladrome to face Marseille on wednesday night. This would be no easy fixture as the opposition are worthy opponents and won the french league two seasons ago but history is on our side.

Arsenal have never lost away to a french club winning four and drawing three of seven games. Although the last game we played in France was 8 years ago winning 1-0 against AJ Auxerre. On the negative side, we have lost six of our last away games overall in the champions league proper.

Team News
Gibbs & Ramsey join the ever growing list of absentees with different ailments. Bar that, its the same players from the weekend as Vermaelen & Diaby are still a few weeks away from being fit.

I’d like to see a change in formation, maybe 4-1-4-1 with Song behind Gervinho-Arteta-Rosicky-Oxlade then RVP upfront. But knowing Arsene, Oxlade would probably be on the bench with Arshavin most likely to take Walcott’s place who underperformed against Sunderland. One prayer is for RVP to continue his rich scoring form and come through the game unscathed. Who knows, maybe we’ll finally get to see Park play.

Arteta to me has to up his game, hasn’t impressed me so far, Gervinho too but as time goes on hopefully they would, either that or drop them for hungry people that are willing to take their chances.

Predicted Line Up: Sczcesny-Jenkinson-Koscielny-Mertesacker-Santos-Song-Arteta-Rosicky-Arshavin-Gervinho-RVP

Prediction : Marseille 1:2 Arsenal

Well there you have it, let’s win this game, can’t take any risks, would love to avoid the likes of Barca, Madrid, Bayern in the knockout stages. From wherever you’re reading, have a swell day.

Escobar

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Fantastic Robin Van Persie Seals Victory : The Player Ratings

Bottom of the table is where we would be this season without Robin Van Persie, a captain’s performance and man of the match game saw him seal all three points after putting us in the lead with just 28seconds on the clock before Seb Larsson equalised with a well taken freekick. But anything the former gooner can do, the current idol can match if not better. Below are the player ratings.

Szczesny- 7
Second best player on the pitch today, knew nothing and could do nothing to stop the goal. But was alert and strong enough to be in the right position to prevent us from falling further behind.

Jenkinson 6.5
Making his home debut, the young man put in a good shift and wasn’t all that troubled. Needs to improve his offensive output.

Mertesacker 6.5
For someone so slow, he ventures forward too much for my liking. Did not have much to do as Sunderland had no striker on the pitch.

Koscielny – 6.5
Like his partner had little or nothing to do, covered well whenever Gibbs went missing.

Gibbs – 5
Playing a full 90minutes or back to back games is fast becoming a taboo for the young Englishman. Withdrawn at half time after pulling up injured.

Arteta – 5
Another poor game from the spaniard. For someone so experienced in the EPL he sure doesn’t play like one. Needs to up his game. And quick

Song – 5
Just maybe his best position is at CB, wasn’t impressive at all today. Coquelin should have started.

Rosicky – 6
The only one of the midfield trio to play well. He needs to be more authoritative with his play and shoot more often.

Walcott – minus 10
Oh my was he poor today. I’m running out of excuses to give for his on-and-off performances. Surely Oxlade can do better than this as he’s on form. God knows why he wasn’t even in the squad.

Gervinho – 6.5
High rating because of the assist. He can do better but doesn’t show it. He went for power over placement when faced with the goal alone. Needs to improve as well.

Van Persie – 100
God bless RVP. Captain Marvelous. They say no such thing as a one man army but he defeated that today with a wonderful performance. He deserves better than he’s getting.

Arsene Wenger – Idiot Of The Match
Poor selection before and during the game, poor tactics since 06/07. Walcott should have been withdrawn yet he lasted 90 minutes. Park continues to decorate the bench. He continues to baffle me.

SUBSTITUTES

Arshavin – 5
Ran at the defence with real purpose when he came on. Should have grabbed a goal.

Santos – 5
Decent cameo from the brazilian.

Stan Kroenke, break the bank and do whatever you must to keep RVP at the club, I hope you watched today’s game. God bless RVP and Arsenal.

Escobar

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Koscielny Set For Right Back + Sunderland Preview

Move Over International football, Welcome back EPL(and the remaining leagues of lesser importance). A lot happened over the last 14 days, with countries qualifying for their respective 2012 tournaments, lots of goals, drama, heartbreak(my country Nigeria losing out on ACN qualification….gutted), oh Wayne Rooney’s moment of madness will see him miss the group stages of Euro 12.

Back to important business, looks like the injuries are easing up on the lads, Koscielny, Djourou and the french abomination(a bit extreme I know) who must not be named are all back in training. Which believe it or not is good news as it means Song gets to move back into his natural role even if it means I won’t get to see Coquelin for a while.

AW reckons Sagna’s injury is no cause for alarm as he trusts the mighty Jenkinson (who by the way is better than Dani Alves + Phillip Lahm) to replace the frenchman. He then went further by saying Koscielny could do the job is superman Jenko fails to make the grade or Djourou or Andre Santos. Good, no need to worry.

We welcome Sunderland to the Grove on Sunday and the lineup might not see much change, if at all the trio of Koscielny, Jenkinson coming in for Coquelin and Sagna. I expect the same players in attack and midfield. Good news is Bendtner won’t be playing as EPL rules prevent such. Let’s hope the lads can do well.

Have a great day.

Escobar

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