Arshavin braves the morning rain prior to training

By Aries

Andrey Arshavin has returned to London and pre season training after holidaying in his native St Petersburg.

He has joined a selection of his Arsenal team mates at London Colney as those who were involved on duty with their national teams were given permission to join a week later.

Speaking on his personal site he revealed some of the exercises that Arsene Wenger set for them.

“They consisted of two racing exercises of twelve minutes of continuous running with periodic accelerations” he said.

These he had no problem in completing which is not a surprise as he mentioned that he does some extra training prior to setting off for training every morning.

He goes for a morning jog even if it usually rains: “No (the rain does not put me off) as running is necessary for me” he said.

With the signing of Zhirkov by Chelsea there are now three Russians playing in London with Arshavin and Tottenham’s Pavlichenko the other two.

Arshavin has however offered his tip for the next Russian to play in the Premier League and he is CSKA’s and Russia’s goalkeeper Akinfeev.

I don’t think he will be coming to Arsenal.

Arsenal's three new signings begin pre season training (photos)

By Aries

Pre season training began under heavy rain but Arsene Wenger, with timer and whistle in hand, still put all the boys through their steps with the usual precision that characterises all his sessions.

Players that were involved in games for their national squads have been given time off of course.

These include among others Gibbs, Walcott and Fabregas.

But among the players that were present were Arsenal’s three new signings…


Thomas Vermaelen we all hope will be the answer to Arsenal’s defensive needs.



The two others are like new signings to me. I am very pleased to see the much maligned Tomas Rosicky back with the first team squad. What a tremendous boost this is to him (and to us), having been out of action and nowhere near the training pitch for a whole year and a half!




The other “signing” is Eduardo. He did come back towards the tail end of last season but had to cut that short with more niggling injuries. He looks refreshed in the photo.



I have a feeling that all will go well this coming season…..

Edu returns home

By Aries

If only Edu was convinced by Arsene Wenger to sign a new contract instead of going to Spain’s Valencia. I believe Arsenal would have gone on to dominate the Premier League for years to come.

Instead after belatedly, as it turned out to be, being offered an improved contract he had already made his mind up to leave Arsenal, cheesed off by what he considered the apparent lack of interest to keep him.

Sounds like the Flamini saga doesn’t it?

Wenger plucked him up from the Brazilian league side Corinthians where he had already won the 1998 and 1999 Brasileiro championships and the 2000 World Club Championship.

Seen as his finest so far in football, his 2003-04 season in midfield for Arsenal was capped by one of five goals against Internazionale in a 5-1 Arsenal victory. Arsenal went on to win the Premier league that season, unbeaten…

In May 2005 Edu left Arsenal on a Bosman ruling free transfer. Shortly after signing for Valencia he suffered a pre-season injury that ruled him out of first-team action until a year later. Further injuries however restricted him to just 44 appearances during his four years there.

Edu, now 31, has signed a contract with his old club Corinthians which will run till 2011. He will be presented to the Brazilian media tomorrow.

Good luck Edu..

Is Melo really coming to Arsenal?

By 1970’s Gooner

I have been enjoying the sun and the beach for the last week or so without really paying too much attention to all the speculation regarding the “impending” transfers that are about to happen at the Emirates.

One such transfer speculation that has excited a large proportion of Arsenal fans judging by the way that some Arsenal related blogs covered the matter is the Filipe Melo saga.

They have been led astray of course by the way the press has distorted a statement made by Fiorentina with regard to the possibility of Melo moving clubs this summer.

What has really prompted this statement is not Arsenal’s bid for the player (and the offer of part exchanging Eboue). It is that Melo has been in advanced negotiations with Juventus which has got the Fiorentina hierarchy all flustered.

They obviously want to agree the transfer fee first and THEN for the player to agree personal terms with his new club. Since it is obviously happening the other way round, with the player set on a move to Juventus, they see their bargaining power being eroded.

Hence the statement from Fiorentina which refered to the get out clause on Melo’s contract setting his price at €25m.

“In case the footballer has already reached an agreement with any club, the release clause fixed with the player himself is 25 million euros. We would not contemplate any exchange, unless it is to the liking of Fiorentina”

Yes Arsenal did put a bid in for Melo but a) they wanted to reduce the cash outlay to €21m by offering Eboue (which is a good move if you ask me) but b) Melo himself, as he has stated before, wants to stay in Italy and has already been negotiating personal terms with Juventus.

As you may already know Melo signed a new contract with Fiorentina only a week or so ago which set the release clause of €25m! This tells you that it was just a move agreed between the player and his club so that Fiorentina could get some extra cash.

In other words the real power lies with the player’s wishes (as always) and not really with Fiorentina.

And Melo is not choosing the Emirates is he?

As I wrote before I am not very optimistic that Wenger will get a new defensive midfielder this season.

This is because there is a tight budget (hence the offer of Eboue in part exchange), the relative unavailability of quality defensive midfielders (at an affordable transfer price and subsequent wages) and also the need to preserve the tremendous improvement that Song in particular has shown last season.

I hope I am wrong as we will need extra cover in this area as the season unfolds.

Rosicky following training plan during holidays ready for the League’s opening day

By 1970’s Gooner

We all know the difficult year and a half that poor Tomas had to endure before he could begin proper training again.

As he revealed at the end of the season, Arsene Wenger took the decision to rest him rather than play him in the last few games even if he was considered fit enough.

It appears that Wenger’s action was obviously beneficial to Tomas as he is taking advantage of all this extra time to get even more fit and ready for the opening day of the new season.

This he revealed in an interview given to a Czech paper “Sport.cz”.

“I am implementing a training plan, which I brought from London. It is mainly concerned with strengthening my physical condition. But to be home with family and friends, is beautiful”

He reiterated once more that his knee is now back to normal without any problems.

“Everything is good, the knee holds. I feel really great and I look forward to the opening day of Arsenal’s season”

Tomas revealed that the doctors had suspected that the tendon was not entirely in order and may have needed to take radical action in a second operation.

“When they opened the leg in Germany they found that the tendon was not damaged after all, but had scars around it. They had to clean it up. Now everything is in order”

Now he is well again and doing all this fitness training. But only when he plays in a game will he know that he is back to normal.

“Training is important, but cannot replace the experience of a game. I need a real test to know in what state I actually am”

This can not be predicted or estimated, therefore I am full of expectations. There is no fear, but uncertainty”.

All Gooners should not be surprised to see Tomas back in action very soon probably in the pre season friendlies.

And what a fantastic addition to Arsene Wenger’s armoury this will be.

Tomas Rosicky will be like a new signing….


Arsenal’s in and outs (so far)

In
Tomas Rosicky
Eduardo
Thomas Vermaelen

Out
Amaury Bischoff

The Africa Cup of Nations spells danger ahead, but Arsene Knows right?

By Kazeem

It is no longer news that the 2009/2010 English Premiership fixtures have been released. The main danger that lies ahead for Arsenal is not in the opening fixtures (which include playing Manchester United as early as the 29th August) but later in the month of January.

It is Arsenal’s performance during the early months of the new year which will may make or mar the rest of the season for us Gunners.

This might be repeated again and will not necessarily be due to the heavy and difficult schedule that lies ahead:

Arsenal play Everton home (Jan 9), Bolton away (Jan 16), Aston Villa away (Jan 27) and Manchester United home (Jan 30) during January but also face Chelsea away (Feb 6) and Liverpool home (Feb 9) within the eleven days after that.

No, it is the “agony” of the real possibility that during January Arsenal may be missing four players for the Angola 2010 African Nations Cup which runs from 10th to 31st January 2010.

These are Song, Toure, Adebayor and Eboue. There is the possibility of course that the last three (and Senderos) might not be Arsenal players by then…

Nevertheless if we are to believe Arsene Wenger that no players will be allowed to leave this season then we have to consider the effects the Africa Cup of Nations might have on Arsenal’s thin squad.

In that period we will be left with four central-defenders, Vermaelen, Gallas, Djourou and Silvestre. And if the African players are too tired or injured by the time they return we will also have to face the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea (in early February) without them too.

Any injury or suspension to the first two of the remaining players will force Wenger to field what are really second and third choice defenders. And we saw what happened against these teams when Silvestre for example had to fill in.

The question is: "Has Arsene planned for this?"

And there’s more. While the duo of Toure & Song are being missed in central defence, Emmanuel Adebayor could also, for the same reason, be missing from the attack.

Presently, Eduardo is injured and we cannot really rely on Bendtner & Vela for those crunchy ties. That will leave us with only Robin Van Persie available…. if he is not injured at the time.

But Arsene knows, right?

Vela could be away practically all of pre season

By Aries

Carlos Vela and his Tottenham mate Giovanni dos Santos are the only European based players to have been called up in the Mexico national team which will in effect keep them away from a large part of their respective clubs pre season preparations.

They are to participate in a series of friendlies prior to taking part in the Concacaf Gold Cup and end up with a serious World Cup game against the USA.

The latter is due to take place on the 12th of August 2009 which is only a few days away from Arsenal’s first League fixture of the season at Goodison Park against Everton.

Carlos has already travelled to Mexico and spent time with his family at his home town, Cancun, the well known resort.

He has on Monday 22nd June, travelled to Atlanta, Georgia in the USA with the rest of the team where they will play two friendlies.


The first against Venezuela on Wednesday and on Sunday in San Diego against Guatemala.

They will then participate in the Concacaf Gold Cup, which starts on July 5th which is when Arsenal’s pre season training begins.

Mexico’s first game will be against Nicaragua and will continue on 9th against Panama. Mexico’s first round games end on July 12 against Guadeloupe.

Should Mexico progress they would potentially carry on until the tournament ends on the 26th of the same month.

Mexico will then have a fortnight before they face the USA in a crucial World Cup qualification game.

Carlos will presumably travel back to London as soon as he can, depending on how far Mexico progresses on the Concacaf Gold Cup and then he will have to cut his pre season short again to travel back to the USA (if he is called up) in time for the game on the 12th August.

If this schedule materialises it will play havoc with Carlos’s preparation for the new Premier League season which starts on August the 15th.

Mexico's poor results in the World Cup qualifiers in the region cost Sven-Goran Eriksson the coach's job in April. They are fourth of the six teams in the final Concacaf group with six points, behind Costa Rica (12), the U.S.A (10) and Honduras (7).

The top three go through to the 2010 finals in South Africa, while the fourth-placed team plays off for another berth against the team finishing fifth in the South American group.

Vermaelen: “It’s unbelievable. The best day of my life”

By Aries

Thomas Vermaelen has revealed that signing for Arsenal and Arsene Wenger will be the best day of his life.

Speaking to the Belgian press he expressed his great joy of playing under Arsene Wenger:

“Arsene Wenger stands for nice, attacking football and dares to work with young talents. That appeals to me enormously. Not that that tipped the scales though. When a club like Arsenal stands at your door, then you just go."

Vermaelen, who has been holidaying in Mauritius, also revealed that he will be flying into London on Friday morning to have his medical:

“On Friday I will fly to London to have my medical. After that I hope to put pen to paper. Boy I feel so proud, Arsenal is a fantastic club and one that, as a child, I enjoyed watching play.

“I am deeply impressed, it's really the best day of my life. Next year I will come face to face with the best strikers in the world. Unbelievable"

Arsenal will pay around £11.5m for Thomas who will be the third Belgian in the Premier League after Vincent Kompany of Manchester City and Marouane Fellaini of Everton.

Arsenal target Melo scores a beautiful goal for Brazil (video)

By Aries

Arsenal target Felipe Melo put Brazil one up against the USA in the Confederations Cup being held in South Africa. The final score was 3-0 to Brazil.

He scored a powerful header from close range after a free kick in the seventh minute and Robinho made it 2-0 in the 20th, completing a counter attack that began when DaMarcus Beasley fumbled a short corner kick. Maicon added the third goal in the 62nd.

You can watch Melo's goal on the video screen above.

If he can score these type of goals for Arsenal then we are onto a good thing here.

Vermaelen and that’s your lot

By 1970’s Gooner

We are all very excited to see that Arsene Wenger has taken the steps to strengthen the team's central defence (at last) and delighted that negotiations have began to bring Thomas Vermaelen to the Emirates.

Apparently the player is on holiday at Mauritius at the moment which has been delaying the negotiations for personal terms. A fee of £11.5 has already been agreed between Ajax and Arsenal.

So if we are to trust Arsene Wenger’s judgment we should be sleeping easy that Arsenal’s central defence roster has been “adequately” improved. However if you look at previous centre backs, Arsene’s choices have not been that successful.

Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Steve Bould were of course inherited. From then on his only two, of what I would call, major successes were Sol Campell and Kolo Toure.

So let’s hope that Vermaelen is as good.

However the question that needs to be answered is whether Wenger will now enter the transfer market to strengthen the defensive midfielder position.

I feel that it is this position that will make or break Arsenal’s next season. Not the central defensive one necessarily.

This is because the Arsenal style of play under Wenger is a very attacking one with all outfield players, bar the defensive midfielder and the central defenders, joining in on the attack. This is a hell of a risky tactic whose success depends crucially on three elements.

The first is to score the first goal which would force the opponent to become more adventurous and open up.

The second one is possession of the ball. If you keep the ball the opponent cannot hurt you especially on the counter attack where you are most vulnerable with all those players committed to the attack.

This is a tactic that Villa and other teams use a lot against Arsenal and this is why all Wenger’s teams keep passing the ball all the time, keeping possession trying to work an opening.

And the third one is to have a hell of a central defensive midfielder who will sit further back and mop up if possession becomes negotiable again.

This player will have to have the attributes of almost a complete footballer: Stamina, acceleration, effective tackling, heading ability, accurate short and long passing and even goal scoring ability. In other words when Arsenal attack he will have to be able to do the job of two men, not one.

This role was played to perfection by Vieira, Petit, Gilberto and Flamini. They all, bar Flamini, played in trophy winning teams and Flamini would have lifted a trophy if he had stayed.

Now does it look like Wenger will bring in such a midfielder?

It looks like he may not and there may be a combination of reasons for this.

He is after all stingy and restricted by a limited budget.

Also the right players possessing those characteristics described above are not that available these days are they? And you have to break the bank to get them if they do become available.

But more importantly Wenger may also feel that Song, Denilson and Diaby have improved so much that next season they will be able to provide that role.

Song, whom I rate highly, has shown tremendous improvement this season and now that a central defender has been recruited it looks that his main position will be in midfield.

Wenger will loath to sign an additional midfielder, who will, unless he is one of those supermen I have described above, unnecessarily put a halt to the development of the existing midfielders at Arsenal.

And Vermaelen’s pending arrival is an indication that this will be our lot this transfer window….