Rosicky undergoes surgery next Tuesday and sets a time for his return

By Aries

The Czech Republic captain Tomas Rosicky is out of Euro 2008 and will have an operation next week to fix a recurring hamstring problem, he said today, Friday.

Rosicky who has not played since January, told a news conference he faced at least two months on the sidelines following the surgery, ruling him out of Euro 2008.

"The injury needs an operation, which I will undergo on Tuesday in London," Rosicky said. "The minimum recovery time is two months. I'm going through the worst period of my footballing career."

This means that the earliest that Tomas will come back will be in the middle of July and then hopefully he will be fit for the start of next season.

Rosicky's absence is a big blow for the Czechs, who are also still sorely missing Juventus winger Pavel Nedved who retired from international football after the 2006 World Cup.

Rosicky said Czech Republic coach Karel Brueckner had plenty of alternatives to fill the key playmaker role.

He has been captain since the 2006 World Cup but said Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech or Fiorentina defender Tomas Ujfalusi were the most obvious candidates to take over the armband for the tournament.


Rosicky’s sicknotes:

2008 February 1st Hamstring Injury

2007 November 7th Groin Strain

2007 September 20th Hamstring Injury

2007 July 30th Hamstring Injury

2007 April 30th Hamstring Injury

2007 March 1st Groin Strain

2006 November 10th Hamstring Injury

2006 August 18th Groin Strain

2006 May 31st Thigh Muscle Strain




Rosicky blames injuries on busy English schedule

Carlos Vela faces a tough summer before joining Arsenal

By 1970's Gooner

Arsene Wenger has already stated that highly rated Mexican starlet Carlos Vela will be joining Arsenal in the summer. He will have by then obtained his work permit that will allow him to ply his football skills in the Premier League.

He has been a regular for Osasuna this season in the Spanish La Liga on loan from Arsenal.

His performances have been so good that the Osasuna hierarchy came recently to London to discuss the possibility of extending his loan period for next season.

They got an emphatic no from Mr Wenger who rates Vela very highly indeed. He has probably earmarked Vela as the player needed to solve the squad’s obvious need for a left footed midfielder.

Vela has been playing very well in that position for Osasuna with maturity beyond his young age (19) but the Pamplona side is embroiled in a dog fight to avoid relegation having lost the last two games.

So it has not been that easy for the youngster having to play under pressure in very important games that will determine the club’s fate.

When the Spanish league ends next week there will be no respite for Carlos as he has been selected by the new Mexican coach, Chucho Ramirez, to represent his country in the forthcoming crucial World Cup qualifiers beginning on the 15th June against Belize.

Before that he will join up with the Mexican national team in ten days time, on the 19th May ( a day after the Spanish league ends) to begin a series of preparation games.

These will be against Argentina in San Diego California(4th June) and against Peru four days later in Chigago. Mexico will then face Belize in a double encounter on June 15th (in Houston) and on June 21st (in Monterrey, Mexico).

Carlos will have to join up with Arsenal for pre season training about 10 days after that, in early July, which will hardly leave him time to have a well earned holiday with his family in Mexico.

Arsenal begin their friendlies schedule as early as the 19th July against Barnet at Underhill and then against Stuttgart (away) on the 30th luly.

Then it’s the Emirates Cup beginning on the 2nd of August against Juventus and Real Madrid. There is also a friendly scheduled against Huddersfield (away) on the 6th August.

It will be a hectic summer indeed for Carlos and for the 12 or so other Arsenal players who will participate in Euro 2008 and in other World Cup qualifiers.


Vela is ready for the Premier League Walcott not yet

Are these Arsenal’s top five players of the season?

Are these Arsenal’s top five players of the season?

By 1970’s Gooner

What a strange season we’ve had. When Thierry Henry departed for what he thought pastures new no one gave us a cat’s chance of achieving anything.

Well we didn’t but we got mighty close, leading the Premiership for the most part of the season until our thin squad was brutally exposed as our luck run out on the injury front.

All players contributed but there were some that really stood out. The five players that I consider as the best performers of the season are listed below in descending order:

5. Emmanuel Adebayor

Judging by the vast amount of comments left on this site Adebayor has had his critics as well as his admirers.

The critics voicing their opinions about his profligacy in front of goal, his constant napping in the attacking positions which ended up with 65 off sides given against him (probably a record in the Premiership) and his ball control skills.

His admirers point out his 24 goals (and still going) which make him the second top scorer in the league behind Ronaldo.

They also point out his heading ability, which was badly missing in previous campaigns and his capacity to lead the line on his own enabling the use of a Plan B that has also been missing from Wenger’s previous Arsenal versions.

I personally feel he will improve further next season as he has shown that he is capable of taking on board lessons learned as he has done since his arrival at Arsenal.

He will also benefit a great deal from having another forward next to him like Robin van Persie or Eduardo (who is expected back in September).

Adebayor stats (for all league games so far)


Appearances 35

Attempts at goal 103
Attempts on target 52

Goals 24
Goal to attempts ratio 50 %
Goal to games ratio 68 %

Assists 4

Total passes 1202
Accurate passes 845
Passes successful 70 %

Tacles 15
Tackles won 11
Tackle success 73 %

4. Bacary Sagna

Since he first arrived at Arsenal, Bacary Sagna has carried with him his trademark colourful hair locks!

His performances have also been excellent from the off and his introduction into the team seemed to have been made almost effortlessly.

He looked right from the beginning as a typical Wenger player excelling in that position and rightly picked in the Premier League’s best 11.

Strong and tenacious in the tackle but more importantly with excellent positional awareness.

He will be Arsenal’s right back for years to come.

Sagna stats (for all games so far)

Appearances 29

Tacles 56
Tackles won 39
Tackle success 70 %

Total passes 1298
Accurate passes 1123
Passes successful 87 %

Assists 4
Goals 1
Attempts at goal 6
Attempts on target 1

3. Gael Clichy

Clichy is a young gun but he keeps putting in performances like a wise old head. A consistent performer at the top of his game putting in top quality defending coupled with offensive forays and penetration on the wing.

He plays well with either Hleb or Rosicky on the wing as they tend to come infield to join the midfield thus allowing more space for the young defender to surge forward.

What a find by Wenger. I have said it before: Ashley Cole, thanks for leaving Arsenal mate….

Clichy stats (for all games so far)

Appearances 37

Tacles 149
Tackles won 120
Tackle success 80 %

Total passes 1918
Accurate passes 1566
Passes successful 82 %

Assists 5
Attempts at goal 9
Attempts on target 3


2. Mathieu Flamini

He's not just been amazingly awesome; he's been Arsenal’s most consistent player and hasn't had a single bad game all year.

When he didn’t play the midfield always seemed to look weak. We gave away more cheap goals, seemed to lack pace and there was no bite in midfield.

Not only has he been defensively brilliant this year, he seemed to be much sharper and quicker on the ball and a technically more skillful player.

He ran a thousand miles more than his colleagues, swept up in front of the defence at dangerous moments and also went forward when required.

Pity he will be doing it for AC Milan next season….

Flamini stats (for all league games so far)


Appearances 30

Total passes 1710
Accurate passes 1474
Passes successful 86 %

Assists 2

Attempts at goal 30
Attempts on target 15
Goals 3
Goal to attempts ratio 10 %

Tacles 84
Tackles won 56
Tackle success 67 %


1. Cesc Fabregas

Because they occupy the most influential parts of the pitch, midfielders are more likely to influence the outcome of a match than other positions, especially if they have vision for a good pass or ability to score.

It is generally accepted that outstanding midfielders need to posses a number of attributes on top of fitness: technique, ball skills, tackling, retaining possession, distribution, shooting and scoring as well.

Fabregas has displayed all the above in abundance this season; his best ever for Arsenal…so far and that is why I vote for him as Arsenal’s player of the season.

Fabregas stats (for all league games so far)

Appearances 32

Total passes 2318
Accurate passes 1823
Passes successful 78 %

Assists 17

Attempts at goal 95
Attempts on target 27
Goals 7
Goal to attempts ratio 7 %

Tacles 89
Tackles won 67
Tackle success 75 %

Choosing between these five has been very difficult. Clichy and Sagna have been quite impressive in defence and Adebayor has really come on.

But for me the real difficulty was choosing between Flamini’s all powerful box to box performances and Fabregas’s majestic performances.

A very difficult choice indeed.


You can “voice” your opinion by leaving a comment and also vote on the poll we have set up on the matter.

Arsenal coaches to Greek trialist: “You showed energy and played well”

By Aries

Nikos Karelis, is a 16 year old schoolboy playing for Cretan side Ergotelis in the Greek league.

As we reported a few days ago he was suddenly summoned by Steve Gatting, coach of the Arsenal Under 16s, to go on a trial with Arsenal in Italy and participate in the Atalanta Cup tournament.

Nikos scored two goals, one against Chievo and the other against CSKA Moscow and also scored his penalty in the shoot out against Juventus in the final.

His room mate and fellow trialist Norwegian goalkeeper Sean McDermott saved one and scored another as his was the penalty that won the competition. So both trialists seem to have done very well in the end.

Sean plays for Norwegian outfit, IK Vag.

His father is from Donegal and his mother from Norway so he is eligible to play for both Norway and the Republic of Ireland.

He has chosen to play for the Republic of Ireland and is considered to be a young goalkeeper with a bright future.

Nikos was instructed to play as a centre forward in a 4 3 3 formation and he reveled in that position.

The travelling from Greece to London and then back again to Italy all within 24 hours must have taken a lot out of him.

However according to Greek sports paper “Goalday” the Arsenal bench seemed satisfied with his performance labelling it as energetic. He was told that his trial went well and that contact will be made soon.

Nikos himself said that “It was a tremendous experience for me playing at such a high level of football and with some footballers who will be the stars of the future”

While he waits for that phone call his mind will be full of the memories of the last few days:

Scoring the goals, lifting the Cup along with the other Arsenal young stars and singing «we are the champions» in front of the spectators (which were mostly Juventus fans).

What also made an impression on him was the fact that the Arsenal defenders always played the ball on the ground!



Greek wonderkid completes trial with Arsenal scoring two goals in Italian tournament

Wenger’s three experiments that went bust and two that didn’t

By 1970’s Gooner

Wenger’s stinginess and the Arsenal Board’s tight purse strings has been a match made in heaven.

While the other big three have been splashing the dough making big money purchases during the last two transfer windows, Arsenal, apart from Sagna and Eduardo, have been recruiting youngsters mainly under 18 years old.

Reliance was therefore placed on a squad that was thin and littered with younger players with as yet unproven ability on the big stage.

This approach had made Wenger take a chance on many positions and rely on squad players to fill in if and when required. And this is where eventually a lot went wrong.

Experiment Number 1: Not buying a centre back during the January transfer window

It was known beforehand, of course, that the Africa Nations Cup would take Kolo Toure away during the significant January period.

Yet Arsene refused to bring in cover choosing to rely on the services of two error prone and relatively inexperienced youngsters. Philip Senderos and Yohan Djourou.

And on top of that Kolo Toure returned crocked.

As he did during the previous Africa Nations Cup (and so did Alexander Song a possible adequate replacement as it turned out to be)!

Senderos had a few good games and even scored.

But he also had a few bad games; and when you make mistakes in defence they count more than if you make them in other areas of the pitch as an attacker….

Yes it is important to allow the youngsters to get valuable experience.

But letting Djourou play in very demanding games for relegation threatened Birmingham and then recalling him in the middle of the season meant that his fatigue levels were high as also was his susceptibility to injury.

He only played in the Carling Cup semi final against Spurs and then he got crocked too! He hasn’t started a game since. It’s difficult to say, of course, whether he would have made fewer errors than Senderos…..

Experiment Number 2: Anointing Eboue as a winger

Eboue showed weaknesses last season as a right back. He did however sparkle when he ventured forward being very incisive and thrusting.

But promoting him to a more permanent role as a creative wide midfielder backfired pretty quickly.

Especially when the injury prone Rosicky began to miss one game after another.

And then Wenger had to choose between Eboue, Diaby and Walcott to play on the wings.

Two of them proved to be square pegs in round holes.

The other needed time and games to grow up a bit. Need I say no more….

Clearly a real winger, either left or right footed, has been badly missing from the side. This meant that in his absence, opponents were not stretched enough thus forcing Arsenal to attack mainly from the middle.

But that is the easier way to defend, by packing the central areas in front of the defence and making it really difficult to get through. And this is what Arsenal faced throughout the season……

Experiment Number 3: Relying on a newly bought forward to blend in double fast and on a rookie with promise

You can’t win games in football unless you have pretty potent and experienced forwards. And you need more than two as injuries are always part of the game.

Yet Wenger chose to rely on only two relatively experienced forwards in Van Persie and Adebayor (who admittedly proved to be up to the task), on a new to the Premiership recruit and on a youngster who showed promise but in a lower League the year before.

This was indeed an experiment because although Eduardo blended in fast it did take him the best part of half the season to do so. Until unfortunately when he was coming good he got taken out by injury.

However during the time it took him to acclimatise there was always the real danger of either Van Persie or Adebayor getting injured. And Murphy’s Law says that if anything can go wrong it will go wrong!

Van Persie got injured on international duty with Holland in October.

He hasn’t really been back since.

Injuries are part of football life and everyone knows that.

That is why you are taking a real risk when you are really relying on only two proven forwards to get you through the best part of the season.

This forced Wenger to change the system from 4 4 2 to 4 5 1 by bringing Hleb in the central areas of midfield and playing Adebayor usually as a lone striker.

No wonder the guy was so tired in many of the latter games of the season (and probably why he kept getting caught offside).

This also meant that Wenger had to find other players to occupy the wide midfield positions as Hleb had to fill infield; but of course Arsene then had to improvise as there weren’t any genuine wingers in the squad that he could rely on.

And talking about taking risks; Togo failed to qualify for the Africa nations Cup otherwise we would have been without Adebayor as well as Toure during January (may be Murphy’s law is not foolproof after all).

Experiment Number 4: Signing a new right back

This is a move that really proved very successful as Bakary Sagna has excelled in that position; rightly picked in the Premier League’s best 11.


He is strong and tenacious in the tackle but more importantly has excellent positional awareness. He will be Arsenal’s right back for years to come.

And with Clichy blossoming as Europe’s best left back leaves as the only tinkering needed in defence the recruitment of another top class central defender who can also tackle the long balls.

Experiment Number 5: Promoting Almunia

A lot of fans may disagree but in my opinion Wenger had no other choice after mad Jens begun dropping clangers early in the season costing us points.

Almunia has defied most of his critics making some great saves and even saving a crucial penalty against Spurs at the Emirates.

He will be even better next season as the experience gained as first choice this year will be invaluable.

A note of optimism

The best way to look at it is that this season has probably been used by Wenger as a learning process and to provide a hands on assessment of areas in the team that need strengthening.

A calculated experiment towards getting the youngsters ready for a real onslaught on glory for next season.

Then all the above were experiments well worth taking…..



Arsenal and Barcelona play the beautiful game…… and then get knocked out

Kolo Toure stretchered off the Africa Nations Cup

Sagna: get your hair on please!

Song shines for Cameroon as they reach the Africa Nations Cup Final

Greek wonderkid completes trial with Arsenal scoring two goals in Italian tournament

By Aries

Arsene Wenger’s appetite for young starlets plucked from all over the world never ceases to amaze.

This time his scouting network has span its web much closer at home, in Europe and the Greek league. This is where Nikos Karelis, a 16 year old who last week became the youngest player to kick a ball in this part of the world has been spotted.

His parents received a phone call out of the blue last Tuesday from the President of his Cretan Club Ergorelis who duly informed them that Arsenal were interested to take him on a week’s trial.

They couldn’t say no so young Nikos packed his bags and off he went with everyone’s wishes for the best.

“ I am very happy and I will certainly try my best….I am not afraid” he said in a quick interview he gave to a Greek sports newspaper before departing.

Apparently he made an impression during his recent call up with the Greece Youth team and he is highly rated by his fellow players:

“He is bound to become a great player. He is strong for his age, quick and can kick a ball. He has courage and initiative in his play” they say.

He joined Arsenal’s under 16s and traveled with them to Italy to take part in a youth tournament. He is expected back to Crete today, Monday.

“It was a tremendous experience for me playing at such a high level of football and with some footballers who will be the stars of the future” he said to Sport 24 after the end of his trial. He didn’t meet Mr Wenger but he did get to meet Jens Lehmann!

“I haven’t been told anything about the outcome of my trial but Arsenal will speak to my parents and my club about it soon".

He scored two goals during the Atalanta Cup Tournament and has left very good impressions after helping Arsenal win the Cup beating Juventus in the final on penalties.

Nikos is a left footed midfielder but can also play through the middle.

Flamini having dinner in Kaladze’s Milan restaurant (+ photo)

By Aries

As announced in the afternoon, Milan Vice-President Adriano Galliani, Mathieu Flamini, arrived in Milan in the evening and is now having dinner in the restaurant owned by his future team companion, Kaladze, near the central station.

The French midfielder landed at 20.45 at the private Linate airport, on board a plane from London. In the afternoon he was on the sidelines at the Emirates Stadium for the last home game of Arsenal’s season.

He looked then a man without a care in the world as he hugged and joked with his mates, Fabregas and Hleb. No wonder as he is due to sign a lucrative four year deal worth a staggering 144,000 pounds a week!

In jeans, black jacket and shirt, Flamini was welcomed by a dozen of journalists, photographers and operators who were waiting in front of the restaurant.


All the questions were responded to with a dry "later, later."

He is expected to undergo a medical on Monday.

Arsenal opened bidding with 15m for Kranjkar

By Aries

When we first reported on this site that Arsenal were interested in Portsmouth’s creative midfielder Niko Kranjkar as far back as early March there were some readers that ridiculed it either as pure speculation or even fabrication!

Well, once again we are proved right as our post “Wenger interested in Portsmouth ace to replace Arsenal midfielder” proved to foretell of what was to come.

We then wrote that Arsene Wenger was looking to replace Alexander Hleb who was and still is courted by Italian sirens.

And today’s English press is reporting what Niko’s father, ex Croatia national coach, Zlatko Kranjcar has confirmed Arsenal's interest.

"Wenger likes players with a sense of the game," Kranjcar told Croatian tv station Index. "Arsenal plays creative football and Wenger recognises this in Niko and he would be a logical replacement for Hleb."

This came after the current Croatia coach, Bilic, stated recently that Niko would be ideal for Arsenal’s way of playing. He was the one remember that encouraged Eduardo to join Arsenal having already given a glowing report on the player to Wenger.

Portsmouth is of course resisting with the general manager Peter Storrie issuing a statement just five days ago:

“As regards to all of this supposed interest in Niko, it was the first we heard about it. We don't know anything about it, Arsenal don't know anything about it and Niko doesn't know anything about it. So you can take it as the usual rubbish speculation that goes on at this time of the year” he said.

With Niko’s father “coming out” it doesn’t look like speculation now does it?

And there are further news for you. Arsenal have already bid 15m pounds (19m euros) for the player, Croatian internet news site index.hr is reporting. They also state that this has been rebuffed by Portsmouth.

Just for how long though? The player is probably too focused on the FA Cup final for the moment to force the issue if he wishes to. But after that is over the bidding will begin in earnest.

What is also of course interesting and troubling is Wenger’s desire to sign another creative midfielder unless someone is leaving.

This is worrying as Hleb has been the one who Wenger has been complaining about after Inter Milan’s approach to the player in an ice cream parlour in Italy.

And the Croatian media and Kranjakar’s father do mention that Niko is targeted as a replacement for Hleb.

We are not about to lose two of our midfielders are we?

Arsenal and Barcelona play the beautiful game…… and then get knocked out

By 1970’s Gooner

It was strange watching the Manchester United Champions League Semi Finals against Barcelona. It was like any of Arsenal’s games against the big three in England this season.

Barcelona played beautiful football, passing the ball around using technique and ability and had 61% of possession at the Nou camp and 62% of possession at Old Trafford!

In a similar way Arsenal enjoyed the majority of possession during periods of the Quarter Final games against Liverpool and I would go as far as to say that overall they outplayed them. They also did the same in their recent encounters with Manchester United and Chelsea.

Yet both Barcelona and Arsenal end up with nothing.

The major reason for this is that they both lacked power and strength which would have complimented so well their pretty and technical football.

Barcelona had Messi, Deco, Eto and Iniesta in their line up against Manchester United. Arsenal had Fabregas, Hleb, Van Persie, Adebayor and Walcott. All beautiful players but not really powerful enough.

Compare this to Chelsea’s Drogba, Ballack, Lampard, Essien and Terry. And to Manchester United’s Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Tevez, Anderson and Rooney.

There’s no comparison.

You need both ingredients to succeed in today’s football. If one of the two is more prominent then the imbalance hampers the team’s performance and inevitably results in failure.

Just as Barcelona and Arsenal did not have enough steel in their sides and were in the end overtaken by the more balanced sides they faced.

For they played the beautiful football, weaved their pretty patterns but in the end succumbed to the forcefulness of their opponents.

Chelsea and Manchester United have more or less managed to find this balance (Man U a little bit more than Chelsea) and as such have made the transition from the old typical British sides who had a lot of steel and pathos in their play but not enough skill.

Arsenal (and Barcelona in their own way) need to find theirs still; but in the opposite way.

Levski comment on Dimitrov transfer to Arsenal

By Aries

Well we told you that if there was to be any movement on the on going saga of Dimitrov’s transfer to Arsenal we would get a sniff of it.

And yesterday in our post titled “Dimitrov’s transfer to Arsenal hit a snag” we reported that Arsenal had to get round work permit regulations if Dimitrov was to play for Arsenal before 2009.

Now Levski have issued a denial that Dimitrov is Arsenal bound rubbishing recent rumours that have been spread by some blogs and even the Epping Forest Guardian!

When contacted by The Sofia Echo (a Bulgarian newspaper) about a transfer deal involving Dimitrov and Arsenal, a spokesperson for Levski Sofia said "there is no such thing".

The Sofia Echo mentions that the rumours had started when the Arsenal-Gunz blog posted a fabricated entry on April 28 quoting local Bulgarian press about the transfer. The blog has since been taken off-line, but its Google cache is still available.

The Echo goes on to say that the blog entry was subsequently picked up by other bloggers and even appeared in the East London and West Essex Guardian series newspaper, which headlined Gunners believed to have landed talented Bulgarian winger.

Dimitrov scored Levski’s only goal yesterday in their 2-1 defeat against Chernomore.


“Dimitrov’s transfer to Arsenal hit a snag”