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Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas admits Barcelona did all they could to prise him away this summer, but that he was told he had to stay put by the Gunners.

The Spanish ace has become a poster boy for the Catalans who, according to Sport, will sign him in 10 months.

But reflecting on the summer that has passed, the Gunners skipper said he was left with no choice but to stay at the Emirates Stadium as the transfer saga reached its conclusion.

“Barcelona made every effort to sign me, but Arsenal had told me to stay, which in no way I was going to refuse, and in the end I had to stay,” Cesc told Publico.

Fabregas believes that the season with Arsenal will be “a long one” but above all he wants to “be professional and give it everything”.

On his future away from the Emirates though, the playmaker observed he had not made a decision as he drew the line on Barcelona talk.

“What happens in the future? We’ll see,” he added. “I do not think of anything because if I think of the future it would not let me focus on the present and I would have a bad year.”

The opening 13 days of the 2010-11 season has been dominated by a few motifs. The first is the emergence of Theo Walcott. The second is the “re-emergence” of Tomas Rosicky. Third, we have the neverending Mark Schwarzer saga. And now, it’s been capped off with the “arrest” of Jack Wilshere. Ah, interesting days to be a Gooner, to say the least.

Well, we were all treated to a rare, but always satisfying, sight on Saturday evening… that of Alan Hansen eating crow. It was nice to see Shearer put Hansen’s comments from the previous week to the test. I mean, who the fuck is Alan Hansen to talk about a football brain? But, anyway…  Four goals in the first three matches for Theo has seen his stock rise and everyone take notice. There is no doubt that he will benefit long-term from being left out of the debacle that was England at South Africa this summer. Ironically, going to the World Cup in 2006 proved to be detrimental to his career, while missing it in 2010 will likely prove to be beneficial.

What else is there to say about Rosicky’s start to the season? I covered it in a post last week. The only thing to do when it comes to Rosicky is pray. I have no doubt that he can sustain this kind of form long-term throughout the season. The key, however, is will he even have the chance. With an injury record that almost makes Robin van Persie look like Superman, Rosicky needs a full season at this point in his career. He is 29 now and has watched what should have been his prime years as a footballer pass him by. He is not too old yet, but he certainly is not too young either.

I think we all knew that the Schwarzer saga would go down to the final day of the window. Hughes was never really prepared to sell him until he could be assured of a deal to bring Given to Fulham on loan. That end appears to have been worked out and I imagine Hughes will now take Arsene down to the wire in an effort to increase Arsene’s desperation and, therefore, the fee. Meanwhile, rumors are that Arsene has upped his original bid of £2.5m to £3m.

Should Schwarzer come in, and Almunia leave, it still will not resolve our long-term keeper situation. I think it is a rare Gooner these days that has any confidence left in Fabianski. He just never seems to have gotten over that night at Porto. That leaves Szczesny and Mannone, neither of which will truly be ready to be a top 4 club’s number one in a year or two, which is the most we can expect from the 38-year old Schwarzer. Having said that, if you were to ask me who will be the Arsenal goalkeeper 3-4 years from now, I would have to say it would most likely be Szczesny.

Finally, as I’m sure most of you have read by now on Young Guns and all over Twitter, Wilshere was indeed “arrested” and released on bail following a fight in which a woman suffered a broken elbow and a man was injured. It has subsequently come out that he is an “important witness” to the events and “played the role of peacemaker.” One cannot help but be reminded of the trouble Robin van Persie got into in Holland during his more impetuous, early spell with the club. Obviously, the media jumped all over this and, while, I’m sure we’d all like this story to go away or resolve itself sooner rather than later, I doubt that will be the case.

As we move into the international break, I think we can feel about as confident as we could have to hoped to be following our first three fixtures. It’s hard not to think back on the opportunity lost at Anfield, but it’s hard to break down a team like Liverpool, especially with 10 men all behind the ball and the lead. The result at Blackburn was encouraging but not quite as significant as some may think. Lazy pundits still expect us to lose when we go up north. The loss at Ewood Park at the end of last season nothwithstanding, our record away to clubs like Blackburn and Bolton in the last 3 years has been very good. I did the numbers last year on our trips to the north over that period, but just don’t have time to dig them up this morning. But trust me, they’re good. Nevertheless, it was a stern test for the club and will have clued in players like Koscielny and Chamakh more into what to expect in England than either of the two previous matches.

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Well, first off it seems Jack Wilshere was arrested in the early hours this morning after a brawl outside a night club. They’re saying Wilshere played peacekeeper but I will admit that I would have liked him to have thrown a few punches himself. More hilariously however is the fact that the entire ordeal was carried out right in front of The Daily Mail’s CCTV cameras in Kensington. Couldn’t have picked a better spot for a fight myself Jack. For those of you bored out of your wits the entire report is here.

As the summer transfer window draws to a close it seems imminent that Aussie shot-stopper Mark Schwarzer will be guarding the sticks for the season to come. At the moment the keeper situation as we all know is quite desperate and to exit the window without a new man in between the sticks would be quite disheartening. It’s either we buy a new keeper or we buy smaller goalposts. Knowing Arsene I fear the latter might be his preferred choice. He did however make a statement to the official site:

“It is dead at the moment. But maybe not finished. At the moment I would say, as it is today, it is finished.”

We’ve all heard way too many times to believe it. The fact remains that Wenger knows as well as anyone else that we need a new keeper, be it Schwarzer, Lloris or Given. The worry now is that there is a danger of Man Shitty and Fulham sorting stuff out amognst themselves while we’re left out at sea with hardly any time to seal the deal for Schwarzer. I just hope that all that remains in the deal is that Schwarzer needs to put pen to paper. Fingers crossed on that one.

But with the expected arrival of Schwarzer comes a sad end to the Arsenal career of Manuel Almunia. Other than his goalkeeping the Spaniard seems to be a gem of a guy, a rare combination once you have a look at the idiots at Barcelona. He’s a very mature fellow who one must say takes a lot of pressure on to himself. Even when he was coming into fire from the critics his comments on the press were quite timid and lacked the confidence one would expect from a goalkeeper. It’s a tough job all the more so given the fact that it’s where the buck stops. I certainly do hope he stays on a gives Schwarzer a challenge. I know a lot of people don’t seem to think Fabianski is fit for the top level and I completely agree but given the fact that age does seem to be on his side I think Almunia will be the man to make way.

While the present whizkid awaits his call to the witness stand the former Arsenal feldgling star Theo Walcott has shown his maturity with some absolutely brilliant comments on the press:

“I didn’t go to the World Cup and I had a good think. I didn’t point the finger at anyone. I wanted to give myself a mental and physical rest. It is now a new season and preseason has gone well. I didn’t pick up any injuries and I’ve now got three games under my belt already.”

“I just want to play football at my best. It’s nice to get on the scoresheet again, but even better for the team to win. I need to get on the scoresheet a bit more really. Robin van Persie comes off the line very well and slots any balls through. I took it down with my first touch and tried to break the net with my shot.”

“It was a fantastic goal and I’m really pleased with it. It was a really good move. It is very early in the season as it is only three games, but seven points is a good start. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but it was certainly nice to get a win leading into the international break. We’re going in there on a high. It could be our season.”

The tremendous maturity has definately helped Theo work out his problems and exploit his strenghts on the pitch. He certainly seems determined to keep his head down and work his way to the top. He’s seen how ruthless the football world can be to him even when he’s 20 and that is always a good thing. The good news for him is that he’s been announced as part of the England squad for the qualifiers against Bulgaria and Switzerland along with Kieran Gibbs.

One thing that seems to have been overlooked for some time now is that three of England’s brightest hopes are all Arsenal products- Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs. What’s that now? Arsenal still that little French club caught in the middle of London? I don’t think so. Wenger was obviously pleased with Theo’s inclusion to the squad:

“He had a good pre-season, he is sharp and I am certain he will get a chance now with England. So let’s hope he will be ready. He is equipped, he is stronger and I think he is calmer in front of goal.”

It seems Stoke’s Tony Pulis can’t have enough of taking himself and his two-bit club with its two-bit players seriously. They’ve sent an appeal to the FA about Wenger’s remarks about them being a rugby team. In my opinion Wenger went easy on them there. I would have definately gone a little further and called them “Osama’s own henchmen” or something like that. Tony Pulis had this to say:

“The club is desperately disappointed with the comments which Wenger has come out with, especially the comments about Shawcross. We think they are out of order and you don’t expect it from a person of Wenger’s esteem. The club will deal with it in the right and proper manner.”

Esteem? Flattery my deat capped freak does not work when you send your players out to snap some bones game after game after game.

Now, onto some rather serious allegations. The former French team doctor who was so utterly jobless that he released a book about the infighting in the French camp has accused none other than Samir Nasri as one of the root causes for the implosion. It seems the Frenchman was responsible for the disaster even though he wasn’t there in South Africa. So how exactly did he do it? Skype? Coming from a site such as tribalfootball.com I don’t whether to treat this as rubbish from the French weirdo or the site itself. Take it how you want to folks.

We’re heading into a an international break so let’s hope we don’t get any new breaks (I swear that wasn’t intended). I have no clue who exactly will be heading out to play these internationals and neither do I care but I hope our players come back with a few goals to their names or something positive atleast, rather than a messed up ankle or groin or hamstring. The first international break of the season and I’m sweating buckets here!

We’ll be playing Bolton on 11th of September, which is always an interesting test what with Kevin Davies and his elephant-like elegance.

That’s all for today. Time for me to go check out some charts. Cheers.

Early one i know but is a early kick off so you should be up

Another trip up the M6
to see prob the most northern bloke in football
He was probably born with a tash he’s that northern

last trip up there flapianski got ruined as a keeper
wish he’d man up a bit
like what chesney did at brentford
and if a player trying to push you about

thump him one!

So squad is back RVP and cesc are ready according to Wenger
maybe we might see this

Obviously most of the attacking five can interchange as shown last week

Would be nice if this started
but i guess wenger will ease RvP and cesc in
didn’t your heart skip a beat
when robin went down within 10 mins of coming on last week

In cesc’s last appearance for Arsenal against Rovers
Cesc scored one & assisted four goals.
Same today please skip.

to blackburn
they haven’t really offered much going forward
1 goal so far
one v everton howard basically threw in his own net
so not counting it

Gamst as usual is the creative spark
but be prepared for some kick and rush from rovers

by @darylbooth

I think we can steam roll them
wouldn’t say it will be six but might get a brace

We got the champions league draw on thurs was my day off so
might as well give you my two cents
not the easiest
and we’re racking up the air miles
but got my wish
to give dudu a proper send off
their ground looks nice an’all

Was nice that platini reiterated the new “financial fair play” rules before the draw.
which come in to effect next season.

“The clubs will comply,”  “or they will not play.”

fuck knows what chels utd and money city are gona do
let alone barca and real.
but that’s there problem not ours.

ha.

RSD out (@TheRSD )

dont forget we’ll have the goal highlights from all the games within 20mins of them going in.

So yesterday’s Champions League group stage draw saw us paired with Shakhtar Donestk, Braga and Partizan Belgrade in Group H.  It’s a pretty forgiving draw when you look at who we could have got, but there’s a bit too much of an Eastern European flavour to it for my liking.  We know from experience that a trip to Ukraine is never easy, and Belgrade will be a bit of an unknown too.  That’s not to mention Braga who were the surprise package of the play-offs, beating Celtic and then Sevilla to get this far.  Still there’s nothing there that we should have to worry about too much.

The headline from the draw though is obviously the return of Eduardo to the Emirates.  He seems to be enjoying life with his new club Shakhtar, having scored 2 in 3 matches so far for the Ukrainian champions.  His return will be a nice occasion for him, and a good chance for the fans to say their farewells.  So long as he does the decent thing and doesn’t score against us, then a good time will be had by all.

Also this morning the dot com has caught up with the rest of the world by officially announcing that Sebastien Squillaci has signed.  There’s all the usual guff, photo galleries, interviews, and quotes from all and sundry.  Wenger says:

Sebastien has many qualities that will add to the strength of our squad. He is quick, hugely experienced with an aggressive edge to his game. His signing will give us some variation at the back as we look to build on last season’s campaign and fight for silverware this year.

While Sebastien stopped short of claiming to be a life-long Arsenal fan, but he did say:

This is an exciting move for me. Arsène Wenger is a highly respected coach who I am very much looking forward to working with … Arsenal is recognised as a side that not only plays beautiful football but one that challenges for trophies at the highest level and I am very excited to be joining such a fantastic club

Segueing nicely on to Blackburn then tomorrow lunch time, Squillaci won’t be part of the squad just yet, but we welcome back Koscielny from suspension, and Denilson who has recovered from his abdominal injury.  That means out of our entire squad only Nasri, Frimpong, Bendtner and Ramsey are unavailable through injury.  Not such a bad situation really compared to our recent history.  Arguably only Nasri would be considered a regular first choice of those four, and that in a position with a wealth of cover available.

We are near enough full strength then for the visit to Blackburn, as we will need to be to come away from Ewood Park with three points.  Not many teams go to Blackburn these days and win, as we found out back in May when we put in a limp performance and lost 2 – 1.  Fabianski (rightly) took a lot of the blame that day, but if we as a team repeat that insipid, lazy performance we will lose again regardless of who keeps goal.

That said, we should be boosted by first starts of the season from Cesc Fabregas (who missed that match last season), and Robin van Persie (who gave us our lead that day).  I expect the team to look a bit like this:

Almunia

Sagna – Koscielny – Vermaelen – Clichy

Diaby – Song – Cesc

van Persie – Chamakh – Rosicky

There’s good height in that lineup with Diaby, Chamakh and van Persie, which should help us deal with their threat from set pieces, and hopefully give Almunia a bit of protection.  I’m looking forward to seeing if Chamakh really can mix it with the likes of man-mountain Christopher Samba, so I’ll be watching the Moroccan closely.  Alex Song (another who missed our last visit) will revert to his usual position anchoring the midfield, which makes us a far more solid proposition defenisively, and good as Walcott and Rosicky were last weekend, having Cesc back should take us up another level going forward as well.

Wilshere and Walcott I would expect to miss out, as Wenger looks to his bigger boys to carry the team through the physical challenge of Blackburn, but if Walcott was to come on later to terrorise another hapless left back, all the better.

Prediction

Later in the season when complacency tends to creep in I might be worried, right now shouldn’t be a problem … 2 – 0 Arsenal

My day off friday so here’s Akhil Vyas with his weekly thoughts.
You probably know akhil if you watch atvo he always the first one on the phone.

I have tried to get away from the new signing, or the Mark Schwarzer situation and even the champions league draw.

I have been hearing people telling me that Arshavin isn’t as good as everyone makes out and is just an over-rated player.

On Saturday, I spent the first 10 minutes just watching Andrey Arshavin and if I am honest, he gave the ball to the opposition more then he gave it to his own team mates.

However, the first goal is when his game changed and he provided a good assist for Theo Walcott and off course stepped up for the penalty for the second goal.

These first 20 minutes summed Andrey Arshavin out for me. He can be slightly hit and miss, he can be quiet all game but do something special like score a goal or provide an assist or just make something happen.

Much of the Arsenal faithful are undecided over him. At the age of 29, this is a massive season for him. Andrey will never be as hard working as our super Swede Freddie or our Romford’s Pele but we expect him to show something and work hard in his own way and do something special in them tight games.

We knew what sort of a player Arshavin was before he came here and to tell him to work hard is fair but also unfair. I say that because, we knew what sort of a player he was before he came here and at the age of 29, it is very difficult to change a player. At the same time, we expect our players to give 100% so perhaps Arshavin could work harder.

All I know is, it’s a massive season for Arshavin, after this season, he will be 30 and therefore if he does not get offered a new contract this year, the only contract he will be offered when his current one is close to expiring will be a one year extension which may not suit Andrey.

This year is massive for everyone but it’s vital for Andrey Arshavin. He say’s he does not worry about what others say about him but sometimes, it may just get to much and a player can start to take notice and start to doubt themselves.

I personally, would play Arshavin on Saturday but then maybe give him a breather against Bolton on September 11th if he does not have a good game on Saturday.

In regards to the draw, I thought it was a good draw for Arsenal. We avoided a ‘big, big club’ like Real Madrid and the long trips are not too bad. Looking at that group, we should win the group and qualify for the next stage.

Also, a welcome to our new signing Sebastian Squillaci. We hope it will be a long and successful signing for us and I am sure all Arsenal fans will welcome him to our club.

By  Akhil Vyas (@10akhil)

Remember tomorrow usually twenty minutes after any goal goes in
we will have highlights on the highlight page

be nice click an ad

The draw for the UEFA Champions League Group Stage has been made. Arsenal will take on Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting Braga and Partizan Belgrade in Group H.

Below are brief profiles of the three sides, with links to their official websites.

Shakhtar Donetsk
Website: www.shakhtar.com
Ukrainian champions Shakhtar Donetsk qualified directly for the Group Stage and are already seven games into

The draw has been made, it took some time, and we now know who we will face in the Champions League group stages. We are in group H with Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting Braga and Partizan Belgrade. We will of course see Eduardo back at the mrats so we will get a chance to properly say goodbye. It is not an easy group by any means, but it could have been much worse. The travel time will be an issue, especially as we face Chelsea, Utd and Citeh in the games after the Champions League fixtures but there isn’t really much we can do and an extra hour on a flight isn’t make or break to be honest.

There is a group of death which sees AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax and Auxerre. Should be some decent games from that one.

No confirmed fixtures as yet, might update later on if I get time otherwise it will be in the Blackburn preview tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: champions+league,arsenal,, uefa

Slightly relieved after watching the Live UEFA Champions League draw is an under-statement. In my opinion, Arsenal have been given the simplest draw for the group stages of the Champions League. We face Shakhtar Donetsk of Ukraine, and a return for Arsenal hero Eduardo. We’ve also been drawn against SC Braga of Portugal, and FK [...]