Crunch Time

So after that morale sapping loss to Liverpool on Saturday, Arsenal are in a bit of a pickle. If you didn't know our squad was weak before the weekend, the game against Liverpool highlighted all our shortcomings; The early injury to Koscielny forced Wenger to bring on Spanish youngster Ignasi Miquel, and later on when Arshavin was substituted, it was for English teenager Henri Lansbury. Frimpong and Jenkinson were making their first Premier League starts (both of them under 20) and the bench consisted of Ryo Myaichi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. All these unproven kids forced to plug holes in our crippled and inexperienced squad. Let's say this in the simplest way possible; this is not a team that will challenge for honours this season. No disrespect to the youngsters and I'm all for giving youth a chance but when you're forced to bring on Miquel and Lansbury in a crucial game against a big rival then you know something is wrong. I realise that the team is struggling with injuries and suspensions at the moment but it is ridiculous that we are now two games into the season and Wenger still hasn't addressed the critical problems that he's had all summer to fix. It saddens me when I hear him proclaim that yes, he has made signings, but unfortunately they are not signings that matter Mr Wenger. Buying Jenkinson and Oxlade-Chamberlain is great but where is the powerful centre-back to partner Vermaelen this team so desperately needs? Where is the support for van Persie up front? Where is the backup for Song in midfield and when will we see a replacement for Fabregas or at least some help in case Ramsey and Wilshere get hurt? Only Arsene knows... or when you look closely, apparently doesn't.

There is some positive news for once on the transfer front. According to the Guardian we have opened talks with French club Rennes for their 21 year old defensive midfielder Yann M'Vila, a French international. Apparently he could cost us around £12 million. I've never seen M'Vila play but at this stage I'll take anyone, especially anybody who can help where we need it the most. In other news, it looks like Nasri's move to Man City has hit a major road-block. With his unexpected appearance against Liverpool on Saturday and rumours that he could feature against Udinese Wednesday night, Man City are suddenly very worried that they won't get their man after all, and City boss Roberto Mancini is bricking it. If Nasri gets cup-tied in the Champions League it clearly indicates he's staying with us this season. To be honest, as much as I'd like to get the £25 million for him now, I'd much prefer to see Nasri stay in the red and white this year, even if is just for one more season. Now Fabregas is gone I'd really like Samir to take that position and make it his own.

So the pressure is on for Wednesday night as Arsenal face Udinese in the second leg of the Champions League qualifier. Taking that 1-0 lead to Italy was crucial but I feel we're gonna have a hard time keeping them out, especially with Wenger banned from the touchline again and with added defensive woes since last week's game. Hopefully Jack Wilshere will have recovered from his ankle injury just in time to play, because we could really do with his grit and determination in midfield.

Anyway, let's hope we can get the job done and qualify - it is absolutely crucial we do.

Thanks for reading.

Saying Goodbye To Another Captain

The captain's armband has been cruel to us Arsenal fans in recent times. In the last 7 years we have lost 3 high profile captains, each one of them crucial to the squad, to overseas clubs. With Cesc Fabregas's departure to Barcelona today, thus ends one of the longest transfer sagas in football history. The will-he-won't-he move to the Catalan giants has been going on for years now and I imagine there are quite a few Arsenal fans who are feeling a lot of relief today that the drama is all over.

However we cannot escape the fact we have just lost one of the greatest playmakers this club has ever had, and arguably one of the best players of his generation. I am relieved to see this seemingly endless transfer come to an end but I'm also very sad to see a player of Cesc's quality leave us. It's even more annoying that we let him go at such an early age; Fabregas is still only 24, and probably still has his greatest days ahead of him (that is hard to believe, but I'm not sure he's reached his peak yet). Wow those 8 years went fast huh?

Making his first start on a rainy night in the Carling Cup against Rotherham at a tender 16 years of age, Cesc never looked back. Within 2 years he'd staked his claim in the heart of our midfield and Wenger felt so confident in the Spaniard's abilities that the boss let an Arsenal legend in Patrick Vieira leave without a second thought. And again Cesc thrived, going from strength to strength. My one regret in letting Fabregas leave now is that I wish we'd have had one more good season out of him. Last year he was injured most of the time and even when he was on the pitch you could tell he wasn't fully fit and not match-sharp. It's a real shame that we'll never see Cesc again in the red and white, at the top of his game, pulling the strings in midfield with those incredible defence-splitting passes that only he seems capable of executing.

Now he'll be happy, back home in Barcelona, reunited with friends and family in the country and city of his birth. You can't really blame him for wanting to go back, I'm sure nearly every one of us would jump at the chance return home if you could. Cesc has provided us with plenty of great memories over the years and always gave 100% on the field; you could tell he loved playing for us and had a real connection with the supporters. But you've still gotta think, what if? What if we'd won 1 or 2 more trophies in the last 6 years? What if the club had been a bit harder, categorically stating that Fabregas was off limits and not for sale? It's a shame we'll never find out what could have been if Cesc had stayed with us into his 30's...

Arsenal must now prepare for a future without our gifted Spaniard, and probably without Samir Nasri too. You would think with Cesc out of the picture Nasri would take advantage of this and take control of that central attacking midfield position that has been Fabregas's for so long. But if Samir is more interested in his bank balance than his future as Arsenal's playmaker and midfield general, well... he'll be gone before you know it.

Thanks for reading, hope we get a win against Udinese tomorrow night.

Rejoice, Saint Alex Arrives

Arsenal completed the signing of young English forward Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain today from Southampton for a reported fee of £12 million with a further £3 million in add-ons. The 17 year old winger/striker is Arsene Wenger's third signing this summer, alongside Carl Jenkinson from Charlton and Gervinho from Lille.

This is not exactly the signing many Gooners were hoping for, as Wenger has still yet to address the squad's defensive frailties. However the signing of Oxlade-Chamberlain is positive enough and is an encouraging sign for the future of the club. Alex's signing adds another Englishman to the squad which I could not be more happy about. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a patriotic nutcase nor did I hate it when our team-sheets were dominated with foreigners, but it's just nice to see Englishmen plying their trade at the big clubs in a time when the Premier League is flooded with more foreign players than it has ever had. Realistically I don't expect we'll see much of Oxlade-Chamberlain outside of the Carling Cup this season as he'll have to get up to speed with the demands the Premiership places on players. He is still only 17 (he'll turn 18 this time next week) so there is plenty of time for him to develop and become accustomed to life as an Arsenal player. All in all I'm pretty happy with this signing, a nice piece of business for the club and dynamic, speedy players like Oxlade-Chamberlain always get me excited.

A good signing for Arsenal but Wenger can't put away his cheque book just yet. He must add a strong defensive player to the squad before the end of the month, he simply has to. If he doesn't and things on the pitch don't go our way, the rumblings around the Emirates will begin to build and the boss's neck will really be on the line. The fans are already at breaking point and the relationship between Wenger and the supporters has never been at a lower point. Shore up the defence Arsene, or suffer the wrath of the North London faithful, and if you've been watching the news of late, that is the last thing you want to do. Of course I exaggerate, by no means will the fans riot around the Emirates if our demands (often extreme) aren't met, but the paying supporters expect better and will let you know if the club's performances and actions aren't up to scratch.

Thanks for reading.

Udinese? Who'da They Say?

Today Arsenal found out they will face Italian side Udinese over two legs in the Champions League play-off qualifier round. Like the Gunners, Udinese finished in 4th place last season but unlike Arsenal I have a strong feeling the fans of the Zebrette were not booing their players off the pitch at the end of last season for gaining said position in their league. Anyway I'm pretty pleased with this draw and the first leg is at home as well, so we'll need to make that count and get a good early lead against them at The Emirates on Tuesday August 16th. The return leg in Italy will be played a week later on Tuesday the 23rd, just before we travel to Old Trafford in the Premiership. Things could be worse, we avoided a tricky trip to Russia to play Rubin Kazan, whom Lyon have the pleasure of facing instead - lucky them.

However Udinese will be no pushovers and to make matters more difficult we'll be without Robin van Persie and Samir Nasir for the first leg, both players missing out due to suspension (Robin's ridiculous red card against Barca last season and Nasri for criticising the ref in that game). Still, I expect us to beat the Italian side and take our place in the proper Champions League group stages. It would be a disaster to miss out on European competition at it's highest level - if we are to remain a "big club" then the Champions League is where we must be.

So since my last post on here the Emirates Cup has been and gone, and with mixed emotions. I was at a christening this year and so couldn't attend any of the matches like I did last year but I was glad to see Henry back where he belongs and I was gutted he didn't get the chance to pull on the red and white for a bit. Football takes itself far too seriously sometimes, it was a meaningless pre-season friendly for God's sake. But the real story of the weekend was typically Arsenal; letting leads slip and hapless defending (with another healthy dose of home fans booing the squad - so sad, especially during pre-season). I've watched the games (thank you Arsenal Player) and I've seen those mistakes before - this team has not learnt it's lessons from last season, not at all. It still baffles me that Mr Wenger hasn't addressed the defensive issues yet. A £10 million bid for Phil Jagielka is disgraceful. To be fair I don't rank him being much more than that, not even close to £20 mil but somewhere around £14-15 mil would have been a good start. I understand there is still close to a month left to sign players but a new centre back should have been the first thing on the boss's shopping list this summer, so the new guy could find his feet in North London and gel with the rest of the squad. Now any new players will be forced to learn the ropes when the matches actually account and precious points are at stake. Oh well...

The new season is literally just around the corner now, away at Newcastle next weekend on Saturday the 13th at 5.30pm. However we have our final pre-season game against Benfica tomorrow before the Premier League kicks off, and the friendly is being shown live on Arsenal Player tomorrow evening at 7.45pm, so hopefully I can get home from work in time to watch it. Until then fellow Gooners...

Back To The Blog

Escape to N5 is back from it's little hiatus and just in time for the start of the new season. I haven't blogged on here since May and that's down to a couple of reasons. Since my last post I have finished university and completed my dissertation, I have moved house and had to reconnect to the world wide web. So there's been a couple of obstacles in my way when it comes to blogging about the Gunners. Plus, Arsenal hardly finished the 2010/11 season in style which caused me to lack motivation to blog about the sorry state of the team - that end of season lap of "honour" was depressing wasn't it?

Anyway I'm back now, just as Arsenal have kicked off their pre-season activities. The Gunners are currently on a tour of Asia and dispatched a Malaysia XI yesterday with a 4-0 win. Wenger started with quite a strong team, handing first team debuts to newboys Carl Jenkinson and Ryo Miyaichi, and the opposition were naturally no match for our boys. Ramsey scored from the penalty spot early on, then Walcott lobbed the keeper to make it 2-0 just before half time. Carlos Vela produced one of his trademark chip shots to make it 3-0 and Rosicky headed home the fourth goal just before the final whistle to put the gloss on a typically sluggish pre-season game. The squad needs to get their fitness up and games like these are perfect preparation ahead of the new season. Arsenal travel to China next on their Asian tour and have the Emirates Cup to look forward to at the end of the month.

In transfer news, not a great deal of activity has occurred during my blogging absence. Clichy has left for the billionaire babies at Manchester City, which makes me slightly sad because I always liked our French leftback. The "Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona" saga is still on-going and I have practically ignored anything to do with Fabregas and the Catalans. The constant rumours of him leaving and twats like Dani Alves and Xavi piping up every minute have led me to become completely disinterested in this story and I pretty much ignore every 'rumour' concerning Cesc these days. The same can go for Samir Nasri and his quest to leave us for Manchester United; I'm not listening to any of the crap the media comes out with until I see Nasri holding up that shirt at Old Trafford - I'll believe it when I see it. Almunia and Bendtner are supposedly in talks with clubs looking to take them off our hands. Almunia should have been sold years ago and its probably the right time for Bendtner to leave. In the right system I think the young Dane will flourish but I don't think he was ever going to fit into the Arsenal system and Wenger's tactics, which is a shame because I'll be pissed off if he goes to another club and bangs in 20 goals plus next season.

The biggest piece of transfer news of late is the club have finally confirmed the signing of Ivory Coast striker Gervinho from French club Lille. This transfer has been wrapped up for a while now but it still took its time to become official. We've all had a good inkling that Gervinho was already a Gooner a couple of weeks ago but its great to finally hear he's one of us now. I'm looking forward to seeing him play and hopefully he'll add some much needed firepower to the team. Wenger now needs to turn his attention to some of the other gaping holes in the squad; the most pressing concern is his failure to address our defensive problems. I'm sure our manager is working on it, we all know he likes to play his cards close to his chest and release no clues on his transfer dealings, but a big-name centre back signing for the club would put all our worries to rest (for a while anyway).

That'll do for today, that's enough rambling I reckon. I'll post a bit more frequently now when I get the time and of course I'll comment on any big news concerning Arsenal in the near future. Until then...

Thanks for reading.

Stoke Spoil Any Surprises

So Arsenal's 3-1 defeat today at Stoke finally puts the "title challenge" to rest. It's officially over now, there is no chance of a trophy coming to the Emirates this season. There is no chance of a surprise ending to this topsy-turvy season. It will end with the usual feeling of disappointment we've become accustomed too in recent years. And with United beating Chelsea 2-1, the title-race is over, there'll be no fun to be had there. It would be incredibly unlikely to see Man Utd throw away the title with two games left.

Arsenal... well they need a massive sort out. The defensive errors and frailties on display today just highlight the problems on this squad, and the area that needs addressing the most. Completely hopeless sometimes.

I think the picture says it all really.

Ramsey Rocks United

I haven't really got the time for a full match report or review, and I didn't even get to watch the game live as I was at work. But I did just want to pitch in with how happy I am that we finally got one over Fergie and his boys, after what seemed a long time since we last beat them. It was fantastic to see Aaron Ramsey score the winning goal and he took it so well too. I know its an extremely simplistic view but it is nice to wonder if we have seen signs of life 'after Fabregas', if the Spaniard were to leave for sunnier pastures this summer. I'd like to think with Ramsey and Wilshere in midfield, and maybe another strong/tall midfielder in the squad as well, that we could cope without Cesc if he did in fact leave us. Its interesting to think about at least.

Anyway, I hope Gooners all over the world celebrated yesterday's May Day victory; I doubt very much that this puts us back in the title race, as I don't expect Chelsea and Man United to lose two more matches again this season, or at least drop enough points for us to catch up with them. However our 1-0 win certainly makes the Premier League title race more exciting, and the United - Chelsea game next week should be fantastic.

Thanks for reading, lets finish the season in style.