The Arsenal Press

A-Project: The Sunderland-Arsenal Pre-match News

2010-09-18T22:51:00.005+08:00

Welcome to another week of Barclays Premier League. Our focus will be of course on the Arsenal. Anyway, the Gunners will be facing Sunderland on Saturday at the Stadium of Light in the day's late kick-off.

The Arsenal's past two visits to the stadium of Light ended with defeats, putting Arsene Wenger's men under pressure to win this time around. However, the 6-0 thrashing of Braga at the Emirates Stadium have lifted spirits and expectations to register a win at sunderland for this season. Below are some pre-match newsprior to the Sunderland game.

Pre-match Talking Points

Bruce and Ferdinand: Wenger is THAT good

To change things for a start, let's start with some Bruce talk from the Sunderland camp. The English manager has talked about how good Wenger is, as if Wenger is (could be) his best pal or something. Bruce's respect for wenger has been reported openly as the two have had past dealings in terms of player transfers (both permanent and loans). Remember Wilson Palacios, Pennant, Larsson etc.? Anyway, this is what he said:

"He’s done a fabulous job, the way his teams play. Arsenal have always got this bit of class about them and it epitomises in him. He’s up there with the best there’s been.

You have to say repeatedly without the money of the other big clubs to keep Arsenal where they are and the way they play you can only take your hat off to him."

His central defender Anton Ferdinand also heaped praise on our French tactician, saying:

"I speak to quite a few of the boys at Arsenal, who I know from my time in London, and they have nothing but good words to say about him, about the way he is as a person, the way he is as a coach, as a manager, everything. They haven't got a bad word to say about him. For me, you cannot question Mr Wenger's credentials and the players he buys, the way he does his business. You can't beat that, and it shows in the way they play football. They play football the way football should be played."

Ok, enough of the lovey dovey stuff. Sunderland are going to give us a big test for sure. No complacency there, guys.

Wenger: Everywhere we go we try to win

Sunderland will be one of the five post-Champions League BPL games away from home for the Gunners. Indeed, it'll be a tough job for Wenger's boys (men) to shift their focus straight away from their European games. Wenger said:

"Everywhere we go we try to win. It could be a good game and we'll be determined.

It's important for our season as well that we're capable of going from Champions League to the Premier League. From Wednesday night to Saturday afternoon is short but we can rotate a little bit."

Wenger also took the chance to emphasise his team's quality and spirit which would be crucial for the Arsenal to achieve greater things and perhaps a few trophies. That is why he maintained that the team must not rest their laurels and keep pushing defending champions Chelsea all the way if it's possible. He said:

"Chelsea have maximum points. They are still flying from last year. We know we must not give them any ground that is why Saturday is vital for us. If we maintain this sort of form on a longer term then I know we can takeover at the top."

Very true.

The Injury Room Visit...

We have another addition to the injury room this week as Diaby has been ruled out for roughly a week after suffering some pain in his ankle due to Robinson's crunching tackle last Saturday. Vermaelen is still on the sidelines but both Diaby and the Belgian defender will be penciled for the West Brom game.

Van Persie and Walcott are still nursing their respective injuries for a few more weeks before returning. However, long term absentees Bendtner and Ramsey remain, well, long term occupants of the injury room. Other than that, "we are ok" as Wenger will put it.

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A-Project: The Final Thoughts (Arsenal-Bolton)

2010-09-14T10:39:00.004+08:00

Welcome to the final Arsenal-Bolton post-match blog entry, The Final Thoughts. Another week has started and Champions League football is finally back! Well, we'll leave that to another day. This time around, we have another round of interesting points to talk about in this section. Scroll down for more.

The Positives

Extremely creative midfield the key...
The French tactician started the game with a creative midfield/attacking force of Fabregas, Rosicky and Arshavin. Song and Wilshere played slightly deeper roles but were still able to create chances from the middle of the park. As Bolton utilised a high line (probably due to the absence of Walcott's pace), Fabregas and Rosicky managed to carve out 3 to 4 defence-splitting through balls which weren't taken well on most ocassions by guilty party Arshavin, but Vela though did finish off a classy 24-pass move. Check out the video below.

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The return of Cescy football...
How Cescy? 3 assists in 4 goals scored by the Gunners. Superb ain't it? He made Koscielny's goal by bringing down Wilshere's cross perfectly. Then he sent in a quality cross which was headed in by Chamakha. Then he made the 23rd pass in the 24-pass goal by sending Vela THE killer ball. It is indeed the return of Cesc Fabregas especially after the summer-long Cesc-to-Barca saga. I don't see why he has to go back to Barca in the short term. Arsenal can provide almost everything that Barca can. Hmmm...

Alex sings THE Song again...
Enough said. I'm a huge fan of Alex Song. Biased? A bit I guess. Since the Fulham game in 2006 when he was substituted by Wenger during half time for a tremendously poor performance (and I bet he still remember it), this man here has come off leaps and bounds. His movement, ball control and etc. Wow. Against a slightly physical Bolton, he has shown extremely high maturity, even higher than last season, in terms of defending, protecting the ball and even attacking it. He said he would score in the game and he did in the end, which probably was a good thing for Alex.

Wenger hits the 1000-goal mark...
1001 goals. It's quite a magnificent achievement. It has been 14 years since Wenger first arrived at the Arsenal. It's good to recall the wonderful moments in the Wenger era. And my first season with the Gunners left an extremely awesome experience with the guys winning the Premier League and breaking the unbeaten-run record at 49 matches. Yes, season 2003/04 and 2004/05 that is. The current team has also come a long way since the departure of Patrick Vieira. Here's to Wenger with the hope of greater things to come.

The Average Fellas

Debut partnership with interesting outcome...
Squillaci made his Arsenal bow in a competitive match, starting alongside Wenger's other new signing of this season Koscielny. The partnership was shaky in short periods but overall it was solid. The typical nervy moments were there to see as this partnership was only like 1.5 hours old. However, I saw a few slightly worrying signs especially regarding Squillaci. The 30 year old seems to lack the pace and love to mark opponents tightly to the point of marking a Bolton player till the opponents' half. Maybe I'm just over-reacting.

Having said that, he was pretty good in the air and his awareness and determination were top-notch. There was one ocassion where the ball eluded him but he ensured that the ball did not reach the Bolton players by side-stepping the ball in quick succession even when he was already losing balance. Nothing much to say about Koscielny though as he was his usual self apart from the odd mistake that he made which led to Bolton's only goal.

Chamakh needs to learn how to finish off chances better...
Yup. He has scored 2 goals in the past 2 games. But those were headers. Call me fickle, but he definitely needs to improve his goalscoring touch. In the 2nd half, he was provided with a superb ball by the Arsenal captain but he didn't take it well. The conclusion is that he needs to score more goals from open play and be less wasteful. Other than that, Chamakh is superb.

The Poor One

"Hasty" Arshavin losing the edge...
I think the knives are now trying to find a scapegoat. The Russian knew it and even talked about it on his official website. On a personal note, I believe that he needs to up his game fast. The manager has given him numerous games to prove himself but he still couldn't deliver what the fans wanted, which is the consistent brilliance of Andrey Arshavin. He can be brilliant in a flash, but he seems to be anonymous for large periods in a game, which is quite worrying. However, there is definitely more to come from Arshavin. Just keep the faith.

In the End

Great day for football. 4-1. Cahill's red card didn't change the game much in my opinion. Nervy performance in defence though is still something that Wenger can do much to improve on. With confidence riding high at the Emirates, the team must show even greater desire to win a long-awaited trophy for the deserving Arsenal fans for sure. Next up, Braga in the Champions League!

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A-Project: The Arsenal-Bolton Post-match Review

2010-09-12T18:23:00.004+08:00

The Arsenal welcomed another Lancashire side, Bolton Wanderers after beating Blackburn 2-1 at Ewood Park two weeks ago. With a perfect record against owen Coyle's side last season, Arsene Wenger would want to repeat that record this season but was still wary with Bolton's threat as coyle's team has adopted the passing style which he brought from Burnley.

With most of Allardyce's signings are still at Bolton, the "thuggery" tactics can probably still be seen in this side. The same question would always be whether wenger's team can cope with the physical side and the newly added passing style of Bolton Wanderers. owen Coyle would have another agenda in his mind, plotting the downfall of the home side by capitalising on the Arsenal's defensive weakness.

Final Score...

With van Persie, Walcott and Vermaelen out, there was a starting berth in defence for wenger's final signing of the season, Sebastien Squillaci who pulled through a reserve game during midweek unscathed. The Frenchman also made a few notable changes, with fullbacks Gibbs and Eboue replacing Clichy and Sagna due to the busy schedule in the coming months. Rosicky took Walcott's place while Nasri and Vela only managed to complete the bench.

First Half

The visitors started the first half well with good passing which on ocassions have threatened the home side's defence. But the first real chance came within minutes of the first half when Rosicky sent Arshavin through with a superb defence-splitting pass which ended with Arshavin shooting the ball towards the Bolton keeper.

The Arsenal then slowly settled into the match. At the 24th minute, Koscielny scored his first Arsenal goal after a goal mouth scramble. The move began from a corner taken by Fabregas which eluded everyone on the far post. song took the ball and passed it to Wilshere, who then sent in a cross to Bolton's right side. Fabregas hit a low cross into the centre where Koscielny was at, encouraging the French defender to hit the ball into the net. with the Gunners' opener, the home side grew in confidence as it was very evident in terms of the team's superb passing.

At this moment, the visitors have no reply and the North London side crafted out numerous chances to score the second. The first was a Rosicky shot which was wide and another one was similar to the first real chance, but Arshavin got the ball wide and shot it wide as well.

At 1-0, the visitors could simply get back into the game. And they did. As Bolton sent the ball forward into the home side's area with a long ball, Koscielny headed the ball away from Bolton's Korean winger, but not far enough. Lee Chung song chased after the ball, pulling Almunia to run after him, and then crossed the ball to Elmander who couldn't miss a header to score Bolton's equalising goal. 1-1.

The Arsenal ended the first half with extreme anxiety and were probably glad to hear the blow of the half time whistle.

Second Half

The Gunners restarted the second half with the same anxiety as they had towards the end of the first half. Bolton tried their best to capitalise on this with a few threatening moments against the Arsenal's nervy defence.

The Arsenal though also worked hard to regain their lead with Fabregas putting in a through ball for Chamakh who was in huge amount of empty spaces but the Morrocan's shot was kept away for a corner. The Gunners were able to capitalise this corner kick as the Arsenal captain crossed from the left and the ball met Chamakh's head to put the ball into the net. 2-1 up for the home side.

The main turning point and talking point of the game after referee stuart Attwell sent cahill a red card after lunging into Chamakh with a fierce tackle from behind. It was clearly a debatable sending off, but it had definitely changed the complexion of the game no matter how. With the visitors having one man down, the Arsenal midfield were in full control of the game, passing around to spot open spaces in between the visitors' area.

The game turned a little bit ugly with Bolton putting in rough challenges and tackles at times. Just ask Diaby, who was the victim of a rough and tough tackle by one of the Bolton defenders. The Frenchman, who came on for Wilshere earlier in the second half, was then substituted by Brazilian Denilson.

Approaching the 80th minute mark, Fabregas again was able to spot a running Arshavin who then brought the ball into the box. With Song running into the box as well, Arshavin fed the ball to our Cameroonian midfielder, who then managed to squeeze the ball into the net for the killer third goal, following challenges from Bolton's keeper Bodgan and defender Knight. By then, the game was firmly the Arsenal's to lose. Wenger then sent on Vela to replace Chamakh who had a good game overall.

The classic Arsenal passing and attack came. A 24-pass move, which was started by Vela, ended by vela as well after the Mexican was put through on goal and picked his spot to score the Arsenal's forth. It was the moment to behold indeed. 2nd half ended with a huge roar from the Arsenal fans as the home side have once again wrapped up another important win which, according to Wenger, couldn't have been achieved two seasons ago.

4-1 is the final result.

Do not forget to follow us tomorrow as The Arsenal Press will post our final thoughts on the game. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

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A-Project: The Arsenal-Bolton Pre-match News

2010-09-11T17:12:00.006+08:00

Holla! After a one week plus hiatus, The Arsenal Press is back in town. Well, it has been a busy week on a personal note, dealing with different assignments and tasks. To all our Muslim readers, Eid Mubarak.

It so happens that our one-week long hiatus coincided with the so-called "Interlull", well international break to be exact. No wonder the excitement and energy return this weekend when proper football makes the ultimate comeback.

The Arsenal troops will once again continue their league campaign with a game against another Lancashire side, Bolton Wanderers today at 15:00 GMT. Formerly managed by current Blackburn manager Allardyce, the current Bolton set-up is in the hands of Owen Coyle, who has more or less changed the perception of Bolton as the "team of thugs" in the league by injecting the passing element into their game.

After thrashing Blackpool 6-0 and obtaining a satisfying 2-1 victory over Blackburn in their past two games, Arsene wenger will certainly want the good form of his team to carry on in this way. However, bad news after bad news were reported during the past 10 days as injuries start to pile up. How would this game turn out to be? Catch the game later.

Meanwhile, check out some of the pre-match news in today's blog entry.

Pre-match Talking Points

Injury room check-ins for van Persie and Walcott

Again?? Ok, let's take a look again. Robin is out for approximately 5 to 6 weeks with a twisted ankle that he suffered during the Blackburn game. He was substituted before half time by Chamakh in that game and bad news was already expected by that time.

As for Walcott, he damaged his ankle on international duty while playing for England against Switzerland. Walcott is another victim of international football when he was stretchered off the pitch which might have suggested the severity of his injury.

Things got interesting though during England post-match interview when Capello suggested that Walcott could only be out for two weeks. However, the Arsenal medical team re-assessed his injury and announced that he will be out for 6 weeks.

The latest setbacks for van Persie and the in-form Walcott might reduce the Arsenal's strength and drive towards claiming the Gunners' first silverware since 2005. Sigh.

Squillaci made his first Arsenal bow

Arsene Wenger's final signing of this season made his Arsenal debut in a Reserve game match against, yup, Blackburn reserves. Our reserve team won 4-3 but that wasn't too bad at all because Squillaci managed to play through the 90 minutes unscathed, partnering Djourou in the heart of defence.

His confidence and drive are high and of course, he will now anticipate for his chance to play for the Arsenal. He said in the post-match interview:

"Yes of course I'm ready to play against Bolton. But it depends on the coach and other players. If I want to play I must work hard during training."

Talking about the intensity of the English game, he has this to say:

"I played 90 minutes for the reserves and felt good physically. Little by little I am picking up the rhythm. I played the whole game and afterward I didn't feel too tired which is a good sign."

With his top-level experience at Lyon and Sevilla, much is expected from the Frenchman. oh ya, it was reported on Arsenal.com that Vermaelen will be out for the Bolton game. Squillaci is definitely in contention for the Belgian's spot in defence, probably partnering another former Ligue 1 player, Koscielny.

Coyle: No bad blood against Arsenal

Bolton manager has spoken about last season's game against The Gunners at the Emirates Stadium where the visitors lost 4-2. Former Arsenal defender Gallas was at the centre of a controversy before the Gunners equalised through Fabregas' goal.

Coyle explained Bolton's relationship with the Arsenal since then and said:

“It’s not frosty between us. I said my piece, as I always do. My responsibility is to look after Bolton Wanderers, my club, and do everything I can to make sure that happens. Sometimes people take things the wrong way but that’s the nature of the game. We all know managers will say things to look after their own clubs.”

On today's game at the Emirates Stadium, he is confident that his team would display a good, strong performance. He said:

“I believe we are a better team than we were then, so we’ll go there with confidence looking to make a real game of it.
You want to play against the best teams in the best arenas, and the Emirates affords you that chance.”

Well, we, the Arsenal look forward to another Bolton challege again.

Summer transfer deadline revisited / 2010-11 Squad Announced

The deadline day was a very quiet one for the Gunners. With expectations of having a new goalie signed before the window slammed shut, the fans were once again disappointed in the end.

On the following day, Premier League clubs were required to hand in a 25 man squad list, with these compulsory rules to be followed:

Clubs have to declare a squad of no more than 25 players when the summer transfer window shuts, and then again at the end of the January transfer window.
Players aged 21 and under can be selected without being registered in the 25.
For the "homegrown players" rule, clubs have to name at least eight players in their squad of 25 players that have been registered domestically for a minimum of three seasons prior to their 21st birthday.

The Arsenal have announced a 20 man squad, with 7 homegrown players in it and also sent in registration of the club's young players in the Premier League which does not go against the new squad rules.

The following is the 20 man squad list:

First-Team Squad:
Manuel Almunia, Andrey Arshavin, Maroune Chamakh, Abou Diaby, Emmanuel Eboue, Lukasz Fabianski,Laurent Koscielny, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna, Thomas Vermaelen, Robin van Persie, Sebastien Squillaci.

Home Grown:
Nicklas Bendtner, Gael Clichy, Denilson, Johan Djourou, Vito Mannone, Alexandre Song, Cesc Fabregas.

The Injury Room Visit...

We now know that van Persie (6 weeks), Walcott (6 weeks) and Vermaelen (short term) will be out. Djourou is back after playing through 90 minutes unscathed. Nasri is also in contention to play after his knee operation, which is probably the only positive injury news at the moment. Bendtner and Ramsey still remain on the side lines on a long term basis though.

There you go. Enjoy the return of proper, sexy football! For those who are celebrating the festive period, enjoy too!

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A-Project: Arsenal's Champions League fixtures Set

2010-08-29T21:30:00.000+08:00

As reported last Friday, Arsenal will be facing Braga, FK Partizan and Shakhtar Donetsk in Group H of this season's Champions League. The fixtures have already been set and The Arsenal Press present the list of fixtures involving the Arsenal as shown below:

15 September 2010: ARSENAL vs Braga
28 September 2010: Partizan vs ARSENAL
19 October 2010: ARSENAL vs Shakhtar
03 November 2010: Shaktar vs ARSENAL
23 November 2010: Braga vs ARSENAL
08 December 2010: ARSENAL - Partizan

It could be a tough list of fixtures as the Arsenal will play in away Premier League fixtures on five occasions after playing a Champions League match. Despite that, The Arsenal Press hope that the Arsenal will go through the Group stages smoothly. The Arsenal Press will bring you updates on the Champions League. Signing off.

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A-Project: The Final Thoughts (Blackburn-Arsenal)

2010-08-29T19:00:00.000+08:00

Ah, a sunny Sunday. Just the perfect way to relax after a good win for the Arsenal. With critics threatening to sharpen their "knives" and neutrals tipping for another Blackburn upset, it was definitely a nice feeling for the Gunners to have won the match 2-1 and answered questions about the team's inability to challenge physically.

Hence, there will be quite a number of positive points to talk about in this week's Final Thoughts section. Read through to know more about our content for today.

The Positives

Walcott continues fine form...
Another week of fine form continues for the Arsenal's pacy forward Walcott. Indeed, he is starting to show his true self, displaying not only his strength, skills and pace, but also his rising confidence which is doing him good at the moment. The Englishman scored the opener for the Gunners, and also managed to terrorise Blackburn's defence. Walcott was also involved in the winning goal as he helped creating space for Sagna by pulling the Blackburn defenders inwards. Walcott's performance has been a long-awaited one indeed, especially after the harsh criticism from the media. Keep it up, mate!

Defence showed strength and resilience...
The one thing needed while playing Blackburn Rovers is resilience. Our defence has definitely shown that. I would put our good defensive display down to the balanced partnership between Vermaelen and Koscielny. The latter has been quick to close down and make decisive tackles at important times. Vermaelen, Sagna and Clichy were also marvellous, displaying their usual class at a much improved level. Another key man deservingly earned a mention is Song as he has proven why he's the main man in front of the defence.

Song + Fabregas = Awesome...
The emergence of Song has been so evident that I couldn't stop talking about the Cameroonian. With Fabregas alongside him, the combination was flawless as both possess great movement, excellent passing skills and can hold the ball when needed to. In the game, Song has made a large number of right decisions, which enabled him to bring the ball forward and help out in defence with ease. Fabregas was the same too, albeit in a more attacking sense in the playmaker role.

Almunia on high alert...
Blackburn's style is always about aerial threat and bombardment. Unlike Fabianski last season, Almunia has been very very solid in this match. The Spaniard kept out a number of extremely dangerous threats in the game, keeping out Blackburn's efforts especially from set pieces and throw-ins. Indeed, Almunia deserved a lot of credit from his performance too.

The Average Fellas

Arshavin scored but...
For the third consecutive week, Arshavin hasn't been involved too much in the game. I am not inclined to put him in the Poor Ones category due to his goal again this time around. He was at the right position at the right time when Walcott accidentally flicked the ball into his path. However, his contributions were few and far between. Improvements are needed quickly for him though.

The Poor Ones

Diaby with near to zero workrate...
Well, it happened in the first half anyway. However, that was already enough to put him in this section. His poor workrate has been the main talking point of his game for years. The goal that Arsenal conceded was mainly due to his poor workrate of marking players when necessary. His movement is still class though but if he were to become a great player instead of only a good one, he must improve his workrate.

In the End

The game was a classic battle in the Premier League. Duels in almost every position can be seen. At the very least, the Gunners have managed to overcome this first challenge without much wounds, with van Persie only out for probably 8 to 10 days accoding to Arsene Wenger. To sum things up, it was a good win for the Arsenal especially before the international break.

Well, that's all from The Arsenal Press now. As the transfer window slams shut after next Tuesday, we'll bring you all the latest last minute Arsenal transfer news!

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A-Project: The Blackburn-Arsenal Post-match Review

2010-08-29T14:09:00.006+08:00

Lancashire side Blackburn Rovers hosted the Gunners at Ewood Park for their third Premier League fixture of the season. With the same fixture last season still bearing in the minds of the Arsenal and the fans, Frenchman Arsene Wenger would definitely be wary against Big Sam's style of play. Blackburn though were confident of beating Wenger's men, citing Big Sam's so-called "good record" against the Arsenal.

The media suggested that the Blackburn game would be the Arsenal's first ultimate challenge to measure how far the Gunners have come so far since Wenger decided to begin his heavily criticised policy of blooding the youth, as well as to use it as a yardstick for the London side's chances of winning the title.

Final Score...

The Arsenal manager made a few changes to the squad that thrashed Blackpool 6-0 last week, with the notable ones being van Persie and Fabregas picked ahead of Chamakh and Rosicky. Song returned to his key position in defensive midfield as Koscielny was back from suspension. Contrary to Blackburn's style, the Arsenal held onto their much-admired beautiful passing style, which would be challenged greatly by Big Sam's "long ball" methods. In short, Arsene Wenger started with his usual 4-3-3 while Big Sam utilised his favourite 4-5-1 which included pacy Man Utd loanee M. Diouf.

First Half

Even at the opening minutes of the game, one could obviously spot the stark contrast between the two teams. The Gunners imposed their passing style right at the beginning but Rovers did just the opposite by just pumping the ball upfront.

Before the 15th minute, the Arsenal had to endure some aerial bombardment in their own penalty box, with Pedersen delivering long throws and corners to put the Arsenal under tremendous pressure. Almunia and the defence though managed to deal with most of the situation well. The first real chance came for the Arsenal as Walcott hit a strong low corner shot into the net after receiving a superb through ball from van Persie on the right side.

However, the visitors' lead was cut short by Blackburn. The homeside intercepted a pass to Walcott, passing the ball to Samba who then drove forward. E. Diouf then received the ball on the Arsenal's right, leaving only Koscielny to deal with the Senegalese forward, who managed to beat the Gunners' new signing. E. Diouf then fed in a ball to M. Diouf in the middle of the penalty and tapped in a simple goal. A poor goal to concede overall.

The visitors' first half has got a little worse when van Persie was substituted after sustaining two serious knocks on his ankle. The first half ended with numerous Blackburn threats, which in the end was dealed well with by the visitors.

Second Half

No changes was made on both sides, the visitors tried to press for a winner. Six minutes after the 2nd half restarted, Arsenal regained their lead. The whole move started when Sagna drove forward into the huge amount of space created by Walcott who drifted inwards to pull the home side's defenders inwards, and launched cross into the box. Walcott flicked the ball without notice and Arshavin pounced on the open chance.

Blackburn were always Blackburn. Aerial bombardment from the home side intensified with the aim of snatching a late equaliser. However, the Arsenal coped with the situation well and was more than able to cut out any potential dangerous situations. On a number of occasions, the Arsenal were given chances to launch counterattacks, with Wilshere coming the closest towards adding to the Arsenal's two goal lead.

The game ended 2-1 at Ewood Park as the Arsenal fans enjoyed a great win against one of the two most physical teams in the Premier League.

Coming up later today, The Arsenal Press will post our final thoughts on the game. So keep it logged onto The Arsenal Press!

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A-Project: The Blackburn-Arsenal Pre-match News

2010-08-28T16:38:00.005+08:00

The Gunners travel to Lancashire for their third Premier League fixture to play against Blackburn Rovers, a side managed by former Bolton manager Allardyce at 12:45 GMT later today. With their current two match unbeaten, the Arsenal would want to avoid a repeat of last season's game at Ewood Park, where they lost 2-1 to Blackburn due to Fabianski's howler and horrific display in goal. As for Blackburn, their notorious "physical and long ball" style is not new to their opponents today and is expected to pose problems to the North London side.

Arshavin looking for revenge at Ewood Park

With the Blackburn game looming, Arshavin found time to talk about the game. Recalling the 2-1 defeat at the same venue last season, Arshavin wants his team to win this time around. He said:

"We have a very important game against Blackburn. We should win in order to leave without any worries for a break caused by the participation of the players in the national teams; this will give confidence to the team. In addition, we haven't forgotten about the defeat against Blackburn at the end of the last season."

Harbouring the hopes of winning things with the Arsenal, Arshavin is of the belief that the Arsenal have grown up, learning vital lessons from last season and have acquired valuable experience. He added:

"My opinion is, if you look at the points on last season's table, we were close, but then we met Chelsea and Manchester United and they beat us very easily. I would like to see this season that we will manage to fight against big teams."

Arshavin, we too are hoping for that.

Big Sam strikes back at the Arsenal

Wenger's on-and-off "complaints" about dirty play in football has not gone all well with Blackburn manager Allardyce. The Englishman claimed that Wenger's 2001/02 team which won the league and cup double, was "also the dirtiest team". He backed his claim by saying the following:

"They had more sendings off and bookings than anyone else ever before.

Arsenal had players like Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Kevin Campbell and Martin Keown and they would mix it anyway you wanted to."

Big Sam seemed confident of beating the Frenchman again in this upcoming fixture as be believed he has "a way to beat them" due to his "record" of beating the Arsenal many times. Interestingly though, Big Sam's record against the London side tell us otherwise. As Bolton manager, the Arsenal still have the upperhand over Big Sam with 6 wins, 4 draws and 6 losses in all competitions. Under his management, Big Sam has only managed to chalk up 1 win in three occasions, losing the remainding 2 matches against the Arsenal.

Almunia is the key against Blackburn

Former Arsenal striker Alan Smith believes Almunia will be under pressure from the start of the Blackburn game. His worry is understandable due to the way the Gunners lost the similar fixture last season, with Fabianski being the centre of criticism for his dismal performance.

Arsene Wenger mentioned about players playing rugby on goalkeepers in the modern game, suggesting that "in some situations, the goalkeepers are not protected." One would understand his concerns as goalkeepers are the ultimate last line of defence which in his opinion should be given more protection from the referees.

Therefore, Smith advised Almunia to "rise to the occasion" and not give into Big Sam's "physical" tactics in the game. He brought up some interesting questions, saying:

"Does he hold his position on the goal line and hope his defenders can deal with the cross? Or does he try to barge his way through in an attempt to catch or punch the ball, so risking getting blocked and caught in no-man's land?"

These will be Almunia's questions to answer at Ewood Park.

Injury Room visit...

The Arsenal welcome the return of Denilson and Koscielny from injury and suspension respectively. The good news is that there is no further injury reported to any of the Arsenal players other than the long term absentees, which include Nasri, Ramsey and Bendtner. In other words, Arsene Wenger will have a pretty strong squad to pick from this time around.

Enjoy the battle this weekend. Post-match news to follow!

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Week in, Week Out (W.I.W.O.) Episode 1 PART 2, 2010/2011

2010-08-27T02:00:00.000+08:00

Today seems to be a busy day, doesn't it? All things Arsenal have been quiet in the past few days, then suddenly it all come back to life again. Anyway, here we go, the 2nd part of the W.I.W.O. Episode 2.

Transfer Monger: Update

What's the status of the Schwarzer transfer?

Firstly, let us clear things about the "second bid" with the same fees being reported in the past few days. According to John Cross on ATVO's The Friday Night Fans Forum show last week, the "second bid of the same price" as reported on The Arsenal Press did not exist at all. It was just the first bid being left unnegotiated on the table, with the Arsenal reviving it by contacting Fulham. Fortunately, The Arsenal Press did not report on this yesterday. Arsene Wenger today made a statement about Schwarzer, and here was what he said:

"We are where we are. We have four great keepers and it is important we give confidence to them for the next game.

I do not rule it out, but at the moment I say I am not in a position to sign anybody. At the moment, it is all dead."

Clear and obvious one from the Arsenal manager. The reason for the stalling of this deal could be related to money issues though. Rumours are speculating that the Gunners are not willing to meet Fulham's quoted price of 4 million pounds due to Schwarzer's age and his complicated injury issues. It's not that he has suffered from serious long term injuries or something, but at his age, there could be some niggling injuries which could probably justify Arsenal's preference to drop the price to their valuation of 2.5 million.

Honestly, this deal won't be an easy one since the beginning. Fulham are unwilling to sell, but Schwarzer wants to leave. The Arsenal fans are calling out for a new keeper, but this time around, it isn't in Arsenal's hands anymore. Maybe it could go down to the last second of the summer transfer window. Hmm...

Silvestre to start Bundesliga adventure

German side Werder Bremen are interested to take former Gunner Silvestre on a permanent deal. The 33 year old has been to Genoa to attend the Champions League play-off match between Genoa and Werder Bremen. Allofs, Werder's sporting director, seems fairly confident of signing the French defender (which he should) as Silvestre will now anticipate an interesting ride in Germany. As a consistent Bundesliga viewer, Silvestre would probably fit in fairly well and fast, but he would have to relish the physical challenges of some German teams. So long, Mr Silvestre.

21 and Below
Lansbury linked to Swansea loan switch?

Arsenal young midfielder Lansbury is reportedly a loan target for Welsh side Swansea City. However, negotiations between the Gunners and Swansea have been reportedly put on hold due to "Arsenal's injury woes" as Frimpong has been ruled out to up to nine months while Nasri has been ruled out for a month. Another 50-50 situation on the cards for sure.

Bolton suffers opening day thrashing in Arsenal's hands

Just look at the scoreline, 5-0. Then look at Bolton's line-up. It was a game of the experienced versus the up-and-coming stars. Unsurprisingly, the player tipped by The Arsenal Press to be the frontrunners (to close in on the first team) featured in the starting line-up. According to Young Guns' ever-so-great match report, Emmanuel-Thomas was the star man of the match and the goalscorers included Emmanuel-Thomas with two goals (of course), Barazite and Aneke with a brace as well. Well done to the lads!

That's the end of Episode 2 of Week in Week Out. Keep tuning in to The Arsenal Press for more latest news!

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Footballhood: UCL Draw UPDATE - Who have Arsenal got in the Group Stage?

2010-08-27T00:02:00.003+08:00

As the UEFA Champions League play-off stage has ended, it is time for another episode of the biggest continental club tournament in Europe and in the world. 10 winners from the play-off stage will join 22 other clubs who have already gained automatic qualification to the group stage. Later today (16.00 CET), these clubs will know their faith and who their team members are as the group stage draw is to be made in Monaco.

The 32 teams are placed in four different pots based on their respective coefficient (similar to points). There will be 8 groups in this stage and each group consists of four teams, chosen from each pot. Below are the list of teams in all four pots.

POT 1:
Inter Milan, Barcelona, Manchester United, Chelsea, ARSENAL, Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Lyon

POT 2:
Werder Bremen, Real Madrid, Roma, Shakhtar Donetsk, Valencia, Marseille and Panathinaikos

POT 3:
Tottenham, Rangers, Ajax, Schalke, FC Basel, FC Copenhagen and Spartak Moscow

POT 4:
Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Twente, Rubin Kazan, Auxerre, CFR Cluj, FK Partizan, Zilina and Bursaspor

Below is the confirmed list of groups and their respective members after the draw was made in Monaco:

Group A
Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Tottenham, Twente

Group B
Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel-Aviv

Group C
Manchester United, Valencia, Rangers, Bursaspor

Group D
Barcelona, Panathinaikos, Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan

Group E
Bayern Munich, Roma, FC Basel, CFR Cluj

Group F
Chelsea, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, Zilina

Group G
AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre

Group H
ARSENAL, Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga, Partizan

Here you go. Arsenal get Ukraine side Shakhtar (with Eduardo making a swift return to the Emirates Stadium), Champions League debutants Braga from Portugal and Partizan from Serbia.
Full fixture lists to follow.

Transfer Monger: BREAKING NEWS: "He's a real defender."

2010-08-26T20:59:00.006+08:00

Of course he is. With "he", we mean Sebastien Squillaci. In Wenger's press conference on Thursday, the Arsenal manager confirmed to the world that the French defender has joined the Gunners from Sevilla.

Wenger said:

"We needed a centre-back of quality and experience if possible, and at the right price – he was all of that.

He is a real defender and is good in the one against one, good in the air, and can score goals on set-pieces as well. I believe he will be suited to the English game."

This piece of transfer has broken Wenger's traditional "Surprise! We have a new signing! (on arsenal.com)" approach. To all long time Arsenal fans, a new signing would normally be officially announced on the Arsenal.com. Gooners world-wide knew that Squillaci had a medical at London Colney on Monday and hence, the deal would be imminent.

Anyway, Squillaci is currently back in Sevilla, sorting out his stuff there and dealing with his relocation to London. Understandably, the outgoing Sevilla defender would not be drafted into the squad to Ewood Park this Saturday. Without sounding too excited, The Arsenal Press says, "WELCOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE TO THE ARSENAL!"

Here's a brief profile of Mr Sebastien Squillaci, our new centreback.

Name: Sébastien Squillaci
Date of Birth: 11 August 1980
Place of Birth: Toulon, France
Position: Centreback
Previous Club(s): Toulon, Monaco, Ajaccio (loan), Lyon, Sevilla
Nationality: French
Senior National Caps: 21
Personal Record: Ligue 2 Champions (2001-2002), Coupe de La Ligue Champions (2002-2003), Ligue 1 Champions (2006-2007, 2007-2008), Trophée des Champions (2006), Copa Del Rey (2009-2010)

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Week in, Week Out (W.I.W.O.) Episode 1 PART 1, 2010/2011

2010-08-25T15:29:00.014+08:00

After three days of unstable connection at home, The Arsenal Press is finally back, probably with a bang (or two maybe). I have been raring to return earlier but there wasn't many things to report on honestly. In other words, it has been a "blessing" in disguise.

Anyway, this week's "Week in, Week Out" segment will be featured in a 2 parter. The reason? Probably have to blame Wenger for his slow transfer activity. Well, I lied. In this week's episode, we have included more news revolving different topics and there will be no transfer news in the first part as news regarding Arsenal transfers are still at a stand still. We'll report any confirmed transfers immediately anyway through our Transfer Monger section.

Injury room revisited
Bendtner Severed Ties with Key Therapist

Since the beginning of this season, Bendtner is nowhere to be found. We all know that he's out injured at the moment. A few days ago, he was in the limelight again as he sacked Soren Malling, the therapist who has been treating Bendtner's niggling groin and pelvic injury. Interestingly though, Malling has been quoted as a therapist who "has worked extensively with former Denmark striker Michael Laudrup", which might probably induce some questions in your minds (maybe).

So, what's the reason (for the sacking), Mr Bendter? This is what he said:

“I do not wish to receive any further treatment from this self-publicist.

I am very happy with how my rehabilitation has been going under the Arsenal medical team and expect to be back in training in around six weeks’ time.”

Understandable, but isn't Bendtner one as well? That's another story though. Malling claimed that Bendtner would be back training with the Arsenal and probably play if he were to continue treating him, but without him, Bendtner could only be back in December. Hmm... It reminds me of U2's "With or With You".

More to come from Wenger?

Last week, The Arsenal Press have reported that Ciani could be another defensive target for Wenger despite the imminent Squillaci deal. Sky Sports though have added another fella into the mix, using one of their favourite words "believe" in this article. That player is none other than Juan of Roma, who did not really impress me whenever I saw him play. Who would I choose between those two then? Ciani of course!

Mourinho looks into the crystal ball...

And probably saw some crap in it. This self-proclaimed "The Special One" wants to maintain a "special" relationship with English football, isn't he? For your information, this is what he said:

"That team of young boys are a team of 25, 26 or 27-year-olds.

So Cesc Fabregas , Theo Walcott, Gael Clichy, Alex Song and Bacary Sagna are not a team of young kids. They are a team of an age to win things. But I do not think they will do it."

His "crystal ball" also revealed to him that "it will again be Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City, because they have a great squad." Who cares what he predicts anyway? Obviously he wants a return to English football as soon as possible for sure.

21 and Below
Young Guns talk about class of 2010/2011

Moving on to some Arsenal Youth news, our very well-known counterpart, Young Guns featured their views on the upcoming batch of youngsters, whom according to Young Guns, are another bunch of exciting fellas. For some reason, I am excited with a few players, namely Oguzhan Ozyakup, Martin Angha, Zak Ansah and particularly Chuks Aneke. Of all the Youth players, I would tip Aneke to be one of the first ones to close in on the first team. Don't ask me why, ask Wenger though.

Arsenal clinch straight consecutive victories in Dublin

The Gunners' Reserve side wrapped up the competition with an unbeaten, all winning record, beating the likes of Shamrock Rovers and Man Utd Reserve team 3-1 and 2-1 respectively. They guys put in an impressive display especially against Man Utd, who have always been the Arsenal's rivals at all levels of English football. You can read the match reports on both games at Young Guns.

Introducing Wellington Silva, the blogger?

Brazilian whizkid started a blog not long ago and is probably paving an alternative route for his future career if things do not work out for him in football, which is unlikely given his immense footballing talent. Well, he had been blogging about his Arsenal career till now, having played in a few Reserve friendly matches for his new club. As The Arsenal Press have written in last week's episode, he would be back to Fluminense for his last spell in Brazil before joining the Gunners once again in January 2011. In the meantime, don't spam his blog ya.

Tune in again tomorrow for the second part of W.I.W.O. Episode 2, with transfer news potentially in the pipeline. See ya.

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A-Project: The Final Thougths (Arsenal-Blackpool)

2010-08-23T16:01:00.000+08:00

What a great day to start a new week. Well, it's raining in my area at the moment, but I bet that most of the Arsenal fans would be very happy after our 6-0 display at the Emirates Stadium. Yesterday's result between Fulham and Manchester United might have added some icing to the cake huh.

Ah, The Final Thoughts on last Saturday's game. Firstly, apologies to all The Arsenal Press readers for the delay of this important section. Unstable connection at home is to be blamed though. Anyway, the game is rid of any poor moments for the Arsenal, hence there will only be two categories involved.

The Positives

Walcott the hat trick hero...

Theo Walcott was easily the man of the match. Like Messi said, Theo's pace can frighten any defence in the world. But in the Blackpool match, Theo's pace was not only the main talking point. His movement, positioning and trickery had nearly torn Blackpool apart. He combined his strength well on a large number of occasions, leaving the Blackpool defence on the edge most of the time.

His first goal was made by Arshavin but he took it first time. His second was a result of good movement, twisting and turning, followed by a superb first time shot. His third was even better and reminded me of Henry, albeit scoring from the right side instead of Henry's favourite left side. Walcott utilised his weaker foot to full effect, curling into the far corner. No doubt, he was absolutely "unplayable" as Holloway would put it.

Song the big defensive wall...

The Cameroonian defensive player deserved a HUGE mention here. With only probably a half match fit body, he was thrown right into the deeep end to partner Vermaelen. Well, not that he couldn't play centreback, but I was a bit worried whether he would cope for 90 minutes. My worries were unnecessary to say the least.

Song was basically Song. Whether he's the defensive midfielder or the centreback, his game is just the same. Making interceptions, heading the ball to safety, tackling, man-marking and closing down. Who wouldn't remember his trademark turn and quick feet? He did just all that against Blackpool. A solid partnership was formed with Vermaelen and grew throughout the game. Why can't we have a few more Alex Songs in our team? Then we wouldn't have to worry about defenders and defensive midfielders!

The return of the World Cup finalists...

At 5-0, the game was effectively over and the home side were just toying the Seasiders. Then came Wenger's substitutions, van Persie and Fabregas, who were greeted with cheers by the home fans. I thought it was the great time to give some match game for both of them as it would accelerate their recovery in terms of match fitness. Their return has somehow galvanised the team even more.

Diligent "Little Morzart" Rosicky...

With Nasri out for a month and Fabregas yet to achieve full match fitness, it was obvious that Rosicky would be chosen as the team's main playmaker. The thing about Rosicky is that his movement and passing are world class, which has caused tonnes of problems for the Blackpool defenders. The visitors did not know what to do with him and most of the time, they tried to close Rosicky down and marked him tightly. By doing so, huge amount of spaces were formed in between Blackpool's defence, allowing Walcott and occasionally Arshavin to penetrate easily.

The Average Ones

Arshavin improves...

It was a much improved performance by Arshavin with a much better workrate. Having said that, the Russian was stil performing at only an average level as he was still an easy prey for Blackpool's defence. However, he created two vital moments in the game. The first was his assist for Walcott and Arsenal's first goal and the second was his penalty, which he has gone for power by smashing into the far right corner beyond the reach of the Blackpool keeper.

Chamakh hardworking...

Okay, some would've disagreed with me on this. His workrate was top notch and there's no question about it. But his finishing was no that great. Well, again, it is understandable that it's only his second Premier League game and is still gelling into the team.

The Moroccan made his first contribution in the game by bringing Arshavin his first penalty chance. One could also remember the moment when he missed a sitter (which would require only a tap in but he sky-rocketed his shot) after Arshavin's perfect pass into the box. But luckily enough, his trademark header was enough to open his Emirates Stadium account with ease.

But somehow, I just feel that playing him as a lone striker isn't really that effective. His full potential can be exploited if he has a striking partner alongside him. I am very sure that Wenger will be looking at this seriously to add to his team's clinical side of the game. Crucial indeed.

In The End

Overall, it was an exciting one-sided game with a long-awaited huge scoreline at the Emirates Stadium. Blackpool did threaten our defence earlier on and almost managed to surprise us, but our movement and passing proved to be too much for the new boys.

Credit to Holloway though for persisting with his version of attacking football instead of opting the "To beat Arsenal, you must be a thug" way of playing against us. Till then, The Arsenal Press signing off.

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Transfer Monger: Squillaci deal reached and medical on Monday

2010-08-23T10:42:00.000+08:00

The Gunners have reached an agreement with La Liga side Sevilla on the transfer of French central defender, Sebastien Squillaci, according to news from Sevilla FC. The Spanish side's official website announced this piece of news yesterday, saying that Squillaci will take the night plane to the Arsenal to sign for the Premier League side, pending a medical.

As of now, the estimated fees has yet to be 100% confirmed. Marca reported that the fees should be around 6.5 million euros, which was roughly the amount paid by Sevilla to Lyon a few seasons ago. However, Orgullo de Nervion has reportedly stated on their website that the fees might be a fixed 8 million euros plus add-ons, based on the fact that Squillaci is a French international who is in the prime time of his career.

The Arsenal Press have also recently speculated that Squillaci might be the player who Wenger might have mentioned about in his post-match press conference on Saturday as negotiations had been on-going with Sevilla since last Wednesday. With rumours reporting that Squillaci did not want to feature against Braga so as to avoid him from being cup-tied if he joins the Arsenal and had an argument with Sevilla manager Antonio Alvarez.

Just to summarise Squillaci's overall style of play, he is known to be a tough man (whom Arsenal need as always), who has played for Lyon and of course Sevilla and hence, having invaluable top-level experience which will benefit the Arsenal defence for sure. He's also a good marker and uses his intelligence to read the game and dangers even though he's not the quickest of all defenders. Take a glimpse of his action at Sevilla once again with the following video clip.

With that, there could be a new signing announcement on Monday, probably during afternoon, that is if everything goes well for the French defender. In the meantime, welcome to the Arsenal, Sebastien!

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Transfer Monger: "I am confident we will add at least one" / Bordeaux defender linked

2010-08-22T03:30:00.002+08:00

Wenger on potential new signings

As the Gunners excelled in a 6-0 rout against Premier League new boys Blackpool, the media has once again pressed the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger for an answer about new signings. Speaking to the media in his post-match press conference, Wenger said:

"I am confident we will add at least one, maybe one plus one. It is difficult to predict because the market is very quiet but I know that in the last five days it gets crazy and then it gets completely mad."

Based on his statements, a signing is definitely imminent and at the moment, there is only one player who is the closest to join the North London club, namely Sebastien Squillaci of Sevilla FC.

According to a news article on Orgullo de Nervion, the Sevilla manager Antonio Alvarez told the media that Squillaci would not feature against Barcelona in the Super Cup. There were also rumours circulating that Squillaci had an argument with his current manager due to the Frenchman's reluctance to start in the Champions League play-off match against Braga when Arsenal's interest was made known to him. However, this rumour was quashed by Alvarez himself publicly.

The ultimate question focuses on Wenger's next signing. Will it be Squillaci? Or would it be a keeper? We'll find out very soon in the final 9 days of the transfer window.

Bordeaux defender linked to the Gunners

Arsenal are "about to make an offer" to take Bordeaux defender Michael Ciani to the Emirates Stadium, according to reports in L'Equipe today. A transfer fee of 14.4 million euros has been quoted in the piece of news for the 26 year old newly capped French international.

The French news outlet also mentioned about Wenger saying that his current defensive options are "a little short" as Gallas has left on a free to bitter rivals Tottenham and hence, opting to sign another central defender despite taking an interest in Sevilla's French defender. At the same time, the article has pointed out that Gallas' successor "should be French too", ultimately putting both Squillaci and Ciani in contention as the Arsenal's new centreback signing.

However, it is very unlikely that Arsene Wenger would go for two centrebacks simultaneously, knowing that he has Koscielny, Vermaelen and Djourou who are still below the age of 26 years old.

As we count down the final days of the transfer window, do visit The Arsenal Press for the latest news and transfer speculation.

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A-Project: The Arsenal-Blackpool Post-match Review

2010-08-22T01:42:00.000+08:00

The Gunners started their first home fixture at the Emirates Stadium against newly promoted side Blackpool. With the 4-0 trashing of Wigan Athletic still fresh on the Blackpool fans' minds, the Lancashire club were going into this game with the confidence to get something using their version of attractive football designed by their manager Ian Holloway.

From the Arsenal's point of view, the North London side would want to kick start their home form with a bang after snatching a last minute equaliser through a Reina own goal at Anfield. With the imminent return of Song and possibly Fabregas, the loss of Nasri and Frimpong could probably be softened. New Arsenal signing Chamakh would want to register his first goal for the club while Wilshere and Walcott might probably want to stamp their authority and convince the manager of their quality to obtain a place in the starting line-up.

The Final Score...

Even before the start of the game, both clubs are recognised by their version of smooth flowing attacking football. Arsene Wenger started with his usual 4-3-3 where Chamakh joined Arshavin and Walcott in the front attacking three and Rosicky playing right in the middle as the main playmaker. Diaby and Wilshere were handed deeper roles to help out the defence whereas Song came in for the suspended Koscielny. Blackpool manager Holloway though utilised a 4-2-3-1 formation, possibly with the aim of matching the Arsenal both in attack and defence.

First Half

In the opening 10 minutes, the home side kept possession well while trying to carve out chances. Blackpool though spotted a few obvious spaces in the Arsenal's midfield and thus, posing threats to the Arsenal defence on a number of occasions. With the away side starting to exert more pressure, Walcott opened the scoring by hitting the ball into the far corner after collecting Arshavin's pass from the middle. Blackpool though had an immediate chance to equalise when the Arsenal were down to 10 men as Sagna was nursing an injury. A good cross from the left found Taylor-Fletcher on the far post, who then headed the ball wide.

The action died down a little then, but the Arsenal were now starting to obtain more control of the game and managed to unsettle the Blackpool midfield area, occasionally forcing Blackpool to misplace passes and open up even more spaces. At the 31st minute, the turning point of the game arrived. In an Arsenal counter attack, Rosicky brought the ball from deep area into the opponent area, and then fed the ball to the running Chamakah. Chamakh was then brought down by Blackpool defender Evatt in the penalty box and the referee had no choice but to send Evatt off as he was the last man. Arshavin took the penalty opportunity and went for power by hitting the ball in the low corner on the right.

With Blackpool down with 10 men, the Arsenal capitalised their opponent's tactical deficiency with Rosicky, Chamakh and Walcott being the main instigators. The third goal was bound to come and was taken by Walcott again after turning Blackpool's defender and hitting the shot first time. Interestingly though, the Gunners continued to toy Blackpool and press for the fourth but credit has to be given to Holloway's boys as they did not give up and tried to launch a few rare counter attacks which ended with no avail. At half time, the scoreline stood at 3-0.

Second Half

Both teams began the second part of the game with no substitutions. With the same aim, the Gunners proceeded with their brand of attacking football. The imminent fourth goal came from Diaby by hitting his shot at the far corner in Blackpool's penalty box. At that point, the three points were surely in the bag.

The game then went flat understandably for a few minutes. Arsenal passed the ball around comfortably while Blackpool found it hard to keep up the pace with the home side. When the game was dying to be reactivated, Walcott provided the spark. He ran through the right flank, cut inside and hit a shot using his weaker left foot. Clearly, it was 5-0 now.

The contest was clearly over. With no worries of losing any point, Wenger had the luxury to introduce his World Cup finalists van Persie and Fabregas, replacing Diaby and Arshavin. Walcott then received his well-deserved standing ovation from the home fans when he was substituted by the Mexican, Vela.

The last question in such a good day for the Arsenal was whether Chamakh could get his first Arsenal goal. The answer was yes and the goal was a trademark header by Chamakh. By then, Blackpool had no answer whatsoever, but credit to them, they did not give up and still managed to scare the home side in the last minutes of the game.

At full time, the scoreline read Arsenal 6, Blackpool 0.

Coming up tomorrow, The Arsenal Press will present their final thoughts on the Liverpool-Arsenal game. Keep it logged on to The Arsenal Press!

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A-Project: The Arsenal-Blackpool Pre-match News

2010-08-21T17:40:00.003+08:00

The Gunners' first home game of the season starts against newly promoted team Blackpool at the Emirates Stadium at 15.00 (GMT) later today.It will be a whole new experience for both sides as the Arsenal and Blackpool have not met each other in the Premier League since its establishment.

Under manager Ian Holloway, the Lancashire club has managed to gain promotion via the Championship Play-off final after beating Welsh side Cardiff City 3-2 at Wembley. The Blackpool team have also taken the Premier League by storm with their impressive 4-0 win against Wigan at the DW Stadium last week.

The Arsenal though have been hit by bad news after bad news after their 1-1 draw at Anfield. Consecutive injury news have started to force Wenger's hands but there were some good news which were announced by the Arsenal manager in his press conference on Friday.

Pre-match Talking Points

The return of Fabregas, Song and Djourou

The title says it all. World Cup winner and Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas is back in the squad alongside Song and Djourou with both recovering from minor injuries. With Koscielny serving a one-match suspension after collecting a red card offence at Anfield, the Arsenal are only left with the only match fit defender in Vermaelen. Hence, Djourou's return will serve as a huge relief for the Arsenal fans.

However, Wenger has no intention to rush Fabregas and also van Persie back into the starting line-up. He said:

"To have a good season you need a good preparation so we want to especially build up Cesc and Van Persie well.

They came back on August 5 and you need three to four weeks preparation if you want to do well in the Premier League."

Having said that, Arsenal's Dutch striker could probably feature in the starting line up if Wenger intends to switch to the 4-4-2 formation to support Chamakh like he did at Anfield.

There will be more injury news later in the following sections.

Wenger: Almunia is unsettled

With strong speculations regarding Arsenal's move for Schwarzer, it was no surprise that the current Arsenal number on Almunia has been severely disturbed and could consider leaving the club if the Australian keeper is signed to replace him.

Almunia said:

“Arsenal is a big club and speculation is always in the news. The only thing I can do is keep working because I have a contract here and I have to do what the manager wants.

I have not spoken to him. If somebody comes in, I will have to talk about my future at Arsenal. I have to work and if one day I am not good for Arsenal, I will talk."

It was only last week when Arsene Wenger said that the keeper who started at Anfield would be his number one. Hence, one can understand the Spaniard's concerns, especially the Arsenal manager who obviously has no choice at the moment but to reduce the impact of the current situation to a minimum.

No matter how, the end of the summer transfer window is around the corner and hopefully there will be a win-win situation for both parties.

The Clock End is BACK!

Remember the iconic Clock at Highbury? I believe the older Arsenal fans would have a clear memory on this. The Arsenal have announced the return of the Clock which has been so closely associated with the club for seven decades. Well, the size of the new Clock will be bigger than the one at Highbury and it will be installed at the south of the stadium. It is absolutely understandable due to the size of the Emirates Stadium.

Not to worry, there are still a few more changes come later today. It has also been confirmed that the stands in the Emirates Stadium will be re-named using the previous names of stands at Highbury, i.e. the Clock End, the North Bank (opposite the Clock End), the East Stand and the West End. This latest move would definitely receive huge support and welcome from the fans, bringing back the glorious memories of the Arsenal. In other words, it would be "Highbury" all over again, huh!!!

Ian Holloway is a crazy fan of Arsene Wenger?

The Blackpool manager has been talking about his "love", well admiration is the more appropriate word, of the French tactician Arsene Wenger in the past week. Mr Holloway even has an idea of wanting to travel to London just to watch the Arsenal team train!

This is what he has said:

"I'd love to have a good natter with him. I've asked if I can go down there and I know Steve Rowley, their chief scout, well. So he is trying to fix it up.

I want to learn as much as I can and be as good as I can be."

Despite all the "craze" and "crave", Holloway would try to beat the Arsenal using his style of play even if his team might end up losing with a big scoreline.

"You have to believe you can do these things. Who knows, we might end up losing by the biggest embarrassing scoreline ever in the Premier League.

If not, then people who have written us off may have to say different things about us, because we could pull off the shock of the century."

You have got to salute for his effort to balance between his respect for Wenger and his team's attacking philosophy. Well, we have to see the final scoreline in the game to judge him then.

The Injury Room visit...

Earlier on, we mentioned that Fabregas, Djourou and Song are back in contention for the starting line-up. It is also common knowledge that Koscielny will be out due to suspension. What about Denilson?

"Denilson is still working, he is back in normal training but he still needs to work on his fitness. He will need one more week."

The Arsenal Press have also reported the loss of Frimpong to a long-term injury as he had "done his cruciate" and would be out for at least 6 months according to Wenger. In our Week in, Week out section, we have also reported that Nasri will be out for roughly four weeks after undergoing a knee operation due to the knee injury he sustained at Anfield.

The long-term absentees now have only Ramsey and Bendtner as its members, with Nasri being the "debutant" this season. Apart from that, the Arsenal have been fine.

So there you go. The Arsenal Press is already raring to kick off the first home fixture against Blackpool. You can catch our live commentary on our facebook page with the address shown below. Till then, have a nice match experience!

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Transfer Monger: Simpson completes Hull move as Gallas is set to commit the ultimate sin

2010-08-21T01:20:00.000+08:00

Hull City officially get their man Simpson

The Arsenal have confirmed reports about Jay Simpson’s departure from the club. The Arsenal youth product will now join Nigel Pearson’s Hull City and is expected to feature in their upcoming Championship home clash with Watford this Saturday.

Jay Simpson started his relationship with the Arsenal when he joined the club’s academy at the age of 9. He was raised and nurtured by the Arsenal and rose to the ranks of earning a professional contract with the North London club.

However, Simpson would probably have found it hard to dislodge a number of world class strikers in the team during that time and hence, Wenger had to farm him out on loan on a number of occasions. His first loan spell at Millwall was noted as successful as he was rewarded with the “League One Player of the Year” award. In the following seasons, he was at the then Premier League relegation battlers West Brom before joining on loan again at QPR last term with an impressive performance there.

In his Arsenal career, he only managed to make a handful of appearances, mainly in the Carling Cup competition. The main highlight of his career though was the game against Cardiff City in the 2007 FA Youth Cup, where he would be remembered for scoring the first hat trick at the Emirates Stadium by an Arsenal player.

This permanent move to Hull City would definitely kick start his football career again as he probably already knows that he will not be in Wenger’s future plans. The Arsenal Press would like to wish Jay Simpson the best of luck in his football career.

Gallas is close to becoming a Judas

Reports are rife yesterday evening that former Arsenal and Chelsea defender William Gallas is set to join Tottenham Hotspur on a one year deal, pending a medical today.

This transfer will probably come as a piece of shocking news for Arsene Wenger as Gallas was offered a route back to the Arsenal after tabling a new contract to Gallas at the end of last season. However, he did not respond to it and officially left the Arsenal on a free on 1st July 2010.

Later on, there were reports about Gallas being courted by Panathinaikos and Juventus at one point. However, nothing has materialized for the French defender as his wage demand was rumoured to be too high for these clubs. Gallas search for a new club then continued till this month when Tottenham manager Redknapp told the media that he was interested to sign Gallas, probably as a solution to his side’s defensive issues.

All in all, Gallas’ time at the Arsenal has been a rollercoaster ride. He was named the Arsenal captain after the departure of Thierry Henry in season 2007/08. However, the most notable moment in his Arsenal career was during the Birmingham game in season 2007/08 when he showed his tantrums as the Gunners blew their title chances at St Andrews. In the following season, he was stripped off the Arsenal captaincy due to a number of reasons, with the most obvious one due to him publicly criticize Wenger’s team.

Off the field, he also had issues with some of the Arsenal players. He reportedly has a spat with his ex-defensive partner, Kolo Toure (now at Manchester City) off the pitch. In the dressing room, he couldn’t communicate well with the rest of the Arsenal team and could probably be rightfully known as a “timebomb”.

There you go. William Gallas is set to join the likes of former Gunner David Bentley in the Judas list. I guess most of the Gunners believe that there will be no love lost between him and the fans. Hope you’ll “enjoy” your time down the Seven Sisters Road, William.

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Injury Room: Frimpong out for 6 to 9 months / Transfer Monger: Armand Traore BREAKING UPDATE

2010-08-21T00:49:00.000+08:00

Before we officially start our new article, we would like to congratulate the Arsenal Reserve team on their 2-1 win against Manchester United in the Platinum One Challenge yesterday. Emmanuel-Thomas opened the scoring as he tucked in a penalty in the first half while Brazilian whizkid Wellington Silva doubled the Arsenal's lead before Manchester United replied with a Macheda goal. You can read all about it here on Young Guns.

Injury Room: “Frimpong has done his cruciate in training”

On another note, the Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong has suffered a serious injury, joining Ramsey, Bendtner and Nasri on the sidelines. Credit to Young Guns for being the first news outlet to confirm this piece of information.

The Ghanaian-born English player has “done his cruciate in training”, according to the Arsenal manager. Wenger added:

“This is a massive blow. A cartilage is three to four weeks but a cruciate like that one Frimpong did is six to nine months.”

Yes, it is a massive blow not only to Arsenal, but to Frimpong’s career as well. The youngster has been on the verge of first team football since his impressive performances during pre-season in the last few weeks. His confident and no-nonsense type of display has got Wenger altering his transfer plans. Nevertheless, the young Frimpong still have time on his side as he looks forward to a full recovery. Speedy recovery, Emmanuel.

Transfer Monger: Armand Traore is NOT Benfica-bound anymore

French leftback Armand Traore is set to join Portuguese Liga champions Benfica, according to Armand’s agent des Voeux. As reported first on Young Guns on Tuesday, Benfica have had talks with the Arsenal over their interest to bring leftback Armand Traore to the Estádio da Luz this summer a few days ago.

Reports have now confirmed Benfica’s Traore bid after having negotiations with the Arsenal regarding the fees involved, which is thought to be roughly around 3.2 m pounds. Traore will undergo a medical at Benfica prior to the official announcement by Benfica. It is thought that Armand will play as a left winger for Benfica if the deal is completed, based on Young Guns’ article.

In an interview with Portuguese newspaper A Bola, his agent des Voeux said that Traore is “very interested and excited” about this deal, especially the chance to play at Benfica. However, he did not confirm when the deal will be finalised although he stressed that “things can be decided very soon.”

Looking back his Arsenal career, the Frenchman first joined the North London club from Monaco in 2005 when he was 16. He was then given chances to impress Arsene Wenger as the Arsenal manager used him as Clichy’s understudy at leftback. Armand made his first team debut against West Brom in the 2006/07 Carling Cup, where he managed to bring the Arsenal to the finals of the competition and ended up as the losing finalist. He then went on to make rare appearances in the FA Cup and the Premier League for the Arsenal.

In season 2008/09, Traore was sent to Fratton Park on loan, where he completed 19 Premier League games, scoring 1 goal. With the emergence of Kieran Gibbs at leftback, Traore only featured in a handful of games for the club in a stop-start season in the 2009/10 term. All in all, his Premier League record for the Arsenal stands at 12 first team appearances for the Gunners.

Breaking Update: Armand Traore's move has been called off due to the French leftback's high wage demands. According to the latest report written by Young Guns, Traore and the Portuguese champions could not agree upon Traore's personal terms. As of now, there is no other club who had shown interest in Traore.

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Transfer Monger: Latest on the Squillaci move

2010-08-20T20:19:00.003+08:00

According to Spanish newsoutlet Sport, The Arsenal is close to signing Sevilla defender Sebastian Squillaci as negotiations between both clubs seem pretty positive.

In this piece of news, it claims that both clubs are “very close to finalizing the transfer of the Sevilla defender”, with the quoted fees to be approximately 8 million euros.The Spanish news outlet further added that Arsenal and Sevilla have both agreed on the fixed amount of the player, but there are still a few final details to be discussed.

However, ABCdeSevilla though managed to contact their Sevilla sources who claimed that the Gunners’ bid for Squillaci was far from the reported 8 million euros. Despite the difference in reports, both ABCdeSelliva and Sport do agree on one thing as both revealed that Sevilla are already lining up Squillaci replacement by targeting Mallorca defender Ivan Ramis.

In the latest Arsenal press conference earlier today, Wenger has confirmed his interest in Sebastien Squillaci, but said that the possibility of signing him is still unknown. Hence, it is very evident that Squillaci fits Wenger’s requirements in his quest for a new central defender. The Sevilla defender is known to possess sufficient experience, ability to read the game well, smart and quick with also a good heading ability.

Whether the deal will materialize remain to be seen. Just watch the following clip to observe his game.

Don’t forget to keep following us at The Arsenal Press as we bring you the latest on Squillaci and other potential transfer news!

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Transfer Monger: The Schwarzer Saga - Second bid for Schwarzer rejected

2010-08-19T23:50:00.000+08:00

In the wake of Arsenal’s goalkeeping “crisis”, the latest news report that Arsenal have had their second bid turned down by Fulham for their Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. The latest bid is quoted to be the “second bid” as Arsenal have not gone back to Fulham since launching their first bid for Schwarzer in May 2010.

Interestingly though, the second Arsenal bid is said to be the same as the first, which is around 2 million pounds, sparking questions about whether Arsenal are really keen on bringing the 37 year old to the Emirates Stadium. There is no question that there are differences in terms of the valuation of the player between both London clubs.

As featured on our last Transfer Monger article, Fulham manager Hughes has been reluctant and has no intention to sell their number one keeper. However, there are also rumours saying that Schwarzer’s move to Arsenal Is put on hold as Fulham are actively seeking his replacement in the transfer market.

The saga has now come to a stage where a decision has to be made by both Arsenal and Fulham. Mark Schwarzer has reiterated his stance and desire to leave for the Arsenal while Fulham are standing firm on their valuation of the player. The deal-maker or deal-breaker is obviously still the price tag. Whoever gives in will surely pave the way for Schwarzer’s dream move.

Rest assured, The Arsenal Press will continue to keep track of this saga.

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Week in, Week Out (W.I.W.O.) Episode 1, 2010/2011

2010-08-19T19:29:00.002+08:00

Welcome to the Episode 1 of a brand new section which we like to call "Week In Week Out" or simply W.I.W.O. Remember that it's very different from WWII which we obviously do not want to relate ourselves to.

Ok, crap aside, The Arsenal Press will bring you a weekly update on all the latest Arsenal news which has happened in the past seven days. Look out for it either on Wednesday or Thursday, boys and girls!

Injury room revisited

Nasri: Four weeks without me

Sad news, isn't it? Especially after working hard in pre-season and ended up as the "Pre-season star man". Well, he did not say those words himself. Instead, it was The Arsenal who released a statement yesterday saying that "Samir Nasri will today (Wednesday) undergo a minor surgery on his knee following a meniscal injury sustained during the match against Liverpool on Sunday." Needless to say that we'll not see him in action again for 4 weeks! So here we go again, another new season, another new injury. Speedy recovery, Nasri.

Djourou set for return?

News from the Arsenal camp have reported that Swiss player Djourou is back in training with the Arsenal Reserves. If he can get his act together, it will be a big boost for the Arsenal defence. We all know that Koscielny has been wrongly dismissed for a double yellow card/a red card offence, but that's the life for an Arsenal player. Whether he will be fit for the Blackpool match is still a huge question mark However, judging from his injury record, do not hope for too much.

Transfer Monger: Updates

Surprised Squillaci move for the Gunners?

Thanks to Twitter, this piece of rumour has been gathering pace since yesterday. As Sevilla took on Braga in the Champions League qualifiers on Wednesday, French TV station Canal+ reported that Sevilla's centreback Squillaci has been deliberately left out of the starting eleven so that a potential deal would not be jeopardised between the Spanish side and the Arsenal. French (Wenger is too), 30 years old (experienced?), 185 cm (tall enough for my liking) and right footed. I wouldn't rule this one out yet for now. Most importantly, there are strong rumours that the deal will be completed before the end of this week. Ready for the Blackpool game? I seriously doubt it.

BREAKING UPDATE: L'Equipe reports that the deal is imminent and is just "hours away from confirmation". Sevilla FC have also released a statement on their website, saying that they have received a bid from the Arsenal and Squillaci's future is unclear at the moment. The French defender also requested to be pulled out of the Braga match so as to make himself available for his future club in the Champions League.

Is Shay the Given gift for Arsenal by Mancini?

Another week, another goalkeeper linked. It's no surprise linking us with Man City goalkeepers nowadays, but Given's outburst at Citeh has been blown out of proportion as Mancini has chosen his new number one, which is expectedly Joe Hart. Lazy journalism might have done the Arsenal fans a favour. Arsenal need a keeper, Shay Given is one, so Given to Arsenal? Brilliant. The Arsenal Press will analyse the whole Given situation in our Transfer Monger section tomorrow. Let's leave this for now.

21 and Below

WIWO will also feature some news from Young Guns, bringing you the hype and excitement of the next superstars in youth and reserve football. Special thanks to Young Guns for allowing us to use their news.

Silva: I dream of playing in Europe but I will not forget Fluminense

What a statement by our future superstar! Wellington Silva is one hell of a boy who is not only talented but also extremely thankful of what he will relish in the future. Talking to Futebol Interior, he relishes the chance to play for the Arsenal and become a future football superstar as he was a spectator of the Liverpool-Arsenal game last Sunday.

The Brazilian boy will be involved in the Platinum One Challenge tournament with the Arsenal Reserve team in Dublin within these few days before heading back to Fluminense for his final spell at the Brazilian club prior to his January move to the Arsenal.

The curse of the dribblers - the Miyaichi incident

Remember the Japanese midfielder who has got everyone excited in an Arsenal Reserve friendly game? Yup, he's the excellent dribbler and two footed Ryo Miyaichi. Here's the sad news though. Miyaichi has suffered a double break to his fibula while playing against Dutch side SVV Scheveningen. What made the news even more sad was that he was so close to an Ajax contract before it all happened.

Alright, it wasn't exactly an Arsenal news, but we all know what has happened to three Arsenal players before, right? Koscielny was very close to being the fourth, but only for his shinpad to have rescued his leg. The Miyaichi incident should serve as a reminder that no horror tackle is welcomed and if there's one, it should be dealt with high concern and authority.

FanFare@Arsenal

Arsenal Fanshare Scheme Launched!

Want to own a piece of Arsenal? Here's your chance! The Arsenal have recently (well, two days ago) launched a scheme known as the Arsenal Fanshare Scheme, providing an affordable way for the Arsenal fans to own a part of the club. The fans can buy a fanshare for just 95 pounds, which is roughly one hundredth of one share with the market price of 9500 pounds. For more information, you can visit the Arsenal Fanshare Scheme at this website.

Meanwhile, The Telegraph's Henry Winter wrote an interesting piece of this new scheme, featuring some fan-owned football clubs whereas UEFA have joined in the bandwagon by supporting the Arsenal's latest move towards involving the fans in the set-up of the club. If you have the money, why not? Too bad I do not own a UK bank account.

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A-Project: The Final Thoughts (Liverpool-Arsenal)

2010-08-16T20:23:00.001+08:00

It's the beginning of a new week again for everyone today as we finally saw our first match action at Anfield yesterday. The Arsenal Press have posted the post-match review of the Liverpool-Arsenal game right after the match and today, we'll have some final thoughts that probably would give some food for thought for our readers and visitors out there.

"The Final Thoughts" section will be featured a day after an official Premier League match is played. The purpose for this is to focus on some of the major talking points of the game from the Arsenal's perspective, whether they are good, bad or average. Hence, these talking points will be classified into three obvious categories with their respective literal meaning.

The Positives

1. Nasri
With the absence of the Arsenal captain Fabregas, Nasri was understandably penned in to play the role of the team's main playmaker at Anfield, and boy did he do well in that position. He was everywhere in the final third, collecting the ball, twisting and turning and managed to keep good possession for the team. His forward and side-ward passes were crucial as the Arsenal kept a high percentage of possession in the game. In a nutshell, Nasri was easily the man of the match for the Arsenal.

2.Koscielny
The new signing has performed very well in his debut match. He has managed to utilise his strength to the maximum, such as his reading of the game, his defending ability in the air and on the ground. When Torres was on, he managed to challenge him and snatch the ball away from Torres, showing signs of the central defender that Wenger likes to employ in his tactics already. However, a harsh second yellowcard took some gloss off his good performance. Certainly a great player to look forward to in the future.

3. Almunia
For a goalkeeper who has to endure intense speculation about his future replacement, Almunia has shown Wenger why he is still Arsenal's number one at the moment. He's obviously the best keeper among the four whom Wenger has. On a number of ocassions, he has performed his usual good shot stopping and reflexes to keep Liverpool at bay.

4. Change in formation late on
It was notable that when van Persie came on for Diaby, Wenger switched his formation from the starting 4-5-1 to a 4-4-2 system, with Rosicky and Nasri in the middle complementing each other while van Persie and Chamakh playing alongside each other. This switch had provided the team with more width and more options without exposing the defence too much. Nasri and Rosicky were capable of holding the ball and making good turns while van Persie managed to involve Chamakh more in the game.

The Poor Ones

1. The overall performance
The entire Arsenal line-up have had a poor performance overall. Although the team had most of the possession, they could not break Liverpool down due to the narrow set-up.

2. Arshavin
Arshavin was non-existent in the match as he was an easy prey for the Liverpool defenders, snatching the ball off him most of the time. Enough said.

3. Wilshere
He was still playing well in the first half, but a major error from him has nearly costed the team a point. Defensively, Wilshere isn't really ready as he often lacked the sharpness and quick decision making skills to play at this level yet. Don't get me wrong, Wilshere is a really talented lad but probably wouldn't have been chosen for such a big game.

The Average fellas

1. Chamakh
Chamakh had an average debut in the Barclays Premier League for Arsenal. It was understandable as he was forced to play the lone striker role in such a huge match for both sides. Before van Persie came on, he was notably isolated as Liverpool packed their central area well, forcing Chamakh to go into wide positions on a number of occasions. Nevertheless, let's judge Chamakh in the next game. He will come good for sure.

2. Arsene Wenger
There wasn't much that Wenger could do than to put out this team. However, the general feeling could be that Rosicky should have started ahead of Wilshere in such a big match. Playing a 4-5-1 system with Chamakh alone was not acceptable, but it was understandable as van Persie was not really match fit. Still, the Arsenal fans would expect a much better showing from the team in the next game.

In The End

For the Arsenal, it has been a point gained with so many players injured. The sending off of Koscielny might also force Wenger's hands to sign another centreback as soon as possible. On Liverpool's point of view, it could be two points dropped with the spirit and passion that they have displayed in the match.

There you go. 1 game down, 37 more to go in the Barclays Premier League. Till the next time, it's goodbye from me for now.

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A-Project: The Liverpool-Arsenal Post-match Review

2010-08-16T02:39:00.001+08:00

The Barclays Premier League welcomed their first big game at Anfield as the Arsenal took on Liverpool. Liverpool would have a lot to proveafter a dismal end towards the last season. Under new manager Roy Hogdson and with new signings, Liverpool would want to make an early impact in the table and get back to at least the top 4 at the end of this season.

As for the Arsenal, Arsene Wenger's renewed commitment at the club might have galvanised the team but the Frenchman would also have felt the pressure to deliver more trophies after 5 seasons without one. With Arsenal only bringing in two new faces Koscielny and Chamakh, the Arsenal fans and the media are not convinced with Arsenal's ability to even mount a challenge for the Barclays Premier League title. Nevertheless, the Arsenal manager insists that his team is better equipped this season than last season.

The Final Score...

The Arsenal started with a flexible 4-5-1 formation, with Eboue playing wide on the ride and Arshavin cutting inside from the left flank. Liverpool manager Roy Hogdson though used a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Joe Cole playing the supporting role behind their main striker N'Gog. World Cup finalists for both clubs, van Persie and Torres, were on the bench respectively.

First Half

In an intense battle between two members of the traditional Big 4, the Arsenal have started the better against their opponents. The Gunners moved the ball quicker in the midfield area in particular, but the same old mistakes and weaknesses of the North London club were still pretty evident. Liverpool, on the other hand, played with more passion and greater work rate as always at Anfield. However, both sides failed to carve out a very clear chance. Having said that, the moment of madness came when Cole made an awful last ditch tackle on Arsenal debutant, Koscielny and was red-carded immediately by the referee.

Second Half

Hence, the home side were forced to begin the second half with 10 men, but showed a greater desire and commitment than the Arsenal. On a number of occasions in the opening minutes of the second half, the Arsenal were in nervy mode, allowing Liverpool to capitalise on it. The opening goal came from Liverpool as Mascherano picked up Wilshere's miscontrolled ball and fed it to N'Gog, who hit a superb shot from an acute into the net.

Arsenal tried hard to regain their composure and regroup after that but failed to do so until the susbtitutes, Rosicky and Walcott came on for Wilshere and Eboue. Walcott exerted his pace with the hope of changing the game, but the Gunners were still playing very narrowly with Chamakh failing to get any decent service in a tight Liverpool central area. As the last 20 minutes approached, Wenger played his last trump card by replacing Diaby with van Persie and changing the formation to a 4-4-2.

With Rosicky and Nasri orchestrating central midfield and van Persie playing upfront with Chamakh, the game seemed to alter a little. In one brilliant occasion, van Persie and Rosicky managed to combine, doing a one-two with Rosicky collecting the final ball, dribbling past Liverpool centrebacks and lastly hitting a curler which was tipped over by Reina in the end. As everyone thought that the game was over for the Arsenal, Rosicky hit a cross from the left flank into the box, then Chamakh attacked the ball in the air and forced the ball into the net. Reina mishandled the ball and the ball rolled into the net in the end. 1-1.

Arsenal survived the late Liverpool onslaught due to several freekicks near Arsenal's penalty box. Koscielny collected his second yellow after an unfortunate handball and was sent off. The game ended 1-1 as the full time whistle is blown.

Coming up tomorrow, The Arsenal Press will present their final thoughts on the Liverpool-Arsenal game. Keep it logged on to The Arsenal Press!

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A-Project: The Liverpool-Arsenal Pre-match News

2010-08-15T20:52:00.001+08:00

The Arsenal's new season is underway at 16.00 (GMT) at Anfield today. The excitement has been building around the first clash of the traditional big four in the Barclays Premier League in the past week.

Tonnes and tonnes of questions have been asked about the battle between the two weaker members of the Big 4. As for us at The Arsenal Press, our main focus will revolve around our beloved Arsenal.

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Pre-match Talking Points

Are the Arsenal better-equipped than last season?

The Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger talked about how well the Arsenal team are at the moment compared to last season. As he reckons, his team is better equipped this season as the players are one season more experienced and have grown up to be men now that they are 23, 24 years old.

Despite that, he strongly feels that there is a pressing need of new defensive signings as the team is seriously short of centrebacks in particular. He re-iterated what he has said last season about the need to sign new defensive players, saying,

"Let's not be fooled by the fact we are still short at the back and we still need to add."

About the chances of Arsenal winning the Premier League, Wenger seems fairly confident and feels that the chances are bigger for his team now due to the increasing competition in the league at the moment.

"The guy who plays on Sunday will be No. 1."

The goalkeeping position at the Arsenal has been the main topic in the media and the Arsenal blogosphere for quite some time now.

As reported on our blog in the Transfer Monger section yesterday, the Schwarzer saga is still hanging in the air without any realistic outcome although rumours are saying that there will be some developments in it. More about that later.

In Wenger's pre-match interview on Arsenal.com, he has touched on this topic. This is what he has to say:

"The goalkeepers are great, all ready to play. I just wait for my decision and you will get it soon."

He continued:

"The guy who plays on Sunday will be No. 1. It is never for definite but it will be a consequence of what I have seen in pre-season."

Therefore, from the four Arsenal goalkeepers (Almunia, Fabianski, Szczesny and Mannone), The Arsenal Press has always been putting our bets on Szczesny as he is always impressive in the main goalkeeping areas, i.e. command of area, reflexes, decision-making and shot-stopping.

However, Wenger has this to say:

"He has not played one game in the Premier League. I believe he has huge quality but I believe it would be a great gamble to play him. Man United play with a goalkeeper who is 40 years old and Chelsea with a keeper with seven years in the Premier League. You need experience at the back."

That would leave us with Almunia, Mannone and Fabianski. But don't rule out Szczesny totally yet because Wenger can pull out a surprise at anytime.

The answer will be revealed in just hours.

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Excitement for Chamakh to be in the Barclays Premier League

Arsenal's new striker signing Maroune Chamakh has been pretty excited to play in the Premier League. So one would understand him being excited to feature against Liverpool so early in the season.
The Moroccan said:

"I have been dreaming for a year of playing for a team like Arsenal against teams like Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United."

He even believed that Liverpool will be under more pressure than the Arsenal to succeed this season due to their poor performance last season. He reckons that the Gunners had a good season finish third last season for an automatic berth in the Champions League.

However, we believe that the Arsenal fans want more than an automatic berth in the Champions League. Still, Maroune Chamakh could be the man to lead us to glory. Who know, right?

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Is Arshavin going to be the key again for Arsenal?

Another player who could be a vital presence for the Arsenal, according to Wenger, is Andrei Arshavin. The Russian is believed to possess the ability to take Wenger's team to a whole new level, again according to the Arsenal manager.

This is understandable as Arshavin has not been involved in the World Cup due to Russia's failure to qualify for the competition held in South Africa. Alongside World Cup "rejects" Walcott and Nasri, Arshavin has managed to complete a full and fine pre-season this time around.

Wenger mentioned:

"With his creative side he can be decisive, create chances and score goals. That is what you want from him."

Occasionally seen as lazy, Arshavin is a rare type of player who could kill a team with just a flash of brilliance as he has shown particularly at Anfield last season and two seasons ago.

The Arsenal Press certainly hope for even more Arshavin brilliance in the upcoming clash against Liverpool!

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The injury room visit...

Long term absentees Bendtner and Ramsey can certainly be ruled out, while Djourou has only recently been added to that list, having limped off during a pre-season match, and will sit out for at least a number of weeks.

Both Song and Diaby are still suffering from a calf injury and will not be fit for the Liverpool game, but Diaby and Denilson will be re-assessed again before the match and can still be available for the team.

As for the absence of key players, Fabregas and van Persie, they could still be included as Wenger is yet to decide on these two key players.

More on the game...

The Arsenal Press will be reviewing the game after the end of the match, providing post-match thoughts and opinions. Till then, keep it logged onto The Arsenal Press!