He has managed to show terrific commitment and a great maturity thus far, but is there any chance at all that he will stay?

I think it is more a case of – can anyone afford him?

There are only a few clubs in the world that could pay his transfer fee. Barcelona are struggling financially and can’t afford to keep spending like they have previously done.

Which leads me on to the more important question – if Barcelona can’t afford to stump up the cash at the end of the season and another team can, will he go to someone else?!

He has always stated that he wants to join Barca as they are his boyhood team. It would be interesting to see what he would do if Real Madrid or  Inter/AC Milan offered him the opportunity of joining them.

Is Barca the only team he would join?! What do you think?!

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Also……….

I currently rent my DVDs, BluRays and video games from LOVEFiLM. You can get unlimited rentals for a month for free!!! Click here to have a look.

Until next time……

THG

Drogba 39, Alex 85

I can’t say I am surprised by the result on Sunday, are you?!

Drogba always manages to score against us. The goal aside, he was actually fairly quiet by his standards.

We passed the ball around and painted some pretty pictures but lacked a cutting edge. We really could have done with RVP on Sunday. If he would have played it could have turned out far better for us.

Koscielny forgot to jump off the ground for an easy header in the 3rd minute. I am not sure it would have made much off a difference to the outcome even if he would have scored.

Chelsea can definitely defend can’t they?! I reckon they have got to be nailed on favorites for the title this season. Their players are all at the perfect age to win trophies.

I would be a very happy bunny if we snatched second place in the league and won a cup trophy this season.

The match itself was actually very enjoyable. I don’t expect us to beat Chelsea so the disappointment was not as high as when we lose to Man Utd or those down the road from us.

If Man Utd can beat Chelsea twice then we have a chance, however I will bet my right leg that they will fail. Chelsea look too strong for me.

Conclusions: We lost to a team at their home ground who are clearly better than us. It was a good game to watch, if not a little infuriating at times.

If we can play like that against all the other teams in the league then we should be OK.

I attended the Legends Emirates stadium tour on Saturday. I am just putting something together for you to read including some pictures of the day. Work is crazy busy at the moment, hence the lack of posts on here – apologies.

Also congratulations to Tom Smith and his team ‘it’s a marathon not a sprint’ as he was top at the end of last month in the Fantasy football league.

Contact me at thehonestgooner@gmail.com to claim your prize of a lovely Spotify invite code.

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Until next time…….

THG

I wanted to discuss an obvious change in stance on the Carling Cup from Wenger this year.

He fielded the strongest Carling Cup team that I have seen for some time. Does this mean that he is now going to take the competition seriously?

To be honest I have mixed emotions if he has changed his mind. I actually quite enjoy watching our promising players pitted against first team stars.

Year on year they have actually progressed much further in the competition  than most other Premiership teams and it allows them to gain vital experience against top players.

Also, we do appear to have a team that manages to frequently pick up injuries. I would hate to lose Nasri, Koscielny or Wilshere for any period of time due to playing in the competition.

Ian Wright was banging on about Arsenal fans “wanting a day out at Wembley, even if it were to be in the Carling Cup”. On one hand I can see where he is coming from, on the other I wonder if it is really worth risking our best players for?

It is a difficult one to call. I think I need a little more time to decide. What do you think?

I am sure I wasn’t the only person to breathe a huge sigh of relief that we didn’t lose any more players to injury when the final whistle sounded after 120 mins?!

There are four players I would like to give a mention to from last night:

What a performance from Nasri. He was playing just like that during pre-season and I ear-marked him for big things this year. His  injury then set him back a little, but it looks as though he is back with a vengeance now.

Koscielny is really beginning to excite me. Carrying on his fine form from the last match he was the boss at the back for us. I cant wait to have Vermaelen and him partnered together. We now have two centre backs who look like they can be relied upon – a real partnership.

Wilshere continues to amaze me. He managed to show great maturity last night as he got battered time after time by the talentless Spuds. Is he better than Fabregas was at 18? You bet he is! If he can keep his feet on the floor and manage to avoid the diversions of English players like Rooney, Terry and Crouch then I can see him becoming the best player in England.

Finally……My dear friend Fabianski. You are given chance after chance to show what you can do and every time you let us all down. Wenger continues to tell us you are world-class. My reply? “Wenger dear sir,  what are you smoking?!” Perhaps in training he can hold his nerve and play well, however when it really matters he is almost always prone to a big mistake. Fabianski actually manages to make Almunia look world-class, now that is saying something! Szczesny should have started.

I am keen to find out what your own thoughts are?

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Until next time…..

THG

Fabregas 13, Bent 90+

Ouch! That really did cut deep on Saturday. I was in a terrible mood for about an hour after the game.

My fiancé Carly then became a little ratty with me for being unable to shake off the disappointment. Most women will never understand.

So, onto the express review:

We looked tired after our midweek game.

Chamakh did well but had zero service most of the afternoon.

Koscielny was immense, absolutely immense. My nine-year old step-son Jack even commented on the amount of times that he was there to make a vital clearance.

Arshavin is beginning to grate on me. Again, he gave away the ball all too often. Is there a reason why he is almost always first to be substituted?!

Fabregas’s goal was a beautiful freak of nature. Unfortunately he is now out for two weeks because of it.

Why didn’t Chamakh take the penalty? Rosicky had never taken one in an Arsenal shirt before.

Is it me or did Squillaci look a little lost and out of position at times. He did OK, but I have not been too impressed with him as of yet. It is early days in his Arsenal career so it is only fair to lay off any real judgement for at least another 4-5 games.

Song persistently fouled all night. He deserved the second yellow for an obvious obstruction.

When Sunderland scored in the final minute I smacked my fist onto our table and injured my wrist – idiot!

Overall Conclusion: Sunderland whole-heartedly deserved the point. Koscielny’s superb defending kept us in the game. We looked tired after the midweek match and as a result our pass and move game was lacking. A point is not a bad result, it is just a shame that we lost the other two with such little time remaining.

Wenger will have to choose whether he carries out his touch-line ban against the Spuds or WBA. He sarcastically tapped the third official on the shoulder for the sending off, then apparently abused him at the end of the match for allowing so much additional time.

Carling Cup time tonight vs the Spuds. As usual Arsene will play the kids and reserve players.

I love watching the Carling Cup because it is a no-lose situation for an Arsenal fan.

If we win then it is unexpected and embarrassing for the other team. If we lose it is expected and the disappointment is watered down slightly.

Let me know what you thought of the game on Saturday in the comments section and you can catch the highlights from the game on our Facebook group page.

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Also……Well done to ‘it’s a marathon not a sprint’ in our Fantasy football. Just one more week at the top and he will be the winner this month. Not so sure about ‘RedzSuperSpurz’ creeping up into third place. What sort of team name is that!!

Anyone who had Berbatov in their team this week is bound to be rather happy. He was voted the star player of the week from Sky Sports.

Until next time…..

THG

Arshavin 30,  Chamakh 34, Fabregas 53, 9(pen), Vela 69,84

I predicted a 3 – 0 win for Arsenal. I never imagined we would put six past Braga. I watched their qualifying games against Celtic and Sevilla and they played well against both.

Fabregas and Wilshere pulled the strings for Arsenal all night long.

It was good to have Nasri back. He had a decent game and completed 90 mins without incident.

Arshavin was very wasteful. At one point I was tallying up his mis-placed passes and counted 6 in the space of around 20 mins. Scored a well taken goal.

Lima, my touted danger-man and hat-trick hero from their last match started the game on the bench. After he came on late in the match you could see why.

Wilshere can be a tough cookie when he wants to. This is an interesting side to him that I would not be against seeing more of.

Our defence and Almunia had little to do and were solid throughout.

Braga gave us to much room and respect.

Koscielny is beginning to impress me. He had a remarkable stat last season in the French league that he did not lose a single one on one battle. You can see why!

Again, Vela impressed me. His finishing and movement was sharp.

Overall Conclusion: We won a game we were expected to win. Braga didn’t turn up. We could have scored more if we hadn’t taken our foot off the pedal. The six goals will send out a nice message to Europe that we mean business.

I thoroughly enjoyed last night. We look really sharp and there is a heightened sense of maturity about the players.

What did you think of the match? Let me know in the comments section.

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Until next time…….

THG

We are winning matches this season that we have previously struggled with arent we?!

Cahill deserved to be sent off. He went in from behind with both feet off the ground. Silly really, considering the position that he gave the free-kick away.

We should have had the game wrapped up by half time.

Arshavin needs a couple of matches on the bench to realise his place in the team isnt a certainty. Must try harder.

Song did foul Lee on the edge of our box. Ah well!

Almunia was solid. Maybe a little hasty in rushing for the Bolton goal, but I am nit-picking really.

Chamakh is a real striker. What a wonderful bit of business to get him on a free.

Koscielny was at fault for the goal. He bounced back from the mistake and was terrific.

The two centre backs did very well considering it was their first competitive game together. Arsene Wenger pointed out that they wont have another match like that for the next 19 games.

Vela is still improving. He is now a real option.

Overall conclusion: Another well earned three points. It will be a tougher match when we play them at the Reebok. However, we coped with Blackburn away from home and I consider them to be more of a physical test than Bolton. So far we have won all the games they have been expected to win – you cant ask for any more than that.

Braga at home will be a difficult match. Watch out for Lima, he is a very promising striker. This aside I expect us to beat them at home and score over two goals.

My prediction – 3 -0.

Give me your predictions in the comments section please.

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Until next time…….

THG

You find writers are scratching around to put something together or attempting to produce a creative piece of writing on the Arsenal.

To sum up what has happened –

– England won – I actually enjoyed the first half! The movement was good. Milner and Johnson improve us immensely.

– Theo picked up an injury. Typical, just when the lad was on top of his game. Depending what source you read he could be out anywhere from 2 – 6 weeks.

– RVP is going to be out until mid October. When will he be fit for a sustained period of time?! It may surprise you to hear that he has only started 42 Premiership games since the 2006 – 2007 season! Yikes!

On that note I will ask you all a question. I may get hammered for this, but hey – If a club offered us in the region of £23million for him at the end of the season would you take it?!

My answer – probably not. However, if he were to only start 10 or so games again this season due to injuries I would change that to a resounding ‘yes’!

Bolton at home on Saturday. Chamakh will start up front and will probably score. I predict us to win 2-0.

Fantasy Football

As you can see I have now updated the league table in the side bar. Apologies for the delay. I am still waiting to hear from last months winner to collect his prize.; Dwaine Daley with his ‘arsenall’ team.

Please contact me on thehonestgooner@gmail.com to claim your prize.

Good luck Fantasy Footballer’s for this weekend!

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Until next time…….

THG

I actually do believe Wenger when he says the transfer market has been tough. Just look at the lack of business in general from other clubs. It has been non-existent (Man City being the exception).

However Wenger was obviously looking for a new goalkeeper. Why was it left so late?! If we would have made the final acceptable offer to Fulham a lot earlier we would have got him.

You cant expect to nick a Premierships first choice goalkeeper on deadline day. The other club simply does not have the time to find a replacement.

Wenger should have sorted this problem at least a month ago.

We have a goalkeeper between the sticks that he doesnt want any more and every Tom, Dick & Harry is now aware of it.

Whatever you think of Almunia we have to get behind him. If he performs like he did against Blackburn Rovers every match then we will actually be OK.

I missed the chance to write a match report on the Blackburn game. Sorry about that. It is now a little late so I will give it a miss. Still, it was great to see us get the away win at Blackburn. Make no mistake – they are tough to play at home.

Fantasy Football

Congratulations to Dwaine daley. His ‘arsenall’ team ended the month in first place with 166 points.

He chose to have Drogba and Walcott in his team. Between them they managed to score 94 of his total goals!

You win a Spotify music invite, well done!

Email me – thehonestgooner@gmail.com – to claim your prize.

I do not have the facility to edit the league table on the sidebar right now but I will have this done soon.

The current  top five are:

1. arsenall

2. it’s a marathon not a sprint.

3. Gunning 4 Glory

4. BiggBiffs 11

5. DeanTeam

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Until next time…….

THG

Like most other Gooners I was expecting his name to be on Arsenal.com on Monday.

Anyway, it is still very slow on the transfer news front. I am hoping that behind the scenes Ivan Gazidis is frantically trying to arrange something. We could get Shay Given if we tried – chances are, we wont even try. I am not convinced we will get a goalkeeper at all if we don’t get Schwarzer.

Due to the slow news you I thought I would share a couple of GIF’s with you that made me laugh.

P.S – I have also updated the Fantasy Football league table in the side bar –  congrats to ‘arsenall’ for taking 1st place!

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Until next time…….

THG

More of this please Theo!

I have now come to the conclusion that match reviews are boring to read.

Most blogs will usually write a long-winded match analysis on each Arsenal game. I do actually enjoy writing them, however reading each one on the various blogs becomes a little tiresome.

On the other hand, this wouldn’t be much of an Arsenal blog if I didn’t talk about our football matches would it?! I am in a little bit of a ‘catch 22’ situation.

So my plan is this – keep it short, direct and interesting.

Hopefully you (the reader) wont mind clicking on my match reviews from now on as you know they will be short and sweet.

Arsenal 6-0 Blackpool

It was fantastic to see a direct, decisive and penetrative Walcott on show. He was reminiscent of the chap we saw against Croatia. Consistency is key for him now.

The Blackpool sending off was correct. The penalty was well taken. Arshavin said it had been four or five years since he last took one.

Chamakh was a nuisance to Blackpool. He missed a sitter and scored a good header. I told my step-son before the match that he was good in the air.

There were very few fouls. Testament to Blackpool for trying to play football and not kick us off the field.

Vela looked sharp when he came on. He is definitely improving.

Fabregas and RVP came on late to get a run out. RVP swung in the corner for the Chamakh goal.

Rosicky is looking better every week.

Almunia had nothing to do for 90 mins. Blackpool only had three shots all match. This will keep the negative press off his back for this forthcoming week.

Overall conclusion – we looked sharp. Some good interchange passing and quick one-twos. Walcott begins to show promise. We beat a defensively weak side and managed to waste a lot of chances.

So there you have it. We have Blackburn away next week. They have acquired a team of giants from somewhere.

Man City vs Liverpool tonight. This one looks like a draw to me.

Fantasy football – those of you who had taken a punt on Theo or Andy Caroll will be very happy. League table will be updated after the game tonight.

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Until next time…….

THG

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