Arsenal overrun Spurs to go top of the table

What a day for Arsenal it was yesterday. It was a game that showed just how good Arsenal can be at times, even against "good" teams like Tottenham, as Martin Jol watched his team get outpassed and outclassed by Wenger's latest table topping team.

In a fantastic footballing derby of the highest quality, Arsenal showed their mettle to come back from a goal down and several horrendous misses, to finally overcome Tottenham by three goals to one, adding more strength to the rumour that Arsenal may just become shock title challengers this season after all.

Arsenal started well enough, keeping posession in a pretty franctic opening quarter of an hour. However, it was Spurs, who were on the back foot for the majority of the game, who scored first. Gilberto was playing in a very uncomfortable centre back position, and showed his discomfort at playing there with an uncharacteristic rash challenge on Berbatov. From the free kick that followed, Arsenal supporter Gareth Bale stepped up and placed the ball into the near corner with aplomb. However, the Arsenal wall and Almunia's better organisation of the wall could have prevented the goal quite easily. But it really was pretty one-way traffic from that point on. Yes, Spurs had chances, but when you create as much as this Arsenal side does, then you're going to score more than the opposition in 9 out of 10 occasions anyway, or so it seems. Not long after Bale's opener, Fabregas and Adebayor set up Hleb to bring a good save from Robinson. Another chance wasted then.

The closest that Arsenal were to come to equalising in the first half was when Hleb, who was generally quiet on the right side of midfield, cut in and skillfully passed a couple of defenders before putting Diaby clear in the box. But with only Paul Robinson to beat, Diaby lost his cool and slammed the ball against the top of the bar when scoring looked easier.

And it was end to end stuff after half time, with Berbatov so close to doubling Spurs lead as he beat Almunia to the ball but couldn't take it around the brilliant Kolo Toure as the Ivorian made a brilliant sliding challenge to win the ball with the goal gaping behind him. Next it was Adebayor's turn to miss a sitter, recieving the ball after a brilliant Sagna run to the by-line, but managing to blast over the bar from 6 yards out. And Adebayor also thought he should have had a penalty not long after, running on to yet another superb Fabregas pass before the sprawling Robinson dived at the strikers feet to prevent a goal.

But finally Arsenal and Adebayor broke through the Tottenham defences, rising ahead of Robinson to nod the ball in from a well delivered Fabregas free-kick. It was a simple goal, but well deserved after all of Arsenal's efforts. And they didn't stop trying there either, Adebayor setting up van Persie to shoot straight at Robinson, before Fabregas hit the ball just wide of the goal from outside the box. But the ball was straight up the other end as Clichy got in the way of a Berbatov volley from point blank range to deny the Bulgarian on the line.

Spurs were still holding on, but that was to change very quickly. Good Arsenal play picked up Fabregas in space 25 yards out, and the young Spaniard let fly with a shot that rocketed into the top corner to give Arsenal the lead they deserved. It was a spectacular goal for a spectacular game, but the North London teams weren't finished yet. £16.5m striker Darren Bent was put through following terrible positioning from Gilberto - the Englishman was clean through but produced a woeful finish to scuff wide.

And they were made to pay just moments later, Denilson being played through only for Robinson to block well, but the ball found it's way to Fabregas, who fed Adebayor who teed himself up, turned and rifled a fantastic volley into the top corner of Robinson's goal to end the match. It was a brilliant goal that rivals even Fabregas' attempt earlier on.

Match Ratings:

Almunia - 6.5 - Couple of good saves, but should have organised the wall better for the Spurs goal.

Sagna - 7.5 - Comfortable game, did well defensively and did well going forward. Good solid game.

Clichy - 8 - Very good as always it seems, caught out once or twice defensively though. Toure - 8.5 - The perfect partner for Gilberto - for every mistake Gilberto made, Kolo made up for it. brilliant saving tackle on Berbatov.

Gilberto - 6 - A pretty poor centre back imo, positioning could have cost us goals on a couple of occasions.

Hleb - 7 - Didn't do very much, had a couple of good dribbles and linked up well with Sagna.

Fabregas - 8.5 - Brilliant game in my opinion. Rarely gave the ball away, always working the defenders with some great through balls, a wonderful goal and two assists. Not too much else he could have done to affect the game really.

Flamini - 7 - Works so hard for the team, tireless in midfield although his passing needs improving.

Diaby - 6.5 - Not too bad, some good moments, some ok moments and some bad moments. A typical Diaby game really.

van Persie - 6 - Didn't really see him, well marked but poor performance tbh.

Adebayor - 8 - Missed chances, but great work rate, a wonder goal and a header as well. Loves playing against Tottenham, he has the passion for derbies imo, understands what it means to the fans.

Subs:

Denilson - 5

Rosicky - 6.5

North London Derby!

Finally, another Premiership match to look forward to. And even better, it's the match that every Arsenal fan looks for as soon as the fixture list is released - our local derby against our friendly neighbours from down the road.

With Arsenal firmly in the hunt for the Premiership title at this early stage, and our under achieving neighbours, well, err, underachieving the stage couldn't have been better set for the biggest derby in London. And come 1.30pm tomorrow, Wenger is in no doubt that he is in the same boat as his Spurs counterpart, despite what seems like two different managers at two very different stages in their careers.

“You want every manager to have the freedom to work,” said the Frenchman. “But he is under pressure, I am under pressure, we are all under the same pressure to win games.”

“It is a big test,” he admitted. “So the players know they have to be switched on straight away. For us, it is important to strengthen the belief we have created since the beginning of the season and get the focus again. This [international] interruption is a big disturbance and all of the players have been under big pressure with their national team. How quickly we can focus again on the Club will certainly be a decider for Saturday's game. But if you want to be a successful team, you have to deal with that and Tottenham have the same problem with their players.”

But despite the two week break for internationals, it seems it doesn't change anything as far as our injury list is concerned, except French Internationals Bacary Sagna and new boy Lassana Diarra are back in the squad. Meanwhile Senderos, Gallas, Lehmann and Eboue remain out, giving us a problem in defence and particularly in the centre, where Gilberto Silva is expected to fill in as a makeshift centre half.

My estimated line-ups:

Arsenal:

---------------- Almunia ------------

Sagn---- Toure ------ Gilberto ------ Clichy

Hleb---- Flamini ----- Fabregas ----- Rosicky

------- van Persie ------- Adebayor ----------

Tottenham Hotspur:

---------------- Robinson ------------------

Chimbonda---- Dawson ------ Kaboul ---- Lee

Lennon -------- Jenas ------ Zokora ----- Bale

-------------- Berbatov --------- Keane -------

My Prediction: Tottenham 1 - 2 Arsenal

This should be a quite close match in my opinion, but a match that I'd expect Arsenal to win as they normally do against our neighbours, who must be sick of their inability to beat teams from the top four, which was highlighted in their last fixture as Man United got the three points. However, I hat to admit it but Tottenham have a lot of decent players who could give us problems if they're all on their game, but I doubt that this will be the case and so Arsenal should win.

Gilles Sunu - The Next Thierry?

With the new EPL season underway and therefore the new Academy and Reserve season as well, there are some new faces in the reserve line-up this year. And while Havard Nordtveit has instantly been given a place in the side, the reserve game against Portsmouth marked the debut of another new Academy side, the 16 year old French starlet Gilles Sunu, bought from Chateauroux for a reported fee that could rise to around £2.5m based on clauses. And this was no easy transfer, as many clubs were chasing the highly rated teenager, as Sunu told Arsenal.com this week:

“When I played for Chateauroux there was interest from Chelsea, Manchester United, Barcelona, AC Milan,” Sunu told Arsenal.com. “I chose Arsenal because Arsenal make careers for a lot of young players. It’s a great, great, great club — my favourite in the world, the team I support. But it was a very, very hard decision. I waited two years to take this decision but now I’m very happy I have because it is a great club.”

“Arsène Wenger played a big part in me coming here,” said Sunu. “He is French of course and it is easier for me to take his advice. “I would like to play for his first team if it’s possible. It’s my dream, so that has to be my target.”

This is what his former vice-chairman had to say about him prior to Sunu arriving officially in England this summer.

Chateauroux vice chairman Patrick Trotignon said: "He plays as an out-and-out striker like Thierry Henry, but he also can play in midfield. Gilles is lightning quick and he has great technical skills. But the key is that he is very intelligent, older than his years."

It will be very interesting to follow his fledgling career through the Arsenal ranks to seee just how far he can go, as the price that Arsenal will eventually pay out for him certainly seems to indicate that he may well be one to watch in the future.

Arsene Wenger signs new deal!

Yes, I know I'm very far behind the news, you can blame school for that, but I need to post something on the greatest signing of the summer.

First, below are some of questions put to Wenger in his interview about the newly signed deal, that will keep him at the club until 2011.

So you've decided to stay. Can you tell us why you've extended your contract?

Because I love the Club. I love the job I have at Arsenal Football Club, I love to win and I feel I can win with Arsenal. They're the main reasons.

Is Arsenal a special environment for you because you have complete control and complete freedom?

Yes, it is a special environment for me. But as well you must be careful to respond to that kind of trust and confidence by achieving the results and, as well, by behaving like the Club wants you to behave. It's a club of values, traditions and you feel that you have to respond to that kind of responsibility.

Will you look to stay beyond 2011?

I don't know. I will see how I feel at that time. Three years more is a long period and you have to see if you can always feel the ambitions of the Club and respond to the expectations people have - results wise and in the way you play. Can this club make another step forward in the next years? If I can, why not? If I'm healthy enough, why not?

What do you want to achieve now?

I want to win the Championship, win the Champions League and be consistent. It's simple.

How much does this young side energise you?

I must say that it's a great pleasure to work with this team because we share the same hunger and desire to do well. I'm confident we can. We have great belief, we trust each other and so it's a good basis. I have enough belief in their quality but, of course, it's only the start of the season. It's better to have a good start than no start at all.

You've built a couple of great Arsenal sides, the one in 1998, and the one which spanned 2002 to 2004. Does this squad have the ability to achieve what they did? Maybe even more?

Yes, they have the ability. Don't forget this squad has been in the Champions League Final without losing a game. A big part of the squad has done remarkably well performance wise in the Carling Cup, and, of course, they are maturing very quickly. The first signs this season are that the team has really matured. There's a completely different attitude - a completely different attitude - towards the competition. They're more responsible, more disciplined and that can bring success.


As far as I am concerned, ignore the signings of Nani, Tevez and Anderson to Man Utd, ignore the signing of Torres and Babel to Liverpool, Yakubu to Everton and Malouda to Chelsea - this is the real signing of the summer, and there's no doubt about that in my mind. He's very probably the best thing to ever happen to Arsenal, and without his vision and sheer class Arsenal would not be the club it is today. We can be proud that our club is led by such an unbelievable man, who has continously bought fantastic players to the club such as Vieira, Thiery Henry and Freddie Ljungberg and will continue to do so in the future. And when you look at signings like Fabregas for free and Kolo Toure for under £500,000, his genius is unrivalled in the modern game.

And I feel with the team spirit as strong as it seems, and the positive start to the season, after everything the club has gone through in the last six months, we may finally be about to climb up the table and challenge for trophies once more after two years of building. And it is a massive sign of what Wenger has made us into, when we consider two years without a trophy as underachieving....

Arsenal Academy beat Villa and remain unbeaten

Arsenal U18s 4 - 1 Aston Villa U18s

Despite not scoring until 60 minutes or more had past, Arsenal U18s managed to run riot in the last half an hour to continue their great start to the season, following on from a win over Chelsea and a draw with Charlton.

With a team made up of almost entirely the Under 16s, Arsenal put a very good Villa team, who had beaten last season's Youth Cup winners Liverpool 5-0 only a few weeks ago, in the shade by scoring four late goals to put them to the sword at Arsenal's Shenley training ground on Saturday morning.

First Rui Fonte opened for the home side on 63 minutes, the Portuguese Under 17 International slotting home to give Arsenal the lead. And just five minutes later Arsenal's tally was doubled, young centre half Thomas Cruise scoring for the Gunners this time. And having thrown on Nacer Barazite just 3 minutes before Fonte scored, the big Dutchman decided to get on the scoresheet himself, with just 15 minutes remaining to wrap up the game for the hosts. But The Gunners weren't finished then either, with another England U16 International, the extremely talented Jack Wilshere, scoring a fourth goal to wrap things up in injury time.

Arsenal U18s next fixture in the Academy League is away at Watford on September 15th.

Reserves to take on Pompey at Underhill tonight

Having beaten Fulham Reserves last week, tonight Arsenal have the difficult task of overcoming Portsmouth with an even younger Reserve team than last week, and while still being without the likes of Rhys Murphy, Henri Lansbury, Gavin Hoyte and Fran Merida who are still in Korea for the U17 World Cup.

From last weeks team, all the players with first team experience bar Kieran Gibbs have dropped out, with Mark Randall, Bendtner, Armand Traore and Jay Simpson being replaced by Rui Fonte, Vincent van den Berg, Jay Thomas and Rene Steer. In other team news the bench is occupied by four 16 year olds and one 17 year old goalkeeper, as summer signing Gilles Sunu and England U16 International Thomas Cruise get their first berth on the bench for the Gunners second string.

The Team (Predicted formation):

------------------------ Mannone ----------------------

Ogogo --- Nordtveit (c) -------- Rodgers ----- Steer

------------------------ Thomas -----------------------

Dunne --------------- Barazite ----------------- Gibbs

--------- Fonte ------------------- van den Berg ------

Substitutes:

Wojciech Szczesny
Thomas Cruise
Craig Eastmond
Sanchez Watt
Gilles Sunu

In other Reserve news, new Gunners reserve captain and summer signing Havard Nordtveit, the Norweigian U17 International defender, has expressed his feelings when he was told he was to be Reserve captain for this season.

"It was a real honour to be captain," Nordtveit told Arsenal.com. "I got the message from Neil [Banfield] last week. I was a little bit shocked but I’ve been captain of the national team so it was OK. I know now I must work to keep the captaincy and hopefully I’ll continue to be captain this season, and, if I’m lucky, next season too. But we take each day as it comes and go match by match, so we’ll see."

I've got to admit, I really like what I've heard from Nordtveit thus far, he realy seems down to earth and has a real understanding if what it takes to make it at a club, and I hope that he can make it here. And he really does appear to be settling into the side very well, having impressed on his debut last week, although Nordtveit himself can see areas where he will need to improve.

"I’m very pleased to have made my debut," he said. "I’m still getting used to English football though. It’s much harder, the ball goes quicker and I feel I still need to get used to the tempo. "The group are very kind with me. When I came here they took care of me and everybody talked to me. I’m enjoying playing the Arsenal way every day and I know it’s going to be fun playing for Arsenal."

Lassana Diarra - Chelsea knew I wanted to join The Gunners

Following his deadline day move from Chelsea, Lassana Diarra has explained how his move (which cost an undisclosed amount of Roubles) came about, and the reason for him, who was very highly rated at Chelsea, for him to leave.

"Honestly, I believe the Chelsea officials thought I would crack and finally accept a contract extension, as my contract would have been up in 2008," Diarra told L'Equipe.
"But I refused every extension and now I have signed a three-year deal with The Gunners. Chelsea finally accepted, maybe because they were scared I would leave for free in one year."

"At 11pm on Friday night, I got a phone call to tell me I could start to negotiate with Arsenal as both clubs had found an agreement," he said.
"I didn't hesitate because Arsenal was the only club I wanted to join. It was Arsenal or nothing. Other teams contacted me, but I knew what I wanted. Chelsea knew I wanted to join The Gunners."

I think it's nice to hear that Chelsea made several new contract offers, there's something reassuring that he was wanted at Chelsea, rather than us signing a rejected Chelsea player, we've signed one they didn't want to leave. What with the Gallas deal last year, Chelsea must be dreading who Arsenal might choose to sign from them next year, as it seems we are are making last minute deals with Chelsea an annual occurence. My money's on a last minute bid for John Terry next year!

And Diarra realises that although he left over the absence of opportunities at Chelsea, he isn't guaranteed a regular place at Arsenal either.

"I needed to play and get more time on the pitch and I don't think it would be possible at Chelsea," he said in The Sun. "At Chelsea, we had Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele and Michael Essien in midfield."
"I know it will be tough to make it at Arsenal as well. I have no guarantee from Arsene Wenger I will play all the time but I am sure that it will be okay. I know I will play big matches in the league and even in the Champions League."

With the current crop of talented midfielders at the club, it will be interesting to see who eventually claims the title of Gilberto's replacement as the second midfielder alongside Fabregas in years to come, with Abou Diaby, Denilson, Mathieu Flamini and Diarra all ready to fight for playing time, this can only be good for the club.

Arsenal continue unbeaten start to the season

Match Report:

Despite being left with 10 men for almost the whole of the second half, Arsenal still cruised to victory at the Emirates yesterday, with goals from Cesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky and Emmanuel Adebayor helping the Gunners to a 3-1 win and a share of the early Premier League lead joining Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton on 10 points with a game in hand over the latter two clubs.

And crucially, in this game Arsenal struck first and early on as well, a position that Arsenal rarely relinquish, particularly at home. They took the lead after only 7 minutes, an interception by Gael Clichy finding it's way through the Pompey defence to Robin van Persie, who got brought down by the sprawling David James to give Arsenal their fourth penalty already this season. And as is the tradition at Arsenal, the fouled player rarely takes the ensuing penalty, so up stepped Emmanuel Adebayor to convert with ice cool.

And Arsenal rarely relented as they passed around Portsmouth for the rest of the half, making several openings as they looked to increase the lead that they're cutomary pacy and smooth attacking football deserved. And they at last got it as the remarkable Cesc Fabregas, likened to Paul Scholes by Wenger after the match, kept his early scoring form up, with a little fortunate goal from a corner. Rosicky's curling cross was met by Gilberto, but was blocked by his young Spanish team mate accidentally, who then swivelled and stroked the ball home to double Arsenal's half time advantage.

And after the break Arsenal continued to look hungry for more, with Senderos going close from another corner, before the young Swiss defender stalled Arsenal's rhythm by getting himself sent off, colliding accidentally with Kanu as the former Gunner ran through on goal. A red card looked somewhat harsh to me, but that was indeed the colour of the card issued to Senderos before Pompey drew a good save from Almunia from the ensuing free kick. However, the red card seemed to make little difference as Arsenal continued to attack in the same vein, even if they had one less player than the visiting team, Portsmouth couldn't exploit it. And you had to say Arsenal deserved the third goal that they got, even if, once again, luck was shining down on Arsenal as Portsmouth switched off at a set piece. Fabregas spotted Rosicky unmarked just inside the box, took the free kick quickly to him, and the Czech Republic captain drove home from an acute angle for his second goal in the space of 5 days.

The lead lasted barely a minute though, before Portsmouth made the most of a poor defensive decision by Clichy, crossing for Kanu who attempted to conrtol the ball as he turned, but somehow managed instead to flick the ball into the corner of the Arsenal net to make it 3-1 and give Pompey some hope at last. But to say Arsenal had to "hold on" would be greatly exaggerated and Portsmouth could only creat one real moment of danger, Nugent taking a bit too long in the penalty area, allowing Kolo Toure to block his goalbound shot. And in fact, Arsenal themselves created two more opportunities before the game was over, both through marauding substitute Abou Diaby, who first managed to head wide from 6 yards out from a delicious Clichy ball in, and then striked a ferocious shot just over after great approach play by Arsenal. A job well done then, as Arsenal continue their promising early form.

Match Ratings:

Manuel Almunia - 7 - Did everything he had to, made no notable errors. All round solid performance from the Spaniard.

Mathieu Flamini - 8 - Excellent game despite being played at right back. Constantly gives his all for Arsenal and was impressive going forward as well as defensively, although on a couple of occasions his positioning let him down slightly.

Kolo Toure - 7.5 - A captains performance. Made some excellent tackles, but positionally got caught out once or twice. Still, a good performance by him yesterday.

Philippe Senderos - 6 - Has to try not to make his one mistake a game that he currently seems to. Although the red card was harsh in my opinion, he shouldn't have fouled him at all. Solid enough game up to that point though.

Gael Clichy - 7.5 - Great going forward, but maybe defensive awareness sould be improved. Could have stopped Utaka from delivering the cross that Pompey scored from instead of diving in. Still a force going forward and defesnively he is learning.

Alexander Hleb - 7 - Had a decent game, but was outshined perhaps by Cesc Fabregas and Rosicky in midfield. Used Flamini's overlapping runs effectively, but could have been more creative. More of a last season performance by him, rather than the sort of performances we have seen from him so far this season.

Cesc Fabregas - 8 - He makes the whole team tick. Simple as that. Could have played much better than he did today, but he still gets an 8 which shows just how good he can be at his very best. Yet he still he got an assist, a goal, and kept posession excellently while being defensively solid. Can't believe he's still 20 years old.

Gilberto Silva - 7.5 - Did an unsuprisingly solid job at mopping things up in midfield, and when moved to centre back he still did his job well. Great in the air as well.

Tomas Rosicky - 8 - He had one of his greatest performances yet for us yesterday in my opinion. I firmly believe he can be great for us, but he has rarely showed it in reality. Got another goal today as well, which is good, and his understanding with Cesc Fabregas was a joy to watch.

Robin van Persie - 6 - A bit of a disappointing game from our forwards, and van Persie barely did anything threatening to the Pompey defense in this math to be honest. Some good link up play and decent pace to win the penalty, but other than that, a bit too quiet.

Emmanuel Adebayor - 7 - Worked, worked and worked as usual, although his fitness seems still slightly off what it could be. He's a handful to any backline, and Pompey struggled to deal with him and his constant running. A well taken penalty as well, but his decision making and a moment where he kind of pulled out of tapping in a cross in the first half takes the shine off a good performance.

Subs:
Denilson - 7 - Such a tidy player, never really gave the ball away, a very good option from off the bench in my opinion, just to shore things up for the last period of the game.

Abou Diaby - 7 - A typical hit and miss type cameo performance from Diaby. He commits defenders, he's strong and powerful yet has good skill as well, but makes sloppy mistakes and needs to relax sometimes with his decision making. Should have scored a goal, and then had a great shot go just over the bar.

Eduardo - 6 - Not enough time to make much of an impact.

Usmanov, Wenger, Dein and Edelman - Response to latest moves on the takeover front

Sorry for not commenting on this very important issue when it first happened, but I was away and unable to post, and, to be honest, trying to gather information and waiting for all parties to have their say. But now I have time I shall post exactly what Usmanov, Dein, Wenger and Edelman have said on the latest move in the Arsenal boardroom in what seems a constant struggle to keep Arsenal's traditional behind-the-scenes values the same.

Alisher Usmanov - The New Investor:

"I have been an Arsenal fan for eight years and I think the club has the best manager in the Premier League," Usmanov was quoted as saying in Friday editions of the Evening Standard. "But this purchase of mine is not a strategic or political one. It's a portfolio investment. Arsenal as a business is undervalued. My aim is to steadily increase my package because I think the value of it will grow and will soon reach a higher level. The club has everything to achieve it."

While claiming he isn't about to be part of a takeover bid, this is very hard to believe as far as I am concerned, he is merely tring not to unsettle the club more than it is by making sensational claims in my view. As far as Usmanov's comparative wealth is concerened, the Billionaire is reported to have a personal fortune of £5m, £3m more than American potential investor Kroenke.

David Dein - The Boardroom Rebel

"Today's announcement marks a significant step towards realising the vision I share with thousands of fans at home and abroad of making Arsenal the world's number one football club.
"I have not lost my passion for the club; indeed, it is greater than ever. I have been flattered by the generous offers I have received since April to work with other clubs, both in England and elsewhere. But there is only one club for David Dein and that is Arsenal.
"My immediate intention is to work with others to provide the financial resources necessary to turn the vision into reality.

"To provide these financial resources, Arsenal need new investors. The reality is that football is changing dramatically. A growing number of clubs are being funded by individuals or consortia that are prepared to invest previously unimaginable sums aimed at winning the game's biggest prizes. Without new investors, I feel very soon Arsenal might not be able to compete successfully at the very top level, despite the fantastic work of Arsene Wenger."

I am unsure of David Dein personally. Yes, he's done some brilliant things for the club, but why does he feel the need for a takeover, as despite his claims he does not intend to mount a takeover just yet, it's an inevitability in my mind, just a question of time. In the mean time, any shares held by minor investors will slowly be bought up as they look to get enough of a stake as to be able to force a takeover. Yet, with our new stadium, surely as soon as our debt is cleared, we will be in as good, or better position than any other club in terms of finance. So why bother to sell out to foreign investors when it's only a short term problem, if that?

Keith Edelman - The Defender of Tradition

Edelman said: "We are in a very good position, we realise David has sold his shares to Red and White owned by Mr Usmanov, we note that but don't believe it changes anything for Arsenal FC."

"The current shareholders on the board control over 45% of shares and we believe the way the club is being run and the financial strength of the club will come through."
"The club is in a very good position, and the stadium is producing very large cash balances for us."
He told BBC Radio 5live: "We are in a very good position. We can support Arsene in anything he wants to do in developing the team or the squad, so we don't see a reason for further investment."

Arsene Wenger - Not Bovvvvered

"David decided to sell his shares because he was outside the Club now and everybody can understand that,” said the Frenchman. “He got rewarded with a good deal for the quality of his work because the shares have gone up. For the rest nothing has changed [because] the structure of the shares is the same.
“At the moment we have 50 per cent shares inside the board and 50 per cent outside, which are very much shared. Who will go with who I don't know and basically it's not my problem.
"Personally I cannot sell one share because I have none and don't want to help anybody. I don't want to be involved in a strategic struggle for shares because I consider myself an employee who wants to do well for the Club.

So a position of indifference taken up by Arsenal then, a wise thing to do at this stage. The lock down agreement between investors is key, and while that remains Arsenal still have a good chance of holding out. But the agreement runs out next April, and when that happens it'll be interesting to see whether or not we'll continue to fight the battle against the tide of foreign investment that the Premiership are seemingly drowning in at the moment....

Diarra signs for the Gunners on deadline day

Having gone to bed thinking that the transfer deadline had past and with no signings bought in, you can imagine my suprise when I woke up to the sound of Arsene Wengers voice talking about Lassana Diarra!
It seems Arsene Wenger can't help himself, he just has to sign someone on transfer deadline day, and he's pulled off a last gasp deal once again.
Lassana Diarra has signed from city rivals Chelski on a long term deal for an undislosed amount, thought to be between £3m and £5m. The young French international will join up with many compatriots of his at Arsenal, such as former team mate William Gallas and fellow French starlet Abou Diaby. Diarra is comfortable in many different positions such as right back, central midfield and also defensive midfield. While he is very much a utility player, he has been called the "next Makelele" many times while at Chelsea and is presumably seen by Wenger as the long term successor for Gilberto at the club. He'll take the number 8 shirt vacated by Ljungberg this summer.
Upon completing his move Lassana Diarra said: [i]“I have great respect for the manager Arsène Wenger and am attracted by the style of football that the team plays. Of course I am excited by what the future holds and keen to play my part in helping Arsenal fight for trophies this season and for years to come.”[/i]
And Arsène Wenger was also pleased with the new addition, saying: [i]“Lassana is a multi-functional player, making him a great addition to our squad. Not only is he hard working, he has a creative edge and is comfortable playing in the middle of the pitch or at right back.”[/i]
It'll be interesting to see just how many games he'll get this season, and also where he will play when he does make an appearance in the side, but he is a very handy addition to the squad, even if he isn't the out and out winger many Arsenal fans would have wanted.

Youth Round-up: Draw for Academy, and Reserves win as U17 Internationals continue to shine in Korea

U18 Academy League:

Charlton U18s 2 - 2 Arsenal U18s

Having beaten Chelsea convincingly the week before, Arsenal maintained their early unbeaten record as the champions of their division last year traveled to Charlton on Saturday morning last weekend. Having fallen 1-0 behind after Charlton striker Scott Wagstaff scored in the seventh minute, Arsenal levelled early in the second half through an amazing striker by Jay Emmanuel-Thomas from just inside Charlton's half. But Wagstraff wasn't finished yet, and he again put the Addicks in front with half an hour left, with a simple finish after good work by Danny Uchechi for Charlton. But Arsenal's youth team showed the same imporessive spirit as the first team it seems, and squared things up with less than 10 minutes remaining, from a header by Rui Fonte from a set piece. However, with four first team players at the U17 World Cup, Steve Bould can be satisfied at this result.

Team:
Wociech Szczesny, Abu Ogogo, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, James Dunne, Paul Rodgers, Havard Nordtveit, Mark Randall (Craig Eastmond 75), Kieran Gibbs, Jay Simpson, Nacer Barazite (Vincent van den Berg 70), Rui Fonte

Reserve League South:

Fulham Reserves 1 - 2 Arsenal Reserves

In the opening reserve league fixture of the season, Arsenal fielded a young but very talented team against an equally inexperienced Fulham side, with Bendtner and Traore notable inclusions for the Gunners. And Arsenal got off to the perfect start as Bendtner recieved the ball in the first minute from Nacer Barazite, clipped the ball into the path of Jay Simpson, who expertly finished the move off. And Arsenal kept the pressure up with Gibbs, Traore and Simpson all having efforts go close, before the Gunners doubled the lead they deserved. 35 yards from goal Arsenal were awarded a free kick following a challenge on Bendtner by Adrian Leijer. James Dunne tapped the ball to the onrushing Traore who bulleted the ball into the top corner. But just before half time Gibbs gave away a penalty which was tucked away by Fulham to give the home side hope for the second half. However, a great defensive performance, particularly by Nordtveit who was made captain, ensured Fulham didn't breach the defense as Arsenal held on for the three points.

Team: Vito Mannone, Paul Rodgers, Armand Traore, Abu Ogogo, Havard Nordtveit, Kieran Gibbs, James Dunne, Nacer Barazite, Mark Randall (Jay Emmanuel-Thomas 37), Jay Simpson, Nicklas Bendtner (Rui Fonte 63)

Young Guns on International Duty:

Fran Merida (Spain):

Fran Merida helped Spain to a somewhat easy victory over Korea DPR on Wednesday, Spain triumphing 3-0 in the end. Merida played 79 minutes as two Bojan goals and another goal by Iago gave Spain a place in the Qarter Finals against France in what should be an excellent match.

Henri Lansbury, Gavin Hoyte, and Rhys Murphy (England):

The prominent duo of Henri Lansbury and Rhys Murphy helped massively as England triumphed over Syria to set up a clash-of-the-titans against old foes Germany for a place in the Semi Finals. Having already scored a penalty against Brazil in the previous match, when England weere given a chance to give themselves a lead against Syria from the penalty spot up stepped creative midfielder Henri Lansbury again, and again he scored with his spot kick. And he wasn't finished then either, as he helped lay on an assist for club team mate Rhys Murphy to score his first goal in the tournament as England ran out 3-1 winners over the battling Syrian side.

Youth Transfer News:

Jay Simpson: The young striker who was made reserve captain last year has made a loan move to Millwall until January. Simpson has already engraved his name into the history books at the Emirates Stadium with the first ever hat-trick at the venue in a Youth Cup fixture against Cardiff last year, so it'll be interesting to see how he does in competitive football.

Antonio José Puerta Pérez and Ray Jones - RIP

With the tragic news of Sevilla player Antonio Puerta, it really is a sad, sad day for football today as Puerta's funeral will take place in Spain, just four days after he took part in Sevilla's opening La Liga campaign against Getafe.
In a shocking reminder of how little football means when it is put into perspective by the death of such a promising young man with the world at his feet, his team-mate Hinkel has paid tribute to his former colleague.

"We are completely shocked and cannot believe it," Hinkel told Bild."We heard that he was connected to a ventilator and that he was improving. "This is so terribly sad. His girlfriend is expecting their baby."

"During the game the situation did not seem very dramatic," he continued."Puerta stood up and walked unaided to the dressing room."

And this terrible news coming only days after another death of a young footballer in Ray Jones, a QPR player and England youth international, who died in a car crash just four days short of his 19th birthday.

"Ray was a beautiful boy. He was a fantastic person with a big big heart. He was only 18 years of age and had his best footballing years in front of him. He was already a hero amongst QPR supporters and he had the potential to go on and become a legend."
"He really did have the footballing world at his feet and the fact he can`t go on and fulfil the undoubted potential he had is a tragedy in itself. "
"Ray was one of the most popular figures in the dressing room. No-one ever had a bad word to say about him and for me that says everything you need to know about Ray Jones, that person and the footballer."
"It's a tragic loss and our sympathies and condolences go out to his family and friends at this awful time."

My condolences go to the families of both of these very different, but very promising young footballers who have had their lives tragically cut short. It's events such as these which immediately put into perspective the true importance of football compared to very real events such as these.

Team News: Arsenal Vs Sparta Prague

Good and bad news for Wenger as Arsenal look to finish off Sparta at home.

With Senderos injured in the warm up on Saturday, and Sagna limping off only 20 minutes in to the match, anyone thinking that we might see Gilberto, or worse, Alex Song, in defence against Sparta will have had their fears eased by the fact that Senderos has made a recovery from his ankle injury in time for this game.

“The injuries are Eboue (ankle), Gallas (groin) and Lehmann (Achilles),” said the Frenchman at Tuesday’s press conference. “Sagna is injured too with a kick in the back but he should return for Portsmouth on Sunday. Senderos is back in the squad.”

With the tie all but over really at 2-0 from the first leg, I am not sure whether Wenger might even rest a couple of our key players from the starting line up. The fact that Theo Walcott was left from the squad for the Man City squad would suggest to me that he will be starting come 8 o'clock tomorrow, but we'll have to wait and see. If Theo does start, I would imagine it will be to replace Hleb. And with the way that Sparta played in the first game, it may be wise also to rest star duo Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie, with the perfectly able Denilson replacing the Spaniard and perhaps Eduardo being joined by Bendtner (replacing Adebayor) up front. I would definitely love to see a combination of little and large in Eduardo and Bendtner as our striking force in this game.

This is the team I'm guessing we'll see at any rate:
---------------------------------- Almunia ----------------------------------

Hoyte ------------------- Toure ------------- Senderos -------------- Clichy

Walcott ----------------- Denilson ----------- Flamini ----------- Rosicky

-------------------------- Eduardo ---------- Bendtner ---------------------

Young Guns impressing in the Far East

With the Premiership once again a vocal point for football fans' attention, many people forget about great competitions around the world aimed at the biggest world talents as their preparation for superstardom continues.And this is exactly what is currently taking place in Korea, with the U17 World Cup in full flow already. It promises to be an entertaining competition (even though it's already nearing the end of the group stages), and there are simply no excuses when all the games are readily available, in English, on Fifa.com TV for free every morning on a live stream from the Far East.In regular articles from now until the climax of this tourney, I will keep you updated on how the four Arsenal representatives' progress in the competition, as well as any other highlights that I feel the need to mention along the way.

Fran Merida (Spain): Kicked off his campaign with a game against Honduras, who put up a suprising amount of resistance before succumbing to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Spaniards, with Merida playing slightly within himself to be honest, and was outshone by fellow superkid Bojan Krkic, but did stay on the pitch for the full 90 minutes in this match. Merida was however at the heart of a scrappy second goal for Spain, a savage striker by the Arsenal man spilled by the Honduran goalkeeper and falling to Jordi who did the rest.
But Merida, playing in the legendary No. 10 shirt for Spain, made up for his average performance in the previous game to help fire his team to victory against Syria in the following match, thus guaranteeing Spain's progress to the Last 16. For his goal he showed a good first touch and then pace as he recieved he ball on the right before cutting in and unleashing a powerful strike with his left foot which beat the goalkeeper at the near post. It was then Merida's through-ball that caught out the Syrian defence in injury time for Krkic to scamper away and set up Aquino to apply the finish. He impressed enough for Fifa to say this about him: Day five of Korea 2007 certainly belonged to the performances of a group of precociously gifted No10s. In the jersey current Valencia standout David Silva carried during the FIFA U-17 World Cup four years ago, Fran Merida netted Spain's opener in their 2-1 reverse of Syria. Nevertheless, it is Silva's Finland 2003 cohort Cesc Fabregas, ironically Merida's current club-mate at English giants Arsenal, who the creative midfielder most resembles in playing style.
In Spains final group game that they played yesterday, Fran Merida was rested along with fellow star player Bojan Krkic, and watched on from the bench as Spain salvaged a 1-1 draw with Argentina.

Gavin Hoyte, Henri Lansbury, Rhys Murphy (England): England kicked off their World Cup campaign against Korea DPR in a somewhat stuttering display in the blistering Korean heat. All three Arsenal players made appearances, with midfielder Henri Lansbury and striker Rhys Murphy starting the game, and Gavin Hoyte playing the last 19 minutes as a substitute. While all three were solid, none really impressed in this opening game, with Rhys Murphy probably being the stand out of the trio, the prolific striker holding the ball up well and having two chances of note. One, a header he was unable to keep down from a Nathan Porrit cross, and another a shot wide from a tight angle. Rhys Murphy managed to stay on the pitch for the whole game, while Henri Lansbury was replaced by Chelsea's Daniel Gosling with 6 minutes remaining.
England's second group game proved to be significantly easier, easy enough to give Henri Lansbury and Rhys Murphy a break from the side altogether as England made light work of scoring five past New Zealand. Once again Gavin Hoyte played his part from off the bench, replacing Krystian Pearce at centre back on 52 minutes. As you can imagine though, Gavin Hoyte had almost nothing to do of any real worth, a comfortable performance and that is all, and even filled in at left back towards the end of that match.
Gavin Hoyte managed to do enough in the previous match it seemed, as he was given the chance to impress against Brazil from the start in their final group match. Henri Lansbury was also recalled, which proved to be a very shrewd decision. This was a game where Lansbury showed off his clear potential, the midfielder going close with a shot that was turned away by the Brazilian goalkeeper. But his most influential moments were yet to come. Having been awarded a penalty, and with Rhys Murphy, England's regular penalty taker, still on the bench, Henri Lansbury stepped up to fill his clubmates boots, striking the penalty cleanly to the right to give England their equalising goal on the stroke of half time. And he wasn't finished yet either. Recieving the ball outside the box in injury time, he scuffed a shot/cross that was diverted into the net by skipper Jordan Spence to give England top spot in their group. Gavin Hoyte, however, didn't enjoy as good a game as his Arsenal team-mate, giving away a penalty in the 79th minute to Brazil. However, he was saved by a great stop by the England goalie from the spot kick that followed. Rhys Murphy was bought on late in the game to increase England's attacking threat, but had no real chances of note. And this is what Henri Lansbury had to say about the Brazil match:
"I don't normally take penalties, but I thought it's England v Brazil so I'll take it," recalled the talented midfielder. "I had to wait a bit which made me nervous. When I have taken penalties in the past I have always gone left, but I changed this time. My head just went - I just ran off. It was one of the greatest moments of my life."
"I spoke to my parents after the game," he added. "My mum said she couldn't watch and my dad thought I was going to miss."
"They (Brazil) had players everywhere," said Lansbury. "John (Peacock, England U17 coach) told us to play back but try to press when you have the chance. I thought we worked well as a three (man midfield)."


The next matches involving our young guns on international duty come on Thursday when a Spain side including Fran Merida attempt to beat Korea DPR for a place in the Quarter Finals. If they succeed, Tunisia or France await them. Meanwhile, the next day will pit England against Syria where Henri Lansbury, Gavin Hoyte and Rhys Murphy will attempt to get past Syria for a potential clash with Germany or USA in the Quarter Finals.

Fabregas clinches tight game for the Gunners

It looked to be another torturous performance from Arsenal, with constant movement and pretty passing, before making crucial mistakes just as you think that we'll score. There's not many more frustrating ways of spending a Saturday afternoon that I can think of at the moment.

I'm not sure what it is about our new stadium, but it seems to attract performances of the highest calibre from any visiting goalkeeper. There has been no better example of this than two weeks ago, with Warner playing the game of his life, before dropping two clangers in the next two games before being dropped ahead of Fulham's game yesterday. And in young Kasper Schemeical, this pattern continued.

As expected, Man City were defensive but looked to counter attack with pace, and as expected, their defence were excellent once again. And it took around 80 minutes before the break through finally came. Up to that point it was a game of a very familiar kind for Arsenal - pass....pass....pass....pass....shoot....miss, or alternatively pass....pass....pass....pass....pass....pass....intercepted. So easy on the eye, but sooo frustrating from a supporters point of view. We went close several times in the first half, the most prominent chance falling to Robin van Persie who was inches away from connecting with a wonderful ball across the box from Fabregas. Man City continued to look dangerous on the break though, and Petrov spurned a shot high and wide, with Elano also messing up a good opportunity. To make things even more frustrating for Arsenal, Wenger was forced to play a half-fit Gilberto at centre half to cover Senderos who injured himself in the warm-up, and Bacary Sagna also limped out of the game, with Denilson coming on in his place and Flamini moving to an unfamiliar right back position.

In the second half Man City had their first and only period of play where they could be said to have "dominated", Petrov again going close and Almunia smothering a shot one-on-one with Mpenza,, but after that mini rebellion had subsided, Arsenal stepped up once again. Fabregas had a swirling shot parried by Schemeical, before a penalty, which seems an inevitability with Arsenal's movement off the ball at home, was awarded for a mis-judged Micah Richards penalty. But Robin van Persie, frustrated for so long in the game, was denied once more by City's defence, with Schemeical pulling off a perfect imitation of his father to save the Dutchman's spot kick.

But Man City simply couldn't hold on against the wave after wave of Arsenal forays. Cesc Fabregas was the hero on this occasion, with his second goal in two games for Arsenal, with an excellently taken goal. Receiving the ball in the middle, he fed Hleb on the right before sneaking into the penalty box, receiving the return ball from Hleb and firing an unstoppable shot past Schemeical from a tight angle to give Arsenal the win. There was even time after the Spaniard's passionate badge-kissing celebration to almost get another goal to give emphasis to the scoreline, Eduardo feeding Rosicky, who cut in and powered a strike at goal which could only be parried by Schemeical into Hleb's path, but the Belorussian's follow up attempt going agonisingly wide off the far post. This was the sort of game last season that we drew too many of, so it was heartening to see us pull through in the end. A job well done for the Gunners then ahead of their formality of a tie against Sparta Prague on Wednesday, Arsenal holding a 2-0 aggregate lead that should make it easy.

Full Time: Arsenal 1 - 0 Man City

Player Ratings:

Manuel Almunia – 6.5 – Nothing much to do, but when called upon didn't make any mistakes.

Bacary Sagna - N/A - Unfortunate injury happened too early to judge his performance.

Gilberto Silva - 5 - Uncomfortable performance in his wrong position, when he was only half fit. Sums it up really.

Kolo Toure – 6.5 – Not too bad, nothing special either though. Decent without any noticeable mistakes.

Gael Clichy – 6 – Final pass or cross needs to be improved upon, and had a pretty restrained perfomance overrall

Alexander Hleb – 7.5 – Poor first half, but his second 45 minutes more than made up for it. He was at the heart of almost all Arsenal's most dangerous moments in the second half.

Mathieu Flamini - 6.5 - I like his spirit and tenacity, even if his positional awareness at right back is clearly lacking, and understandably so.

Cesc Fabregas – 7.5 – Like Hleb, didn't do much until the second half, but he is the heartbeat of the team which shows in his 64 passes during the match. His goal was very well taken also and was fittingly created by the teamwork of the two best players for Arsenal.

Tomas Rosicky – 6 – Some great moments, some poor moments, inconsistency costing him a much better rating. Never really know what you're going to get from him to be honest.

Emmanuel Adebayor – 5 – He wasn't fit enough to start the game in my opinion, and because his whole playing style centres on his tireless running, he really couldn't get going yesterday.

Robin van Persie – 5 – Poor by his standards, frustrated by the City defence for the most part. He only looked dangerous when he dropped off, but even then he was picked up by Hamann and was prevented from ever playing to his potential. A suprisingly poor spot kick as well.

Subs:

Eduardo – 6 – Solid in the short time he played. Suprised he didn't start ahead of the half-fit Adebayor.

Denilson – 6.5 – Did well in midfield, always composed and relaxed enough, but perhaps could have picked up Elano a bit better than he did.

Song - N/A - Not on the pitch for long enough.

Match Preview: Arsenal Vs Manchester City, Emirates Stadium

I for one am very excited about this game. It pits us against probably the most in form team in the Premiership at the moment, as the "new manager syndrome" helping to ensure that Man City got off to the very best possible start. It remains to be seen what sort of season they will have overrall, but confidence is high at Eastlands and they will provide a stern test for Arsenal this afternoon. In Sven's almost entirely new City team, there are a number of stand out players that Arsenal will have to combat to be able to come away with victory in my opinion. In Elano Blumer, they now have someone who is able to turn games with one moment of magic, and it'll be interesting whether or not Arsenal put anyone on him to do the same sort of job Gilberto does when he's in the side. I suspect Wenger won't man-mark him, which may leave Elano in enough space to do damage. And their other big player in my view, has undoubtedly got to be Micah Richards. I have been a massive fan of his for a while now, ever since he burst out on to the scene for Man City. He's dominant in the air, but as we never cross the ball above a height of three foot, that really isn't a huge problem. However, unlike many center backs he has enough pace to challenge all but the very fastest players at Arsenal, so he may just frustrate Arsenal today. Of course, Man City have other notable players now such as their right back Corluka, tricky winger Martin Petrov, and Geovanni, another dangerous attacking flair-player.

But of course, Arsenal definitely have more than their fair share of noteworthy players, and I would guess that we have enough talent in our ranks to be able to overwhelm City at home. Once again the biggest threat for Arsenal as far as goalscoring is concerned has to be Robin van Persie, as he looks to continue his record of scoring in each of Arsenal's opening EPL fixtures so far. Another key has to be the classy Cesc Fabregas, whose performance could be the difference between winning or losing. We rely on the 20 year old's telling through balls for much of our creative threat, so if he plays well, we'll more than likely win. Simple as that.

Injury news:

Arsenal: Captain William Gallas is set to be out for a while, with Eboue and Jens Lehmann joining him on the injured list for this game as well. However, Gilberto Silva is set for a return to the bench having been rested following captaining Brazil to Copa America victory in the summer. Meanwhile, Emmanuel Adebayor bolsters Arsenals striking options, returning from a groin injury.

Manchester City: Of Sven's summer spending spree, only Bojinov will be unable to play, having got an injury in the opening moments of Sundays clash with city rivals Man Utd.


My estimated line-ups:

Arsenal:
------------------------- Almunia -------------------------

Sagna ----------- Toure ----------- Senderos ------ Clichy

Hleb ------------ Flamini ---------- Fabregas ----- Rosicky

------------------ van Persie ------------------------------
--------------------------------- Adebayor ---------------


Manchester City:
------------------------- K Schmeichel -------------------------

Corluka ----------- Dunne ----------- Richards ------ Garrido

Geovanni ------------ Hamann ---------- Ireland ----- M Petrov

--------------------------- Elano --------------------------------
-------------------------- Bianchi -------------------------------

Match Prediction:

Arsenal 3-1 Manchester City *

I feel Arsenal may just have a little too much for a City side away from home, but it could just as easily be 1-0 to City or 1-1 if Arsenal get off to a sluggish start and struggle to open up Manchester City's defence.

* You'll soon realise that any predictions made in this blog are likely to be way off the mark.

Mad Jens out for City game

Some Arsenal fans may be rejoicing this weekend, even before we try and beat Man City on Saturday afternoon. The reason for this - the news that our half-crazed goalkeeper, the infamous Jens Lehmann, has been confirmed by Le Boss as being out for this weekends clash with Sven Goran Erikssons impressive City side.

“Jens is out and he will miss two weeks I think,” said Arsène Wenger on Thursday afternoon. “Maybe more - I don't know. He is going to see a specialist in Germany on Friday. He had this injury before but it has got much worse. "

And with the horror-show start to the season that Arsenal's erratic goalkeeper has had, Arsenal fans would be forgiven for thinking that dropping Lehmann was a must, but I have got to disagree. And that's not saying Jens is a good keeper, but unfortunately he's the best we have at the moment. Rumourings of moves for Craig Gordon, Scott Carson and Artur Boruc have all dwindled, with the first two having already got their summer moves, and with no sign of Boruc moving this summer from Glasgow. While we did bring in a new goalkeeper, I'm not entirely convinced he can do a job for us that is expected of a top four club for a season or so yet. "Wookash" Fabianski is highly rated but it's almost certainly too early to tell whether he can make it at Arsenal, and it would be a big gamble if he played on Saturday. Therefore the only real choice for Wenger to turn to is Manuel Almunia, who is almost as erratic as Lehmann, and not as brilliant as Lehmann at his best. If Almunia and Lehmann were fizzy drinks, Manuel would have to be called "Lehmann Lite". Not quite as powerful or strong as Lehmann, and just isn't as good as the real thing. But isn't as likely to explode either.....
As for other injury news, there are another two casualties at the moment, with another having recovered in time to play Man City.

"William Gallas is out and will be out for some time,” said the manager. “Emmanuel Eboue is out too. But Emmanuel Adebayor is back."

While the news of Gallas' injury is a blow to Arsenal, Eboue's absence hurts us less now that summer arrival Bacary Sagna seems to have fitted in instantly during pre-season and the start of the season so far. He doesn't go forward as well as Eboue, but is significantly better at defending to make up for that. He's not really an exicting player, but you can depend on him to do exactly what you want him to do, no more, no less. Meanwhile, the news of Adebayor's recovery can only be positive news. The Togolese forward gives his all for Arsenal, and his tireless running opens up spaces for those who are most dangerous such as Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas.