The likely hitmen for Arsenal in January

The talk on the town is that a striker is at the top of Arsene's agenda for the transfer window, and if Nicklas Bendtner fails a fitness test on friday then this will be even more likely to happen. Obviously Arsene is not a man for throwing around money as if there were no tomorrow, meaning that signing the likes of Dzeko, Villa et al is not going to happen, even if one assumes that Arsene rated these over-hyped players.

I have assumed that Arsene would want a ready made player who can handle the pace of the Premiership, for that reason it is highly likely that any signing will come from an English club. He would either want someone older and experienced on a short term deal to fill the void, or someone younger on a longer term deal who would have some resale value. This is my list of players that would roughly fit Arsene's bill:

Cartlon Cole - a young English powerhouse that can be unstoppable on his day. He is strong in the air, skillful, very able at holding the ball up and has a very decent goalscoring record in the last couple of years (17 goals in 40 premiership games). At 26 he would be in his prime, counting against him is his recent run of injuries. However with West Ham needing cash he may be available for a reasonable price, being English and young anything under ten million would represent decent value in today's market. Arsenability - 7/10.

Loius Saha - This 31 year old Frenchmam has only six months left on his Everton contract. His goalscoring record is impressive, 10 goals in 17 Premiership games this season with a fantastic record at Fulham and a decent record at Manure. When fit he is a handful, quick and very sharp when running on the shoulder of the last defender, handy in the air as well. His injury troubles of the last few years will count against him but he may well be available for a knock down fee given his contract. Arsenability 6/10.

Peter Crouch - This tall bean pole like English striker has been included just to check that people bother reading these posts properly. A very average player who relies upon using his freakish limbs to foul defenders, despite his size his goal scoring record is distinctly average, he has also demonstrated a significant self esteem problem by signing for Tottenham Hotspur. About as likely to be offered an Arsenal contract as Harry Redkapp is to fill in his tax returns honestly. Arsenability 0/0.

Kenwyne Jones - This 25 year old powerful Sunderland striker hails from Trinidad and Tobago. He has recovered well from a serious cruciate ligament injury in 2008. His goal scoring record is decent but not breath taking average around a goal very three games in the Premiership. He is the right type of player for Arsenal and Sunderland do have Bent and Campbell already on their books. Having just recently signed a long term deal with the Mackems he would not come cheap. Arsenability 2/10.

Hugo Rodallega - This beast of a Colombian is only 24 years old. He has had a good season for a struggling Wigan side, scoring 7 Premiership goals in 19 games, previously he average a goal every other game in the Mexican league. He may be only 5 foot eleven inches tall but he is very strong aerially, he is also pacey and capable of running on the last defender. Unfortunately he would not come cheap, Wigan do not let their prized assets escape without being adequately rewarded and this would make any deal with Arsenal less likely. Arsenability 4/10.

As Arsene says there is always a lot more media talk than actual action when it comes to transfer windows. A lot will also depend on the fitness of a certain young Dane. However if one assumes that we are going to buy then I would say it will be Cole or Saha, simply because they will be much cheaper than any other options, one because of his club's circumstances and the other because his contract is almost up. I would be interested to know what anyone else thought on the striker situation.

ps the game against Bolton looks like it will go ahead
pps cancel that, the game is off

Bolton preview and why we love Bolton

Arsene rubbed his hands with glee as he started the press conference, well not quite I think he was just warming himself up, the first news was good in that Gael Clichy and Cesc Fabregas are both very close to returning, the latter will be the latest back and should be available for the Bolton away game. There was an interesting grin on Arsene's face as he said that he just wanted to make the title race 'more interesting for everybody', a nice way of putting it.

Arshavin is in the squad for tomorrow and Denilson is to come in the holding position, he's an 'all rounder' in Arsene's eyes and will try to fill the Song void, I can't help but feel that we'll need both Diaby and Denilson to carry some water together. Transfers were touched upon, PV4's abilities to cut it at the premiership level were talked up by Arsene. The importance of winning the home games, such as the upcoming Bolton game, was emphasised. Arsene touched upon the 'great hunger for success' and the 'solidarity' in the squad, something that was evidently not the case last season. The strength that teams get from 'their history' was a good point that I liked. It's a bit of a chicken and egg like scenario though, teams that regularly come back from behind would not do so if they didn't have the character and ability to do it, likewise losing can become a bit of a routine, hopefully the comebacks against Liverpool and West Ham can become our new routine.

Onto Bolton and it appears that Owen Coyle is on his way in as their new manager. As the snow pours down up and down the country scuppering a lot of fans' chances of getting to the game, there's snow doubt (Holic isn't the only one to use this great pun) that Bolton's players will be very much up for this one as they try to impress their new manager, it would be a great shame if they were to 'flake' or 'melt' under the pressure. When you've got time, have a listen to the latest Alan Davies podcast here, very amusing, not quite as amusing as Kevin Davies being taken off injured tomorrow having broken his elbow on the Verminator's rock-like chin.

The kind of venom that one feels in the air away to Bolton is fairly unique in my opinion, it's almost as if these people would take the kitchen knife to our lads if given half a chance (at owning a kitchen knife of course). I've never quite understood why Bolton fans hate Arsenal so much, are they all closet Manu fans who just can't face all the southerners at Old Trafford? Or are they so gullible as to believe the malignant propaganda that Fergie and Fat Sam used to spread about the pro-Arsenal conspiracies against their luvvie sides? The recurrent chants of 'same old Arsenal, always cheating' as another one of their neanderthal cloggers goes into a tackle as an American missile went in Fallujah demonstrate the bizarre nature of these supporters' state of denial. Would a Bolton fan care to explain why the Arsenal is their version of Satan? Remember these very same people have idolised El Hadj Diouf and Sam Allardyce, I rest my case, maybe there's a hidden compliment in there somewhere.

ps there is cncouraging talk about Gallas being offered a new deal, here's another transfer rumour that's probably made up, and the word is that Nikky B is facing a fitness test on friday, if he fails this then a new striker is looking rather likely

Merida, Rosicky, fixtures and injuries

If media reports are to be believed then Fran Merida has signed a five year contract with Atletico Madrid. He had been negotiating a new deal with us but the contract had not been signed. It's a bit disappointing because he is a great talent but one can understand why he's made the move. Fran is a good all round attacking midfielder, creative and inventive on the ball; however not really pacey enough to be a genuine wide man and more suited to central roles.

The problem for Fran has been the abundance of talent ahead of him in queue for a central attacking role: Cesc, Diaby, Denilson, Arshavin, Nasri, Rosicky, Ramsey. Looking at our squad it is inevitable that some more very talented young players will fly the nest in the next few years, one simply can't find space for them all. Pragmatically in the future we should make sure that transfer fees are gained in the process.

Gunnerblog lists the number of players that have been handed new deals this year and it is quite a list, the fact that William Gallas has only a few months of his deal to run is a bit concerning, especially given his excellent form and partnership with the Verminator. Obviously we don't want players leaving for nothing, but this must be counterbalanced by the need to keep young players hungry to prove themselves; the problem is that these days the fear of losing talent for nothing is resulting in a bit less motivation for the youngsters. Tomas Rosicky has signed a new unspecified contract, it has been good to see Tomas back in the action this season and if he can stay fit he can add some real depth and quality to the squad, bit of an 'if' though isn't it.

This must be one of the most frequently viewed bits of the Arsenal webiste, the old injury list. Being a foolish optimist there are only two players who will be out for a really long period, RVP and Johan Djourou. Denilson, Arshavin, Cesc and Clichy are all pretty close to a return. Theo should not be out for too long, while Nicklas Bendtner is just about to start full training and may be only a couple of weeks. Kieran Gibbs may be another month or two.

The power of TV in determining the fixtures has to be seriously called into question after ITV have forced our away FA cup tie against Stoke to be played on Sunday the 24th of January. It is absurd to play a game just three days before our crucial league trip to Aston Villa on Wednesday the 27th of January, especially when the week before the Stoke tie is completely free. If I am angry about this then I can only imagine how much Arsene is fuming. The Bolton game tomorrow may see the return of Arshavin and Denilson, the most interesting thing will be who covers Alex Song's holding role. In my eyes Diaby is the only man who can do the defensive job, Denilson is just a bit too easy to get past in my opinion, he can melt like butter when defending; although Diaby can be erratic, the lad can defend and it he keeps his discipline he can do the job for us.

Shut it fat Sam you immense fool

Will people never get tired of repeating the same old tired and faulty arguments. Sam Allardyce is the latest to hype up the dire straits that the English game is in because of the number of foreign footballer in our top division. The media should not give these thoughtless statements the time of day.

The argument is just plain wrong. The English game has benefited massively from the influx of foreign talent since the Premiership began. In fact the current England squad is probably the strongest we've had for many decades, strange that this has coincided with less English players in the top flight, it completely rides roughshod over arguments like Sam Allardyce. Interestingly Spain have also produced the best side they had for many a year with a record number of foreign players in their top league, strange that.

The fact is that the superior technique of foreign players has forced English clubs to improve their own player development and youth systems. This has meant that we are now producing much better technical footballers than we have for some time, this simply wouldn't have happened without the foreign influx. If it wasn't for the foreign influence we would still be stuck in the dark ages watching a lot more dire direct long ball football.

The enemies of the national game in this country have been the likes of Sam Alllardyce. Managers that encourage a brutal brand of dire over-physical football have helped create a footballing environment in which technique and creativity find it hard to exist, skill and technique are frequently stamped out by cloggers and hackers. Allardyce football produces players like Kevin Nolan and Kevin Davies, players that will never threaten to do anything at a decent level where skill and technique are needed.

The number of English players in the top division is not the thing of greatest importance. If we have a top drawer league with the best players in the world then the English players in this league will have to be of a much higher standard than if we had a weaker league full of more domestic talent. Allardyce et al's argument does not cut the mustard and it should not be given the time of day. Shut it fat Sam you hypocritical cretin.

Upton Park test overcome

As predicted there were a few changes to the starting eleven. Fabiasnki in for Almunia, Silvestre in for Traore, Merida for Diaby, Vela for Arshavin and Wilshere for Nasri. Overall the first half was very bitty indeed, a typical blustering cup tie if ever there was. The ref Clattenberg who looks like a prime tosser to me with his primadonna hair cut never got control of the game, allowing far too much shirt tugging and fouling from behind when players were simply not in a position to make a fair challenge for the ball. This was summed up for me in the second half when the niggling Diamanti took Vela's shirt off his back and then kicked him down from behind without receiving so much as a warning.

Having said that we never got going and West Ham turned the game into a battle which they progressively dominated. It had nil nil written all over it until Diamanti slotted home when clean through. Diamanti and Nouble were both just offside but the lino ignored this (as replays clearly demonstrated), Silvestre may have been to blame but this is harsh given that the offside trap did technically play Diamanti offside. There had been a few half chances up until that point, Eduardo forcing a decent save from Green, Vermaelen blazing over when the goal was at his mercy following a limp Green punch out, Fabianski had also saved well from a Diamanti cross cum shot. It was just a bit frustrating overall because we seemed to have a few opportunities to break but there just wasn't the precision needed in the final third, we were also taking too much time on the ball in the midfield. The second half was calling for more crispness and speed in the build up play.

The second half continued in a similar fashion until the introduction of Nasri and Diaby at its mid point. Of note Fabianski made one outstanding save from Stanislas, after Silvestre had been caught napping yet again. Wilshere and Merida both made way, both had been a little disappointing in truth, though in their defence it was a very hard game to come into, especially considering the fact that it was a midfield and forward line that had probably never played together before. A large factor in our ascendancy as the game wore on was the fact that West Ham could simply not maintain the tempo of their nut busting hectic hurtling game plan.

Eduardo looked more at home in the middle, while Vela seemed to enjoy his spell hugging the touchline. This combined with Diaby's forward running and Nasri's cuteness on the ball meant that things began to click. Vela gave us a bit more width, our midfielders were suddenly getting to things first and the pressure slowly built. Diaby and Song forced an excellent double save from Green, this was the start of the bombardment.

The crucial goal came with about fifteen minutes to go, Nasri distributed and ball back towards the left side of the box via Song, the ball then kindly broke to Ramsey via Vela who did the rest with aplomb, a cracking left foot hit. The second goal was an oustanding header from the natural predator Eduardo, he used his strength magnificently, holding off Upson to loop a fantastic header into the top corner, credit must also go to Vela for the pacey whipped in cross. We continued to push for another goal, Eduardo was close with a header, Ramsey forced another last ditch Green block, Vela also went close. West Ham were a spent force, they didn't have the energy to threaten our goal again, the game had been won by a smidgeon of fortune and a brilliant header.

A lot of credit must go to West Ham for making us fight every inch of the way to our victory, they made things difficult for us and our slightly makeshift eleven was found a little wanting in adapting their game to combat this bustling approach. Fabainski and three of our back four were excellent. Our starting midfield and forward line did not quite have the right mix with which to deal with the West Ham game plan, although with West Ham running out of steam it was as nice time for Diaby and Nasri to emerge. Wilshere showed glimpses of his ability but he does look like he would greatly benefit from more gametime elsewhere on loan.

It was almost slightly strange how the game suddenly swung our way, maybe if West Ham had had a bit more quality up front they could have climbed out of reach, who knows. For me I would conclude that the mix of our squad is not right in terms of midfielders, forget the talk of strikers for a minute, we needed someone alongside Song today who would take any prisoners, Ramsey and Merida together was not the right combination. With Song off for about four weeks this will become even more obvious, I hope I am wrong but that's not what my gut is saying.

West Ham preview, Chelsea in denial

The hints are that big Phil may well start at centre back and that Tomas Rosicky will come into the forward line for our trip to West Ham. I'd also reckon that Fabianski will get some game time ahead of Almunia. Arsene has spoken about the FA Cup and he confirms that it will be a strong side with only minor changes from the Pompey game. A mysterious foot injury has been the reason behind big Phil's recent lack of minutes, something that was not revealed at the time.

Chelsea fans are really a special bunch for a number of reasons. Here a Chelsea fan has a rather illiterate dig at Arsene while talking of Roman Abrahmovich as 'Uncle' and Arsene Wenger as a 'crazy old fool'. If these dim witted half wits cared to read what Arsene has actually said then they may say something a little less stupid:

"Professional football is about winning and balancing the budget. That's the basic rule, one I fought for. All the rest is half-cheating. I don't know what happened [at Portsmouth] but for every club it has to be the same: for Chelsea, for everybody. I've always pleaded for financial fair play."

Arsene's words are sensible and fair. He has not had a specific dig at Chelsea, as some grey cell lacking Chelsea fans seem to feel because of their paranoid persecution complexes. He has just pointed out that it is unfair if certain clubs are not balancing their budgets but being allowed to compete with clubs that are taking care of their finances and balancing their budgets responsibly. Despite Roman's billions Chelsea are still losing over 40 million a year. With their ageing squad when they start having to buy in players for big money again, it is inevitable that these losses will rise again.

Chelsea are the the epitomy of the scum that have become involved in modern football. They were a club that should have gone into administration as a result of their careless spending and financial mismanagement. They have been bailed out by money that has directly gained from the suffering and poverty of millions of Russians. If any Chelsea fan cared to read a little about the way in which Mr Abrahmovich actually gained his wealth then I very much doubt they would refer to this nasty piece of work as their 'Uncle'. Chelsea fans are a fickle bunch if they are offended by it being hinted that they are half cheating, because in reality the man that has saved their club is amoral criminal scum of the lowest order. Be proud of Uncle Roman Chelsea fans, what a great club you have.

Whatever the new year brings, team and moment of the decade?

An FA cup run would be nice, but for some reason this year I feel the league is a big priority, that's just my gut feeling and given what's gone on there recently it may well not be the most reliable of twinges. Transfer wise Wellington has been snapped up in what appears to be a rather cunningly timed move given the Brazilian club's precarious financial position. I feel Arsene will buy in January, but only IF the right players are available at the right prices, that's pretty much standard for Arsene though isn't it. It's encouraging that Henri Lansbury has signed a new long term deal, he's a big strong lad and has the ponential to come knocking on the first team door in the next year or so.

It's been a pretty eventful year all in all. Last season promised so much, the league was clearly beyond us given our lack of defensive solidity but the way in which the two cup runs ended was incredibly demoralising and depressing, it seemed to show that Arsene just didn't have the belief in the team's ability to compete with the best on a level footing. The surrender at Old Trafford was particularly sad given the deployment of Nasri in a bizarre holding role and the lack of attacking desire. The defeat to Chelsea at Wembley was very poor as we simply didn't set out to attack the opposition and win the game.

The new season has seen a big improvement in terms of performances. Ignoring points tallies, games won and lost and the other statistics, we've just looked like a team again, we have not surrendered limply and the fight has returned. Despite a few shortcomings in the side, we have had problems in the goalkeeping position and at the back, while injuries to strikers have left us short of the top notch players to lead the line with vigour, overall flavour of the 2009-10 season thus far has been so very much more positive than the first half of the 2008-9 season.

Winning the league is a dream still, I will just be satisfied to see us make some significant progress on last year. There have been some fine performers thus far. Vermaelan has been a revelation at the back, having a defender who leads and attacks is so important for any defensive unit. Gallas has been very solid and is clearly enjoying life without the error prone Toure. Kieran Gibbs was making terrific strides towards a first team slot until his foot was cracked by a Belgian thug. In the midfield the progress of Alex Song has been the key, a player much criticised early on so unfairly by so many pundits, he has become the rock at the heart of our midfield, an automatic selection, strangely some people have had to change opinion on young Alex. Cesc has been outstanding at times, anonymous at others, Diaby erratic but currently he may be turning a corner, Ramsey looks at outstanding talent.

The injury to RVP was a colossal blow. Robin had been playing like a man possessed before this injury, he was not only scoring lots of goals but he was also playing brilliantly for the team. The fact that we now have the little Russian maestro Andrei Arshavin has helped to paper over the RVP crack, but Bendtner still out of action one cannot help but notice the vacuum that RVP has left in the centre forward slot. Theo has continued to excite and frustrate, only time will tell whether his remarkable attributes can be converted into someone that can deliver consistently on the big stage.

The array of talent available for selection in the current squad is simply breathtaking. Even with a whole team injured we can still select a very respectable and competitive eleven, that has been evident with the strength of our Carling Cup side that put up a very good fight away to a full strength Man City side.

Some of our rivals seem to think they are strong in depth, but then again Ledley King has never been particularly well endowed in the cartilage or brain department. Given how much money the likes of Tottenham have spent on mediocre overpriced dross, they should not get overexcited that they have a lot of players, they would do better to realise just how much they have underachieved given the money they have spent.

If football was all about money then Tottenham's first and second string would wipe the floor with our respective equivalent sides, in reality the fact that they both would quite clearly not is a great testament to the fact that Tottenham are inferior to us in pretty much every single department as a football club. Tottenham's spanking at the Emirates was a high point of the season for me, our arrogant over-confident obnoxious neighbours had to stare reality in the face for a brief period of time.

The media continues to report the news with a rather clear hidden agenda. The matches are reported in partisan fashion and the scorelines decide the performance rather than the other way around. Certain peoples' xenophobic and racist tendencies are indulged by the familiar denial of various British crimes, while the milder offences committed by foreigners are hyped up out of all proportion in a Salem witch trial manner. I wonder why the English team is as strong as it has been for many a year, but so many people are so concerned with the number of non-English players in the league, will the same long discredited argument ever cease to be used? FIFA. UEFA and the FA's obstinacy when it comes to reform and technology is nothing but a complete and utter disgrace.

It's been a great decade for the club as we come to the end of the 'noughties' and for me there's no doubt as to the moment and team of this decade. Step back to the Invincibles side of 2003-4, step back to our visit to Old Trafford that year, Vieira was sent off after some disgraceful gamesmanship from the cowardly and despicable Van Nistelrooy, Manu then won a penalty when Forlan happened to collapse after a non existent challenge from Martin Keown, RVN stepped up and missed the dodgy penalty, shortly after this miss he was pushed and barracked by a few our our lads, quite deservedly in my opinion. Arsecast 144 is worth a listen, who was your team of the decade, I'd go for Lehmann; Sagna, Campbell, Keown, Cole; Ljungberg, Vieira, Cesc, Pires; Bergkamp, Henry but it's all meaningless when trying to combine different eras of players.

That moment was truly magical, it still gets my juices going watching it for the umpteenth time today, but then I think to the number of times this decade has been ruined by dodgy refereeing decisions in crucial league games, the appalling Gallas penalty at Old Trafford last season, the woeful Clichy penalty at Birmingham, this kind of rage is not good for the old blood pressure. I think people underestimate just how much these big decisions can affect the outcome of football seasons, these dodgy decisions do not even themselves out, they often end up having a rather significant impact.

This summed up what this Invincibles side represented to me, they were an incredibly talented bunch but also as hard as nails, they fought for each other and would not hide from trouble. Who knows what would have happened if that cheating Manu side had managed to win that match in such undeserved fashion, how these moments can end up shaping history. In fact the next year our unbeaten run was ironically brought to an end by yet another despicable bit of cheating by a Manu player, this time it was a dive by Wayne Rooney, who knows what would have happened that season if a decent ref had shown fat Wayne a yellow for cheating instead of rewarding his scouser dishonesty.

That era summed up being a Gooner for me. We had by far the best side around, we played the greatest football, we were tough but very very honest and fair. However the media never covered things in a fair or objective manner, Manu were routinely given the rub of dodgy refereeing decisions to help them on their way, while the routine cheating of their biggest stars of the decade in Ronaldo and Rooney has been consistently ignored. Meanwhile the media has tried to make the dominating bully Ferguson appear a serene old man while trying to turn the polite and friendly Wenger into a raving lunatic, only one of these men refuses to speak to the press and only one intimidates officials in the name of fairplay.

Arsene has brought a hell of a lot to this football club and he has brought us some magnificent years of football, hopefully there are many more to come. But I think what I'm trying to say is that I'm so glad that he has done things the right way. He is an incredibly fair and moral man, he does not train players to cheat or intimidate as other big clubs have, it is not win at any cost for Arsene and this is a big reason why I am so proud to be a Gooner. I hope that we never lose the tradition that the club has of doing things the right way. Maybe some you disagree with me but I would rather win nothing than support a team of full of Rooneys and Van Nistelrooys. When we chant 'Ooh to be a Gooner' it has to mean something, I hope it never becomes a hollow saying. Happy new year Gooners everywhere, a big shout to the 'Holic, Arseblogger and Goodplaya whose ranting and raving always brightens up my day.