United preview, Saturday round-up

Morning all, a quick Saturday round-up for you.

We’ll start with team news ahead of tomorrow’s crunch clash and Robin van Persie has an 80% chance of playing after picking up an ankle knock while we’ll definitely be without Johann Djourou who has a hamstring problem. We’re still without long termers Gallas and Ljungberg but apart from that everyone else is fit.

The only real question about tomorrow’s line-up is who partners Thierry Henry. It’s a tricky one for the manager but it’s the kind of tricky one he’d prefer to have with three excellent options rather than having nobody at all. If van Persie was fully fit I’d go with him, no question, but if he’s not quite 100% he might be best on the bench. I suspect he’ll go with Adebayor, who as Gunnerblog reports is set to be offered a new deal, but as I said I have sneaky feeling that this game could be made for Baptista. We’ll wait and see.

In other news AW explained the sale of Lauren saying that he didn’t want to lose either of Eboue or Hoyte and that Lauren was coming to the end of his contract. That’s another choice the manager has to make now that I think about. For me I’d stick with Hoyte. He’s done well, shown that he can improve and Eboue’s behaviour and temperament makes him a weak link, in my opinion. I did like the boss’s quote about Portsmouth though. It’s fast becoming an Arsenal retirement home on the South coast and the manager said:

Portsmouth are very intelligent. They just wait at our door to see who goes out and they take them.

He also talked about how a loss would end any faint title aspirations but he’s confident, saying:

It’s a good opportunity to reduce the distance on Manchester United and we want to use it. We are really determined to reduce the gap. We know we can beat United because we’ve done it away.

I think it’s going to be a tougher task than when we went to Old Trafford despite our injury problems at that time. United have really come into form and they look much more like the United of old than the watered down version from previous seasons. They’ve also added Henrik Larsson to their squad, a player Arsene Wenger admits gives him nightmares. He gives me a fucking pain in my hole but there you go.

Still, there’s no reason why we can’t beat them. We’re playing well, we’re at home, Thierry is back and looking the real deal and with Cesc, Rosicky and Hleb pulling the strings in midfield we can cause them problems. It’s going to be a good one.

Not much else happening. Congratulations to Thierry and Cesc who were included in UEFA’s team of the year. And there you go. Time for a bit of a fry-up then Liverpool v Chelsea and some PES6. Saturdays are good.

Till tomorrow.

Adios Lauren, Arsecast Episode 12 out now!

Well, the main news this morning is the fact that Lauren has left Arsenal and joined Portsmouth. I have to say I’m very sad to see to him go. To my mind he’s the best full back we have at the club, his experience has been vital and his hard bastardness is something that some in our team, and Eboue in particular, could do well with learning from (not that I’m going to hold my breath there though).

I’m sure Arsene Wenger knows that he’s the best right full back at the club but there were obviously big doubts over whether or not he could return from his injury the same player. Now, I’m as supportive as the next man about the youth project and I realise when young players break into the team it’s hard to take them out but if Arsene could replace an inconsistent, cry-baby like Eboue with an experienced international at a crucial part of the season then I don’t think there’s any question about what choice he’d would make. If there was the chance that Lauren could be the same player he was before his injury then he wouldn’t be leaving – and nobody should underestimate how serious that injury was. He came close to retiring more than once.

Given that fact there was no way the club would have stood in his way when the offer of a 2 and half year deal from another club came in. To suggest he’s been sold simply to finance the Highbury apartments is specious reasoning at best but then there’s nothing like a sensationalist headline to garner a few extra hits.

Arsene Wenger called his contribution ‘absolutely outstanding’ while the man himself said:

I have made many great friends and have many wonderful memories from the years I have spent at Arsenal. I have enjoyed great success with the Club and I am very grateful to Arsène Wenger, my team mates and all the fantastic Arsenal fans for their support. The fans have been brilliant.

He went on to say the usual about how much he was looking forward to playing for Portsmouth, the way every player moving to a new club does. He goes with the good wishes of every Arsenal fan and our thanks for everything he’s done since he joined the club nearly 7 years ago. Best of luck, Ralph. I’ll always remember the time you kicked Cristiano Ronaldo 5 feet up in the air. And for old times sake, here it is. Legend.

The ticketing row between Arsenal and Sp*rs has been sorted out. It’s far too long and complicated to go into in any great details, save for the fact that Arsenal wanted to sell tickets at a lower price but Sp*rs objected because their share of the gate money would be less and there’s been agreement on the allocation of tickets for both legs. Read more here.

Ahead of the game on Sunday it’s good news about Robin van Persie. Reports that he’d miss the game seem to have been premature and he should be fit after a scan on his ankle today. The boss also hinted that it would be Mathieu Flamini who would replace Gilberto but I suspect most of the team news will emerge at this afternoon’s press conference so we’ll have more to talk about tomorrow.

Cesc Fabregas says Paul Scholes is the ‘complete footballer’. I remember Patrick Vieira saying that Scholes was the midfielder he’d choose from all over the world to play in his team and I don’t think it’s just coincidence that United’s revival this year has coincided with Scholes return to the side and to form. We have to keep a close eye on him on Sunday.

Ok, it’s time for the Arsecast.

As always the Arsecast is sponsored by classicfootballshirts.co.uk who this week have given me £100 of store credit to give away so listen out for the competition question, there’s a blogchat with a Manchester United fan *spit*, Arsene Wenger Hawkins has a special message for Robbie Savage, the Man in the Bar has another player history, there’s a bet of the week from www.bluesq.com and there’s lots of other crap in there as well.

To subscribe to the arsecast in iTunes – click here. To download this week’s arsecast directly – click here (16mb MP3). You can find the arsecast archives here.

And that’s it. More tomorrow including a preview of the United game. Have a good one.

Van Persie to miss United game – Pat Rice is 40

A very quiet morning, that’s the lack of midweek action for you, I suppose.

Ahead of Sunday’s game against United it appears we could be without Robin van Persie, our top scorer, who picked up a knock in training. That is a bit of a blow actually because he’s a player capable of making an impact coming off the bench if he doesn’t start. The boss will now have to choose between Adebayor and Baptista to partner Thierry Henry up front. Personally I’d go with …erm… …er… crap, I don’t really know. I have a sneaky feeling about Baptista though.

It certainly won’t be Jeremie Aliadiere and he could be on the move again as Boro renew their interest. Meanwhile the Sun reports Lauren could move to Portsmouth.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever believe I would be at Arsenal for a lifetime of four decades. I remember the day as if it was yesterday, when I walked through the doors for the first time to join the family. How overwhelming it was, but once an Arsenal player always an Arsenal player.

Pat Rice talks about his 40 years at Arsenal. You rarely hear about him or what it is that he does but you suspect that’s the way he likes it. With those big sunglasses he’s like our very own Roy Orbison except more alive. To be at the club 40 years is quite an achievement and Pat Rice is an Arsenal man through and through. Well done, Sir.

Well done to the youngsters as the youth team beat Hull City 2-1 in the FA Youth Cup last night. The goals came via a Jay Simpson penalty and Mark Randall. Steve Bould’s team go into the draw for the 5th round.

And that is about that. Make sure you tune in to tomorrow’s Arsecast as, amongst all the usual rubbish, there’ll be a chance to win £100 of credit for our sponsor’s website – classicfootballshirts.co.uk. I’m assuming there’ll be a bit more team news and we can give a little more time to the game on Sunday.

For now though, I bid you all good day.

[Insert headline here - think of something good]

A quick one this morning as I have to be somewhere soon. We’ll start with the ticketing dispute between Arsenal and Sp*rs ahead of the Carling Cup semi-finals. According to the competition rules Sp*rs are entitled to 15% of the tickets which means 9,000 at the Grove. Arsenal don’t want to give them so many citing security reasons and the fact they’re dirty Sp*rs fans but the greedy Sp*rs are seeing the ticket revenue. It’s now gone to the Football League to find a solution. In a discussion with the man from East Lower yesterday he suggested we give them the tickets but make the cost of each one £5. Sounds like a reasonable solution to me.

In seriousness though it’s remarkable that such a squabble should exist with the first game only a week away.

A tale of two full backs now. Gael Clichy says he’ll continue working hard to show Arsene Wenger he doesn’t need to buy a new left back in the summer. If he can perform consistently like he did against Blackburn then he might just do that. Meanwhile Emmanuel Eboue says he’s really hoping to play against United on Sunday. Can you imagine Ronaldo v Eboue, they tackle each other, no contact is made, they fall over writhing on the ground like they’ve broken their legs. They’d create some kind of dive vortex into which they’d both be sucked, never to be seen again. Oh God, please let that happen.

Another Arsenal full back, Kerrea Gilbert, will be in action tonight for Cardiff as they take on Sp*rs in an FA Cup third round replay. He reckons he might get some stick from the home fans because of his Arsenal connections and he talks about Arsene Wenger’s football philosophy. Tonight is a good game to get himself noticed but it remains to be seen what the manager’s long term plans are for a player who did look very promising when he played in the first team last season.

In other news Lauren could be on his way Lyon which will be a joy for alliterative headline writers everywhere, the Mirror reports Seb Larsson has agreed personal terms with Birmingham and a £500,000 fee will make his loan spell permanent, while Rio Ferdinand reckons Emmanuel Adebayor is the player who gave the United defence most problems this season.

And that, my good old friends, is that. I have to have some quick breakfast then it’s hi-ho time for me. Till tomorrow then…