The calm before the storm

It’s going to be a relatively quiet week with the next game not until Sunday so the blogs might be a bit shorter than usual. I suppose I could always tell you about my dreams – like the one last night when I was being frisked going into the new stadium hoping nobody would spot the handcuffs on my wrists because I’d just escaped from a Nazi prison. Too much Call of Duty before bed, I reckon.

Anyway, onto the football. After his red card against Blackburn we’ll be without midfield lynch-pin Gilberto. He really has had an exceptional season so far but Arsene Wenger reckons we have the quality to cope without him. I would suspect Mathieu Flamini will be the one to take his place. It would be probably a bit too soon for Abou Diaby after such a long time out with injury. I don’t have any problem with Flamini, I think he’s a better player than people give him credit for and his energy and running will be vital against United’s midfield.

The boss also thinks the number of yellow cards we have this season is ‘hard to interpret’ as the stats show we have committed the fewest fouls of any club.

Lauren has turned down a move to West Ham according to the Sun. With his contract up in the summer it seems likely he’ll move back to Spain at that stage. If it means we keep an experienced player in our squad until the end of the season then I’m happy to have him. Of course there are still a couple of weeks of the transfer window left so anything can happen. West Ham were also knocked back by young Watford star Ashley Young. Are they the club that nobody wants to join, like Lepers United?

Alexander Hleb says Andrei Shevchenko is too old to have made the move to Premiership. Rumours abound that Shevchenko was Abramovich’s signing and that the former AC Milan man is enjoying life in London and having a right old jolly much to the ire of Mourinho. Still, after playing most of your career in Italy the Premiership does take some getting used to and I wouldn’t write him off just yet.

Meanwhile Emmanuel Adebayor has threatened to quit international football if things in the Togonian national squad don’t change. Certainly that would be good for us and while players come in and out of international retirement all the time you won’t hear me complaining if he decides to pack it in.

And that is about that. Don’t forget, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions for this week’s Arsecast then please get in touch. To email it’s arsecast@[remove]arseblog.com or you can leave an audio message via the Arsebite system. I look forward to separating the wheat from the chaff other wheat.

More tomorrow.

Shut up Robbie Savage, keep it up Philippe Senderos

Morning all, it’s a fairly quiet Monday morning but that doesn’t stop Robbie Savage being an odious, lying little toad. Speaking about the incident in which Gilberto Silva got sent off on Saturday he said:

He definitely made contact. If people think I went down easily, they should watch it on TV. I am now past all those days of feigning injury. I said to the referee he shouldn’t send him off, so I have nothing to regret.

It is then quite amazing that he isn’t blown over by gusts of wind or a leaf touching off him. If he really expects us to believe that the minimal contact made by Gilberto was enough for him to go flying up into the air then writhe around on the ground then he must think everyone in the world is as stupid as he is. A more noxious, repugnant excuse for a footballer I have yet to see. He is a faker and a cheat and while some people might think I give Eboue a hard time over his antics what he does is just the same as Savage and you wouldn’t have a cunt like Savage in your team, would you?

His pathetic attempt at self-justification is laughable as well. It’s all well and good proclaiming after the fact that you told the ref not to send him off. I mean, when was the last time a referee ever listened to a player? When your acting and diving has already ensured the red card then words are hollow. Anyway, to realign the cosmic balance everyone should look at this video of Savage being clattered by referees and opponents including that memorable moment in Robert Pires’ career when he blasted the ball straight into his face. And if that’s not enough Goodplaya has the Cesc nutmeg from a few weeks ago which makes Savage look like the prize chump he is.

Back to nicer things now and Philippe Senderos talks about his appearance in Ashley Cole’s book, his learning curve and the football that Arsenal play, saying:

We have to show people all around the country that we can do the business, not just play nice stuff. We’re playing unbelievable football and have to keep doing it, especially away from home. Sometimes it’s a real pleasure to watch the movement and the football in front of me. We can beat any team in Europe and have chances to win trophies.

He’s been back in the side and doing well in recent weeks and he looks a different player from when he first came back. I think people were too harsh on him at that time, he’d had no pre-season after suffering a serious injury in the World Cup but now he’s showing what he’s capable of. You have to remember he’s still only 21, very young in the career of a centre-half and we’re lucky to have him and Djourou who can both go on to be great players at Arsenal.

Not much else happening really. Steve Bruce wants to make Fabrice Muamba’s loan spell at Birmingham permanent. So a transfer then, not a permanent loan. Who knows?

Also, Jose Antonio Reyes is still moaning about not being part of the team for the Champions League final entirely forgetting his atrocious peformance in the semi-final against Villarreal which I have no doubt made up the manager’s mind. His insistence on sitting down and rolling around pretending to be injured meant we had periods of the game where we were under pressure and down to ten men. If it had been me he’d have been lucky to be mascot. Even then he’d have found some way of falling over as the teams came out.

And that’s your lot. I was going to mention something about Vitalfootball and their painful, hit-snatching headlines but I figure if I get started on them and a couple of other sites I might lose the run of myself.

How was your weekend then?

Classic Arsenal savage cynical, clogging Blackburn

If you were walking down the street and you saw two buses about to explode, for some reason, and one bus contained a squadron of killer robots who were going to give everyone on earth the plague after they shagged everyone’s wife and smeared poo all over your freshly painted house and the other bus contained the Blackburn Rovers football team and you had to save one then there’s no question we’d all get the black death and have stinky walls. What a bunch of feckless cretins they are their supporters are.

Our task was made difficult on 13 minutes when Robbie Savage reminded everyone why he’s right up there with the most odious, obnoxious, repugnant, intolerable, loathsome cunts in the game. He twice fouled Gilberto who reacted, admittedly when he shouldn’t, and kicked out at the Afghanhoundalike wanker who went to ground like he’d been kicked in the bollocks. Cretinous referee Rob Styles fell for it hook, line and sinker and gave Gilberto a red card.

I suppose going by the letter of the law it was a red but the fact that Gilberto now has to serve a three match ban for ‘violent conduct’ is the real killer though. Again it highlights the problem with the system where Gilberto’s offence carries exactly the same ban as someone who goes studs up to deliberately hurt somebody. Perhaps they need to review straight reds on a case by case basis but I wouldn’t hold my breath.

Anyway, what is they say about cheaters never prospering? If the red card did anything it galvanised Arsenal and the boys put in an awesome performance which blew to smithereens the notion that Arsenal can’t play ‘oop norf’ against a physical side. And make no mistake, that’s what Blackburn are. A pack of cloggers based on the worst of their manager when he was a player. A man capable of scoring outstanding goals Mark Hughes was a kicker and a cheat and this Blackburn team has been made in his image.

Kolo Toure opened the scoring when he rose to head home a Thierry Henry free kick not long after Rob Styles allowed Lucas Neill to stay on when he pulled back Robin van Persie. He looked like the last man and had it been closer to the goal the card might have been a different colour but then we’re talking about Rob Styles here, the useless cunt. In the second half we never really looked under any pressure and killed the game in the 71st minute with a truly outstanding goal.

Thierry Henry picked the ball up in our half, drove into the Blackburn half, gave it to Cesc who played it right back to the captain and Henry’s first time shot into the top corner was just out of this world. Considering the situation, the fact we were away from home, outnumbered and with only a one goal lead capable of being pegged back this was just a fantastic goal. There isn’t another player in the world who could have scored that goal and it is so good to have what looks like the ‘old’ Thierry Henry back.

After that there was no coming back for Blackburn. Of course there had to be a further contribution from them when Tugay’s cynical and deliberate foul on Cesc left the young Spaniard sporting an ice pack after the game but we should thank our lucky stars because it could have been worse. It was a nasty tackle and designed to hurt which is why Gilberto’s three match ban for his red card sticks in the throat so much. Still, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

To go to Blackburn, play most of the game with 10 men and come away with a win and three points was a real demonstration that this team has more about them than nice technique. Rosicky, Hleb and Fabregas showed they can play in the same team – even without Gilberto – Clichy had a great game at left back, the two centre-halves were solid and mopped up all around them and up front Thierry Henry showed just how important he is. There was a spirit and determination, not only to not avoid defeat but to win the game, that was very impressive. It’s like the team has turned a corner in a way. It was old school, vintage Arsenal and hopefully the lads will gain as much from this as the fans did.

Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:

The team is going from game to game, slowly becoming real lions. I feel for a while we’ve gained in maturity at the back. We didn’t have a panic and won challenges. It was a superb victory under very difficult circumstances, a good mixture between quality, spirit and solidarity and it was great to see commitment mixed with class and technique.

He has much to be proud of today. Now, we have a week off to prepare for the arrival of Manchester United at Ashburton Grove which is going to be some game.

Not much else happening. Newcastle want Jeremie Aliadiere on loan according to reports and that’s about it. Now, breakfast, the Sunday papers and a game of five a side later and that is Sunday sorted.

Have a good one.

Lauren can go, Freddie will stay, I don't Aliadicare about Jeremie…

Morning everyone, slight *boilk* but nothing too major thankfully. Lots of stuff going on. As usual on a Friday Arsene kept the press entertained with the pre-Blackburn conference. He must be a godsend to them because he gives them so much copy. Where to start though?!

Lauren, I think. The boss confirmed that he wouldn’t stand in Lauren’s way if an offer came in for him citing the emergence of Eboue, Hoyte and Djourou during Ralph’s enforced absence. He said:

I feel we have too many players in that position now. It’s always the same. You make room for young players and then it is difficult to leave them out again.

Obviously the injury plays a part in this and with Lauren out of contract in the summer the boss has decided that he can go elsewhere. Personally I hope he goes back to Spain because I don’t think I’d like to see the man who throttled Phil Neville, kicked Cristiano Ronaldo higher in the air than anyone else I’ve ever seen, flattened Mido then stood over him taunting him, rolled that penalty in against Sp*rs and who was generally a double-hard bastard play for another Premiership team. Good luck wherever you go, Lauren, and thanks for everything.

One player who will be staying, till the summer at least, is Freddie Ljungberg. Of him AW said:

He will stay. I have clarified it with him and said, ‘Listen, you stay and that’s it’. I have spoken to him personally. He was a bit uncertain about his future, of course – there is a big competition here for every position.

To be honest I never saw the logic of selling Freddie during this transfer window. His career is certainly in a lull at the moment and whether or not he can get out of that at Arsenal remains to be seen. That said if a couple of Hleb, Rosicky or Walcott got injured our options on the flanks would be seriously weakened and to have sold a player with his experience would certainly be seen as a mistake in such circumstances, unless of course you brought somebody in but that, as we know, is not going to happen this month.

Another player who wants to stay is Jeremie Aliadiere but despite how highly the boss rates him it’s hard to see a future for him at the club. If he’s content to play when everyone else is injured or play in the Carling Cup then perhaps but you’d hope he had more ambition than that. The boss is aware of the problem though, saying:

Aliadiere? I want him here but can I keep him happy with enough games? My big problem at the moment is he deserves to play but there’s a lot of congestion in the squad.

With Henry, Adebayor and van Persie definitely in front of him, Baptista likely to be there too and the return of Bendtner in the summer I don’t think Arsenal is the place he’ll be playing football next season and hand on heart I don’t think we’ll miss him too much.

Onto tonight then and playing away from home on Pay Per View has led some fans to think there’s a kind of a curse against us. The last two ppv games were Sheffield United and Bolton so it’s true it hasn’t been a great time but your luck, if that’s what it’s down to, has to change sometime, doesn’t it? We recently played Blackburn at home and spanked them 6-2 but since then they’ve kicked on and won their last four games, as if that defeat was a kick up the arse for them.

It’s not going to be an easy game, they’re a physical side but I think we can cope. Of course David Bentley will try and prove something, perhaps he’ll pull on Kolo’s jersey again making him fall into the ex-Arsenal man which makes the ref thinks it’s a penalty. Benny ‘tied to a tree’ McCarthy will also need to be watched and Robbie Savage will be out for revenge after being made look like a total cunt by Cesc. Update: Thanks to everyone who informed me Bentley is actually suspended from this game. That doesn’t mean he’s not a little twat though.

Fingers crossed the lads can go get a result. Finally, Arsene Wenger has denied an FA misconduct charge after he was sent off during the Portsmouth game and has requested a personal hearing.

And that’s it. Have a good Saturday, the usual post-match stuff tomorrow.