Arsenal

English Premier League Team of the Season 2011-12

May 132012

We’ve now reached the end of one of the strangest and most exciting seasons in Premier League history. The FA Cup winners and Champions League finalists Chelsea finished 6th, big spending soccer ballers Liverpool win the League Cup but finish 8th below Everton, and Manchester City wait until the last few minutes of the season to secure their status as the best team in England, and claim the title for the first time since 1968. Even now all the games have been played, the European spots are still undecided as Chelsea can qualify for next seasons Champions League if they win the final next week, meaning Spurs would miss out on Europe’s most lucrative and prestigious competition, Read more..

Stoke Fans Incensed as Ramsey Recovers From Broken Leg

Premier League, Satire

Apr 292012

Stoke Fans Incensed as Ramsey Recovers From Broken Leg

Fans of Stoke City were outraged yesterday as they realised Aaron Ramsey had successfully recovered from a broken leg inflicted by their captain, Ryan Shawcross, in February 2010. Fans of the club booed the Arsenal player at every opportunity, but manager Tony Pulis played it down by saying -”I was more concerned about the Arsenal supporters booing Shawcross so I didn’t hear the ones on Ramsey.” Pulis admirably stifled his disappointment at Ramsey’s recovery, but a fan’s spokesman was more forthcoming with the club’s view on the subject. “We work hard on the training ground, week in, week out, on our dangerous tackling techniques, and to see players such as Ramsey recover from career threatening Read more..

January Transfer Round Up – Lending a Hand

Transfer News

Jan 042012

January Transfer Round Up - Lending a Hand

The most notable transfer moves in the English leagues and the Premier League during these early days of the transfer window have involved loan signings which could prove vital for both teams and the player. These were probably arranged before the window opened so could be completed early on in January. Emmanuel Frimpong has joined Wolves on loan from Arsenal, where he could form a formidable central midfield partnership with Karl Henry. Danny Wilson will gain some valuable first team experience at Blackpool, as Liverpool look to the Seasiders and hope they can give Wilson the same confidence Jonjo Shelvey returned with. Federico Macheda will be hoping for Premier League starts on loan at QPR, Read more..

All Change at Arsenal – Henry Linked With Former Club

Transfer Gossip

Dec 282011

All Change at Arsenal - Henry Linked With Former Club

Arsenal will undergo a few changes in the upcoming January transfer window if the rumours are to be believed. It would make sense for them to try and raise funds by selling fringe players such as Arshavin, Chamakh and Squillaci, and whilst they have been linked with a whole host of players, as is the norm in any transfer window, the one which stands out is the possible return of Thierry Henry. It would be a risky move for any club legend returning to the club where they are so highly regarded, especially late in their career. Some may expect nothing to have changed since the player departed, and he’ll still be able to perform Read more..

The New Patrick Vieira(s) – Chuks Aneke and Paul Pogba

English League Cup

Sep 202011

The New Patrick Vieira(s) - Chuks Aneke and Paul Pogba

Tonight’s Carling Cup could see the debuts of two players who have both been imaginatively touted as the new Patrick Vieira. One of them is French – a good start – but Paul Pogba plays for Manchester United, so the comparison might seem a little misguided. The other plays for Arsenal – seems fair enough – but Chukwuemeka Aneke (luckily for John Motson shortened to Chuks Aneke) was born in Newham, London, England. True fans of both clubs will have gotten over these comparisons by now, realising that they have two young and very talented players on their hands, having seen their outstanding displays at academy level, and realised that if these players progress to Read more..

Arsenal – Udinese: Champions League Playoff First Leg

UEFA Champions League

Aug 162011

Arsenal - Udinese: Champions League Playoff First Leg

Arsenal begin their latest Champions League campaign with a tough two legged play-off against Italian 4th place qualifiers – Udinese. This is Arsenal’s 14th consecutive Champions League qualification – an impressive statistic and a reminder for Wenger’s critics within the club’s fan base, of the consistency he has brought to the club despite being surrounded by some of the toughest domestic competition in Europe. This season they will need to overcome a play-off in order to qualify for the lucrative group stages, and this will pose an early test of the mental steel in this new look Arsenal side. Whilst reflecting on Arsenal’s loss of Fabregas to Barcelona, it’s worth sparing a thought for Udinese who Read more..

Arsenal Sign Jadson to Help Rebuild Midfield

Analysis, Transfer Rumours

Aug 122011

Arsenal Sign Jadson to Help Rebuild Midfield

How can a 27 year old Brazilian who has played in the Ukranian Premier League for 7 seasons be the new Cesc Fabregas? Jadson, who won a belated first cap for Brazil earlier this year, is lined up to join Arsenal as they attempt to secure the signing of a talented midfielder to go part of the way to replacing Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, who are bound for Manchester City and Barcelona respectively. Although he is being brought in primarily to replace the Spaniard’s guile, creativity, and most importantly, his assists in midfield, it’s surely too simplistic to label him the new Fabregas. His age is the first clue that he isn’t a like for Read more..

Juan Mata to, erm, Arsenal actually

Transfer Gossip

Jul 282011

Contrary to the widely held belief that Juan Mata would be on his way to Liverpool for the coming season, the player has decided he’d rather play a season of Champions League football for Arsenal, and with a signing as shrewd as this, they may even be playing it again next season. So far only the signing of Gervinho has hit the sub-headlines for Arsenal, and the only mentions we’ve heard of their other signing, Carl Jenkinson, refer the unfortunate own goal he scored against FC Koln. Juan Mata then, explains why Wenger has looked relatively calm amongst the speculation regarding players leaving the club. His feathers were ruffled slightly by Mancini, but that’s all Read more..

Arsenal and Manchester City, Transfers and Transition

Transfer News

Jul 052011

Arsenal and Manchester City, Transfers and Transition

As Manchester City seem to be becoming increasingly worried about UEFA’s financial fair play rules, it might mean that their days of spending millions more than other clubs in order to get their transfer targets might be over. It may even stop them competing for players by offering 100k per week more in wages than their competitors in the transfer market. Now they also have the selling point that is the offer of Champions League football, which means players may even join the club for footballing reasons, rather than the wage packet. Meanwhile over at Arsenal, they seem to be on the verge of losing the fulcrum of their team. Our previous article on Arsenal’s Read more..

They’ve got Gervinho? Arsenal Summer Transfers

Transfer Rumours

Jun 162011

They've got Gervinho? Arsenal Summer Transfers

Johan Djourou recently claimed that Arsenal “will just go crazy and win everything” due to the potential they have in the squad, which is apparently yet to be realised. Djourou was one of a small number of Arsenal players who might have established a long term future for himself at the club, after a solid enough season coming back from injury. They might get a step closer to this crazy goal during the summer transfer window, if they can spend some big money, on the right players. Gervinho, who is rumoured to be on his way to the Emirates from French Ligue 1 champions Lille, looks like a good start to the summer spending, as Read more..