Cesc to Chelsea makes me sad

Cesc Fabregas' move to Chelsea saddens me, but it's probably for the best.

It will make me sad to see a world class player who really grew up at Arsenal playing for one of our rivals, but midfield isn't an area of the team that is a priority for strengthening at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I think Fabregas could've improved our team, he is genuinely world class after all, but signing him would have meant either leaving out Ozil or Ramsey, or playing players out of position.

Sure, we could accommodate Cesc. We could play him on the wing, up front, or in the defensive midfield position, but would he be happy with that? He may be happy to help out the team by playing out of position occasionally, but longer term, players like to play in their favoured position. Besides, it wouldn't really be getting the best out of a large investment.

Another alternative would be to drop Ramsey or Ozil (who one could argue are as good as Cesc), but would either of those be happy with that? I don't think so. And what about players like the Ox and Wilshere, who will struggle to get into the team anyway when everyone is fit. Would they be happy to be pushed further down the pecking order to accommodate Cesc? You may be able to get away with benching world class talent if you are Chelsea or Man City, who can pay ridiculous wages and are perceived by players (perhaps correctly) as having a better chance of winning the league than Arsenal, but world class players don't sit on the bench at Arsenal; you just wouldn't get away with it.

Another alternative would be to play Ozil or Ramsey out wide, but Ramsey has already proved that he is better in a central position and I would be worried about our lack of pace in the wide positions if Ozil played on the wing. Besides, would he be happy with that, long term? And what then of Walcott, Cazorla, Ox and Podolski? Where would they fit in? Not to mention Joel Campbell, who's currently pulling up trees in England's World Cup group for Costa Rica.

Then there is also the matter of Cesc betraying Arsenal by forcing a move to Barcelona, with all that Barca DNA stuff and Spanish team mates forcing him to wear a Barca shirt and begging him to join. There was even a rumour that he refused to play in pre-season friendlies, though we don't know for sure that that's true. Some fans might forgive him for that, others may not.

So, yes, it is sad to see Cesc go to Chelsea, but it's probably best to save our money for the positions we do need to strengthen. World class strikers don't come cheap and we also need a right back and a back up keeper at least. Another backup centre back would also be nice and, if we have any money left, another defensive midfielder – after all, Arteta and Flamini are very good, but I believe it is possible to improve on them, and they aren't getting any younger.

That said, if we don't strengthen those positions, I will be most non-gruntled.

Photo courtesy mcaparrotta

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Cesc to Chelsea makes me sad

Chelsea v Arsenal - match preview

Didier Drogba - the man Arsenal must stop

I said before the Partizan game that I hoped Lucasz Fabianski had a great game, regained his confidence and then went on to have a fantastic season. I don't claim to be Nostradamus based on one lucky prediction, but Fabianski duly came up with the goods to complete Part I of The Fall and Rise of Lucasz Fabianski and I'm hoping today he can begin start of Part II. The Partizan match should have given him confidence and that, in my opinion, is all that he has ever lacked. Arsene Wenger said that we finally saw the real Lucasz on Tuesday the one that he and his coaches see in training every day. Still, confidence is a fickle thing and Chelsea can be very intimidating. Fab will need to get a few good touches early on.

Certainly we need Fabianski to be confident. Chelsea have won the last four meetings between the clubs and haven't lost in the last seventeen matches against Arsenal in all competitions.

To make matters worse, we go into today's match in pretty average form and with Fabregas, Vermaelen, van Persie, Walcott and probably Diaby (to name but a few) unavailable. That means that the team virtually picks itself unless Arsene Wenger throws us a curve ball by leaving out Arshavin or something. The only question mark is which of our attacking midfielders starts in Fabregas' position, and I think that Nasri will get the nod. Rosicky will be on the right and Arshavin on the left.

Likely Arsenal line-up

                  Fabianski
Sagna, Squillaci, Koscielny, Clichy
              Song, Wilshere
      Rosicky, Nasri, Arshavin
              Chamakh

Subs: Szczesny, Djourou, Eboue,Denilson, Diaby, Vela, Lansbury or Emmaunuel-Thomas

I've had a couple of little bets on Arsenal to win (4-1) and Nasri to be the first goalscorer (12-1). I'm not saying I'm confident of either happening, but the odds seem very generous on both, so I thought it was worth a pot..

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Chelsea v Arsenal - match preview

Today Could Be St Totteringham's Day (and I've Got Everything Crossed)

Robin van Persie (courtesy toksuede)

Chelsea were a bit lucky last night. They didn't play well and Bolton had two clear-cut penalties turned down. But that's the way it goes sometimes.

In fairness to the officials, I didn't spot either of the handballs myself watching the match on TV at full-speed, and it was only with the benefit of watching the replays (and in case of the second one, by John Terry, more than once) that it was obvious that they were both penalties. In addition (and crucially), on the first incident both the referee and assistant were completely unsighted, and so were completely blameless.

The second decision was, unfortunately, given by the referee's assistant. I think if the referee had seen the incident and had the earlier handball (which he probably saw on the replays at half-time) in his mind, he may have given it, but the assistant was adamant that it was Terry's shoulder rather than his arm that touch the ball. And in fairness to the assistant, as I said, it was very difficult to spot at full speed; it happened too fast.

But what irritated, frustrated and amused me in equal measure were ESPNs attempts to excuse the former England captain and current England player.

"It came off the top of my chest”, Terry explained. "I don't know what it looked like on TV, but it definitely felt like it hit the top of my chest."

Ray Stubbs, the man in the ESPN studio helpfully explained how: "if you repeat something enough times you begin to believe it and John Terry probably does actually believe it hit his chest."

Er, no. Actually, where I come from they call that "lying".

My other thought from watching last nights match was how lucky I am to be an Arsenal fan. Watching Bolton and wanting them to win against Chelsea, I was very aware of how difficult their players seem to find it to kick the ball in a straight line and find a teammate or the goal. I felt very sorry for little Wor Jackie Wilshere playing just behind the striker. He made lots of good runs and attempted one-twos but the ball just didn't arrive.

I've always rated Wilshere since I saw him playing for the youth team under Steve Bould, but when he first went to Bolton, Owen Coyle seemed reluctant to use him and I was beginning to think that his name was actually Jack Wilshere Sub Unused. Now that he's getting a bit of a run though, you can see what a great player he can become and Coyle obviously has a lot of confidence in him, which can only help his development.

Anyway, onto tonight's match and I'm feeling strangely calm. I'm nervous, but not as nervous as I should be. Perhaps the nerves will come later as we get closer to the match? This match is crucial to our title hopes. Fail to win and they are over, simple as. But tonight is also doubly important because if we win today will be St Totteringham's Day.

For the uninitiated, St Totteringham's Day is the day in the season when Tottenham can mathematically no longer finish above Arsenal in the league and is therefore an annual day of celebration for all Arsenal fans.

The good news is that Robin van Persie is fit, at least for the bench. He may not be back to full match sharpness, but just having him back in the squad is a big boost. And, who knows, maybe he can come on after 65 minutes and score us the winner?

But I'm worried. We are still without a load of players who would walk into the Spuds team, including Fabregas, Gallas, Arshavin and Alex Song, who will also miss this weekend's match with Wigan. All of these players will be missed, but to me Alex Song is the most crucial (and in fact has been my player of the season). He sits in front of the back four and gives the team balance in a way that I don't believe Denilson can. With a bit of luck and a couple of good performances from Denilson, we can still get past Sp**s and Wigan, but let's just hope that Song's back for the Man Citech match or we could be totally truly screwed.

Of course, if we don't win tonight, it won't matter anyway. So I've got everything crossed and will remain that way until we have the three points in the bag.

Likely Arsenal line-up vs. Totteham

Almunia
Sagna, Campbell, Vermaelen, Clichy
Nasri, Denilson, Diaby
Eboue (or Walcott), Bendtner, Rosicky

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Today Could Be St Totteringham's Day (and I've Got Everything Crossed)

Drogba is The Predator

Above: Didier Drogba

It has been three days since we lost the Chelski and only now have l calmed down enough to able to write about it coherently.

When Thierry Henry used to play for Arsenal, I used to say that on some days it was like watching a big kid play with the little kids in the playground because he stood out so much. Sadly, TH14 no longer plays for the Arse and Didier Drogba now seems to have taken over that mantle. Watching him play against us on Sunday, it really was like the big kid in the playground, especially when he scored the second goal. Even as an Arsenal fan it was hard not to admire his skill, confidence and determination.

Yet it  is possible to stop Drogba. Although he has a record of better than a goal a game against us, against other teams (and especially against the other top teams) his record, though still good, is less impressive. We just need to work out what other teams do to stop him and then try and do the same.

One obvious thing we could change would be to take steps to stop us being caught on the counter attack so often. Arsene Wenger has complained many times about players repeatedly committing tackles in non-dangerous areas of the field where the won't get booked to slow down the play and prevent Arsenal from counter attacking. Well, guess what? No amount of complaining by AW is going to change referees' stance on this and suddenly make them start booking players for it. The thing is, why do Arsenal not employ the same tactic more often themselves? Is it because of some kind of idea Arsene Wenger has about sportsmanship? Well, f*** that! Nice guys come last.

Also no lessons were apparently learnt when we lost to ManUre nor when we played Chelski at Ashburton Grove earlier in the season. In both games we threw people forward without thought to what would happen if we lost the ball. As I said in an earlier post about the ManUre match, Sagna, Clichy, Song, Vermaelen and Gallas all seemed to appear in attacking positions with alarming regularity leaving us with no cover at the back. I wouldn't have been surprised to see Manuel Almunia going on a mazy run after dribbling out of his box (oo-er!).

I had hoped that these lessons would have been learnt by now. The fact that they haven't been is perhaps a sign that the side lacks a bit of maturity.

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Drogba is The Predator