Manchester City Vs Arsenal | 12/9/09 | Pre-Match Discussion

Our mighty Gunners are set to head to the Eastlands, in a round 4 clash against Mark Hughes revamped Manchester City squad; who in a dramatic overhaul in the summers have had an impressive start to the season going 3 for 3 and are yet still to concead a goal.

One of the main questions being asked before this game is who will be fit? with injury clouds hovering over the likes of Fabregas, Rosicky (who i pray will pull up fine after the internationals), Nasri and even fitness questiones of the little Russian Arshavin being asked.

Idealy i think we should play the 4-3-3, with our line up looking a little like this.

----------Alumnia---------
Sagna--Gallas--Vermaelen--Clichy
Song-----Fabregas(C)----Rosicky/Denilson
Eduardo---Van Persie---Arshavin

That formation will perfect in exposing Citys comical like backline, I know i was talking up Citehs defence before but this is basically due to they have been riding on the back of Shay Given the last couple of games. Obviously we will have to watch out for thier potent attack but with the recent form of Vermaelen and Gallas iam not overly worried... and if they are still yet to teach Adebayor the offside rule we should be fine.

This is only round 4 but could be a biggie in determining we're both Arsenal and Man City stand. So what are your opinions of the match? who do you think will win? will we be able to contain the big togolese forward?

Match Predition: Manchester City 1 - 3 Arsenal

- Anonymous

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Usmanov getting set for take over?

Alisher Usmanov's grip on Arsenal is tightening with the Russian billionaire close to seizing full control of the club. Usmanov has steadily been gaining power at the Emirates, taking his initial purchase of 14.58 per cent in 2007 to 25.1 this year.

Now he is ready to buy another chunk of the club from former board member Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith. If successful, that will take him well over the 29.9 per cent mark and, under Stock Exchange rules, trigger an automatic takeover bid.

Usmanov, 55, made his fortune as a metal and mining mogul and has a reputation for being a hardman even among Russia's oligarchs. Before investing in Arsenal his only previous involvement in sport came as president of the Russian and European fencing associations.

SunSport believes Lady Bracewell-Smith is ready to sell her 15.9 per cent stake. If she dealt with Usmanov, that would make him the Gunners' biggest shareholder with 41 per cent. Arsenal's other major investors are Stan Kroenke (28.58) and Danny Fiszman (16.1).

The main focus remains on Usmanov and Kroenke. Both were introduced to Arsenal in 2007 by former vice-chairman David Dein and have raced each other to buy up shares. Usmanov has been operating outside of the club, while Kroenke has been embraced by the board.

Now not knowing awhole lot about Usmanov i did abit of research and soon found out our chubby little friend is a convicted criminal with sentences for rape and extortion. So in saying that can't say I'm much of a fan of Usmanov and would much rather see some one of the likes of Stan Kroenke take control; but beggers cannot be choosers and i definitely think going private is a step forward especially taking into consideration all the bickering the board seems to be doing. I wanna see someone take charge cause at the moment the board members are quiet content to just let thier pockets become bigger and don't understand to bring trophies to the Emirates there going to have to invest a little.

They too must understand that to remain in contention Arsenal cannot continually sell off thier stars for profit year in year out without putting it back into the squad, we need really get our priorites straight.

However on abit more of a positive note i cannot complain in the sense of a having a healthy balance sheet as were definitely have our finances in the right play with not a massive amount of debt like some other clubs *cough* Manchester United and Liverpool *cough*.

Anyways to rap it up what is your opinion? Usmanov Yes? No? take your fat ass as far as way from the club as possible? let me know...

- Anonymous

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Djourou hit for six... months

Confirmed today Arsenal Defender Johan Djourou has been ruled out for six months to undergo corrective knee surgery.

The Swiss was hoping to help his side to world cup qualification but has decide the better off it and opted on medical advice to have the surgery.

Is it safe to say this could rule him out for the season? 6 months and a few to regain fitness i can't really see us seeing the Johan for the rest of the season.

Once again we have found ourselves only a few games in and lacking depth, It is obvious Vermaelen and Gallas will be the choice pairing in the defence this year but Johan was a man we could confidently fall back. Now we have Senderos the man who desperately wanted to leave and has never given over a subpar performance and then we have old man Silvest who with his better days behind him is prone to old stuff up here and there.
Perhaps we should look at someone like Australian and former West Ham Skipper Lucas Neil? who has decent pedigree could provide a little bit of height and would come as a free being out of contract. I don't know but with the likes of Nasri and Rosicky already crooked could the injury curse strike again? has it already?

So what is your opinion? should we worry, do we lack depth? Neil? Or Don't worry about it we will be fine? you tell me...

- Anonymous

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EA SPORTS Player of the Month

Arsenal have a made a relatively good start to the EPL 09/10 seasn scoring 10 goals in thier first 2 games, minus the Old Trafford head explosions and you get a decent campaign on track to keeping the likes of Tottenham and Man City at bay.

Everton were brushed aside 6-1 with 5 different players getting on the scoresheet on opening day. Followed the sound defeats of Portsmouth 4-1 and two leg dominance of Celtic to qualify for the champions league. All eventuating to a defeat at Old Trafford as Manchester capitalized on two vital errors to round of the month of August.

This month has seen William Gallas return to Chelsea-esque form organising and leading the defence with experience and class we all know he has. Former Ajax man Thomas Vermaelen has settled in to life at the Emirates superbly giving fine performances and forging a wonderfull partnership with Ex Skipper Gallas. The likes of Denilson and Fabregas have anchored the team and the new Barcelona style 4-3-3 formation and who can look past that Wonderfull goal from Andrey Arshavin at Old Trafford to break the then stalemate.

In my opinion it belong to either Gallas or Vermaelen perhaps with Gallas just edging it.

To vote for your opinion links below:
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/ea-sports-player-of-the-month
Also don't forget to drop a comment telling us who you voted for and why

- Anonymous

Arsenal more valuable then the Scousers, Chelski and Citeh

Arsenal are the seventh most valuable club in the world accoding to a new report released by Forbes.

The mighty Gunners are regarded by forbes to be a more valuable team then the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool.

Manchester witha steady growth of 4% have clung on to first spot once again with Liverpool in 18th, Chelsea in 42nd, Tottenham 62nd and with City only just scraping into the top 100 but with a growth of 62%.

It can really come as no real shocker that Arsenal are regarded much higher the two billionaire owned clubs (City and Chelsea) having a much healthier balance sheet and more illustrious history surrounding its name.

Forbes also reported that Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, completed in 2006 at a cost of $860 million with a capacity of 60,432, is a gold mine, generating $6 million a game.

The top ten most valuable clubs:

1 - Manchester United- $1.870bn (£1.144bn)
2 - Dallas Cowboys - $1.650bn (£1.009bn)
3 - Washington Redskins - $1.550bn (£948m)
4 - New York Yankees - $1.500bn (£918m)
5 - New England Patriots - $1.361bn (£833m)
6 - Real Madrid - $1.353bn (£828m)
7 - Arsenal - $1.200bn (£734m)
8 - New York Giants - $1.183bn (£724m)
9 - New York Jets - $1.170bn (£716m)
10 - Houston Texans - $1.150bn (£704m)

- Anonymous

New Nike Arshavin Video

Following the likes of Theo Walcott, Arsenal and Russian playmaker Andrey Arshavin is the next to star in the Nike 'Make The Difference' campaign.

Anyways to keep it short check it out and drop a comment teling us what you think.

- Anonymous

Arsenal.com claim UEFA Eduardo decision 'Flawed'

Arsenal.com today gave an official club statement claiming that the UEFA made "obvious errors" and ended up with a "deeply flawed" decision.

The whole Eduardo incident or to quote from the great man himself "Witchhunt" occured during Arsenal's champions league qualifier against Celtic when he went down in the penalty box. The referee Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez instantly awarded a spot kick despite appearing to be no contact from Celtic Keeper Boruc.

Arsenal.com official statement read "We strongly believe that the decision taken is deeply flawed and not based on any forensic review of the video evidence available.

There are obvious errors and inconsistencies in Uefa’s judgment and we intend to appeal."

From what i can gather Arsenal have apparently have handed a 19 page submission ahead of the original hearing, which clearly made little impact on the panel, and following the announcement of Eduardo's ban, have slammed the "arbitrary process" followed by the European governing body.

Now i'll be the first to admit it was definitely a dive, and iam al up for punishing divers but lets seriously get some consistency in this decision, if Eduardo was to be caught in the game; Penalty Celtic Eduardo gets a yellow game continues. Eduardo doesn't gets a two game ban and Arsenal are missing a key striker for 2 games... all we won't is consistency.

I too can't help but wonder whether we would see the same witch hunt had this been the likes of Gerrard, Lampard, Ronaldo etc in who we have seen dive time after time afte time with very little reprecussion.

Anyway to sum everything up in 2 point

1. Yes, Eduardo should be punished.

2. Lets get some freakin CONSISTENCY!

Anyways leave us your opinions on the whole Eduardo dive incident.

- Anonymous

Denilson commits long term future to Arsenal

Arsenal Football Club yesterday announced that midfielder Denilson has signed a new long-term contract with the Club.

Having joined Arsenal in 2006 from his homeland club Sao Paulo, Denilson firmly established himself in the Gunners’ engine room in the 2008/09 season, making more appearances than any other Arsenal player during the campaign. Having played in every Premier League game, the young midfielder clocked up an impressive 51 appearances in all competitions scoring three goals.

A busy and efficient player with a good eye for a pass, Denilson has captained his country at every level from Under-15 to Under-20 and was a finalist at the 2005 FIFA Under-17 World Championships.

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said: "Denilson's" contribution to the Club last season was outstanding. His work rate really was exceptional and it is valuable to have players that we know will perform to the very last minute in such a demanding league. I’m pleased that he has committed his long-term future to the Club. ”

Commenting on his new deal with the Gunners, Denilson said: “My development since I joined back in 2006 has really pleased me, and I just want to build on last season’s performances. We have a hugely talented group of players here, and I am convinced that with everyone working together we’ll be able to achieve great things. It’s a special time to be part of this Club and I’m delighted to have signed a new long-term deal.”