Banet 1 - 2 Arsenal

A warm July afternoon saw Arsenal kick-off the 2008/09 campaign with a game at Underhill against League 2 side Barnet.

The early exchanges saw Barnet on top with Almunia called upon to make an early save. Arsenal eventually settled down and started to dominate with early glimpses of Ramsey's ability on display. Bendtner had two early chances but his first touch let him down.

After 16 minutes, Arsenal conceded a free-kick on the edge of the box, which was taken by French player Gillett. He curled the ball around the wall and Almunia was unable to prevent the Bees taking the lead.

The goal knocked Arsenal and silenced their fans. It was not long before Arsenal started to pass the ball around and try to create chances. Arsenal's best chance of the half came after a mazy run from Denllson, he found Walcott who created space for himself, but his shot was well saved.

Most of the work and creativity came from Welshman Ramsey. Playing Traore on the left wing did not work, as Traore lacked the final ball, plenty of running but no end product. Nordveit showed a lot of promise and composure, making a couple of worthy interceptions.

Arsenal went in at half-time trailing 1-0, Arsene Wenger knew that the team was not sharp enough in front of goal and changes will be made.

Wholesale changes were made in the second half, including a debut for new signing Francis Coquelin.

Neil Banfield's reserve played like a team and within 10 minutes Mark Randall and Nacer Barazite both came close to equalising.

Where Ramsey left off, another Arsenal starlet, Wlishere picked the ball up on the wing, threaded a great ball to young Simpson who made no mistake in bringing the Gunners level on the hour mark. Arsenal continued to push forward and in the 75th minute another great ball from Wilshere found Simpson, who looked up and played a ball ac cross to Barazite who buried the ball to give Arsenal the lead.

After the goal Arsenal lost some of their composure, they created little and were content to see the game out.

What has Wenger learnt from this outing? Ramsey, Randall, Willshere are players to be considered for first team, duty. Traore is no winger, he will become a much maligned figure on the wing. Bendtner let himself down, so it will be interesting to see him over the next couple of weeks, will he add pressure on Adebayor or will he be content to play second fiddle to the Togolese striker. Overall a good work out, now on to Austra for the next phase of pre-season..

First Half Starting Line Up
Almunia ; Sagna; Nordveit; Hoyte (J) ;Clichy - Lansbury; Denilson; Ramsey; Traore - Walcott; Bendtner

Second Half Starting Line Up

Manone (Szczezny -75) -Agogo Dunne -75); Hoyte (G); Rodgers; Steer - Randall, Wilshere; Barazite; Coqeulin;- Fonte; Simpson

The End of The Invincibles

With the departures of Lehman and Gilberto, Arsenal’s Invincibles have been disbanded, leaving only Kolo Toure from that famous team.

In 2003/04, Arsenal achieved something no other team in the modern era has managed to do, they went a whole season unbeaten.

Who would have though that when Manchester United were awarded a penalty and van Nislelroy stepped up to take it that Arsenal would go the season with losing a game.

Just as that match was the turning point in the season, it was ironic that the next time Arsenal visited Old Trafford, a dive by Rooney led to a penalty and the end of the Invincible’s run.

What Arsenal fans want to know is why did we not build from that team? What went wrong in the years that followed?

Part of the reason was the arrival of Abramovich at Chelsea and his ability and willingness to spend £200M a season to ensure the Blues bought anyone they wanted and won the title.

But that does not excuse how the squad was dismantled and has taken so long to re-build into a squad worthy of winning the title. What we must remember is that this squad was the culmination of 5 years building, tweaking and selling be Wenger.

Were the players sold too soon and were they replaced on a like for like basis?

Martin Keown, Sylain Wiltord, Ray Parlour and Kanu were released that summer as they had become peripheral figures.

Keown’s replacement was Senderos a player who can go through several games and look an accomplished defender, but then can hit a rut for no reason and look like a Sunday morning park footballer.

Jose Antonio Reyes was an adequate replacement for both Kanu, who never performed for Arsenal once he had been given a new contract, and Wiltord who never quite settled into the Arsenal system. The only problem was that Reyes never liked London and it was not long be fore the lure of Madrid was too much. Reyes has not been replaced, though Walcott could do a better in the long run.

Ray Parlour was to be replaced by Hleb a worthy replacement, but not somebody who was prepared to “tough it out”.

Patrick Vieira was sold in the following summer, Arsenal have never replaced PV4. It was a folly to sell Vieira with no replacement lined up, more so as Arsenal allowed Edu to leave that summer on a free transfer. Allowing players to leave on a free transfer is a regular theme at Arsenal. The eventual replacements for these are Diaby and Denilson, both young and so far they have not shown anything to make people believe they are the real deal.

The last season at Highbury 2005/06 saw the biggest upheaval of the Invincibles and you wonder if anybody realized how exposed Arsenal would be left by this move. Bergkamp eventually retired, and even though van Persie has tried, nobody will ever replace the Iceman.

Campbell was allowed to leave on a free transfer as he wanted a new challenge abroad, though he ended up at Portsmouth. Gallas was to arrive that summer and apart from one moment of pique, he has proven to be a true captain.

Robert Pires waved adieu to the fans at the Stade de France where he graced the pitch for 13 minutes before being substituted. Wenger let Pires go because he was not prepared to give him a two year contract. Rosicky came in for Pires, but he has been in sick-bay too often for Arsenal fans to remember what he looks like.

Summer 2006 saw the departure of Ashley Cole over £5K a week, his replacement Gael Clichy has made people wonder why he was not picked ahead of Cole in the first place.

Lauren was the next to leave, again going to Portsmouth where he joined Campbell and Kanu. Bacary Sagna, is a great replacement and nobody can complain.

Summer 2007 saw the departure of Arsenal legend Thierry Henry, Eduardo and Adebayor are his replacements, but it is a tall order to replace such a talisman as Henry became. Whether these two can ever emulate Henry only time will tell. Also leaving last summer was Freddie Ljungberg, who by this stage had spent too much time recovering from his tattoos to be effective. Wenger never replaced Ljungberg.

Whilst every squad comes to an end, what Wenger did wrong in the dismantling of the Invincibles was the speed with which players left and that their replacements were not eased into the team. It would have been better for Arsenal if the new players came in and spent a season playing with their “Invincible” and then moving the Invincible on later. This was done with Fabregas who played alongside Edu and Vieira and the same is true for van Persie and Adebayor, but the others were thrown in at the deep end.

Arsene went on record to state that last season’s team was better than the Invincibles, well let’s hope that this season’s squad goes on to bring some silverware to the Emirates,

Arsenal TV Increases Hours

The Arsenal TV will has announced that it will be revamping its programme schedule in time for the new season.

Due to popular demand the channel will be launching extended transmission hours from Monday 21st July onwards. The channel will be broadcast for an additional three hours per day during the week and a new eight hour broadcast on a Sunday will also be introduced.

New Channel Hours:
• Monday to Friday: 4.30pm - 2am
• Sunday: 6pm - 2am

Arsenal TV can be found on its NEW position of Sky Digital at channel number 435.


Watch Arsenal's pre-season friendlies on Arsenal TV.

BARNET V ARSENAL – Saturday, July 19th
SZOMBATHELYI HALIADAS V ARSENAL – Tuesday, July 22nd
BURGENLANDIN V ARSENAL – Monday, July 28th
STUTTGART V ARSENAL – Wednesday, July 30th
HUDDERSFIELD V ARSENAL - Wednesday, August 6th

Gilberto Arrives in Athens

Gilberto arrived in Athens last night evening to a hero's welcome with over 1500 Panathinaiko fans cheering on the Brazil international at the airport and mobbing his car.

Gilberto will become the highest paid player in Greece when he signs for Panathinaikos today and is officially unveiled as a PAO player, in their attempt to wrest the title from arch rivals Olympiakos.

Gilberto leaves Arsenal after a successful career having joined the Gunners in 2002, making 170 appearances and scoring 17 goals, he lost his place last season due to the fine form of Flamini. In discussions with Wenger this summer, the Arsenal manager could not guarantee the Arsenal vice-captain a regular place in the team.

He rejected a move to Everton, stating that he wanted to Panathinaikos as they were competing in the Champions League.

Hleb Join Barcelona

One of this summer's longest running transfer sagas is over, hleb has left Arsenal and has joined Barcelona for £11.9M. Hleb's departure from the Emirates Stadium has seemed likely all summer after he admitted he was "mentally tired" of the combination of living in London and playing top-level football. Some reports state that Hleb's mind was made up to leave the Gunners after seeing the horrific injury to Eduardo.

Barca confirmed Hleb could be presented as early as Thursday and reports in Spain suggest they will pay the Gunners £11.9million.

Hleb arrived in Barcelona on Wednseday to undergo a medical. He later took part in the usual photocall at the Nou Camp. Hleb will team up with former Gunner Thierry Henry at the Nou Camp.

Hleb joined Arsenal in 2005 from VfB Stuttgart and made 89 appearances scoring 7 goals.

Is Wenger a Good Poker Player?

Wenger has not been rushing into the transfer market; his two forays have produced Nasri and Ramsey. Wenger is cool student of football politics. Whilst others have been bleating in the press, Wenger has remained silent and his silence will now pay-off.

AC Milan wanted Adebayor but Wenger resisted the calls from San Siro, knowing that AC Milan did not have the money to buy Adebayor. AC Milan went on record as saying it was Ronaldinho (£14M) or Adebayor (£24M), not both. AC Milan have bought Ronaldinho and earlier also bought Zambrotta from Barcelona, unless they sell a few players or offer Arsenal cash plus two or three players, AC Milan are no longer in the transfer market. This leaves only Barcelona as a possible destination for Arsenal’s want way striker. This, however, is not as easy as it sounds. Barcelona have spent big this summer on Alves and Keita from Sevilla and Caceres from Villareal for a combined total of £50M, they are only about to complete the Hleb signing due to the sale of Ronaldinho. Any move for Adebayor will have to involve players plus cash and Barcelona are only offering Eto’o, whilst Arsene Wenger wants Yaya Toure as part of any deal.

Liverpool have been tracking Gareth Barry openly in the press, this has annoyed Martin O’Neil who has increased the price to £18M. Liverpool did not have the finances to buy Barry and were relying on the sale of Alonso to Juventus for £16M to help facilitate this move. Juventus have signed Poulsen from Sevilla for £7.6M and have announced that they have closed their transfer book. This leaves Liverpool with Alonso and no money, leaving the way open for Wenger to approach O’Neil and settle the Barry move to Arsenal for less than £18M plus Hoyte.

The departure of Juventus from the transfer market allows Arsene to contact Udinese over the transfer of Columbian defender Zapata. Arsenal made one approach earlier this summer, but Udinese turned this down in the hope that Juventus will come in with a higher bid, this now looks unlikley leavign Arsene a clear run for the highly
rated Columbina central defender.

Wenger’s slow, quiet and calculated approach to the transfer market could see the arrival of Barry from Aston Villa and Zapatta from Udinese for a combined outlay of £25M, and Adebayor signing a new extended contract all by the end of July.
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Australian Transfer Off

Australina under-23 international Mark Milligan has seen his dream of joining Arsenal dashed by British immigration rules.

Milligan who had a trial with Arsenal towards the end of last season looked to be joining the Gunners this summer. Sky Sports reported last night that he was in talks with two Premier League clubs, the other thought to be Manchester City.

Milligan who captains the Australia under 23 team and also helped Sydney to success last season falls foul of the strict immigration rules that apply to footballers wishing to play in England.

Milligan has two options, Arsenal sign him and he either plays in Spain whilst he gains the sufficient number of international caps for Australia or Arsenal apply for a special dispensation to the Home Office to obtain a work permit for him; or he goes to France where the rules are slightly relaxed.

Milligan will spend August in Beijing trying to lead Australia to Olympic glory.

2008/09 - The Year of the Terminator - Abou Diaby

Abou Diaby’s career at Arsenal has been frustrating for both the player and Arsenal, but next season could see the France international come of age..

The tall, powerful midfielder was signed from Auxerre in January 2006; he played in 16 games for Arsenal and scored one goal in his first season. The season ended in disappointment for Abou when he suffered an injury at Sunderland, this kept him out until January 2007. .

2007 was not much better for the giant midfielder as he only appeared in 18 games, again scoring one goal.

The 2007/08 season proved to be a start-stop season for Diaby, as he made 28 appearances, scoring four goals. Abou did not appear in his favoured central midfield, but was played on the left wing. The season once again ended in injury for Diaby.

With the departures of Diarra, Flamini and Gilberto, 2008/09 is a make or break season for Abou Diaby. Unless Wenger pulls a rabbit out of the hat, Diaby should partner Fabregas in the centre of midfield, a position that Arsenal fans have been pleading for Arsene to play Abou. When he has played in this position, many fans have seen how commanding he is, using his long longs to make vital challenges and his upper body strength to shield the ball. Diaby is not short of pace and is not scared of shooting when the opportunity arises. Diaby could be the powerful player that fans have been yearning for since Vieira’s departure. The two are not too dissimilar, though I would suggest that Diaby is likely to score more goals than the legend Vieira did.

Given the chance and a relatively injury free season, Diaby will be a colossus fro Arsenal and France.

Season Ticket Prices - The Myth

Suddenly the newspapers have reallied that Arsenal season ticket prices have increased. Season ticket holders were informed of this fact in May and season tickets had to be renewed by 1 June or your season ticket would be sold to someone else.

The press have gone price crazy quoting the the increase from £885 to £925 for the cheapest tickets. This is not a true reflection, as the price paid every season for a season ticket depends upon the previous season's cup campaigns.

The Arsenal season ticket includes seven cup credits, the cost of these cup games are included in the price. If Arsenal play in more than seven home cup-ties, excluding the Carling Cup, then the extra games are added to the following year's season ticket price and if there are less than seven cup games, then the price is reduced accordingly.

The media then jump on the band wagon quoting the time old stereotype of how can a father afford to take his children to football with such exorbitant prices. What they do not realise is that Junior Gunners are able to attend matches from as little as £13, this is the charge for nearly all home games. Obtaining a ticket is easy as they go on sale eight weeks prior to the fixture, making a trip to a football match for a dad plus child about £50, whilst a trip to the theatre will cost upwards of £70 for the two (if you are lucky).

In an interview with Arsenal TV Online Danny Fiszman defended the clubs increase this season saying that the tickets remain value for money given they include European and domestic cup fixtures.
"We've held the prices for four years but there is substantial inflation in football," he told Arsenal TV Online.
"Rather than keep holding prices back and then having a huge increase, we think it's better to have a small, steady increase rather than a big jump.
"Quite often there are comparisons made about the prices of our season tickets and we seem to be expensive.
"But in terms of comparison it's never apples for apples. Our season tickets include cup and Champions League games, which other competing clubs in London charge extra for.
"In fact they charge a premium for them. Our prices should be judged in that way rather than on the pure top line number."

Rumours Rumours and Departures

Every week weekend brings in a flood of players being "linked" with Arsenal. The usual suspects are either pleading to join Arsenal - Arshavin now his move to Barcelona is not going through is making complementary noises about the Gunners, but at £24M Wenger will not lift up the telephone.

Martins, a long term link, is now rumoured not to be favoured by Arsenal, so the press throw in a new name, Aguero of Atletico Madrid, purely on the basis that his agent claims a top Premier club has contacted Atletico.

Meanwhile, it looks that Arsenal will be hiring a minibus to bring back players from Blackburn, as Friedel's name has been added to Santa Cruz as "potential" targets.

What is guaranteed is that Gilberto will join Panathinaikos, whilst Hleb will sign for Barcelona. These two transfers will boost Wenger's transfer budget to the tune of £17M.

Two former Gunners will also boost Wenger's transfer budget, once their moves go through. James Harper is a £5M target of Middlesbrough, this means Arsenal will receive £2M of the transfer fee. The other is David Bentley's impending move to Spurs for £18M. Arsenal sold Bentley for £3M and have received a further £3M due to his goals and appearances for Blackburn and his England appearances. Arsenal are due 25% of the profits of any subsequent transfer, meaning a further £3.75M will find its way to Arsenal.

This gives Arsene even more money to spend on new recruits in the forthcoming weeks.

Song off to Beijing

Arsenal's Alexander Song is to play in the Beijing Olympics for Cameroon. Song joins other Premier League players like Liverpool's Babel (Holland), Lucas (Brazil), Man Utd's Anderson and Man City's new £17m striker Jo, who will both be representing Brazil in the Olympic Games.

AC Milan's Kaka also wishes to play in the Olympics but AC Milan are objecting.

Who Will Replace Adebayor

All the smart money is on Adebayor leaving for either AC Milan in player plus lots of cash swap, or to Barcelona.

The question on everyone's mind is who will Arsene Wenger replace the mercurial Togolese striker with, who will be the next player thrust into the Arsenal frontline.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar - Valued at £18M by Ajax, he has recently refused to sign a new contract and with Ajaz having failed to qualify for the Champion League, the Dutch team will be all too ready to cash in on their major asset. That he can score goals is in no doubt, but the Eeridivisie is not the strongest in Europe and a prolific scorer there does nto mean he will do the business in the Premier League.

Bafetimbi Gomis - Valued at £15M by st Ettiene. Has recently signed a new contract with Les Vertes, but this was more to ensure that hey receive a decent trasnfer fee. He is one of the up and coming strikers in French football. He is a little young, 22 years old, but that makes him ideal Wenger material. Was at Euro 2008, probably an outside bet, but one that Wenger will not regret in the long run.

Mario Gomez - had a disappointing Euro 2008 tournament and did not do himself justice. Gomez plays for Vfb Stuttgart and is valued at £12M. Had a great season for Die Roten scoring 19 league goals in 25 appearances. Wenger must question his ability to perform on the big stage.

Roque Santa Cruz - great first season on the Premier League with Blackburn, and now a target of Manchester United as well as Arsenal. It will requires a bid of £15m to secure his services. He is 27 years old, but not as mobile as Arsene's traditional strikers.

Obafemi Martins - a long term target of Wenger. At 23 his young,strong and athletic. He has stated his desire to join Arsenal and £15m will secure his services from Newcastle United.

TV Schedules Announed

Sky Sports and Setanta Sports have announced the first batch of Live games for next season.

Arsenal's first three games feature on television, with the home game against West Bromwich Albion having been chosen as the curtain raiser for the season.

Arsenal Games on TV

Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion 12.45pm Sky Sports 1
Fulham v Arsenal 5.30pm Setanta Sports
Arsenal v Newcastle United 5.30pm Setanta Sports
Bolton Wanderers v Arsenal 5.30pm Setanta Sports
Arsenal v Hull City 5.30pm Setanta Sports
West Ham United v Arsenal 4.00pm Sky Sports 1
Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur 8.00pm Sky Sports 1
Arsenal v Manchester United 12.45pm Sky Sports 1
Chelsea v Arsenal 4.00pm Sky Sports 1

Justin Hoyte – A True Gooner

Despite struggling to get into the team last season, Justin did not bang on Wenger’s door demanding a move, instead he has pledged his immediate future to the club.

Some will say this is because Arsene would have sold him at as soon as he had left his office.

I for one would like Arsenal to Justin. He is good squad player, who when given a run in the team performs well. Look at the 2006/07 season when he came in for Eboue. He did admirably and never let us down. So much so that many fans prefer Hoyte to Eboue at right back.

Hoyte is a goner through and through and has stated that when on the bench he will join in with the singing from the stands. He has shown loyalty to Arsenal unlike the likes of Penant and Bentley who thought they super-prima donnas at the age of 18.

If you take a look at Manchester United, Ferguson often keeps squad players and develops them over a period to ensure that when they are called upon they never let Manchester United down, ie Wes Brown, Fletcher.
Wenger should keep Hoyte for this reason, and we should be looking at the likes of Gibbs, Lansbury and Randall to also stay and even if they are not first team regulars, they could do admirable job as a squad player

Samir Nasri Joins - Official

Today, 11 July 2008, Arsenal have announced the worst kept secret in football, Samir Nasri joins the club from Marseilles. Arsenal, in line with tradition, have not disclosed the fee, which is rumoured to be in the region of £12M.
Nasri is 21and is a full France international, he also made two appearances for France in Euro 2008..

Samir Nasri, can operate on the left of midfield, or through the middle, he will wear the number 8 shirt, and Arsenal fans will be hoping he will be a big success like his two predecessors, Freddie Ljungberg and Ian Wright.
Manager Arsène Wenger said: "We are delighted to be signing Samir Nasri. He is young, quick and technically an outstanding player.”
Nasri added: "I'm very happy to become an Arsenal player, it means such a lot to me. This is a very important step in my life as a football player because Arsenal is a massive club."

Arsenal Will Announce Record Figures

How successful has been the move to the Emirates? Well in September, Arsenal will announce a record set of turnover and profit figures. This will lay to rest once and for all the myth that the club is struggling to finance the debt that it has incurred in building the The Emirates.

Last year the club had a turnover of £200M and profits after interest of £21M.

For the six months ending November 2007, the club's turnover was £97M and a profit of £11M.

The club will announce a record turnover approaching £220M for the full year, this is because the interim figures excluded any prize money and any income from the Bruce Springstein concerts held at The Emirates. Arsenal's profits will be approaching the £30M mark.

Further good news will be announcement that the Highbury Square development is coming close to completion, this will enable the club to reduce the debt to a manageable level of £100M, freeing further resources for Arsene Wenger.

More Transfer Rumours

Another day brings another batch of players linked to the club.

De La Red is the flavour of the day, the story died a while ago, now that the transfer window open, so have the links re-emerged. The player was at Getafe last season, but Real Madrid have recalled him with a view to using him as part of a transfer bait. Real are rumoured to be asking £15M, which appears to be the going rate for every player these days. Whether Arsene Wenger will spend £15M on a relative novice remains a big doubt.


A new addition to the ever growing list of players being is River Plate and Colombian forward Falcoo. Falcao has been tracked by Manchester United and Real Madrid, but reports from Argentina have put Arsenal in the frame.

In a further mystery, an English club, probably Chelsea, have failed with a £19M bid for Arshavin. At this level and given Arshavin's age, this is one player to be crossed off the list of potential Arsenal signings.

No doubt as both the Gibletro and Hleb transfers near completion, Arsenal will be linked with a further dozen players.

Who's coming and who's Leaving

The transfer window has been open for 9 days, but the activity at the Emirates has been frenetic.

Shortly after the season ended Arsene Wenger told fans that they will see things develop within 2-3 weeks. After the initial excitement, things reverted to type with Arsenal linked with dozens of players and several of our established players linked with other clubs.

Flamini was the first to leave, this was no surprise as he had refused to sign a new contract, and then announced he was joining AC Milan on a free transfer.


Hleb had made noises about joining Inter Milan, but whilst that move did not materialise, Barcelona are now his favoured destination with the transfer expected to be completed next week. Wenger has demanded Yaya Toure to come to Arsenal as part of the deal and with the imminent departure of Gilberto, we can only assume that Arsene has got his way.

Adebayor has been sending out mixed messages. Deep down he wants to stay, but he would also like to try his hand in Italy or Spain. Wenger is reluctant to let both Hleb and Adebayor leave, so deter his suitors, Arsenal have quoted the two clubs £35M. Guiza's transfer to Fenerbahce today indicates that Wenger is sure of keeping Adebayor.

Arsene has been busy in the background, and has already signed Aaron Ramsey, a very good prospect for the future, but someone who is capable of making the grade next season. Ramsey is not the only signing so far. Two others have been signed and will be unveiled next week, Samir Nasri from Marseilles and Amaury Bischoff from Werder Bremen. Wenger likes to come up with a signing that makes people question his sanity and Bischoff is that signing. Bischoff will develop slowly as did Flamini and could be a star player in two to three years.

Once Arsene has assembled his squad in Austria he will see who else he needs to buy and will have already put the wheels in motion for these transfers to go through fairly quickly.

Gilberto Leaves for Panathinaikos

Sources in Greece claim that Arsenal have agreed to transfer Gilberto to Panathinaikos. This comes as no surprise as Gilberto cut a forlorn figure last season on the bench waiting for his opportunity which never came.

Arsenal transfer supreme Ken Friar has been busy finalizing a deal that will sea one of the remaining Invincibles leave Arsenal and join Panathinaikos. Arsenal have reportedly agreed a fee in the region of £2M for the Brazilian World Cup winner and captain.

All that remains is for Gilberto to agree personal terms with Panathinaikos and join up with the greens and their new coach Henk Ten Cate as they try to wrest the title from arch rivals Olympiakos. All that remains now is for the player to agree personal terms for the deal to go through. It is believed that Panathinaikos will offer Gilberto £2M a year and a two year contract with an option for a third.Gilberto is currently on holiday in Brazil is reported to have said that if personal terms are satisfactory then he will consider coming to Athens.“I don’t have a problem about playing in Greece if the financial terms are satisfactory” he said.

Another Summer of Frustration

A summer will not be a summer without a string of Arsenal players linked or eventually leaving the club. This greatly frustrates the fans as we do not see this sort of upheaval at any of our rivals, so why does this happen?

Some put it down to the fact that Arsenal's finances are in a precarious position. Unless there is something that the board are not telling the fans, this is clearly not the case. The club had £70M in the bank in November, and it is not until the end of the season that the club receives the prize money from the Champions League and the Premier League. In addition the club hosted Brazil v Sweden at the Emirates as well as two Bruce Springstein concerts. So money is not an issue.

Arsenal's wage structure has been mooted as a problem. The club lost Flamini because they were unable to offer him a salary in the region of £75K a week. Recently Robin van Persie has made noises about the club's wage structure, whilst Adebayor is rumoured to be on £35K a week. Yet if you look at Arsenal's overall wages it is more than Liverpool, and not far behind Manchester United.

So if its not wages or the clubs finances, is it the lack of trophies won by the club in recent years? Do players believe they can win more at other clubs?

When players leave Arsenal, how many have truly excelled beyond their Arsenal career? The great Henry has even said he would like to return to Arsenal as an Arsenal player never leaves Arsenal. Look at the litany of "failures", Reyes (a Spain regular at Arsenal, now not even considered worthy of a squad place), Edu (career plagued by injuries since leaving Arsenal), Ashley Cole ( has never hit the heights of his Highbury days), Vieira (whilst winning several Serie A titles, has never been the commanding colossus he was at Arsenal), Overmars ( a frustrated time at Barcelona), Anelka ( he could have been the best striker in the world until his brothers whispered sweet nothings into his ears and tempted him with the lure of Real Madrid).


A word of warning to Hleb and Adebayor, the green is never greener outside of Arsenal.

Arsenal Pre-Season

No tour of the Far East or South Africa or the USA for Arsenal this summer.

Arsenal have confirmed that they will be returning to the spa resorts in the Austrian Alps, which has been their base for preseason camp for the sixth consecutive summer.

Arsenal will undertake a week-long training trip to the Styria province in south-east Austria, starting on 21 July.

Arsenal kick -off their pre-season with the traditional game against Barnet at Underhill on 19 July.

They are then scheduled to play against Austrian club FC Magna on 22 July, while a second match against another local club is planned for 28 July.

Before returning to England, Arsenal will play against VfB Stuttgart, where they may come up against former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehman.

The first weekend of August sees Arsenal play Real Madrid and Juventus in the second Emirates Cup. Whilst on 6 August Arsenal are due to play against Huddersfield Town as part of their centenary celebrations.

Though there has been no official announcement, it is widely believed that Arsenal will defend their title and compete in the Amsterdam Tournament over the weekend 8th and 9th August.