It's All Over!

Bad news first- Van Persie appears to have twisted his knee playing for Holland last night, although I'm sure we'll learn more about that over the next couple of days. His probable deputy Eduardo amazingly didn't score in Croatia's 3-0 win over Slovakia, while Tomas Rosicky didn't even play in the Czech Republic's resounding 3-0 victory in Germany- nor did the suspended Jens. Nicklas Bendtner played as Denmark beat Latvia 3-1, while Gallas and Diarra featured in France's 2-0 defeat of Lithuania, with some bloke breaking France's all-time scoring record. I guess that means we'll see Willy back for saturday. Cesc only made a late cameo as Spain were held by Finland- the more rest the better. Only 4,000 fans showed up to see Israel dispatch Belarus 2-1. I have no idea whether wor Alex played or not- I'd imagine he didn't as there would have been at least ten thousand there to see him alone. Austria beat Kolo's Ivory Coast 3-2.

Well thank fuck that's all done and dusted- back to proper football at the weekend.

Sticky Rosicky.

Only a couple of real news items today- Tomas Rosicky apparently has muscle imbalance, which our medical team have obviously missed. Hopefully the Czech doctor's right and a few weeks work on it and he'll be okay. Cracking player but so injury prone. Armand Traore displays an impressive knuckleduster of an attitude in an interview with the club website. I'm a big fan of Armand, not just for intimidatory Spurs antics but his blinding speed and constant desire to get forward. Swiss Tony has picked up an injury playing for Switzerland at the weekend-hopefully our captain shall return.

Not long now...

I Hate International Breaks.

Very little going on again today- although the flies I mentioned yesterday are well and truly buzzing around the shit again. Twats. Fran Merida (who is apparently leaving us due to his lack of speed and mobility if you read certain sites) speaks of his delight at finally joining the first team. There's an interesting interview with Billy G on his zany website. Pie-faced self-promoting pig-fucker Sam Allardyce is already getting his excuses ready for our next match, while Barcelona continue to show an utter lack of respect for anyone and everything ever- expect Predrag Mijatovic to start piping up now he's been temporarily outcunted.

Fucking international weeks.

No News, If You Know Where Not To Look...

As you'd expect for a Monday sandwiched bewixt a bunch of fucking dull international games, there's nothing really going on. Unless you believe the utter hyperbolic shite that several other blogs are printing as gospel. I've stopped smoking this morning, so prepare yourselves for a fucking avalanche of vituperative vitriol all you shitty spinster sites out there.

I'll begin with "Arsenal forward close to exit," by some shithouse site called Soccervoice. Normally I'd post links, but becasue they're devoid of any meaningful content I'm not going to bother. Predictably, this non-story, which contains no quotes (although they do credit the BBC before spinning it beyond all recognition) refers to Nicklas Bendtner's quotes from several days ago in which he clearly said that if he doesn't make it into the Arsenal first team he will consider leaving. A figure of two years was mentioned by the player himself. Is he "close to an exit?" Yes, he probably is twice a day, before and after training. Fuck off Soccervoice.

Several tosspieces have linked us with Lyon midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa on the irrefutable evidence that he ticks three vital boxes: he's French, he scored for France and ARSENE WENGER WATCHED HIM ON SATURDAY. Well, there we go then. Why else would Wenger be there? I mean it's not like he ever shows any interest in his national side, nor does he ever do any punditry for the French media. Oh, wait a minute, he does. Fuck off.

Tribalfootball, basically the site that collects the flies that clamour around shit and then releases them back in your face, offered shattering insight into Augusto Fernandez's impending transfer to Arsenal from River Plate with this quite remarkable story:

"Fernandez has been likened to Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi and has impressed Gunners boss Arsene Wenger."

That was it, seriously. Fuck off Tribalfootball.

"Arsenal in race for new Ronaldo" was another of my favourites this morning. It refers to the now week-old nothing link between ourselves and Sporting Lisbon's Miguel Veloso. Spot the glaring issues with this one? Veloso is a central midfielder, whereas Ronaldo is a winger. Have we actually been inked with him? His agent (!) referred to an English club almost reaching his buy-out clause- must've been us then as we're clearly short of a central midfielder or two. Fuck off "all3points" you shitheap.

The final one is my favourite though. It would seem that some gooner somewhere has sprinkled some rumour regarding our floundering rivals' Adel Taarabt into the mix, hoping that the more moronic bunch (see above) would go for it. Sportingo, despite asserting a couple of times that they had severe doubts about the story (and of course, no quotes or primary evidence to speak of), promptly made it their leading piece for the morning. Fuck off Sportingo.

There was actually some proper news amidst the shit-peddling, with Jens Lehmann confirming his availability after his "flawless" game for Germany on saturday. A fully fit and fired-up Jens is a terrifically good goalkeeper- should be intriguing to see who's fielded on Saturday against Bolton.

Internationals A No-Go.

So we're halfway there- not long now until proper football again. Eduardo notched his now obligatory international goal to make his tally forty goals in twelve games (may not be correct) to give his Croatia side a 1-0 win over Israel. France battered the Faroe Island 6-0 with signing of the season Le Sagna playing the full ninety, while Lassana Diarra came on for fifteen minutes and Gallas stayed on the bench. Alex Hleb's Belarus side slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Luxembourg. Poor Alex. "Despite currently suffering from an injury (yes Arsenal.com, please drop the act now)," Jens Lehmann miraculously managed ninety minutes for Germany during their goalless draw with Ireland. Cue more tedious speculation next week. Our vested interest in Spain's impressive 3-1 victory in Denmark was due to Cesc playing eighty minutes and Nicklas Bendtner coming on for the second half. Gilberto's Brazil take on Colombia today, while Swiss Tony and Swiss Bould continued their central defensive partnership for Switzerland as they beat their Euro 2008 co-hosts Austria 3-1.

Meanwhile Thierry Henry talks at length about the effect of his departure in the Telegraph. I found the comments about his goal celebrations particularly interesting- it was always so tiresome when people somewhat xenophobically dismissed him as moody and arrogant. The fact is he was always a perfectionist and never happy with himself, probably what made him the perfect footballer to watch. A comprehensive interview and well worth a read- it's good to see him finally starting to hit form after his hat-trick against Levante the other week. Some news about the upcoming AGM on thursday, with hyperbolic terms like SHOWDOWN and MASSACRE being banded about (perhaps not the latter). Hill-Wood seems to be rather desperately backtracking and brown-nosing with Stan Kroenke, now Usmanov is inching nearer to the share amount he needs by DISGUSTINGLY buying shares off the deceased. All very dull, hopefully Stan the man will get on board, the lockdown will be extended to a decade and that's the end of it. After all with the recent financial reports it's clear we don't need a minted benefactor. Right that's it. Only a week to go...

Agent Talk.

The last couple of days have been rife with all sorts of speculative bollocks, all spawned by classic bit of agent talk. Nothing else to say really, we all know Cesc is going back to his home club at some point in the future and that's fair enough. We could all do with agents shutting the fuck up and drowning themselves but they have a job to do, blah blah piss. Better news saw Togo blow it in the ANC qualifiers, which means that Emmanuel Adebayor won't be leaving us next year. Get in.

Little or nothing else of any note as we prepare ourselves for another ninety minutes of dross that is the England international. Here's hoping that none of our lads pick up injuries tonight- read on for a match report.

Arsenal 5-0 Derby County

The eventual ease at which Arsenal dispatched Sevilla on Wednesday had been diminished somewhat by the furore surrounding the departure of another of the Premiership’s big names; just as Derby County’s first three points of the new campaign had been overlooked as a significant result in their inevitable relegation battle. The victory over Newcastle led Billy Davies to deploy the same eleven for their visit to the Emirates Stadium- his counterpart opting to rotate his squad after midweek exertions. The world-weary Gilberto was once again rested in favour of Mathieu Flamini, while Alex Hleb’s absence through injury gave Theo Walcott the chance on the right for the home side. Yet another injury to Tomas Rosicky saw Abou Diaby start on the left, while Eduardo Da Silva replaced Robin Van Persie as Emmanuel Adebayor’s strike partner. Derby’s surprisingly adventurous 4-4-2 meant that Stephen Howard would provide the aerial threat alongside Kenny Miller. The away side looked keen to avoid another away capitulation after losing 6-0 and 4-0 at Anfield and White Hart Lane respectively, while Arsenal were looking to extend their early lead at the top of the table.

Gael Clichy demonstrated his burgeoning understanding of the game with an unerring interception after just four minutes to offer Arsenal’s first opportunity to score. Seizing on a moment’s hesitancy from Tyrone Mears, he surged into the area and drove a low pass across the area to Adebayor, who sliced his shot well wide from an offside position. The home side were finding space as Derby tried to impose themselves upon the game- some slick build-up play lading to a tepid cross easily picked up by Manuel Almunia, before Cesc Fabregas found Diaby with the freedom of the left wing at his disposal. So often this season Diaby has looked raw and a little haphazard with possession, but encouraged by the space afforded him, he charged at the Derby back four. Cutting inside onto his right foot not once but twice, the young French international eventually forged the prerequisite space to hammer a fierce shot past the helpless Stephen Bywater via the right-hand post. An excellent opener to the game, Wenger’s decision to persist with Diaby in a somewhat alien position seemed vindicated.

Failing to learn from their previous mistake, an unperturbed Derby forced Diaby back inside on his right foot again in an almost identical scenario that led to the first goal. This time Diaby couldn’t get the lift required and dragged his shot at Bywater. The away side had immediately tried to push forward and maintain their high tempo, but their efforts were being repelled and both Adebayor and Eduardo were drifting into dangerous amounts of space. A scuffed clearance saw Walcott the beneficiary of Derby’s open play, his explosive speed taking him into the penalty area before being brushed off the ball by Davis- the type of contact was contentious as neither player was shoulder to shoulder, although Walcott seemed inclined to go for the penalty appeal as opposed to a second goal.

Derby continued to display a refreshing desire to attack, until Clichy once again intercepted and found Arsenal’s playmaker in chief Cesc Fabregas. Given time and space to size up his options, the Spaniard lofted a looping through ball in-between the Derby central defenders and onto the chest of Adebayor. Rounding Bywater with languid ease, the man that had tormented Tottenham a week before calmly put Arsenal two ahead, and Derby’s tactical gamble was threatening to leave them ruthlessly exposed. Reminiscent of the much vaunted 2003/04 Arsenal side, the home side were looking frighteningly efficient on the break, albeit against a team that were rapidly looking a little naive. Eduardo’s inability to emulate the incision of his teammates seemed to manifest itself, as he was booked after a late challenge after half an hour. Derby County admirably continued to play, but were having moderate spells of possession without really threatening to get back into the game.

Walcott and Fabregas offered evidence of the difference between the two teams as they combined with a fluid one-two minutes before half time: the former disappointingly firing straight at Bywater when there were other options in the box. Once again Arsenal were confounding their detractors. Eduardo continued to chase his goal, an intelligent shift of poise leaving his marker floundering before having his shot blocked. Fabregas’ subsequent corner saw the Croatian cannon a downward header goal ward, only for Bywater to deny him again. The last meaningful action of the first half, Derby had perhaps demonstrated exactly why so many visitors to the Emirates Stadium elect for a defensive line-up- the home side had exposed the weakness of Derby’s offensive game plan in clinical fashion.

Derby began the second half in a similarly myopic mood. Adebayor and Diaby’s passing and movement was once again too deft for the Derby defence- Adebayor’s strong run into the area saw the ball break to Eduardo and then Kolo Toure in space- the former was clearly pulled to the ground by Matthew Oakley and a penalty was the result. Adebayor’s composed finish was another stark lesson for the visiting side, which despite showing commendable attacking drive were leaving all the space Arsenal needed. Kolo Toure decided to run forward into one such void, this time in Derby’s midfield. Drawing the opposition out to challenge him, the Arsenal captain laid the ball forward to Fabregas, whose attempt to play in Adebayor eventually saw him cross the ball across the Derby box. Toure’s run had since continued, and his subsequent header sailed wide- a poor finish to a move he so purposefully started. Howard showed similar determination for Derby as he struck two long-range shots wide and into Almunia’s arms, in-between which Walcott showed exceptional pace and poise to fly past two defenders and thrash his shot off another.

With the result in no doubt, Wenger’s substitutes were warming up. Seemingly aware of this, Cesc Fabregas picked the ball up outside the box from Eduardo’s lay-off, and lifted the ball into the far corner in what is fast becoming his trademark. As with Paul Robinson the week before, Stephen Bywater’s trailing hand was futile as the strength of the shot made it 4-0- the joy on the Spaniard’s face mirrored by his manager as his impressive goalscoring run continued, evidence of a twenty year-old already at the top of his game. Content with his goal, Fabregas was replaced by Lassana Diarra, while Brazilian teenager Denilson substituted Theo Walcott. Gilles Barnes marked his comeback from injury by entering the fray minutes later, while Alex Song made the next cameo appearance for the home team.

A despondent Derby were slumping to another resounding away defeat, and it was worsened further when Adebayor simply brushed aside his marker, leaving him with a straightforward attempt to claim his hat trick. Possessing the pace that has always been a Wenger hallmark, the Togo international’s strength and power have given Arsenal a new weapon. Fast emerging from Thierry Henry’s shadow it appears that Adebayor is threatening to cast a towering one of his own. 5-0 and Arsenal were moving clear at the top of the table- Derby County left with the knowledge that they have more important fixtures imminent. Although Derby had showed more attacking intent than Arsenal fans are used to from their visitors, Arsenal had once again shown that the impotent over-elaboration of last season has been replaced by a drive and efficient determination- no longer are they looking for figures that have since departed. While much tougher challenges remain, previous fallen hurdles are being rapidly negotiated by Wenger’s new team, which bodes well for the season ahead.