Morning all,

hopefully with an important game against Porto tomorrow we can get back to something approaching normality after the last couple of days. What's done is done, what's said is said, and at this point I don't think there's anything fresh to bring to the table.

Emmanuel Adebayor, apart from saying he feels sorry for his beleaguered teammate, says Arsenal have to concentrate on results, not on style. He says:

We have to fight as a team and that is how we are going to try to achieve something this season. We just have to control ourselves, not to worry about whether we play with elegance or not. We have to forget about how we are going to dribble, how many passes we are going to make - the most important thing is to get the ball in the back of the net and that is it.

He was referring to the league and the eight point gap and even Arsene Wenger has admitted it's a miracle that we're still in the title race, saying:

We have had some indifferent games but the thing that has saved us is that we have beaten our main rivals. That has prevented some damage. We are still in there - we play Liverpool at home soon which is a chance as well. We know we can't lose any of the games against the big teams now.

And it is almost miraculous. After losing 5 games so far in the league we should be miles off the pace but the good results against Chelsea and United, along with the points the other big teams have dropped means we're still more or less in there. A win against Liverpool would close that gap to just five points and as we all know five points is no gap at all. When you consider we lost just three games during the whole of last season it tells you a lot about how odd this campaign is.

Robin van Persie has been speaking about taking chances with his right foot. He's hugely left footed and often slows things down trying to get the ball onto his good side. But he scored against Chelsea with his right, or as he rather bizarrely calls it, his 'chocolate leg'. He says:

Positive thinking is the key for me – when I have a chance I think positively. I think this is a good chance with my right foot – I can score this one. And I think you will miss many more chances with your chocolate leg if you think negatively, thinking that it’s not your strong foot.

Chocolate leg? You might snicker but the wispas around the training ground say that Robin's wrong foot is becoming a real star, bar the odd air shot. Fingers crossed it can improve, as it is somewhat flakey, and that he can score moro goals and continue that football from another galaxy.  

So while Robin is getting better it gets worse and worse for Tomas Rosicky. Initially he was due to be back in September, then October, then Christmas and yesterday we got the news that it'll March 'at the earliest' before we see him.

In one way it's hard not to feel sorry for him. He's a good player, a likable character and someone who always gives you 100% on the pitch. On the other hand he's being handsomely paid for being out with a hamstring injury for what will be well over a year. It's hard to see how he's ever going to get back to the top level because we could just as easily get to March and see another article saying how 'next season' is a more realistic goal for his return.

It would be great to see him back and this team could really use his talent and experience right now but it seems more and more unlikely as time passes. It's a real shame. 

Tomorrow is Porto, obviously, and an important game in terms of who tops the group. There'll be a fuller preview on tomorrow's game but the Hulk is still smarting from the pasting they got at the Grove and wants to make sure Porto finish top. The pressure is off but it would be nice to finish top. It doesn't guarantee an easier game, in the 2006 season we finished top of our group and got Real Madrid in the first knock-out round, while finishing in second place last season saw us draw AC Milan. With many of the groups still to be decided it's hard to say if we'd be better on top or not, although for confidence it would be good to win the group.

There's been no team news yet. You have to imagine we'll be without Nasri after the injury he picked up against Wigan and after that there's only really Gallas who might come back into the squad. Kolo Toure has been talking up his partnership with the former captain and to me it seems as if he's trying too hard to make it sound like it works. It quite clearly doesn't, the two players are not compatible and Djourou's presence in the team, and the way he plays, make that quite obvious. 

I suspect there's now a fight on between Gallas and Toure to be the one to partner the Swiss and it'll be interesting to see who comes out on top. Funny how quickly things change in football, eh?

Right, beyond that not much else to tell you. More on the Porto game tomorrow. Till then. 

Fun times Arsefans. Yesterday's win over Chelsea was a huge, huge result. Instead of being 13 points off the pace we're just 7 and everything looks a little rosier.

We do like to make life difficult for ourselves though, don't we? Chelsea started brightly but I thought we'd weathered the little storm and gotten into the game quite well when we gifted them a goal. It was a poor throw from Almunia, he should have held on to the ball and calmed things down, but Samir Nasri will think he could have done more to track Boswinga. The Chelsea player's cross was poked into our net by Johann Djourou to give them a 1-0 lead.

Given Chelsea's record at home and the fact they'd only conceded four league goals all season one goal would have been impressive, to score two and win the game was just fantastic. The first came when Adebayor won a header, it came to Denilson and he poked it through to a clearly offside van Persie. But there was no flag and he lashed it past Cech with his right foot to equalise. Scolari was less than happy, can't say I blame him, but sometimes decisions like that go against you. We can all remember van Persie scoring a good goal against Chelsea at Highbury but being flagged offside, so this made up for that somewhat.

It's the kind of decision that you need to go for you when you're down on your luck too. I have to be honest, despite the fact Chelsea weren't playing that well I wasn't confident we'd get anything from the game. On moments like that seasons can change, however, and God knows we've needed a little bit of luck and not gotten it.

Chelsea barely had time to regroup when we scored the second. Cesc floated in a free kick, Adebayor won the header well, it fell to van Persie and he turned on a sixpence to fire a low shot through Lampard's legs into the corner of the goal. Cech got a touch but it wasn't enough. 2-1.

At this point you expected the Chelsea onslaught to begin but it just didn't happen. John Terry should have been sent off for a horrendous two-footed tackle on Bacary Sagna but then the England captain doesn't get sent off for things like that. There was a Malouda free kick which went flying over the bar but after we scored our second Almunia didn't have a save to make. We defended very well, both full backs in particular were excellent as they broke up play and won tackles high up in our half of the pitch. Chelsea were toothless and even 4 minutes of injury time was no bother.

In terms of our performance it would be easy to sit here and pick holes in it. We didn't have a great first half and certainly there were players who never really got into the game as well as they should have but sometimes we over-analyse things and strip any enjoyment out of them. We all know beating Chelsea doesn't mean all our problems are solved but you've got to make the most of results like this. What is the point of winning a game like that, coming from behind at Stamford Bridge, and then saying 'So and so was shit' or 'This player did fuck all'?

Well done to the lads, I say. In particular I liked Djourou at centre-half. He didn't let the own goal faze him one bit and he's got to keep his place now. In no time at all nobody will remember the performance, simply the result and the result is what we should celebrate. Without getting too carried away, of course! We've been here before. The great win against United was followed by two defeats so what's vital is that we keep focussed, take the belief and confidence this gives us but make sure we don't fall into the same trap again.

Afterwards Arsene Wenger was keen to make that point as well, saying:

I am very, very happy to now, after beating Manchester United, we beat Chelsea and I believe that brings us back. It is still far but not impossible. I have an intelligent team, a talented one, but we want to come back with humility and work hard. We have learned that we need that kind of focus in every game no matter who you play.

And that's the thing. We can't think that because we've beaten United and now Chelsea that we just have to turn up to win the game against Wigan. Perhaps things have been a little fraught in the camp recently and under the new captaincy things are looking a bit better. A new focus on the team. When asked by Sky if the two goals meant it was a big day for him, Robin van Persie replied:

It is not my day, it's our day. I was the one who scored the two goals but that doesn't really matter. It was our day - the whole squad really gave extra of everything. If you win the game like that it gives you a lot of confidence and this is what we need at the moment.

It's good to hear him speak like that and it was good to see him finally deliver in a big game. We spoke about the win against Kiev being a baby step back to where we want to be. Yesterday was another one. Slowly we'll get our confidence back but that confidence has be kept in check. It has to be allied with hard work and commitment and that'll get us results. There's still a way to go for this team but let's hope yesterday was the start of something and not another false dawn.

So today's a day for enjoying things. One of the most enjoyable things was watching the Sky pundits squirm. 'How did that just happen?', said Monkey-hands Richard Keys, as if they'd just witnessed Brazil being beaten by an Arseblog over 35s XI, hungover from too much Havana Club the night before. Stick it up your holes, you cunts.

And Jamie Redknapp provided the comedy moment of the day. When asked about Arsenal he said:

That's the thing with Arsenal. They're either brilliant or completely inconsistent.

Haha, spa. The way they glossed over the John Terry challenge was disgraceful as well. Not at all unexpected of course, but disgraceful nonetheless. The way they replayed Eboue's innocuous tackle in last season's game again and again and again and they fail to show the England captain jumping in on a player with two feet. Ruud Gullit, mad fucker that he is, tried to say that was the kind of tackle that could break someone's leg but the subject was changed very quickly. Terry got a yellow card so no further action can be taken and we won't hear another thing about it.

No mention either of Chelsea fans belting out that song about Arsene Wenger. That just made victory all the sweeter and people who sing that in a football stadium with kids of all ages are just the scum of the earth. If the FA can investigate racist chants against players, why can't they do something about this?

Still, there's nothing like a bit of outrage to mix in with your morning enjoyment, is there? We're back in the title race, folks. It's up to us now to make sure we stay there. At this stage of the season 7 points is nothing. There's a lot of hard work ahead but how much better does it feel this morning?

Much. That is the answer. Much. Have a great Monday.

Good Monday to you all.

Barely a day of recovery for the lads before they fly out to Turkey for tomorrow's game against Fenerbache. As yet there's little or no news about who's going to be fit but it looks like we'll be without Kolo Toure following his shoulder injury on Saturday. We await news of Samir Nasri and I do hope he'll be fit. He's had a niggly start to his Arsenal career. Almost every good thing has been balanced out by a little injury and you suspect that if we are to win anything this season we need him fitter more often.

The travelling squad is usually announced the day before the game and it'll be interesting to see who makes the trip. The players are under no illusions about how tough it's going to be with Robin van Persie saying:

It will be really tough out there. I experienced it a few years ago and the fans are amazing. It was really aggressive. You have to deal with the atmosphere. It’s not nice but if you play for Arsenal, you have to adapt and just play your game.

More on that game tomorrow. Robin has also been talking about the comeback against Everton and he reckons the side is 30-40% mental. Or something. He says:

The way we came back was fantastic. Once we scored, you could see the heads of the Everton players go down. In football, the mental aspect is really important, maybe more than 30 or 40 per cent. Sometimes it is more important than the way you play.

I'm not sure where he gets his figures from but he does have a good point. An unwillingness to be beaten is what separates good teams from great teams. Having the mental strength to dig out a result when you're playing poorly is a brilliant thing. So while the result against Everton was great you do wonder where that mental strength was against Fulham and Hull. It's too early to say we've turned any kind of corner yet. The proof will come with the results in the next few weeks. We've often been a team that thrives on momentum but so far this season we have failed to get that going. Fingers crossed we can do that as there are some big games on the horizon.

Perhaps the incessant Interlulls haven't helped us and, in today's blog brought to you by the letters R, V and P, Robin says:

We were fantastic for three-quarters of last season and then suddenly everything fell down. We have learned a lot from that. I prefer it when you can have a good long run with your club team, get together and get results.

Obviously what they've learned is that in order to not make the same mistake as last season they've decided not to have a good run until a quarter of the season is over. Revolutionary thinking, I like it. That said the disappointing results this season have come pre-Interlull when the squad has been together and not post, as you might expect. Maybe they've all been thinking about how many pairs of underpants they have to pack before they go away. They need to be more focussed on football and less on underpants.

You can read more Robin, and Arsene saying he doesn't know what kind of car Theo Walcott is, here. There's a thing - what kind of cars are our players? I don't know enough about cars to even try although Eboue could definitely be a clown car. 

Right, nothing else to report. Have a good Monday. More tomorrow. 

Three points. Not the most convincing three points we've ever won but three points all the same.

We started with a strange formation, the manager preferring to use Alex Song at right back instead of Eboue, a more natural right full. Song struggled and when Everton opened us up way to easily to score the first goal his effort to get back and defend was, at best, idle. I think perhaps he's a victim of nobody knowing what his best position is. Maybe he doesn't actually have one.

Everton had one cleared off the line as our weakness from high balls was exposed again while van Persie had our best chance of the first half, Twitchy Tim making a good save. At half-time there was a chorus of disapproval from the home fans, those that had stayed to watch the end of the half anyway, and it was very worrying.

The manager said something though at half-time and in the second we were much, much better. Theo Walcott came on for Kolo Toure who had injured his shoulder and his presence on the pitch certainly unsettled Everton. We scored quite quickly too. Just three minutes after the restart the ball fell to Nasri just outside the D and he low shot nestled in the bottom corner. Just what we needed. Walcott created a good chance for van Persie but he whacked it over with his right foot.

There then followed some aggro with Arsenal player aggrieved at Tony Hibbert's tackle on Denilson. The Everton man came flying right through the Brazilian. He may have gotten the ball but it was from behind and dangerous. When confronted by Gael Clichy he then grabbed our left back by the throat. The result, a yellow card. Shit refeering from Peter Walton. Hibbert should have been sent off. Arsenal's mood was not helped when Walton gave a goal kick when van Persie was obviously pulled down in the area - a more stonewall penalty you won't see this year.

But van Persie had the last laugh when, after Adebayor's clumsiness saw him spurn a chance and Cesc's subsequent shot was saved by Howard, he nodded home from 6 yards to put us in front. We then lost Nasri to a thigh injury with Abou Diaby coming on in his place. The game was made safe right at the death when some nice interplay between Walcott and Diaby saw Theo arrow one between Howard's legs to make it 3-1. Relief all round and the three points secured. Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:

What was very important today was that the team has shown personality by being 1-0 down. We played our season today, we could not afford to drop a point. The way we responded when we were 1-0 down was of course vital. I wasn’t nervous at half time because I had confidence and belief that we would change the game.

I think he must have been the only one who wasn't nervous. The fans were and you could see some of the players were too. Defensively we have some real issues. I think Sylvester did pretty well for the most part, after a shaky start but some of the problems we have are just down to doing the basics. Look at Lescott's header which Clichy cleared off the line. Everton played a short corner to Baines who had all the time in the world to drop in his cross. Why did nobody pick him up? Why was nobody awake to the threat in the first place?

The way we were opened up for Osman's goal was very worrying too. It wasn't like it was incredible forward play. It was simple pass and move stuff which we didn't cope with at all. Osman won't score an easier goal in his life and you have to wonder how we'll cope when we face teams whose movement and interplay in the final third is so much better than Everton's.

It does seem churlish to criticise after a win so I'm not going to say a lot more that's negative. All I will say is that I wish Bendtner was fit because I'd like to see him get a little run of games ahead of Adebayor whose form is clearly not as good as it should be. I'd also prefer to see the manager play players in their best positions and not hope to muddle through using utility players to plug the gaps.

On the positive side Nasri got another goal (perhaps balanced by another injury) and again he looks, to me at least, like a much more productive player than Hleb ever was. Theo scored and caused all kinds of problems to the Everton defence and, of course, to come back from 1-0 down at home and win is always a good thing, even if being behind in the first place is hardly idea.

The three points yesterday were absolutely vital though with United, Chelsea and Liverpool all winning. If we can sort ourselves out against the so-called lesser lights of the league then it's going to be the games against these sides that sort out the title.

We go into Tuesday night's game with something approaching an injury crisis though. It seems Kolo's injury is ligament damage to the shoulder and according to the boss it doesn't look good. We may have Djourou back and Bendtner so that'd be something but the already thin squad is really being stretched at the moment. We'll find out more in the next day or so about the Champions League game.

In a quick Sunday round-up the News of the World reports Cesc has turned down an improved contract from the club, 'paving the way' for his exit at the end of the season. Shut up, News of the Cunts and stop trying to ruin my Sunday. Normally you'd dismiss the stuff from the NotW as bollocks but with his agent now Dein Jr and the fact they have a little bit of history in leaking stuff to papers for their own benefit I'm slightly less dismissive about it. Anyway, the bottom line is this: the best way for Arsenal to ensure Cesc stays at the club is to build a team capable of winning trophies. If we build it he will stay.

Update: Cesc is the most awesome human being on the planet. The ink is barely dry on the News of the World's first edition and he's already dismissed it as 'mischief making', saying:

A newspaper report suggesting that I have rejected a new contract is untrue. The article is just mischief-making. Everybody knows I have a long-term contract and that I am happy here. I'm focussed on doing my best for Arsenal.

Even Ming the Merciless would make this man captain of the universe. 

Julio Baptista talks about his time in London and at Arsenal. 'The Beast' will play for Roma against Chelsea this week. May he score many and injure many.

And that's really about it. It's good to get a win under our belts, no matter how nerve-wracking it was. Onwards and upwards, arsechums.

Wednesday, one day closer to real football again when we can get back into the swing of realising just how terrible we are again! I simply can't wait.

Robin van Persie will be in action for the Dutch of Holland tonight and he seems to have recovered very quickly from a hamstring strain. Either that or he's saying he's fine when he isn't. But he insists he's learned from his mistakes in the past when he said he was fine when he wasn't. He says:

I have been injured a lot lately but whatever the outside world says is not important to me. I just want to be fit and play as many games as I can. The entire pre-season went well at Arsenal and in the league too.

Picking up a hamstring injury can happen to any player at the moment.

Yes, yes it can. I'm running a book on him picking up an injury in tonight's game. 2-1 thigh strain, evens calf strain, 4-5 knee ligament damage, and Ebola at 8-1 is proving a popular bet.

Another one of our lads who keeps the doctors busy is Tomas Rosicky. We know his hamstring is a bit fucked but recent reports said he had been hospitalised with headaches after receiving injections to speed his recovery. His agent insists that is not true and says:

Everything is going according to the plan. Tomas' first comeback was rash, now we are treating the situation more carefully. The team of specialists that cares for Tomas, has been enlarged by another specialist which means the player will be cared for at the best level.

I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. It might be a case of 'Hmmm, John. Any chance you could come over and have a look at this?'. 'What is it Dr Nick?'. 'I just do not have a clue'.

Still, two heads are better than one. Unless you're a mutant baby in which case it will mean certain death.

Alisher Usmanov was reportedly thinking about selling his stake in Arsenal but the fat, sweaty cunthound insists this is not true. In fact, he's rather taken with us, saying:

When a man loves a woman he can't conceivably sell that love. I'm in love with Arsenal. I have no intention of selling

What a horrible bastard. Love, as one fine singer in the 80s said, is contagious. But so are genital warts. And love can be a one-sided thing. Like the man who loves a woman but the woman doesn't love the man but the man stalks the woman, pesters her with phone calls and filthy messages until the woman is forced to take out a restraining order because the man is a disgusting creep.

That's the kind of love that's going on here. Usmanov is showing up unannounced at our door, sending flowers to our work and making sure everyone sees and sending cards saying 'We're meant to be together forever. And if I can't have you, nobody else can'.

I would urge all Arsenal fans to start carrying mace and if you see Usmanov then spray it right in his eyes. It's the only way he'll learn. The flabby, repellent, Man United supporting flangebasher.

Aaron Ramsey had a rather good game for Wales U21s last night. He scored an absolute belter with his left foot and made another goal. You can check out highlights here but I suggest skipping over the first little bit as it shows Tom Crapplestone scoring a shit free kick. Get Ramsey in the team, I say.

Some youngster called Jason Banton has left the club to join Blackburn. I read somewhere that he also left us as an even younger kid to join Sp*rs before coming back. The kid is obviously deranged, like a reverse Bentley.

Right, well that's about that. I'm off to stock up on mace, it's about the only thing that hasn't gone up in the budget here.

Till tomorrow.

Good morning. It's starting to get a bit cold first thing, isn't it? After the hot, balmy summer it looks like winter is well and truly on the way. Bah.

Not a lot going on really. Emmanuel Adebayor (OleOle link) has been talking up his partnership with Robin van Persie (OleOle link), saying:

There is a good relationship between him and me. We are just enjoying playing together up front. He's a very good player. I'm using him and he's using me as well. We’re trying for a telepathic understanding and against Porto we’ve shown we can do something.

I wonder do they stay after training practising their telepathy with those test cards with pictures on them.

Ade: "Ok, Robin. Concentrate now. I'm looking at a card. I'm trying to send the image to you. What is it?"

Robin: "Is it a Barcelona shirt with a big bag of money beside it?"

Ade: "Oh man, you're good. Your turn! Your turn!"

Robin: "I'm looking at the card. What's on it?"

Ade: "Is it a footballer on crutches smoking a cigarette?"

Robin: "No".

Ade: "Well that's the image I'm getting, man. A footballer on crutches smoking a cigarette ... hitting a free kick into the upper tier"

Robin: "No, that's not it".

Ade: "What is it then?"

Robin: "It's a miniature version of Escher's 'Relativity'! You know, the one with the staircases"

Ade: "How the fuck am I meant to get that? I mean, what kind of person puts that on their psychic test cards? You make me sick. So sick I'd rather play with Bendtner".

Of course there's always the 'if' factor around van Persie, something Adebayor doesn't shy away from:

He's just back and we've only had five or six games together. Robin is a good player and if he is fit for the whole season we have a chance to do something special, that's for sure.

It was around this time last season that van Persie got injured so there's that little hurdle to get over yet. I suspect Arsene will be lighting votive candles during the upcoming international break. So we've yet to really see if they can be the kind of partnership we'd all like them to be and I do wonder if Adebayor's bigging up of the partnership is somewhat inspired by seeing how well Bendtner and Vela seem to work together. Obviously if the two of them forge a great twosome then it'd be great for the team but let's give it some time.

What's also interesting is the revelation from Adebayor that it's Cesc Fabregas who brings players together off the pitch. He says:

Robin is in contact with Fabregas and sometimes he makes everybody sit together. We are not the best friends ever but sometimes it does happen that we go to a restaurant.

I know that under the captaincy of Vieira the team socialising together was an important part of life at the club. Whether it was dinners or whatever those social events do help foster good team spirit and it's no surprise that Cesc is at the centre of it. Can I say Cesc for captain again? Of course I can. This is my blog, I can say what I like.

Cesc. For. Captain.

Former captain Patrick Vieira has backed Arsene in the wake of the comments by curly-haired cuntbutler Michelle Platini. And rightly so.

Apart from that there isn't a great deal going on. Chelsea's away draw in the Champions League last night was made even more hilarious by an injury to Didier Drogba and there's a great picture in the Sun this morning. I know I shouldn't take pleasure in the pain of others but come on, it's Drogba. How many times have we seen him writhe around in fake agony? Some real agony is nice to see. The Drog who cried wolf, haha.

Ok, that will have to do. More tomorrow with an Arsecast. Until then.

Morning morning, from a despicably rainy Dublin.

Some bits and pieces to go on with this morning, starting with the promotion of Jack Wilshere from number 55 to number 19 for the season ahead. It shows that what the boss said yesterday was true, it's about what he's doing on the pitch and with 7 subs allowed this season he's got a good chance of being involved from time to time. He's named in our first team squad so it's a real measure of his talent that he's there at his age. But let's not forget his age and while it's great to enjoy his pre-season performances let's not expect the sun, moon and stars just yet.

Eduardo, who got a great reception when he appeared on the pitch before the Real Madrid game says he hopes to be playing again before Christmas. There were reports that he might be back in time for the start of the season but given the severity of his injury I think that was a bit optimistic. And there is no point rushing back before everything is 100% ready, physically and mentally.

In the meantime the bulk of the striking responsibility will fall to Robin van Persie and that Adebayor fella. The Dutchman says:

We showed that Ade and I have a few nice combinations together. That is really important for two strikers, you always have to work together, you always have to look for each other. Hopefully this is a good start.

I have to say I was a bit surprised at how well they linked up. One move in the first half saw them cut through the Madrid defence with a series of one-touch passes and if they can work on that understanding as the season goes on then they could be a very good combination indeed.

The Telegraph links us with a move for Real Madrid midfielder Ruben de la Red. He is a good player and would slot into that Flamini role very well. Madrid value him at around £9.5m apparently. With the Spaniards having just been in town who knows what kind of post-match discussion went on. I can't find anything in the Spanish press about it but with Real about to sign van der Vaart they may well be disposed to letting de la Red go. We'll see.

Armand Traore has signed a new long term deal with the club. I'll be interested to see what happens with him this season. I think he needs a loan move. He's certainly very quick but he's got an awful lot to learn still. The best way to do that is play a season somewhere, perhaps in the Championship, then we can see what he's really made of.

And that's about that. I'm off to stare at the rain all day.

Well, yesterday was certainly an interesting day with a match, a look at new boy Nasri and a new signing which sparked plenty of debate.

Let's start with the football and a 3-1 win over Stuttgart continued our pre-season preparations (Arsenalist has the goals and highlights). The first half was pretty dull but it gave a run out to Adebayor and van Persie up front and those 45 minutes will have done them some good. The Dutchman looked far sharper than his erstwhile colleague. Gallas started at the back alongside Djourou, Denilson in midfield with Eboue of all people, while Nasri and Walcott started on the flanks.

From what we saw of Nasri he looks quick, moves well, likes to have a shot (which is an obvious improvement on Hleb) and he can take a decent corner. I can remember Jens having to make a couple of good saves in the first half. The goals came in the second half though. Bendtner had come on and you could see what the previous couple of games had done for him. He looked quick, sharp and strong and he made the difference.

After we had gone behind it was he who ran and played a lovely ball through to Carlos Vela who took it wide and finished from a tight angle. The same two combined again for the second. Bendtner playing it into Vela, taking the return with his head and tucking it away smartly. I know he's had his critics but I think with regular playing time he could score a lot of goals in the season ahead.

The third came after typically tenacious work from Gael Clichy down our left. His cross came to Jack Wilshere, who was impressive in his short cameo, and his left footed finish was very nice indeed. Probably not the kind of scoreline Jens was hoping for against us but there you go. It's about our pre-season and it seems to be progressing very nicely.

And while we keep stressing there's not too much to be read into these games it's good to see some of the younger players really take their chances. Vela looks very useful indeed and Bendtner I've mentioned above. Walcott too looked quick and direct and while I've been very impressed with young Jack I think we need to bear in mind he's just gone 16 and we'd do well not to raise expectations too high. Let's give him time and let's keep the pressure off him.

Afterwards, and speaking about strikers, the boss said:

We're not as short of strikers as people thought. Vela is integrating very well into the team and Bendtner was already a force at the end of last season . . . and he will confirm that this year. Overall, we are still maybe one player short. But up front we don't need anybody.

Can't argue with that although I don't think we needed a striker anyway, now that Adebayor appears to be staying anyway. It's midfield where most of us think we need the signing and yesterday's news that we had signed Amaury Bischoff was met with ...erm... not much excitement? Is that fair?

His name was linked with us a a few weeks back and on the face of it, it seems like a typical Wenger signing. Nobody's ever heard of him, he has some French heritage, nobody's ever heard of him and he's cheap. It's hard to work out why we've bought him though. His professional record amounts to one professional game for Werder Bremen, and that was 16 minutes as a substitute. He's not a kid either. He's 21 years of age, compare the amount of games Cesc or Nasri or Walcott (by the time he's 21) have played and it seems most odd indeed.

I suppose if he's a cheap gamble who is not being counted on for the first team but who might play the odd Carling Cup game then there's no real problem with his signing. What has people worried is the idea that this might be the one signing Arsene Wenger was talking about. With some time having passed and being a little less cranky and full of wine as I was yesterday, I can't see that being the case. We're short in central-midfield, no question about it. You only have to look at the fact we played Eboue in there last night. Where is Diaby this pre-season? Injured, probably, which just about sums him up.

Perhaps Bischoff will surprise us all and turn out to be another gem unearthed by the boss. Perhaps he might establish himself as a decent squad player. Perhaps though, we're looking at another Alberto Mendez or Stefan Malz. And if I had to put money on it now I think that's where it would be going. I still think we'll make a signing in midfield simply because it's obvious to everyone that we need to. There are plenty of Arsenal sites out there, many of us differ in opinion, but I think this must be something everyone agrees on. And if it's obvious to us surely, surely, it's obvious to the boss.

Speaking of midfielders it looks like we're in for quite the windfall from the sale of David Bentley. Reports this morning suggest we could make as much as £7m from the deal which really is a brilliant bit of business. And Bentley confirms his status as a proper little cunt by joining Sp*rs. He'll probably be joined by Arshavin who has always dreamed of Barcelona, would love to play for Arsenal but is settling for them because nobody else wants him. I bet it will have always been his dream to follow in Rebrov's footsteps and let's hope he does exactly that.

Cesc talks about that game at Birmingham and while he says Gallas is a 'great' captain and says he has a lot of respect for him, he also says he's ready to take over the armband. You already know what I think about that so there's no point me going on about it. To me though it's telling that he references the Birmingham game. I know that it wasn't all Gallas that day, that the players would have been affected by what happened to Eduardo and the blow of the late penalty, but my point is that someone with real leadership skills would have dragged them out of that slump much more quickly.

Manuel Almunia says he has a lot of respect for Jens Lehmann but then makes it very clear that he's enjoying life without him. When he says himself, Fabianski and Mannone are three 'very nice guys' it doesn't take much to work out what he means.

And that's about it. The squad return to London to prepare for the Emirates Cup this weekend. They'll hook up with Kolo and Cesc ahead of the games against Real Madrid and Juventus which will provide more good tests for us, bearing in mind, of course, that their pre-season preparations are a week or two behind ours.

All the same I'm looking forward to seeing the games, they are on TV right? Final thought - the new away kit looks fucking brilliant, eh?

Till tomorrow.

Morning and happy midweek to you all.

We've got a game tonight against Stuttgart in what could be called the first 'real' pre-season game. Whereas the others have all featured teams with mostly youngsters with some regulars thrown in tonight should see a return to action for the majority of the first team squad.

Again the result really isn't that important but at the same time good results in pre-season can give a team a good lift and confidence as they begin their campaign. Look at last summer and how well we performed in the Emirates Cup and the Amsterdam Tournament. It definitely played a part in us starting the season so well.

Tonight though is more about fitness and getting some match sharpness back. One man likely to play tonight is Robin van Persie who is hoping to have an injury free campaign. He says:

Last year I missed too many games and I am still disappointed about it. This is a new year with new chances. Hopefully I can be injury-free this year.

He's not the only one hoping that. Regular readers will know I'm a big fan, I think he's a fantastically talented player, but so far his career has been blighted by injury. Some of them due to bad luck, others due to him not managing them properly and coming back too quickly. And I think we can all understand that. Everyone wants to play but he's got to be a little more mature. I really hope he can have an injury-free campaign and if he does I think he'll score a lot of goals. If he spends another season mostly in the treatment room though you have to start thinking about alternatives.

One of the names to emerge from pre-season is that of Jack Wilshere, a central midfield player who has caught the eye in the games so far. He is the youngest of the pre-season squad and the boss seems to have high hopes for him. He's obviously not ready for first-team football yet though and there is the danger that we hype our youngsters a bit too much. As talented as they are, and there are some obviously talented young lads, very few of them are going to make the breakthrough the first team squad.

Arsenal said goodbye to Gary Lewin yesterday. We've done this before but good luck to him and thanks for everything.

Gilberto talks about players who want to leave clubs for more money and challenges them to earn their money by winning things. He says:

When you win things, you achieve more than anybody else. You get better contracts, and more money, anyway. I can’t blame a player who wants a good contract. But I believe if they stay at the club, they can earn good money and do a lot for the club and themselves. So if they win something, it means more and they are more appreciated by supporters.

It's been mentioned before but a lot of player's contracts at Arsenal are achievement based. So if you win trophies you get more money. For most players that's an incentive to perform and to win things. There are those though who find that rather too much like hard work and would rather just go somewhere else to do the same thing and get paid more. What can you do? You meet them in every walk of life, not just football.

Finally for today OleOle's Fantasy Football game is kicking off soon. Prizes include match tickets, Champions League trips, PS3s and more. To sign up click here and I'll set up an Arseblog league which we can keep track of during the season. Let me see if I can't blag an Arseblog only prize as well. Details to come.

Right so, busy day today. More tomorrow.

It really does seem like the Arsenal/Barcelona saga this summer. Much like last summer. And the summer before. And the summer before. Oh wait. Was that Real Madrid that summer?

Whatever. It just seems that each close season we have to put up with one of the big clubs in Spain trying to buy some or all of our players. As Barcelona confirm they're in talks with Arsenal about Hleb comes more on the Adebayor side of things. Sport reports this morning that the Catalans have made an offer of €29m for the Togonator. But although the newspaper says Adebayor is exactly the player they're looking for they won't be offering a penny more.

Although Arsenal say they won't sell him at any price they say that Adebayor wants to join, using quotes from the El Mundo interview I linked to yesterday. What can you say? I think I speak for most of us when I say:

ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

What a pack of tedious cunts they are. Sports departments filled with fiction writers - and while there's probably some truth in what they say the fact that it reads as if it were written by a failed Dan Brown impersonator almost makes me feel sorry for them. Almost. Instead I'd like to burn them alive just to save the world from this shite. Sadly, the thing is if you kill one two more grow back in its place. This is going to be a long summer.

The BBC says Samir Nasri has 'agreed' his Arsenal contract but the BBC should try and tell us something we don't already know.

Kolo Toure, meanwhile, says he'd like to stay at Arsenal for life. And I for one welcome that. A player who knows what he wants and doesn't need a scumbag agent to tell him.

Speaking of scumbags and agents we move to Cuntley Cunt's inclusion at number 25 in the 50 greatest Arsenal players of all time. What a joke. Sansom, Nelson, Winterburn, McLintock and Merson all behind this odious little cunt? Frankly anyone who voted for him should be locked in a room with an angry dragon who has cancer teeth and can breathe fiery AIDS at them. I do love the way that Arsenal.com made sure we knew it was the 'fans' who picked the players but they should know better than this.

Cuntley Cunt is the biggest cunt ever to play for Arsenal football club. What he did before being a cunt is irrelevant. If this list was the top 50 cunts to ever play for Arsenal he should be in all 50 positions, the little cunt. What a load of rubbish and frankly it's an insult to the great players who really did great things for our football club instead of running off like a greedy, lying cuntbox.

Raul Albiol's agent says Arsenal have not been in touch with him about the player. Ok then.

Robin van Persie reckons something beautiful is about to happen with Holland in Euro 2008. He's certainly giving van Basten something to think about with his goals in the tournament so far and I wouldn't be surprised to see him start the quarter final against Russia. I think van Basten sees something of himself in van Persie, great talent but slightly brittle. That particular quarter final promises to be an excellent game though after the Russians win over Sweden last night proved they're a team to be taken seriously.

According to reader Dylan, Arsene was on French TV talking about how the prices for Russia's players, in particular Arshavin, would be likely to increase on the back of that performance for anyone that might be interested in buying them. The Mirror says we're ready with a £10m bid for Arshavin.

Tonight sees Portugal v Germany with Jens Lehmann in action for the Germanians. Can their defence keep out the attacking threat of Portugal? Will Klose or Gomez actually score a goal? It's gonna be a good one, I think. I fancy the Germans to nick it as well.

Right so, that's about the size of it. More tomorrow.