Arsenal Latest: Injury Concerns, Post-Sunderland Ramblings and Andre Santos Out

With the African Cup of Nations out of the way, football fans like me look forward to the end of the campaign to see Nigeria play in the 2013 Confederations Cup. The draws haven’t been “too kind” for my nation as Nigeria has been drawn with World and European champions, Spain, South American champions, Uruguay and Tahiti completes the numbers.

There’s a lot of football to be played between now and June so all focus would be firmly fixed on Arsenal’s surge for a fourth place finish as well as going all the way in the FA Cup. As for the two-legged tie against Bayern Munich, you’ll hear from me in the coming weeks.

Champions League football is back on our TV screens as the fiery Celtic will take on the Old Lady, Juventus while Valencia hosts the Arab moneybags from Paris. Every neutral is also anticipating tomorrow’s mouthwatering clash between Manchester United and Real Madrid, and Jose Mourinho was seen in Old Trafford when Manchester United eased past Everton to go 12 points clear at the top.

That win over Everton was good from an Arsenal perspective as it gave the Gunners some breathing space from Everton, with Tottenham and Chelsea the new targets set in place. Both teams were successful in the weekend as Gareth Bale inspired his team yet again to a victory against those French folks at Newcastle, while Chelsea ran riot past Wigan.

Arsenal’s cause wasn’t helped against Sunderland after to turning points in the game – Jack Wilshere’s thigh injury and Carl Jenkinson’s red card.

Nonetheless, the Gunners defended valiantly and a win with the odds stacked against them must have bolstered their confidence. I was very impressed with Bacary Sagna’s positioning and discipline. Despite playing out of position when Laurent Koscielny got a knock during the warm-up, Sagna was drafted into the middle in the last minute and boy, did he put up a show. 

Aaron Ramsey’s work ethic is what commending as well, as he became Arsenal’s right back after Jenko’s red card and in my honest opinion, he did very well there. This was a player that was pulled out from his national side with a calf injury but he worked his skins of for his team in the Stadium of Light.

Wojciech Szczesny was a beast in goal and he commanded his area like a general in battle. He also made some good saves as the game progressed and it was good seeing the big Pole keep his second clean sheet in a row with fixtures against Blackburn and Bayern Munich coming up.

Szczesny has praised his team’s character (via Arsenal.com) in the wake of the nervy victory against Sunderland and he hailed a defensive rearguard that had never played together before. To be frank, that was the first time I witnessed the Jenkinson-Sagna-Mertesacker-Monreal combo and they were brilliant.

Arsene Wenger hailed his team’s display and hopes that they can build on it. Results like these inspire confidence and one can understand where the manager is coming from. When Arsenal played Sunderland and Stoke at the start of the season, the team hadn’t adjusted to the loss of Robin van Persie and despite keeping clean sheets at the back, the Gunners were shooting blanks in attack.

But with Arsenal running out of games, they’ll have to ensure that they don’t drop any more points, as the teams above them continue to win while sides like Everton as also breathing down their necks as well. Mikel Arteta has acknowledged that qualifying for the Champions League this season won’t be an easy feat, but he remains confident that Arsenal has what it takes to cross the finish line come May.

This was the period last season when the Gunners lost to AC Milan and Sunderland in quick-fire fashion but the 5-2 win over Spurs sparked a revival that paved the way for a good end to the campaign.

The game between Sunderland and Arsenal turned out to be a battle and like every battle, there were some casualties.

Jack Wilshere ran the show against the Black Cats in the first half and it was no surprise when he was directly involved in the game’s only goal. It took a solo run from the maestro to teeing up Theo Walcott that looked up before cushioning a pass for Santi Cazorla and the rest they say was history.

In the early minutes of the second half, Wilshere clashed with Alfred N’ Diaye and within seconds, he notified the bench that his time was up. That wasn’t a great sight as everyone connected with Arsenal became deeply concerned, and shortly afterwards, he was replaced by Abou Diaby.

Arsene Wenger stated that he may be out for four to five days, and the club will be doing everything possible to make sure that he’ll be fit for the clash against Bayern. The quality in the squad should be more than enough to see out the threat of Blackburn this weekend.

With Jenkinson suspended for this weekend’s match, Arsenal will be thin-bare in defense, as Koscielny is currently out of action, as well as club captain, Thomas Vermaelen, that’s currently nursing an ankle injury. The Daily Mail reports that Arsenal’s skipper has had an anti-inflammatory injection on his ankle in the club’s bid to avoid a surgery for the player.

If Vermaelen goes under the knife to solve his ankle problems, the chances of him featuring this season will be slim to none. 

On the bright side, Lukasz Fabianski made his long-awaited return to fitness in Arsenal’s Under-21s 2-2 draw with Manchester United. Hot prospect, Chuba Akpom, scored both goals in the contest and other promising players like Serge Gnabry, Thomas Eisfeld, Nico Yennaris, Martin Angha, Conor Henderson and Ignasi Miquel featured as well.

For those who say that Arsene Wenger is very mild on his players, here’s another reality check.

Enter Andre Santos, a panic-buy from Fenerbahce in 2011 that was believed to join the long lineage of great Arsenal left backs after Gael Clichy decided not to renew his contract to opt for the petro-greens of Manchester City. Kieran Gibbs was touted as Clichy’s long-term replacement, but he wasn’t reliable enough to stay fit.

With Gibbs facing a spell on the sidelines during that period, the left back slot was Andre Santos for keeps and like every new signing, the fans watched his games with optimism. His opening goal against Olympiakos came from one of his forays forward and he also played a key role in the away games against Chelsea and West Brom with well-taken goals after darting forward.

He was more or less a wing back, as he derived joy in bombing forward while neglecting his defensive duties. To spare his blushes, he had a red-hot Koscielny, that always covered ground to make vital interceptions when Andre Santos was out of position.

Kieran Gibbs return to full fitness as well as consistent game time saw the player become reborn and he became a bright spark in Arsenal’s campaign thus far. More games for Gibbs ultimately meant that Andre Santos was going to spend more time in the dugout but when the Brazilian was summoned into the pitch, he became a Chamakh 2.0.

He was badly exposed in Arsenal’s shameful group stage defeat to Schalke 04 and the more Andre Santos played, the higher the risk of Arsenal conceding a goal with a cross from the right hand side, as if the team’s defensive problems weren’t enough already.

While his cup was getting full with the fans, he reached his breaking point when he exchanged jerseys with van Persie at halftime, despite putting up a torrid display all game long. While Arsene Wenger kept calm, fans voiced their disgust on that act and many Gooners put the all-smiley, cuddly maverick on their bad books.

Despite the pleas from the fans for the club to get a striker and a holding midfielder, Arsenal acted faster than Usain Bolt on transfer deadline day when Kieran Gibbs picked up an injury against Liverpool. With Thomas Vermaelen’s fitness being an issue, the chances of featuring him as a left back for a considerable chunk of the season weren’t in Wenger’s lexicon.

So the club swooped for Nacho Monreal that has slotted in superbly into the defensive line, like he has been there for ages. Arsenal has decided to offload the Brazilian to Gremio, and he’ll be there till the end of the season.

This means that Monreal will make the left back slot his for keeps, till Kieran Gibbs returns to full fitness, then the real battle will begin.

Sayonara.

 

Post-Man Utd Ramblings and Andre Santos the Scapegoat

Inevitable

 

For some strange reason, I wasn’t surprised by Saturday’s disappointing result in Hades Old Trafford. The stats were certainly against the Gunners as Arsene Wenger’s men have put up appalling displays in the Theater of Dreams (*spits*) in the past and one can look no further than the humiliating capitulation the Gunners suffered last season.

The game had barely settled when another Thomas Vermaelen error (sighs) allowed Robin van Persie to blast the ball home, giving the hosts the edge early on. Unlike Emmanuel Greedybayor, van Persie “respectfully” failed to celebrate his goal, with both hands on the air, pleading to the Arsenal faithful.

Looking at both ends of the scale leading to Man Utd’s first goal, it’s fair to point out that despite being the new captain of the club, the Verm has been disappointing this campaign, and his errors have proved very costly for his team this season. As Arseblogger rightly pointed out, had other centre-halves made the mistake he did on Saturday for the van Persie goal they would have been slaughtered by Arsene Wenger, a manager with an iron fist wearing a velvet glove.

As the No. 1 football citizen of the club, Vermaelen needs to spur on his team with inspiring performances and I can bet that watching that goal go in that early took the steam off the lads as the game progressed.

Van Persie on the other hand, was a constant threat to his former employers and it took just three minutes to show the Gunners what they let go for footballing reasons. I’m certainly in no mood to open up healing wounds but seeing van Persie excel in a rival team while his replacement, Olivier Giroud, is still struggling is a very bitter pill to swallow.

After the game, van Persie stated that he didn’t want to celebrate his goal to antagonize the Arsenal faithful but when Arsene Wenger was asked about his take on RvP’s goal, he humbly stated that he doesn’t give two fledgling fucks, putting it mildly,

“Honestly, that doesn’t bother me at all. That doesn’t matter. What you want is to win the game. You don’t care about who scores in their team. What is most important is that you don’t make a mistake at the back and you don’t give chances away.”

The gaffer also spoke about Jack Wilshere’s red card, claiming that it was unlucky. This season, Premier League referees have come under the spotlight for the decisions they make on the pitch but like the 11 players on the field, many refs have struggled with consistency as well.

I’m not going to defend Wilshere because he was warned a couple of times but his rustiness got the better of him as Patrice Evra robbed him off the ball before getting scythed down shortly afterwards.

Turning point of the game…from an Arsenal perspective

However, Manchester United’s Tom Cleverley was in a somewhat similar situation to Wilshere in terms of walking on a tight rope after getting a booking and Sir Alex Ferguson wasted no time in replacing him with that T-Pain wannabe, Anderson. Wenger had the option of taking Wilshere out for Francis Coquelin, but with the Gunners trailing, Wilshere’s qualities were needed on the pitch but it was not to be, I guess.

Then there’s the issue of Arsenal’s toothless attack.

With Gervinho and the Ox out injured, Arsenal has become thin bare in terms of attacking personnel and it’s really disheartening to see the lack of cohesion among the front three in recent games.

Lukas Podolski has struggled for form and fitness, Aaron Ramsey’s outing on the right is rapidly becoming a failed experiment, Theo Walcott is still finding it hard to command a first team berth and Giroud has failed to hit the ground running.

The Frenchman had half chances to bring Arsenal back into the game but he failed to capitalize on them, meanwhile, van Persie wasted no time in burying the very first chance he had.

That shows you the big picture, doesn’t it?

However, Giroud has already fixed his sights on tomorrow’s game against Schalke 04 in Gersenkirchen, stating that his team should forget the critics and get in shape for the game against the German outfit. As always, Giroud knows how to get himself into very dangerous positions but he really needs to improve on his finishing, because he really sucks in that department.

To think that he slammed in 21 goals in Ligue 1?

Finally, I’m going to voice my opinion on this humorous incident involving Andre Santos and van Persie in the stroke of halftime.

When Kieran Gibbs started every game at the beginning of the season, Andre Santos spent a considerable amount of time on the bench, which afforded him the time to execute a Grand Theft Auto speeding stunt that saw his Driver’s License revoked for the best part of one year.

Gibbs was part of that brilliant early season back four that kept consecutive clean sheets and put up stellar defensive performances, which in turn caused the players, fans, club and media vultures alike to wax lyrical about the defensive Dark Lord, Steve Bouldimort.

With Gibbs out injured nursing a thigh strain, Andre Santos was awarded with a golden chance to stake a claim for the No. 3 jersey but his outing against Schalke 04 was very atrocious. He didn’t do too well against Norwich and QPR either but a game of this magnitude required top-notch concentration levels.

As expected, the match opener arrived from Andre Santos’ flank when Antonio Valencia and Rafael connected well before drilling  in the cross that was enough to put the Gunners to the sword.

When we taught that we had seen it all, Andre Santos couldn’t even wait for van Persie to enter the tunnel before requesting for his jersey, as that was his problem at that point, rather than reflecting on a poor first half he had.

This act caused an outrage on Twitter and the Brazilian left back was on the end of some harsh tweets from Arsenal fans as well as recognized journos.

Understand Arsenal fans anger about Santos getting RVP's shirt at half-time. Summed up the display. What next? Asking for an autograph?—
Phil McNulty (@philmcnulty) November 04, 2012

I'm pleased MOTD are singling out the dismal performance of Andre Santos today. And his HT antics which were just a disgrace. #AFC—
Sam Strange (@samstrange19) November 03, 2012

Antonio Valencia v Andre Santos….if this were a boxing bout, the referee would have stepped in by now #mismatch—
Henry Winter (@henrywinter) November 03, 2012

#MOTD3rdEye Shearer's apparent horror at Santos swapping shirts with RvP at HT, even though he knows it happens in every game (off camera)—
Secret Footballer (@TSFGuardian) November 04, 2012

Even ex-Gunner, Ray Parlour, got in on the act,

“That’s a joke. I wouldn’t have that. At half-time? He should be concentrating on his game and he was having a nightmare.”

“He can’t play in a back four as he gets caught out of position all the time.”

In fairness to Andre Santos, the entire Arsenal team pretty much sucked on Saturday (with the exception of Vito Mannone, I guess) but the backlash of his actions could have further ramifications in the future.

According to the Mirror, the Samba Boy has been heavily linked with a move to Turkey, and I see the Gunners cashing in on the maverick if the right offer comes. Besides, Arsenal is not a selling club, but a trading club.

This excellent article by Poznan in my Pants will give you more clarification on my last sentence.

Maybe it’s just me, but Andre Santos has clearly shown that he cannot be Arsenal’s left back for the long term. With Kieran Gibbs’ injury demons catching up with him yet again, it wouldn’t be a bad idea cashing in on Andre Santos to get an established left back like Leighton Baines.

But as the saying goes – Arsene Knows Best.

Sayonara

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Wenger Douses Contract Flames and Andre Santos Charged

Arsene Wenger is Arsene-al.

He’s currently the club’s longest serving manager as he has already notched up over 900 matches in 16 amazing years. The first nine years were filled with fond memories as he brought Arsenal out of the gallows, revolutionized the club and topped it all of with an intricate style of football that saw his sides win trophies after trophies.

Premier League titles, FA Cups, you name it. Monsieur Wenger has been there and has definitely done that. However, the UEFA Champions League has eluded the French gaffer as his side continues to have doses of bad luck, injuries, suspensions and shameful officiating, with the most recent being that foolish act in the Barcelona – Arsenal clash two seasons ago.

The last seven years of Arsene Wenger’s tenure has failed to reap fruit and the way players exit the club freely has changed the outlook of this team, as it’s now labelled as the new Walmart of football.

Players that have gone through Wenger’s alchemy move on to seek greener pastures but the boss continues to rebuild because Arsenal is like the mythical creature, Hydra – you take one head off, another pops up.

The latest instalment of the Arsenal Player Sales Chronicles was the bewildering exit of Alex Song to Barcelona, and it caused mixed emotions at the club.

Some were happy to see Song leave because they felt that he wasn’t doing his “primary job” well, disrupting the team’s harmony and the funds would be used to finance the acquisition of a new holding midfielder. Other weren’t happy because Song was a player that just hit his prime and his output to the team last season was very encouraging, which gave this faction a hope for the future with a gem like Song in the club.

However, Song’s departure didn’t go down well with a senior player in the form of Bacary Sagna, that was quick to voice his frustrations on the matter. This bit of info made the media Vultures speculate that Sagna was next in line to leave the club, but Wenger has intervened on the situation,

“That he was disappointed that Song left, I can understand, but when you look at the number of players we have in midfield, you can understand that as well.

He’s close to Diaby as well. So when you have Arteta, Diaby, Cazorla and Song, one can’t play”

I fall in the ranks of the Arsenal faithful that was disappointed with the sale of Song, but seeing Abou Diaby’s renaissance gave me some peace of mind. As expected, Diaby is already in the treatment room but I know that there are able deputies that can hold the fort till he’s fully fit.

Francis Coquelin can get a chance to strut his stuff as the enforcer, allowing Mikel Arteta to return to his box-to-box role. There’s also the much-maligned Aaron Ramsey that can put in an efficient shift in Diaby’s absence.

In the Premier League, one manager stands out for not just being outstanding, but for his tactical proficiency, influence, pink face and gum eating escapades. Sir Alex Ferguson is managing Arsenal’s fiercest rivals after Tottenham, but the commitment he has shown to Manchester United is unrivalled.

Speaking of commitment, the Arsenal hierarchy has decided to take a step forward by offering Arsene Wenger a new contract but the manager has invoked the spirit of Robin van Judas Iscariot, as he was quick to cool down contract talks,

“I have two years to go. What is important for me is Southampton (on Saturday) and I think I’ve shown my commitment in the past.

I’m an Arsenal man and I think I’ve always shown that. I have to consider if I do well or not…if I don’t do well, I’ll consider my future”

In his time at Arsenal, Wenger has been linked to coaching roles in Spain, but he has remained steadfast at Arsenal, doing what he does best. With his bumper contract expiring at 2014, I’m pretty sure that Wenger would take time to think through, before putting pen to paper.

As he rightly said, should Arsenal fail to win any trophy till 2014 (God forbid!), that would make it 10 years of the trophy drought. Wenger will also be 65 years old as well, so he’ll have to consider his health and other factors to know if he can continue to cope with the rigors of the Premier League.

Whatever happens, I’ll always be there for my club, with or without Arsene Wenger.

Moving on to some off the field shenanigans, the cuddly Brazilian maverick, Andre Santos, was arrested last month for practising Grand Theft Auto in reality. The police chums had stated that the leftback was speeding at 130 mph with his Maserati.

He was charged this week with dangerous driving and he is due to appear in Hendon Magistrates’ Court on September 27. It is believed that Andre Santos could face a two-year jail term if he’s convicted.

With a club as disciplined as Arsenal, this act could have further ramifications for the Brazilian. Every one hopes that it turns out good because serving a jail term while playing for a prestigious club like Arsenal will paint a very bad image.

A preview for the Southampton game comes up tomorrow.

Sayonara.

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Long Term Plans for Arsene Wenger and Interesting Stats on Andre Santos

“Sure, someone will come out victorious, headed to the final to face off against Liverpool, hoping to salvage something from a year of disappointment. But the road there will be a painful 90 minutes of downright terrible football.”

These words were culled from a nice post tagged “Chelsea vs. Tottenham: Why the FA Cup Semifinal Is Going to Bore You to Death“.

I wasn’t “bored to death” after the second FA Cup semifinal clash between Chelsea and Tottenham. Instead, I witnessed a collection of goals ranging from sheer power (Didier Drogba), classy precision (Ramires the Great Lizard), consummate ease (Gareth the Chimp) and good technique (Frank Lampback of Notre Dame).

The turning point of the match will undoubtedly be the fictitious goal that was supposedly scored by Juan Mata. Replays clearly showed that the ball didn’t cross the line but I’ll let you know when I give two fledgling f*cks.

It was the Chicken on a Basketball that lost, remember?

At some point next month, Wembley will host the final clash between King Kenny Dalglish’s Red Army and Roberto di Matteo’s Blue Goons. I’ll have to give it to the Italian, Andres Villas-Boa Constrictor wouldn’t have reached this far in my opinion.

Moving over to the world of Arsenal, there will be a match against Wigan Athletic tonight, but a few things have dominated the headlines here and there.

Starting from the top, the Arsenal hierarchy is keen on keeping Arsene Wenger for the long term:

“For him to stay longer than that (2014) would be perfect. I can’t think of ­anybody better to run the team. He has shown how much rubbish people were talking earlier this season. We had a terrible run of ­injuries and that obviously had an effect.”

“He has a young squad, with some excellent young players. He is building a young team with a great future and I am sure he would love to see them develop. I would want him to stay as long as he is happy here. He has been with us 15 years and has done a ­magnificent job.

“I want him to stay for the long-term and I see no ­reason at all why he should want to go.”

Arsene Wenger represents vision, principles and continuity. On the 30^th of September, 1996, he took on a job that he has been with till date making him one of the longest serving managers in club football history. He marked his Arsenal start with a 2-0 win against Blackburn and he ended his first season in third place. He also welcomed Patrick Vieira to the club and the lanky holding midfielder spent the best part of nine magical years serving Arsenal making 279 appearances and scoring 28 league goals.

In Wenger’s second season in charge, he achieved the unthinkable with a League and Cup double despite being 12 points behind Manchester United at the turn of the year. The double winning squad had a water-tight rock solid defense in an all-English affair led by Tony Adams. He was supported by Steve Bould, Nigel Winterburn, Lee Dixon and Martin Keown was somewhere in the mix.

Wenger also had the great David Seaman as the custodian between the sticks and the midfield was blessed with Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira while Dennis Bergkamp and Nicolas Anelka did the business upfront.

In the turn of the new millennium, Manchester United became a dominant force and Arsenal had to settle for second place but Wenger came close to glory in the UEFA Cup (now Europa League) in a penalty loss to Galatasaray (2000) while Liverpool had the upper hand in the FA Cup final of 2001.

Wenger’s squad had a fresh outlook with the injection of Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Fredrik Ljungberg and Sol Campbell. Arsenal overthrew Manchester United in the sweetest possible way in the 2001/02 double winning season with a win at Old Trafford in the penultimate game of the season.

Manchester United exerted their revenge the next season but Wenger’s class of 2004 achieved immortality by being the first team to go through an entire season unbeaten.

After the FA Cup triumph of 2005, the trophy well has dried up quicker than the wells in the Sahara. Like a mirage in such regions, Arsenal fans have witnessed cups pass by like Oases only to hit hard by the harsh realities of losing cup finals.

Arsene Wenger has been pushed to the limit this season and was faced with adversity. The Frenchman has proved his mettle and will certainly be the manager to bring the glory days back to Arsenal.

This season, the Gunners experienced a shambolic Summer filled up with the disappointments of the exits of key players coupled with that humiliating defeat to Manchester United. Autumn saw the Gunners surge up the table only to allow the injury chills of the Winter affect their early performances of 2012.

Spring has been in full bloom as the Gunners are currently in pole position for a third place finish.

Andre Santos arrived in Arsenal on the transfer deadline as Gael Clichy’s replacement. To be honest, I had no bloody idea about his abilities because there was no way I would take out time to watch the Turkish Superliga.

I’ve had my fair glimpses of Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Besiktas in the Champions League and that was it. However, I still have fond memories of Arsenal’s 5-2 win over Fenerbahce in their turf. Aaron Ramsey broke his Champions League duck and the calamitous Mikael Silvestre followed Pascal Cygan’s footsteps to register a brilliant own goal.

Andre Santos was a breath of fresh air as he marauded Arsenal’s left wing with more attacking verve than Gael Clichy offered. He has even scored the same amount of goals in just a few months with what Clichy managed in his entire Arsenal career.

However, the Brazilian’s defensive contribution to the club has been a bit suspect. He has been caught high up the field in some occasions, doesn’t track back too well and he has been very sloppy at times. #

A great Arsenal blogger called Maverick Gooner took out time to create a brilliant statistical analysis on Andre Santos defensive capabilities. In the analysis, Andre Santos was compared with his own team-mate Kieran Gibbs, as well as left-backs from the remaining three top-four teams, Patrice Evra, Gael Clichy and Benoit Assou-Ekoto.

From the first table in the article, it was shown that Andre Santos has started the least number of games and played the least amount of time. However, this was caused by the ankle injury he suffered in the tail end of 2011 and it sidelined him for the best part of three months.

The second table in the article showed Andre Santos’ involvement and success rates in duels and interceptions made. He wasn’t far off from Kieran Gibbs but he was way ahead the other three left backs in the aforementioned list.

He has certainly been a good signing for the Gunners and I truly hope that his injury woes are now behind him. Arsenal has been reaping the rewards of a fit Theo van Persie, I hope Andre Santos follows suit.

Sayonara.

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A Plea for Video Technology and Andre Santos’ Take on the Balotelli Incident

Song...You Lucky Bastard!

This is actually one of those boring Saturdays were you’ll hardly find any Arsenal match preview in the million and one blogs out there because there’s no game to look forward too. While we wait till Monday to play a Wigan side high on confidence, we’ll be faced with the gruelling task of watching two derbies in Wembley.

The high-spending King Kenny and his Red Goons are set to take on the shrewd David Moyes and his Blue dogged Army. The Scot was in familiar surroundings in 2009 when his Everton side needed the drama of a penalty shoot-out to knock Manchester United out.

Arsenal took on Chelsea in the other semifinal but the antics of Lukasz Fabianski late on will never be forgotten in a long while. Truthfully speaking, it wasn’t half as bad as his howler against FC Porto a year later. He’s still a decent goalie nonetheless.

Today’s other semi will see those Sp*rs take on Chelsea in what promises to be another dull encounter. I’ve watched both sides play twice this season and I dozed off watching both games. I think I’ll be better suited playing my Football Manager 2012 this time.

However, Chelsea’s interim boss, Roberto di Matteo, has been on the spotlight recently, calling for an overhaul of the FA’s disciplinary procedures following Chelsea’s failure to get Branislav Ivanovic off a violent conduct charge.

Di Matteo criticized the FA for finding Ivanovic guilty of striking the Wigan midfielder Shaun Maloney during Saturday’s Premier League game at Stamford Bridge. Video evidence was used after the game and the Serb was issued with a three-match ban.

These are the same guys that surprisingly became “blind” when Mario Balotelli almost snapped Alex Song’s leg like a twig with a horror studs-up challenge. Had Song’s leg been planted firmly on the ground, we might have had another Abou Diaby, Eduardo da Silva or Aaron Ramsey.

Di Matteo also wondered why such technology hasn’t been used in reviewing goals and has called for consistency in decision-making. Arsene Wenger on the other hand, has called for video technology to be introduced in the Premier League to help referees make correct decisions.

Wenger believes that video technology will help the referees, rather than question their authority. Skeptics believe that the introduction of this technology would slow down the game but Wenger has denied that it would be the case.

However, football’s Mouamar Gaddafi, Sepp Blatter has backed the introduction of goal-line technology and that he’ll “die” if he saw another World Cup goal-line blunder such as Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal for England.

Arseblogger made an interesting quote in his post tagged “More on Refs and Vids“

“I’m expecting smashed femurs, busted knee-caps, roundhouse kicks to the face like a common Patrick Swayze, karate chops to the neck and a flurry of kidney punches, only for a red card to be shown to the man who gets a second yellow for kicking the ball away. Hey, I’m just adapting to what I’ve seen from Atkinson and other officials this week.”

The match officials and FA have shown more inconsistency than Abou Diaby ability not to get injured, and as expected, they’ve incurred the rage of Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal’s boss is no stranger to engagement with officials, as he has been given a three-match ban plus a fine in the UEFA Champions League for an off-the-field involvement with a referee while the Sporting CP is facing a cheaper fine for the putrid racial acts performed by their fans on You-Know-Who.

Still sticking with that horrific incident that took place last week Sunday, Andre Santos has stated that his actions on the pitch were a consequence of Balotelli’s behaviour throughout the game.Within minutes of taking onto the pitch, Andre Santos earned himself a booking after an infringement on the Italian Mohican.  There was still time for the Brazilian left back to give gestures with the forward.

Speaking to some Brazilian media vultures, Andre Santos said:

“In the first half Balotelli almost broke Song’s leg, than he harshly tackled Sagna. Someone had to be hard on him, put him in his place. Someone had to say something to him because he was doing what he wanted, and that’s not how things work.”

“I was watching from the bench. When I was on the pitch I’d have the job to mark him, and that’s what I did. It’s part of the game.”

These quotes have clearly shown that this present Arsenal lot is a close-knit bunch. From that game of the season contender against Tottenham, Arsene Wenger’s men have worked their skins off for each other on the pitch and they have been justly rewarded by amassing 27 points from a possible 30.

When I think of the amount of distance Gervinho had to make up to cover up for Kieran Gibbs against Aston Villa, or the way the team rallied around their captain when he had that bust-up with Tim Krul. When I think of the countless tackles, Mikel Arteta and Tomas Rosicky have made or how Robin van Persie slaved to win the ball back in the build up to Arsenal’s third goal against Wolves.

For the first time in a long while, this is one summer I’m looking forward too.

A summer were Arsenal’s finest will represent their nations in European National Football’s elite competition, a summer where Arsene Wenger has promised not to splurge yet we may expect the likes of Lukas Podolski, Jan Vertonghen and Yann M’Vila and a summer where our deadwood will finally be shipped out to free our wage bill.

Most importantly, this is a summer where Arsenal’s squad will be together because these men are on a mission to end the club’s trophy drought as one collective unit.

I just hope that Theo van Persie contracts will be sorted out as well as worthy pay rises for Alex Song, Wojciech Szczesny and others that duly deserve it.

Here’s to Arsenal’s Samba boy, Andre Santos.

I love that gay.

Sayonara.

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