Arsenal Announce Profits and More on Santi Cazorla

Chelsea’s loss to Manchester City threw the race for the final Champions League spots wide open, and a team that was running away with the league at the start of the season are now in danger of losing further ground on the coveted European spots, as the man on fire, Gareth Bale, inspired his team to a win over West Ham that made Tottenham leapfrog Chelsea to third place.

You certainly wouldn’t rate the West Ham vs. Tottenham clash as one of the best matches of 2013, but Gareth Bale proved to the football world how high his confidence levels are right about now. However, he’ll be a player to watch in Sunday’s North London Derby and you’ll have another chance to see Arsenal live.

Chelsea will have a keen eye on the proceedings in White Hart Lane as one of the two great North London clubs are odds on to drop points, much to the delight of the Western Londoners with the Blue kit. According to Football.co.uk, Chelsea’s Gary Cahill has revealed that his team is fatigued.

For a team that has a manager who rotates his players more than the amount of times women change their hair, I shouldn’t expect fatigue to be a determining factor for Chelsea’s slump. In my honest opinion, I feel that the players aren’t motivated enough to work their skins off for a manager with no future at the club.

The Blues didn’t really look out of sorts against Manchester City but Frank Lampard’s penalty miss went a long way in changing the complexion of the contest. Had the Blues snatched an away win, the Citizens would have waved goodbyes to the league title while the West London side would have gotten some breathing space from the two North London teams directly behind them.

In a strange twist of fate, Chelsea is just two points ahead of Arsenal and they still have very tough fixtures against Manchester United and Tottenham in the run in to the final Champions League spots.

From an Arsenal perspective, things are looking all peachy and creamy at the moment following Santi Cazorla’s brilliance in the crunch encounter against Aston Villa. Paul Lambert’s inexperienced side were taught a footballing lesson by the Gunners but the home team showed off some frailties that were exposed yet again.

Despite the fact that Santi Cazorla rightly earned his place in the back pages of the tabloids, questions were asked of Arsene Wenger’s side and they decided to be pretty good in some while failing miserably in others.

On the bright side, Jack Wilshere was on song, Nacho Monreal created a game-winning assist and Santi Cazorla proved to be the difference between a point and three with his vital match-clincher.

On the bad side, Olivier Giroud had a stinker in attack, Theo Walcott was back to his peripheral and frustrating self, Arsenal made things really hard for themselves, Wojciech Szczesny committed a howler for the equalizer and to top it all off, Abou Diaby got injured.

Carl Jenkinson has stated that the win has been a confidence booster for the team (via Arsenal.com) and his teammates are looking forward to Sunday’s clash with Tottenham. Carl Jenkinson’s manager, Arsene Wenger, also expressed his pride in his team’s response to what he termed as a difficult week (via Arsenal.com).

He also stated that the race for the top four is going to be tight and he took out some time to lavish praise on his Spanish diminutive magician, Santi Cazorla,

“Santi has been absolutely tremendous for us. Today was a very important day for us and he delivered. Great players deliver when it matters. Santi Cazorla is a great player.”

If there was any player that was going to salvage a victory for the Gunners when it seemed as if a draw was on the cards, it just had to be Santi Cazorla. Besides arriving in the box to score two well-taken goals, the Spaniard was ubiquitous in midfield and was at the heart of everything good as Arsenal launched wave after wave of attacks on Paul Lambert’s team.

To make his day in the office absolutely perfect, Cazorla had surpassed his personal best for a season in terms of goalscoring, as he scored his 10th and 11th goals in a quite remarkable campaign for the star. His previous best was the nine goals he managed for Malaga last season.

Like Arsene Wenger, Cazorla’s teammates also ran out of superlatives for his outstanding contribution in his last Arsenal outing. Ze Big Friendly Giant, Per Mertesacker, has hailed him as the perfect footballer (via Arsenal.com), while his compatriot, Mikel Arteta, has shared his views on the threat Cazorla poses while he’s on the left hand side (via Arsenal.com).

With Santi Cazorla dominating proceedings on the pitch, the Gunners have had some activities off the pitch as well, as the club announced its latest financial results (via Arsenal.com),

“The club has no short-term debt and continues to have a robust financial platform.

“The figures show a profit before tax of £17.8 million. This was driven primarily by player sales of £42.5 million.

“Football turnover dropped from £113.5 million to £106 million as a result of four fewer home fixtures compared to the same period last year.

“However, overall operating profits from the club’s property operation increased to £1.9 million versus £0.5 million in 2011.”

The report also confirms the extended partnership with Emirates which will be worth up to £150 million. This comes in addition to deals with Airtel and Malta Guinness and additional sponsorship linked to the pre-season tour.

Arsenal have announced half-yearly profits of £17.8m for the six months up to the end of November last year. Arsenal’s cash reserves also increased by £7m to £123.3m.

When you look at these figures initially, you may want to bring out a smile but believe me if I tell you that these profits were funded by the sale of Robin van Persie to Manchester United for £24m.

This season, the club has burnt an excess of £40.9m from the acquisitions of Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud, Santi Cazorla, Nacho Monreal as well as tying six core British players to long-term deals. The figures show a profit before tax of £17.8 million. This was driven primarily by player sales of £42.5 m.

This ultimately means that if Robin van Persie and Alex Song remained at the club in addition to the new signings, Arsenal would have recorded a loss of £26.6m.

With all these figures shown everywhere, it would also be shocking to know that Arsenal’s current wage bill stands at £155m in contrast to rivals, Manchester United (£162m) and Chelsea (£171m).

When I think about the outrageous amount of pounds paid to deadwood like Sebastien Squillaci, Denilson, Andrey Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh, Nicklas Bendtner, Andre Santos, Park Chu-Young and Johan Djourou, it boils me to know that these players are tied to long term deals without producing any output to the club presently.

Squillaci and Arshavin have contracts expiring at the end of the season thankfully, but the other players in the aforementioned list are shipped out on loan with Arsenal still paying a considerable chunk of their wages.

When it came to the point where the club was to hand a contract to players who deserve it, such as Theo Walcott, it took forever and at some point, many Arsenal fans feared that he’d join the exodus away from the club.

At this point in time, there’s a cloud shrouding Bacary Sagna’s future and if the Gunners don’t give him a deal he feels he deserves, he might just opt for the petro-greens of a club like Paris St. Germain for instance.

We claim to be a club all about the profits yet we somehow manage to sell our best players when they’ve reached they have reached the climax of their careers.

Gone are those days when Arsenal sells of a player after so many years of service and it’s pretty shocking to know that Arsenal’s “oldest player” in the squad is Lukasz Fabianski that joined the club in 2006.

Folks like Ivan Gazidis tell the world that there’s money to spend but this financial results clearly show that after Wenger bought his attacking trio of Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla, he was probably told that he had to sell to balance the books.

While many Arsenal fans were happy to see the back of Robin van Persie even if his sale to Manchester United was a bitter pill to swallow, the sale of Alex Song for no just cause remains an aberration and you can’t be blind to state that our midfield has fared very well without him.

That’s yer lot for today.

Sayonara.

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More on Cazorla’s Dive, Wilshere and Transfer Speculation

Act I: The Invisible Touch

Act II: The Olympic Diving Audition

Act III: Hitting the turf like a sack of potatoes

Act IV: Arteta asks Myhill if he wants some ketch-up for this CHIP

Arsenal’s win against West Brom was marred by this act committed by Santi Cazorla. Before sharing my thoughts on this much-talked about issue, let me share some words culled from the great Arseblogger himself,

But first: the dive. Yes, it was one. No, it’s not nice. But I’m going to think of a number between 1 and 100, where 1 is the least shit I give and 100 the most, and see if you can work out which one I’ve picked. Does it make me a hypocrite? Probably. Again, I refer you to my give-a-shitometer and the needle is, unlike a certain winless Premier League manager, barely twitching.

All of a sudden, our cuddly ol’ Spanish magician, Santi Cazorla, has developed two horns, a tail and he wields a pitchfork no different from Poseidon’s trident. As expected, West Brom’s Steve Clarke grabbed his flaming torch and is ready to burn Cazorla down,

“There was zero contact, it wasn’t even close. I am not sure what the referee saw. It was a bad decision for us and obviously changed the shape of the afternoon. It could have been a nervous afternoon for Arsenal, at 0-0 they hadn’t created too much.”

When Liam Ridgewell dived like a player that had been shot with a sawn-off shotgun in West Brom’s 4 – 2 win against Sunderland, I’m pretty sure that Clarke kept his mouth shut. Karma’s a bitch, I guess.

Apparently, diving has become a bit and parcel of the game and Arsenal has been on the end of some fictitious dives that led to penalties as well.

Taking you down memory lane to this concluded season,

High-profile diving specialists like Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez conned the referees into giving them them penalties. The backlash wasn’t as expected and the world as we know it didn’t come to an end. In defense of Cazorla, Wenger has apologized if it wasn’t a penalty (medicine after death), but he stated that Cazorla told him that he had lost his balance. His compatriot, Mikel Arteta has also stated that Cazorla is no diver.

Former Premier League ref, Graham Poll, has come out from his lair to give his opinion on this issue. The world-famous ref that handed a player three yellow cards in a World Cup published a column revealing that Cazorla should be given a three-match ban, using the words Arsene Wenger stated in the wake of a string of diving performances from Manchester United’s Ashley Young,

‘If an obvious dive is punished by a three-match ban, the players would not do it any more. I would support it. It has to be obvious diving.’

Well that’s Mr. Poll’s opinion and as I always say, opinions are like arseholes, everybody has one.

Apart from Cazorla’s diving shenanigans, Arsenal’s win against West Brom had its fair share of positives. Wojciech Szczesny kept a clean sheet, Thomas Vermaelen’s form improved, Mikel Arteta got his penalty groove back and the Ox put up a much-improved performance.

The stand-out performer on the day was the resurgent Jack Wilshere. He was ubiquitous in midfield and he has forged a good understanding with his Spanish midfield counterparts, Santi Cazorla the diver and Mikel Arteta the penalty misser. Wilshere’s surges of energy and drive played a key role in Arsenal dominating play and he has stated that he’s getting better with each passing game. The youngster also lavished praise on Arteta’s performance, stating that he’s a great dude on and off the pitch.

Arsenal’s Holy Midfield Trinity

Arsene Wenger was obviously happy for Wilshere’s performance as well, and he stated that the old Jack Wilshere is back. The Wilshere that dominated a midfield that had Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta on the 16th of February, 2011, the Wilshere that wasn’t afraid to have a go at the entire Stoke team in the ground were Aaron Ramsey’s leg was snapped like a twig, the Wilshere that deservedly won the 2011 Young Player of the Year award.

Yeah, that Wilshere.

However, Arsenal still needs to take a cautious approach with the lad. He’s just returning from a lengthy lay-off so he still needs to get some much-deserved rest due to the physical demand of the Premier League, and I’ll be cross if he features against Bradford City tomorrow.

A fit Wilshere keeps Ramsey out of the team but I’ll like to see what happens when Abou Diaby returns to full fitness, that’s if he ever returns. Diabytes is an ailment that has no real estimated return date and it’s a disease peculiar to a fragile, lanky Frenchman called Abou Diaby.

With the January transfer window just around the corner, the media Vultures have been swarming round Arsenal, linking a host of players in and out of the Emirates.

Starting with potential departures, it has been reported that Bacary Sagna has become a target for the free-spending Paris St. Germain. We’ve heard some stories about Sagna being unhappy with his recent contract situation, and it’s believed that he’s headed for the exit door. PSG is a team that would could make Arsenal an offer they can refuse but we can only hope that the Arsenal hierarchy would do what’s best for the club – holding on to one of the best right backs in the Milky Way, Bacary Sagna.

On arrivals, the list is endless but I’ll take my pick from the pack.

With Arteta being the only recognized holding midfielder at Arsenal (no disrespect to Francis Coquelin and Emmanuel Frimpong, they’re not there yet), it is believed that Wenger seeks to delve into the transfer market to seek a natural replacement for Alex Song. The Daily Star has reported that the Gunners are seeking to make a swap move for Zenit’s Igor Denisov, using Andrey Arshavin as bait to see the deal through. Elsewhere, the Sports Campus has reported that the Gunners want to swoop in for Bayern Munich’s Luiz Gustavo.

Unlike Luiz Gustavo that has featured sparingly for the Bavarians this season, Denisov wants pay-parity with new signing Axel Witsel, which has made him to become a disgruntled figure in recent weeks. I’ve seen both players strut their stuff in the Champions League but Luiz Gustavo would suit Arsenal’s play better than Denisov. He’s a very technical holding midfielder that reminds me of Gilberto Silva.

In attack, Arsenal have been placed on alert as Newcastle’s Demba Ba has stalled in signing a new contract with the Magpies. There are also emerging reports that the Gunners are battling with AC Milan for Lyon’s Lisandro Lopez’ services.

However, there is a bit of speculation that has been making waves recently. Soccer Souls have reported that Arsenal has agreed personal terms with Schalke’s hitman Klass-Jan Huntelaar with a winter move imminent. Wenger has been a long-term admirer of the Dutch predator and his arrival at the Emirates will be regarded as a great piece of business, judging from his goalscoring exploits in recent seasons. Competition for places with a superstar like Huntelaar will also bring out the best in Olivier Giroud.

Then of course, there’s more talk on Thierry Henry’s imminent arrival as well.

It’s time to pull the plug on this post.

Sayonara.

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More on Cazorla and Some Transfer Speculation

The first phase of international fixtures will commence this weekend and football fans will brace themselves up for a dose of some boring football. Friendlies and qualifiers can never be as exciting as an international tournament – a sentiment that has been shared by Arsenal skipper, Thomas Vermaelen, as he hopes to play in the next World Cup with this golden generation of Belgian players.

With all the fixtures showcased this weekend, the clash between France and Spain remains my pick of the bunch. For starters, both nations have endured a rivalry that has lasted for an eternity and the French folks will also have revenge on the back of their minds, as the Spanish mutants knocked them out of the European Championships this summer.

France will certainly be without Arsenal’s Abou Diaby that’s still out injured but there’s more sad news from the French camp as it has been reported that Laurent Koscielny picked up a knee injury in training. If this happened last season, Arsenal fans would have hit the panic button so hard, it would spring out of its remote, but things have changed in that part of North London, as many Gooners would prefer to see Per Mertesacker partner the captain in the heart of the defense.

With Koscielny out of the equation for the time being, Johan Djourou will move up the pecking order as Arsenal’s back-up defender with the likes of Ignasi Miquel and Sebastien Squillaci waiting in the gallows. Lack of playing time for the big Swiss has made the media Vultures do what they do best, linking him to several clubs in the Milky Way, but his agent has stated that Djourou is staying put.

Vito Mannone on the other hand, has declared that he’ll like to be between the sticks for AC Milan in the future. The Italian’s run-out in the first team courtesy of injuries to the Polish goalkeeping duo has seen him come under the spotlight and a lot has happened in these few months for Mannone. He has had his fair share of clean sheets, howlers, super saves and uncertainties but on a grand scale of things, he has done well in Szczesny’s stead.

With AC Milan’s Christian Abbiati reaching his twilight years, Mannone won’t be a bad addition for them as the Rossoneri’s deputy goalie, Marco Amelia, hasn’t been too impressive with some high-profile mistakes last season. In my honest opinion, Mannone isn’t good enough to be Arsenal’s No. 1 for the long term so if AC Milan brings some hard cash, we’ll do what we are pretty good at – selling.

Unlike players like Djourou and Mannone that can fetch a quid or two for the club, Arsenal is ready to cut its losses with the Korean Shaolin soccer specialist, Park Chu-Young, as it is believed that the Arsenal hierarchy will allow him to leave on a free transfer despite that fact that he has two years left on his current deal.

I still remain puzzled with the acquisition of Park last season and it’s really shameful to know that Arsenal stole him right under LOSC Lille Metropole’s nose but failed to give him a chance to make his mark. I’d believed that the goal against Bolton sent a message to the manager about his abilities but when Wenger opted for the legend, Thierry Henry, while its African contingent were away on Nations Cup duty, it was clear that Park was surplus to requirements.

He didn’t put a foot wrong in the Olympic Games when he represented his nation and I can only wish the Korean the best in his future endeavours. At least, he still has many more years to play football in Europe before going to serve in the Korean military.

Moving back to Cazorla and his Spanish mutant folks, I must say that it would take some stuffing from any football nation to displace Spain off the summit of international football. After losing out to France in the 2006 FIFA World Cup thanks to His Football Holiness, Pope Zinedine Zidane’s brilliance, Luis Aragones assembled a perfect squad in the 2008 Euros, winning it as well.

When the mantle was handed over to Vicente del Bosque, no one expected Spain to be this awesome. Their tiki-taka football is a stuff made in dreams and many great football nations have bowed to Spain’s awesomeness. When it seemed as if the German Machines of the 2010 FIFA World Cup looked like the team to beat, it took a Carles Puyol header to take care of business but the game itself was a one-sided encounter as the Spanish mutants starved the Germans off the ball.

This summer’s Euros was really a shocker as the Spanish folks thrived with staring a team with any recognized striker, with Fernando Torres, feeding off the scraps from the bench after business had been done as usual. Santi Cazorla played a bit-part role in that tournament but he has stated that his move to Arsenal has bolstered his chances of being called up to the La Furia Rojas.

Cazorla also said that he feels more valued at Arsenal and he can’t fathom why Mikel Arteta hasn’t been called up to play for Spain. Maybe it’s Arteta’s hair…and if you doubt me, name one Spanish player that has a nicer gelled up hair like Senor Arteta. Better still, everyone in Spain probably beefs Arteta for his hot wife, Bernal Lorena that was Miss Spain at some point in her modelling career.

That’s just me kidding.

The real reason remains that Spain is blessed with so much footballing talent, that there’s no space for the likes of Arteta. Even Chelsea‘s creative lynchpin, Juan Mata, wasn’t called up for these fixtures despite his great start to the season.

Here’s to a great game of football between Spain and France.

Sayonara.

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The Right Back Dilemma and a Tale of Saint Santi

I didn’t know that Sagna was 21?

It all began in October 2011 when Arsenal visited White Shite Lane to play those Spuds from the other side of North London. Rafael van der Fart controlled the ball with his arm and lashed a shot that went past Wojciech Szczesny. After some brilliant intricate passing play, Aaron Ramsey was on hand to blast in Arsenal’s equalizer but PFA Young Player of the Year for last season, Kyle Walker, won the derby for his team with a fierce shot that was misjudged by Szczesny.

The game was marred by a horrific injury suffered by Bacary Sagna when he landed awkwardly fracturing his leg in the process. Unlike Ricardo Vaz Te that discolated his shoulder thanks to karma, Sagna’s case was rather unfortunate. To add to Arsenal’s woes, Sagna’s replacement, Carl Jenkinson was having back problems and it wasn’t better on the left hand side as Kieran Gibbs (groin) and Andre Santos (ankle) spent countless manhours nursing injuries as well.

Arsenal clearly struggled through the winter period without its natural fullbacks and the make-shift center backs like Johan Djourou and Thomas Vermaelen put up below-par performances throughout that period as Arsene Wenger’s men kept messing up on the pitch. When the fullbacks returned in Spring, they came along with their balance, wit, crosses and most importantly, support to the forward line, as Arsenal lacked that in their absence.

In rather unfortunate circumstances, Sagna broke his leg again in May following a clash with Norwich’s Bradley Johnson, causing him to watch the European Championships in the comfort of his home with his beautiful Ludivine. After spending five months rehabilitating and recuperating, Sagna featured for the Arsenal Under-21s in their victory over Reading’s Under-21s.

As expected, Sagna has expressed his delight in playing the beautiful game again, even if it was for the Under-21s,

“It is amazing to be back, I have been waiting for this moment for five months. This was my target: to come back and play, firstly for the under-21 team. Everything went well and we won, so I am very happy.

“I have been working really hard. I spent some time in the rehab centre, then I came back and worked really hard with the fitness coach and the physios to be ready to play – and finally I have.

“When you have such a big injury once, you take it, but twice is hard. In my mind I was a bit sad, but the next day I was ready for the challenge, which was to come back stronger and I am in a good way today.”

Like Jack Wilshere and Emmanuel Frimpong before him, Wenger intends to throw caution into the wind in easing these long-term absentees into the team, and to be frank, the players holding the fort have been superb as well.

Even if Frimpong is 110% fit and all deeeeeeeenched up, he can’t displace Mikel Arteta from this team. For those that don’t know, Arteta is the second best midfielder in Europe this season when it comes to completing passes. The legendary midfield maestro, Xavi Hernandez, leads the charts with a pass completed percentage of 96.3% while yours truly, Mr. Lego Hair has completed 93.8% of his passes.

Jack Wilshere on the other hand has been missed dearly, and with Abou Diaby still spending more time on the treatment table, Wilshere’s transition to the first team will be easier because I don’t feel that Aaron Ramsey and Francis Coquelin are good enough to make that box-to-box role theirs for keeps.

Sagna’s records speak for itself as he has notched up 205 appearances in five seasons with Arsenal and the fans can attest that Bac the Man has been one of Arsene Wenger’s most consistent players week-in week-out. Sagna averages over 45 games a season since his arrival from AJ Auxerre in 2007.

However, Sagna has acknowledged Carl Jenkinson’s stellar performances this season, stating that he’s going to be one of the best. We can’t deny how excellent Jenko has been this season, even to the extent of being in a tug of war between England and Finland.

The question is, will Arsene Wenger draft Sagna back into the squad when he’s fully fit? Will he give Jenkinson a run-out in the “lesser games” when Sagna needs to take a breather? Will Sagna reproduce his usually consistent form after being out from the game this long?

I’ve created a poll on this right back dilemma, feel free to place your votes below,

Santi Cazorla has been earning the plaudits for his outstanding performances this season and he has been named as Arsenal’s Player of the Month ahead of Carl Jenkinson and Gervinho. He has also been called up to the Spanish Mutant squad ahead of Chelsea’s Juan Mata. Wenger has waxed lyrical about the magician, stating that he makes everyone better.

Cazorla’s success story has been heart-warming and I probably feel that Tomas Rosicky should be preparing his retirement party sooner rather than later because it will probably take only an injury for anyone to displace Saint Santi from the first team.

Arsenal.com published a good analytical piece on Cazorla, revealing how he pulls the strings in midfield. Trust me, it’s worth a read. Soccer Fan Base also published an article on Cazorla comparing him with Cesc Fabregas. On that front, I don’t want to jump into the league of folks comparing Saint Santi with El Capitan. Both players are exceptional and I’ll leave it that way.

With the vast amount of talent at Vicente del Bosque’s disposal, its really funny to know how a brilliant player like Cazorla can’t command a place in the first team. I’m going to watch that Spain vs. France game with a keen eye because I’ll like to see what the new Les Bleus gaffer, Didier Deschamps, has up his sleeves.

I and every Gooner out there prays for our players to return back to the Emirates unscathed because the games are coming thick and fast. Besides, Arsenal still has some ground to cover in the Premier League as well as gaining a stronghold of its group in the Champions League.

This is where I pull the plug on today’s post.

Sayonara.

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Latest Updates on Sagna’s Return, Walcott’s Contract and Cazorla

Up for a right fight against Jenkinson…or is he?

I don’t know if its just me, but there’s something about these international breaks in the course of a season. Time seems to go as fast as Per Mertesacker and the prospect of the interlull is never fun. It’s actually a good thing to see Gunners in action but there’s also an outside chance of the players picking up a knock or two for their nations.

I’m certainly not praying for that though.

The victory against West Ham still leaves a sweet taste in my mouth for more reasons than one. For starters, it was against one of Arsene Wenger’s nemesis, Big Sam Allardyce. The win also allowed Arsenal to keep pace with the leading pack as the Gunners are currently in seventh place, and are also seven points off the mark.

The game also allowed Arsenal fans to actually see Olivier Giroud score a goal because the last time I checked, he scores when no one is watching. As his celebration showcased, Giroud is delighted and relieved to score his first Premier League goal and he has stated that his adventure starts now,

“I’m very happy to have scored and that we won, It was a difficult game against a very good team, who play well at home.

“We were better in the second half and [were able] to play through their lines. I think we finished the game better.

“I feel relieved now. It was very important for me to score in the Premier League, to keep going and start my adventure here with Arsenal.”

I must say that I was very elated when Giroud scored that goal. To crown up a great evening, he also supplied an inch-perfect assist for Theo Walcott, whose finish was a peach of a goal. The Frenchman also believes that Arsenal will play a key role in the title race, and I can understand the angle he’s coming from.

With the Manchester clubs and Chelsea labelled as the favorites for the Premier League this season, Arsenal can be the dark horses and the Gunners will have a chance to move further up the table, as Chelsea faces crunch fixtures against Tottenham and Manchester United pretty soon.

As expected, Theo Walcott is still in the news as well. He has taken his goal tally to four this season and one can only marvel at the composure the winger…wannabe forward had in picking his spot before that brilliant finish against West Ham. He has been pushing hard to play in his favored position this campaign, and finishes like that will certainly give Arsene Wenger something to think about.

The manager is keen on keeping Walcott for the long term, and he had better sort out the Englishman’s future quickly because Italian giants, Juventus, are on the prowl as they have placed the winger in their radar. Arsenal’s gaffer also spoke about his big respect for Walcott’s attitude and character.

Unlike Mathieu the Flanimal, $amir Na$ri and Robin van Judas that acted like bitches when they reached the twilight of their contracts with the club, Walcott has handled the situation in a very matured manner and he has to be commended for it. Skeptics believe that Walcott unveiling that playing as a center forward is the reason why he stalls is a ploy to get more cash, but he hasn’t flirted openly with any other club and the little boy inside him hasn’t said “glory glory united”.

I’ll keep you updated with this Walcott contract situation in the coming weeks.

Wenger also took out some time to talk about his diminutive Spanish magician, Santi Cazorla. The boss declared that Saint Santi makes everyone better and he also compared him with the great Glenn Hoodle as he remained bewildered and perplexed by Cazorla’s ambidexterity. The boss was also quick to douse the flames of those folks comparing Cazorla to Cesc Fabregas.

Cazorla on the other hand has revealed that Robert Pires and compatriot, David Silva, played a role in making his choice to move to the Emirates and he hopes to end the club’s trophy drought by contributing immensely to the team’s cause. In nine games for Arsenal, Saint Santi has scored two goals and supplied two assists. However, he has created the most chances at the club and a considerable chunk of those defense-splitting passes haven’t been converted by the forward line.

Finally, Bacary Sagna, Jack Wilshere, Emmanuel Frimpong, Ignasi Miquel, Francis Coquelin and Andre Santos all started for the Arsenal Under-21 side in the club’s 2-0 win over Reading’s Under-21s. Teenage sensation, Serge Gnabry, and Chuba Akpom scored the goals that put Reading to the sword but the major positives of the game was seeing Mr. Consistency return to action after five months out.

Arsenal opened the scoring when Wilshere found Thomas Eisfeld with a good ball and the young German sent a through ball to his countryman, Gnabry. Gnabry made mince meat out the Reading defender before curling a left-footed shot into the far corner. Wilshere was also heavily involved in the second goal, as it was his corner that was headed home by Akpom.

Even after 14 months out of the game, Wilshere’s creative juices still remained intact. The prospect of seeing him in the same midfield with the Spanish matadors, Cazorla and Mikel Arteta makes me drool faster than a canine that has seen its dinner. Goal.com’s cartoonist, Omar Momani, showed off his creativity with a cartoon depicting Arsenal’s win over West Ham.

via Goal.com

With two broken legs in one season, Bacary Sagna deserves to be treated like an egg this campaign and with a player on the rise like Carl Jenkinson deputizing admirably in his absence, Arsenal fans can sleep well at night knowing that the right back position is in safe hands.

Like Wilshere, Sagna needs a run-out of more Under-21 and Reserve games to come up to speed with this gruelling Premier League campaign.

That’s today’s bit but I’ll urge you to check out a couple of good articles I stumbled upon yesterday. Here is the City Sport published two articles giving five reasons why Falcao could sign for Arsenal and five reasons why Falcao won’t sign for Arsenal. While you’re at it, also check out We Are Aresenal Blog’s article on the club’s massive wage bill.

Sayonara.

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