It’s almost two years since Theo Walcott’s finest hour in an England shirt. The Arsenal’s man smashed his way in to Fabio Capello’s thoughts with a sublime hat-trick in England’s 4-1 demolition of Croatia. After slowly falling from grace since that day, the former Southampton man has started this season with a bang, scoring four times in his last two games. Now we will finally see Walcott reach the level he did back in Zagreb? Walcott’s performance that night showed the World just what he could do. But unfortunately he was never able to build on his display that night and stuttered over the following months and ultimately seasons. He came under lots of criticism with people saying he lacked any end product and didn’t have a footballing brain. Walcott found himself...

Home not necessarily where the heart is The current Premier League season has incorporated a new rule change. No, Sepp Blatter has not agreed to confirm if goals are actually scored, and players are still able to dive, swear, spit and roast their way through the season unaffected. Instead, we have the introduction of the home-grown [...]...

An outbreak of sanity for the next few months, transfer targets remain more fanciful than they were in the summer as football turns its attention to the proper stuff. You know, the game itself. Amid tepid disinterest, the Premier League clubs announced their squads yesterday. Well, thanks for that I couldn’t work out the information from the clubs websites, conveniently structured into ‘First Team’, ‘Reserves’ and ‘Youth’ sections. The farcical nature of it all is highlighted by the 71 players registered by Arsenal. The arbitrary twenty-five man ruling by the Premier League serves little purpose. The wording is couched so loosely in their rules that there is no lower limit – theoretically, a club could submit a squad with no names and rely...

Arsenal and England star allegedly pestering girls in club Jack Wilshere, who was arrested and released on police bail on suspicion of GBH last weekend, had earlier been thrown out of a club for pestering girls. The 18-year-old had allegedly been annoying a group of 30 girls celebrating a 23rd birthday by attempting to take up-skirt [...]...

Will the new rule help England have success?   So all of the squads are in and Premier League clubs have managed to cope with the new rules on their squads. On the face of things after much debate it seems as if most sides have dealt with the rule with relative ease. But only time will tell if the rule will have its desired impact and give England a greater quota of players to chose from. The squad rule was the Premier League’s answer to mounting claims that they were damaging England’s chances of success with mass foreign imports. The rule states that eight of the 25 man squad must be home-grown which means they were trained in England or Wales for three years before they were 21. In addition players under 21 do not have to be registered. On first impressions this should help...

Arsenal supporters could blame Shay Given for their club’s inability to sign a much-needed goalkeeper in the summer transfer window, but I really feel the blame needs to be aimed squarely at the shoulders of Arsenal Football Club. They needed to have a Plan B in place. They did not. And it’s very possible that the first half of the 2010-11 Premier League season may suffer as a result. When Given decided he wanted to stay at Manchester City rather than move to Fulham, that meant that Fulham would hold on to Mark Schwarzer instead of him moving to the Gunners. Not only does this benefit City by ensuring they have two world-class goalkeepers competing for the same spot in the line-up, but it also gives City a much-needed competitive advantage over Arsenal especially if both clubs end up...

Arsenal youngster trains with squad Fabio Capello was forced to draft yet another rookie keeper into his plans as his England goalkeeping nightmare continues. With Joe Hart the only fit goalie in the squad, Capello had to call on 19-year-old Arsenal goalkeeper James Shea to work with Hart during the session at the Gunners’ London Colney [...]...

Arsene Wenger had two tasks this summer if he was to build a title-winning team: strengthen the defence and sign a new goalkeeper. Oh, and keep Cesc Fabregas, which makes it three. The transfer window closed yesterday with two new centre backs, Fabregas staying and a new striker. Two outta three ain’t bad, as Meat Loaf crooned. It left Arsenal ‘as you were’ in May. Almunia is the Number One, Fabianski his reserve, Manonne and Szczesny the lower ranking goalkeepers. The received wisdom is that this is not how Wenger envisaged the transfer window or season panning out. Various bids were reportedly submitted for Mark Schwarzer, none of them satisfactory enough for Fulham whilst Eduardo and Pepe Reina also received the attentions of the Arsenal manager. How many of those...

I’m sat here absolutely breathless with the events of this afternoon – it’s been fantastic. Over the weekend the Charles N’Zogbia deal fell through apparently because of the player’s “demands.” As the weekend went on, stories started to appear of us being linked with 4 players. Those were former Arsenal Midfielder Alexander Hleb, Defenders Martin[continue...

The latest news is that Armand Traore won’t be joining us, because for some reason he thinks Juventus is a better option. I have no idea why he thinks that, but there you go – footballers have always been a strange breed! Kev Blog this on Blogger Share this on Facebook Add this to Google[continue...

According to SSN we have signed former Arsenal Midfielder Alexander Hleb on a year long loan. There isn’t confirmation on the official site yet though. We have also been linked with Defenders Martin Jiranek and Armand Traore and Chilean winger Jean Beausejour. Keep watching Newsnow or twitter for more blog updates. Marcus Bent has left[continue...

The KNVB has offered the opinion that Robin van Persie will be out for ‘at least a few weeks‘ having suffered a twisted ankle at Blackburn on Saturday. The timing is unsurprising; Euro2012 qualifiers take place this week and losing a player or two has become de rigeur for Arsenal in recent seasons. With the transfer window closing today, there have been suggestions in some quarters that the Dutchman cannot be relied upon, that Wenger should turn his attention to a new striker to reinforce the squad. It does van Persie a disservice; only in two seasons has he failed to play less than thirty games for the club. Key to this might be his scoring record, recent seasons have seen this lower from just over 1 in 3 games to close to 1 in 2. It apparently leaves Arsenal short in attack...

Is it time for Arsene's stars to shine?  For many years now we have been saying it’s a matter of time before Arsenal come good. Well after watching them grind out a result at Blackburn on Saturday maybe we won’t be waiting much longer. The ability that Arsene Wenger’s side possess is in unquestionable. But so often the easy on the eye football hasn’t brought the required results.  But Arsenal seem to be devolving a greater resolve to their game which I suppose was inevitable the young starlets gained experience. The likes Alex Song and Abou Diaby seem to have grown over the summer and look like they can add the support and protection for Cesc Fabregas to go on and be at his creative best. Wenger’s major masterstroke though has been his policy over Fabregas. He made it...

A great win at Blackburn, the players nullifying the physical threat offered by the hosts before imposing their passing game to take the three points. The Rovers goal was a poor one to concede, Koscielny found out the hard way that bluff does not always work, feinting to make a tackle is no substitute for a well-timed version of the real thing. That is a hard lesson to learn but in no way signals that he is not good enough. To cast aside an Arsenal career on the basis of one minute of action is a bizarre mentality. Almunia provided an answer to his critics, confident under pressure and turning his ‘Mr Nice Guy‘ on its head in his confrontation with Diouf. It does not provide a permanent answer to the belief that Almunia is the solution to the goalkeeping conundrum; that will...

• Arsenal midfielder was involved in an incident this morning• Spokesman says youngster is 'unlikely' to face chargesThe Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere was arrested in the early hours of the morning following a "fracas", according to a spokesman for the player.Wilshere, who came on as an 84th-minute substitute in yesterday's 2-1 win over Blackburn, was arrested but released on bail.The statement, issued by the Wasserman Media Group on behalf of the 18-year-old, went on to assert Wilshere was "unlikely" to face charges.The statement read: "Jack Wilshere was arrested by police in the early hours following a fracas but was released on bail later. The police have made it very clear that he is an important witness to the incident and played the role of peacemaker and is...

Blackburn 1 – 2 Arsenal 0 – 1 Walcott ’20 1 – 1 Mama Diouf ’27 1 – 2 Arshavin ’51 Arsenal’s sophisticated finishing gave them a cutting edge at a rain swept Ewood Park on Saturday afternoon. Perhaps more significant though was that the team out-fought, as well as out-classed a side supposed by many to intimidate Arsenal with their physical approach. Particularly heartening was the resilience displayed in withstanding as thorough an aerial examination as Arsenal are likely to receive all season. Talk of Allardyce holding a hex over Arsenal is hokum (an enchantment? A magic charm? Charm and enchantment are words not easily attributed to the vast man from Dudley); but the capitulation of last season’s walking wounded is fresh enough a memory to make Ewood Park a...

Theo Walcott scored a spectacular goal Saturday to open up the scoring for Arsenal against Blackburn. The low hard-driven shot was so powerful that when it hit the inside corner of the net, the goal net burst and had to be repaired at half-time before the game could continue. For evidence of the incident, watch the above video and pay close attention after the 30 second mark. Walcott’s goal reminds me of comic book hero Hot Shot Hamish, who was famous for being able to hit the ball so hard that his shot could (and often did) burst the goal net. Hot Shot Hamish was best known for appearing in the Roy Of The Rovers comic (very apt considering Walcott’s goal was scored against Rovers, Blackburn that is). But Hot Shot Hamish began its life in 1973 in a comic book named Scorcher. But it...

The week ended with a flurry of activity, Sebastien Squillaci’s signing confirmed and the draw for the Champions League deciding that Arsenal had not travelled far enough in previous campaigns, send Wenger and the squad to the Ukraine in November. That draw could have been harder, no-one in the group is an obvious barrier to qualification and Arsenal’s history of failure in Ukraine, Portugal and Serbia should not be considered relevant either. Crucially, the fixtures have worked well in conjunction with the Premier League. The trip to Donetsk precedes the away match at Newcastle, arguably the ‘easiest’ fixture of the six following Champions League group encounters. Belgrade is less than three hours flying time which should not be a factor before Stamford Bridge...

What we learnt from Platini’s balls 1. Damn you, Tottenham. Fancy scuppering the long-awaited Inter-Young Boys clash! 2. Rangers fans will be delighted: they love a night out in Manchester. 3. You’ve got to love the mid-1990s retro draw of group G. AC Milan, Ajax and Real Madrid are all in there. 4. Of all the teams that could [...]...

He’s fat, he’s round, he bounces on the ground, no wait that was Sammy Lee. This is the infinitely more mobile Darius: Even at this early juncture in the season, everybody is chipping in about Arsenal’s chances of grabbing some silverware.  From the self-proclaimed ‘special ones’ in the Iberian Peninsula to the landlord of the Britannia’s local public house; from smug pundits to the tea lady at White Hart Lane – the consensus seems to be that Arsenal still don’t have what it takes to shake off the ‘also-rans’ status hammered to our forehead. It’s the age old cliché about the spine we don’t have. The spine made of steel, grit, height and filled with Neanderthals built like brick shithouses – I sometimes forget what it is exactly we need.  If you...

The draw for the group phase of the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League has been made. And all four English teams who have qualified for this stage of the tournament now know who their opponents are. Manchester United is in Group C with Rangers, Valencia and Bursaspor. Chelsea in Group F will face Spartak Moscow, Marseille and Zilina. Arsenal will have to play in Group H against FK Partizan, SC Braga, and Shakhtar Donetsk. And Champions League new boys Tottenham Hotspur will face dream Group A opponents Inter Milan, Werder Bremen and FC Twente. But out of all four England teams playing in the Champions League, which club do you think will have the hardest time getting out of the group phase and into the knockout phase? Vote below. View Poll And to see the complete line-up of which clubs will...

• Click on auto-refresh for all the latest updates• Email barry.glendenning@guardian.co.ukIn the Sky Sports News studio: Simon Thomas in the chair, with guests Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Charlie Nicholas. Kicking back over in Monaco: Richard Keys and Andy Gray.4.35pm: After all their over-the-top celebrations for finishing fourth in last year's Premier League, it was disappointing to see Tottenham qualify for the group stages as this time yesterday, the sight of their players and fans wiping copious amounts of egg of face last night, was a far more amusing prospect than the sight of them getting landed in a group with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Rubin Kazan. But they've qualified now and it's nice to see a new English team contesting group stages that can often verge on the...

The Champions League group draw takes place this evening and given the Premier League fixture list, there are a few teams that Wenger will be hoping to avoid. A long distance flight by football standards cannot be ruled out, especially with pot 4 containing clubs in Israel, Turkey, Russia and Romania. All of the pots from which Arsenal’s opponents will be drawn have potential pitfalls; all have relatively straightforward opponents. None are teams that should be feared, respect will be the key to maximising progress to the knockout phase, a characteristic and outcome which has been shown in abundance before. Of course, there is the ‘preferable’ draw at the same time and influenced by the domestic requirements, the ideal draw is probably Marseille, Basel and FC Twente. The...

Can City break in this year? Or will Roy’s Reds return to reclaim their spot? The obvious contenders this season; Chelsea and Manchester United will still be the favourites to win however have Liverpool or Arsenal got what it takes to achieve the silverware this season? Or will Manchester City’s summer spending be enough to gain [...]...

The media heralded the inclusion of uncapped players in Fabio Capello’s last England squad as the start of a new era. Jack Wilshere‘s bit part in the win over Hungary and his subsequent performances for Arsenal have not been enough to convince the Italian that the midfielder is the solution – or at least part of it – to the enduring problem of the dearth of English talent. Whislt Keiran Gibbs is presumed to have retained his place in the full squad, in allowing Stuart Pearce to call Wilshere into the Under-21s, where he will be accompanied by Henri Lansbury, Capello has done Arsene a huge favour. Two Premier League games have seen the performances of the youngster scrutinised and generally, well received in the back pages. To have included him in the full squad for...

Theo Walcott’s hat-trick against Blackpool on Saturday assured that the young winger would grab the majority of the headlines, and rightly so, but Arsenal’s demolition of Blackpool was far from a one-man show. Pulling the strings quietly and with an elegance and vision which seemed to had vanished last season after18 months robbed to injury was Tomas Rosicky, or ‘Little Mozart’ as he is affectionately known in his native Czech Republic. Rosicky’s link play with Andrei Arshavin and Theo Walcott was a joy to behold and, regardless of the quality of opposition, the Arsenal number 7 gave a masterclass in the ability to find pockets of space between the midfield and defence. Arsenal seem to have gathered a plethora of diminutive playmakers all wanting to play in the ‘hole’...

Back from the harsh suspension imposed by the FA of Mrs YW, my thanks to Consolsbob, Zimpaul, Muppet, Steww, LimparAssist and Darius for their sterling work during my absence. An appeal to the Disciplinary Committee was deemed frivolous but luckily a further ban avoided although issuing a suspended sentence may yet cause trouble. So time to tick off the checklist for the start of the season. Serious injury to promising youngster? Tick. Senior squad member knacked following an impressive game? Check. Transfer clamouring for new goalkeeper? Check. No-one new arrived yet? Check. Prior to the ‘big kick-off’, I suggested that Arsene would be happy to go to Stamford Bridge having dropped just two points and the start made by Arsenal so far suggests that this might well be the case....

Well Liverpool have certainly continued where last season finished for them, despite the removal of the dismal Rafa Benitez. Now, I’m not going to lie to you, I simply couldn’t stand Benitez, his abysmal tactics and his continual blaming of everyone else for his own failings. I don’t care about two fortunate cup victories that are now history. Yes the victory in Istanbul was amazing, but it is over 5 years ago and under Benitez Liverpool never came close to matching it again. What has astounded me is that with Benitez having clearly lost the dressing room towards the end of last season, even the arrival of Roy Hodgson cannot paper over the cracks in this Liverpool squad. Hopelessly weak in areas it used to excel in, players shuffled about to try and make do and an attack so...

Refs angling for trips to seaside? Here’s the photographic evidence that proves even match officials cannot bear to see Premier League minnows Blackpool subjected to top-flight humiliation. With Arsenal coasting to victory and Blackpool’s defenders unable to get close to the Gunners’ speedy attacks, referee Mike Jones took it upon himself to tackle Jack Wilshere. The England [...]...

1. It’s just as well Blackpool got a head start with their goal difference last week. 2. We will stand by last week’s conclusion that the Wigan-Blackpool result told us more about the state of the Latics than anything else. They were really poor again. 3. The headline writers will have to come up with something more [...]...

I think this is the last of the articles contributed by the stand in team, and I would like to thank YW for extending the opportunity for all of us to pen a post or two, for it has been an interesting experience. Certainly, I think it gives an insight into the commitment of YW, who has been churning out a daily blog for at least the last 4 years or so. This is the 3rd of my posts, and I wanted to set the record straight on something which can cause a lot of argument. Expectation. It is, I think, the basis of a lot of division amongst Arsenal fans, and blogs.  There is a lot of miscommunication about  expectation. There are those, amongst the more doomerish crowd, who believe that every pro Wenger fan thinks that we will win the title, we will win the champions league, and so they take...

So William Gallas joins a very rare club indeed of players that have swapped Arsenal for Tottenham. I was stating the same to a friend the other day that I can’t remember it happening in my lifetime as a Spurs fan, for me it’s unique. I’ve seen it happen the other way twice, Pat Jennings moved to Arsenal after being shamelessly treated by the Tottenham board and I can’t quite remember the other one, some central defender or other. Either way, moving to a rival club without the usual space somewhere else in between is highly unusual. Carlos Tevez completely misunderstood Manchester United fans by choosing to go to City. He didn’t think they’d be that bothered,  but when you add a billionaire and a loud mouthed chief executive, things change. Nick Barmby was also surprised by...

Arsenal 6 – 0 Blackpool Walcott ’12, ’40, ’58 Arshavin ’32 (pen) Diaby ’49 Chamakh ’83 On the day that saw the famous Arsenal clock reinstated at the ground, and the North Bank and Clock End christened anew, a rampaging Arsenal delivered a vintage performance to adorn the historic occasion. Theo Walcott came roaring out of the blocks; two dangerous attacks from the right-wing inside 10 minutes gave Blackpool immediate cause for concern. If that was a warning sign, then it was one impossible to heed. In the 12th minute Arsenal shot up through the gears on the left hand side of the pitch as Andrey Arshavin orchestrated a wonderful double 1-2, first feeding and collecting quickly from Marouane Chamakh, then giving and going with Tomáš Rosický - who...

Arsenal v Blackpool 3:00pm Is there any sport quite like football ? So full of opinion. It seems to me that there are two sides of football. The first, so prevalent in this country, is the murdoch media circus, the rumours, the transfers, the caught with their pants down outside a night club at 1am reportage, the lurid sensationalism, the unbelievable player valuations, the so called expertise and the glib punditry. The second, which seems to be almost mutually exclusive, is the actual football itself. The sweat and the tears behind the scenes. The athleticism, the tactics, the technique, the years of sacrifice, the training, the coaching and as Darius showed us yesterday, the preparation, both mental and physical,and the diet. It is in this 2nd domain that Arsene Wenger’s feet are...

…is that the signing or the player? What to think of Gallas wearing a Spurs shirt after being captain of the scum and and that Ruski nouveau riche mob. ‘Arry thinks it’s a no brainer. It’s ‘orrible because you just don’t want that scumbag sullying the shirt but you also know that a centre-back is urgently required, a defender with experience of the league who can drop straight into the side. And with his experience with two of the “Sky Sports Big 4″ he has that and so with that comes the experience of winning, winning trophies with Chelski, winning enough games to finish 3rd or 4th in the league but no silverware with the scum. He also comes at the right price, in that Spurs don’t have to hand any cash to the scum as he’s on a...

Home isn’t where the heart is 1. Cesc Fabregas His highly coveted move to his home club never quite worked out. Arsene Wenger’s smooth voice managed to appeal to his inner Gooner so he’ll be sticking around for another season. No amount of Barca players’ shirt kidnappings and press outbursts could make the deal go through. The [...]...

Yogi might be away but Friday wouldn’t be Friday without a Stone Cold slice of Darius While Mrs. YW’s embargo holds with YW’s laptop firmly in the strong-room, it’s been a week filled with fascinating and inspirational posts.  The daily nourishment from the line-up of ACLF’s very own caretaker custodians has been nothing but stellar. I’m sure like Zim Paul, Steww, Muppet, Consolsbob and Limpar – I find myself in the challenging position of having to maintain or surpass the quality of the daily musings.  I suspect that this is the sort of peer pressure that breeds a spirit of competition within the ranks of our beloved team and inspires better performances all over the pitch.  That can only be a good thing, especially if YW has to fight hard to regain his place on his...

• Redknapp not put off by Frenchman's wage demands• Gallas to have medical at White Hart LaneThe former Arsenal defender William Gallas is expected to complete a surprise move to their north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur after talks progressed on a deal for the French defender tonight. Gallas will have a medical at White Hart Lane tomorrow morning following negotiations between Gallas's agent, Étienne Mendy, and club officials this evening.Gallas is believed to have agreed a £90,000-a-week deal, a sum that reportedly prevented Gallas joining Milan in the summer after his Emirates contract expired.But Harry Redknapp, the Spurs manager, said last week that, after contact with his representatives, the 33-year-old's wage demands were not an issue."His wages aren't a problem," Redknapp...

While Yogi’s away Steww will play … When Yogi told a few of us under which plant pot he’d hidden the key to ACLF Towers during his absence, we thought, well – put the cat out feed the fish – as long as we don’t get those two in any way muddled up we’ll be laughing. But there was a note pinned to the stuffed bear at the bottom of the big staircase in the main entrance hall which read ‘Oh and while you’re at it stick up some blog entries for me will you’. Daunted but not entirely loose of bowel I thought to myself, OK I can do this. And then I read the post script. ‘Stew how about a season preview, you know predictions for Arsenal 2010/11′ and after a while I realised the high pitched keening building to a terrifying...

The answer is still not a Given No team has a flawless goalkeeper, that’s a fact. But it’s obvious that there are a lot of keepers in the sport who will sway the outcome of a match to a positive when the team playing in front of him isn’t at it’s usual defensive best. For several [...]...