Oorah – it’s on people…Cesc joins injury list…St Michael Thomas t-shirt up for grabs..

Hello Gooner’s and good day to you all.

Well today starts the beginning of our 2008/09 season and it’s going to be an emotional roller coaster and an exciting one, no doubt. The long road towards getting some much needed silverware in The Grove’s trophy cabinet starts now and I’m not even going to recognise or give props to The Amsterdam Tournament Cup. As that great rapper MC Hammer, he of the baggy pants look once said we need ‘proper’ silverware this season. 

Our march to glory and a first ‘proper’ trophy since 2005 in that infamous F.A. Cup Final when we bashed Manchester USA from pillar to post and generally spanked the bejesus out of the them comes in the shape of FC Twente. FC Twente as we all know are bossed by none other than the ‘wally with the brolly’ Steve McClaren and he for one will be looking for an upset against a English club so he can ram all the taunts (deservedly at that) aimed at him by the British press back down their throats. I’m sure that would be motivation enough for him to get the British sports journo’s to actually write something positive about him. Anyway that’s his look out, our aim is to make sure that isn’t even close to being a reality – a bit like spurs being considered a Big Four Club™.

Which brings me nicely to Dutch Master in the making Robin van Persie who has labeled FC Twente the Dutch equivalent of ‘that’ team with an extreme deluded sense of grandeur and lets be honest they have the fans to match as they seem to think one Carling Cup victory puts god knows how many years of obscurity into the shade. Anyhow what with FC Twente being compared to spurs, if that wasn’t motivation enough for The Wenger Boys I’m really not sure what is. It’s not even a money thing. You can’t give someone a bonus for beating them, the mentality should be you just don’t want to lose against them, it shouldn’t even be a consideration. Such instances should see you ridiculed on a scale of Fat Ronaldo being caught in a hotel room with a bunch of transvestites and then banished to a far away place – like the Isle of Dogs or some other god forsaken place. 

Anyhoo Gooner’s I digress I’m supposed to be chatting football. So FC Twente the Dutch equivalent of spurs, I’ve got that covered. Not like our midfield where players are dropping like a fat man after a 5m sprint. Not only has ‘first pick’ Abou Diaby been put on the injury list, he is now joined with the sicknote waving shenanigans by WonderBoy™ TheCesc, Kolo Touré and Philippe Senderos. I think that groan can be heard all over North London. Well now we’ll see how much depth the squad has, I actually feel a bit responsible for The Cesc’s injury, no I wasn’t invited to join the boys at London Colney and buckled The Cesc with an ill timed challenge but I wrote a piece the other day and said we’ll be well up the shitter if The Cesc does get injured as we do need some experience and cohesion in midfield. What with messrs Gilberto, Hleb and Flamini all doing one there’s no consistency in the midfield, so hopefully the pre-season games will of had the new comers and second choice players getting an understanding with each other. Well cross you fingers, either that or any of the traveling fans I suggest you grab your boots because you’ll more than likely get a game if anyone else gets injured at this rate.

I shall finish on a positive note though Gooner’s. What with these injuries it gives the ‘second choice’ players a chance to stake a claim and do a ‘Mathieu Flamini’ and prove they have what it takes. Now is the time for the likes of Johan Djourou, Aaron Ramsey, Denilson and even Theo Walcott to step up to the plate. Well Gooner’s it’s going to be an emotional roller coaster ride tonight, enjoy the game which is being shown live on Setanta One, get behind the team and lets roar on The Arsenal to victory. As the motto goes Victory Concordia Crescit – C’mon Arsenal.

I can almost smell it… Michael Thomas t-shirt up for grabs now…

We’re getting close kids! The Charity.. sorry… Community Shield is this weekend, featuring the Arsenal Retirement Home versus the Northern Scum. It’s a match that I rarely get excited about other than it being the flare that is sent up to warn of proper football coming shortly. So there is only a week of preparations to get through before we can see our lads in serious action again. 

First up in that preparation is The Amsterdam Tournament, which is working out as an ideal warm up for the match up against FC Twente, currently being mismanaged by Steve ‘Euro2008 Commentator’ McClaren. I think Arsene will be feeling pretty confident that Steve poses little threat in terms of tactical awareness, and the run out against Ajax is ideal.

Of course in the background there is plenty of stuff going on. The newspapers have taken to linking us with every centre midfielder in the known universe for one thing, and so far we look no closer to signing one – something that Arsene has publicly acknowledged. It is odd though – if we need a new midfielder, and I realise the transfer window is still open for a while yet, that we wouldn’t try to get someone in before the season started rather than during its first month. But Denilson has played well in the few run outs he has, and the lure of a first team place will hopefully push him to become the great player he has the potential to be. His challenger for that spot, Abou Diaby, needs to stop hanging out with Tomas Rosicky and RvP if he wants to claim the spot – he has been far too injury prone in recent months, or most of his Arsenal career if you want to be cynical, although Sunderland’s hatchet man Matt Smith had a hand in that. I still doubt whether he has it in him to last a whole campaign. And keeping with the script the gangly Vieira wannabe is injured once again, FFS! What is it with our players, the season hasn’t even started and we’ve got more casualties than a party thrown by Michael Barrymore. Scarily, Ebouseless got a run at centre midfield against ‘Ze Germans’, which I’m hoping was merely a plan to get him some fitness and not a test run for yet another position switch. 

Meanwhile Jack ‘Wonderkid of the week’ Wilshere is impressing everyone still – enough so that he has been given a first team squad position. I can’t imagine that he’ll see much of the Premier League, despite Arsene assertion that he wouldn’t be afraid to throw him in, but it is still wonderful to have such a hot prospect, an English one at that, coming through the ranks. I’m sure Gael Clichy is wondering what the hell is going on with him consistently being one of the oldest players on the pitch for us in the warm up games. 

And first up we get West Brom, who are fresh up from the Championship. They’ll be out for an upset so it’ll be a tougher game than it looks on paper but hopefully we’ll knock the confidence out of them early on and from there it will be a steady slide into oblivion. I’m particularly keen to see Samir Nasri take the field – if he can be more of a Pires than a Hleb then I think we’ll challenge for honours again this season. If not, we obviously need younger players! 

Roll on The Amsterdam Tournament enjoy it Gooner’s, the real curtain raiser for ‘proper football’! C’mon on The Arsenal.

By Paul Wright Allgoonerdup roving reporter.

For more on the main site click the link: Allgoonerdup.com

Lets get commenting Gooners…

Ressies in win…keeper linkage…The 6m dollar man (well pounds)… Girl in the shirt..

Hello Gooners, there was no post yesterday as there was absolutely diddly-squat doing the rounds and even today is going to be a quickie. So without further ado lets get the ball rolling. 

The Arsenal beat northern monkeys Huddersfield 2-1 in a friendly match up which was sponsored by ‘give a friendly match a competition name just to make it sound more appealing’ – i.e. The Herbert Chapman Cup. The friendly was all part of the Terriers centenary celebrations and in my opinion was a nice touch as ‘Sir’ Chapman shaped both the histories of Huddersfield and The Arsenal. Onto the game which was live on Arsenal TV on that there Setanta. It was quite a good game as it happens, many would of been disappointed if they expected to see The Arsenal first team as it wasn’t even a select Arsenal XI, it was the reserves playing in all truthfulness. However disappointment aside it gave the younger players a run out and show what they can do and try and do a ‘Jack Wilshere’ and gatecrash The Arsenal first team. I for one wasn’t disappointed by seeing the reserves have a run out, what with The Emirates Cup last weekend and The Amsterdam Tournament this weekend we can’t expect our first team to play all those and still be fully fit and mad for it come the beginning of the season. 

There was some impressive performances and what stands out is the way we play football. Whatever the team, the first, the reserves, the youths, the women’s probably – they all play ‘The Arsenal way’ it’s like there’s a production line of mini-me’s and clones. Wenger has taught them well as is every bit as influential at The Arsenal as ‘Sir’ Herbert Chapman was. The scorers on the night was Sanchez Watt who sounds like a Mexican measurement of electricity and Dutchman Nacer Barazite, who impresses me more every time I see him. I think it’s just a matter of time for him to break into the first team squad, he has the vision and the touch and reminds me a bit of his fellow countryman  Robin van Persie – but without the injuries. 

So well done to the kids who on the night was captained by Justin Hoyte who has recently said he wants to fight for his place and stay at The Arsenal. It’s the next bit which is the hard part, Hoyte says he has to raise his game and get to the level of Bacari Sagna. I wish the kid luck however at 23 years old you would have to think that this will be his last season for Hoyte to impress. He wont get much first team football if ‘The Bac’ stays fit but you have to love his determination and grit to make it at The Arsenal and being a Gooner through and through you do feel for the former England U21 man. I hope he puts in a good show this season, who knows he might even have a ‘Mathieu Flamini’ season, stranger things have happened. 

 

Go Green

Trash talk on the go is that West Ham United’s Rob Green is being linked to us again, Why? Where do the media get their stories from? Don’t believe it people it’s not even a goer, Arsene Wenger is not in the market for a keeper or even a central defender which near enough everyone is screaming for. Next thing you know Newcastle United’s Obafemi Martins is going to be linked to us, well it has been at least five days since he was last last linked.

 

About 6m sounds about right – says Fred

Lastly and it’s a none Arsenal subject. The subject is ex-Arsenal leg-end of the diagonal run and free scoring in his heyday Freddie Ljungberg. The Super Swede who’s Happy Hammer’s career has been less than happy has been given the old heave-ho. However what would put the smile on anyones face getting the bullet is a £6m pay off – well it would be unless your Bill Gates. So a £6m payoff not bad work if you can get is it? 

So as it’s probably going to be a quiet day, here’s a question for you good people to have some tomfoolery – go to the comments section – and let us know, for £6m what would you walk away from? And as I’m feeling generous, the best answer can grab a shirt from the Allgoonerdup Online Shop. Now that aint bad a days work is it?

 

Girl in a shirt

Allgoonerdup is looking to give the Goonerbabe page a bit of a boost and we’re going for a ‘Girl in the Shirt’ approach. Do you have any pictures of your girl in the shirt or girls get yourself seen on the Goonerbabe wall and send in your own pictures. Lets get this party started right. Send your pictures in and tell us your name, favourite player, favourite all time player, favourite drink and if you have anything else to declare to babe@allgoonerdup.com

 

 

Join the Allgoonerdup Fantasy Premier League

If you think you can outdo Arsene Wenger or more to the point want to give it Charlie Big Potato’s over the other armchair managers out there jump on board and join the Allgoonerdup mini league, this year in the guise of our comments site Son of Allgoonerdup. There will be prize for the winner and it will have a 20th anniversary Championship winning feel to it, that or a keg load of beer for the lucky punter! To get your team in and get your game on click the below link to get started.

 

http://fantasy.premierleague.com

 

Sign up to it

Design your team

Join the league by entering this pin into the ‘Join league bit’ (League Pin 73628-19858)!

(The league is called sonofallgooneredup)

Then you are away!

The deadline is August the 16th!