Mixed Week and Transfer News

Welcome back all,

Sorry I haven't posted in the last week. Been up to my eyeballs with other work and didn't have the time to do any blogging but I do now, albeit little time. I did make the odd tweet but I can bring you all up to date with the past week now.

Obviously my last post was a preview ahead of the City game which we drew 0-0. It panned out just as I predicted. We did all the pressing, created several opportunities, failed to take them, City eventually settled and put eleven men behind the ball for the rest of the game. We could and should have been at least 2-0 up inside the first twenty minutes. A barage of shots on the City goal left Joe Hart on his arse on numerous occasions. Wilshere, Nasri, Fabregas, Van Persie and Walcott all failed to find the net and even when they beat Joe Hart the post was there to deny them. At the time it felt the goal was coming, you were just preparing to roar and celebrate a well deserved goal like mad but it never came.

City gradually dropped deeper as the game went on and made themselves very difficult to break down. And as if slicing their defence open was proving to be a challenge, beating Joe Hart was another story. In the in second hald we continued to press but lacked the cutting edge we possessed in the opening twenty or so minutes. I honestly felt for our defenders. They must have been bored off their heads. City were showing no interest in scoring whatsoever. It was clear Mancini had one intention and that was to nick a 0-0 draw. It was the same story last year and I pity the neautrals. At this rate, Sky will stop showing City live on television and rightly so. It was so so boring. Still though, people saying he shouldn't be allowed do that did jump the gun a bit. Its his team so he's allowed do whatever the fuck he likes with it. I don't really care but I'm glad we're finished with City this season. At the end of the game you could sense the frustration around the Emirates but our players were the last ones to be blamed. What can you do when a team defends tirelessly for the whole 90 minutes? The major talking point in the second half came when Sagna and Zabaleta clashed off the ball. Song overhit a pass to the Frenchman which went out of play and he slipped. Zabaleta then came over and made an insulting remark to which he reacted furiously and pushed his head against the Argentine's. Both were sent off at the time but Zabaleta has had his over-turned since while we didn't bother appealing Sagna's. To be honest I felt the City player deserved his red. If you give abuse to the referee you get shown red don't you? Shouldn't the same apply when you talk shit to your opponents? I think so.

Anyway there was no time to reflect on a frustrating night of football. We had another big game on Saturday against Leeds United in the FA Cup. As expected, the Leeds supporters came in their thousands and created a magnificent atmosphere inside the Emirates which was great to see even if a lot of fans do despise of them. I'm not particularly fond of them either but I do feel they belong in the Premier League. They're a great club with a brilliant history and passionate fans who give this league the incredible reputation it currently has.

Arsene made a few changes for this one but there was plenty of quality on the bench incase of emergency. Surprisingly enough, Djourou played his third game in a row which is really encouraging because there have been quite a few people concerned about the durability of his knee. Koscielny got himself a well earned rest after a really busy Christmas period. We were all well aware of what Leeds achieved at this stage last season. They went to Old Trafford, nicked a goal against United and fought for that lead with every bit of energy they had in them and got themsleves a well earned spot in the 4th round at the time. It was vital we were fully focused going into this game.

We should have taken the lead early on as Rosicky set Arshavin through on goal with a brilliant pass which cut the Leeds defence wide open. Unfortunately, Arshavin did the hard thing and took the shot on with his left foot and fired it straight at Schmeichel. At the other end, Szczesny was out quickly to save at the feet of Leeds striker Luciano Becchio. Denilson had a 25-yard shoot pushed around the post as we looked for a crucial early lead. Chamakh was next to test the keeper as his header was straight at the Dane. Leeds were very much on the back foot and Bendtner was unlucky not to give us the lead but the keeper saved again.

At half-time, you just felt anxious to get that goal or else we would be punished in typical, poxy fashion. Ten minutes into the second half, that just happened. Max Gradel dribbled into the box before falling over Denilson's outstretched leg. It was a ridiculously stupid tackle from Denilson who should know better at this stage. It gave Leeds the chance to go 1-0 up and give us an uphill battle to fight our way back in the game. Snodgrass stepped up and fired the visitors into the lead and left the travelling supporters ecstatic. I feared we would now start rushing our play and begin to panic. We needed to be patient and the chances would inevitably come. Fabregas replaced Song with a half an hour remaining which gave the rest of the players a much needed rest. We so nearly went 2-0 down as Snodgrass' corner was met by the head of Becchio but Szezesny saved brilliantly to deny him. Soon afterwards Walcott was introduced for Chamakh and Bendtner moved into the centre as Theo and Arshavin operated down the wings. We were desperate at this stage. Offered me a draw and I would have bitten your hand off.

Walcott's first chance arose when he was set clean through but his effort was tame and easily gathered by the keeper much to everyone's frustration. It looked like we had been awarded soon after as Alex Bruce was adjudged to have tripped Walcott. The referee pointed to the spot but then decided to consult his linesman before changing his mind and awarding a free out. I cursed the shit out of him but not long after Walcott was fouled yet again and this time the referee had no option but to point to the spot and stick to his guns. Up stepped Cesc Fabregas and he put it away. 1-1 and there was an uproar of relief all round the Emirates. Four minutes of stoppage time meant there was still time to win the game. We should have done just that as Fabregas picked out Bendtner with an incredible long ball. The Dane only had the keeper to beat but his left shot was as wonky as Carlos Puyol's hair. That was all she wrote and it set up a tasty replay at Elland Road next week.

Here are the player ratings from that game:
Szezesny: 8 - Kept us in the game, owed big time.
Eboue: 7 - Lively thoughout but didn't get tight enough to the wingers.
Squillaci: 6 - Early mistake but not much to do otherwise.
Djourou: 8 - Dealt with everything, fantastic yet again.
Gibbs: 7 - Tested by Watt but was reasonably comfortable.
Song: 7 - Sharp passing and gave everything. All you can ask.
Denilson: 7 - Gave away a stupid penalty but played well otherwise and nearly won the game with a brilliant shot towards the end.
Rosicky: 7 - Full of ideas but not many worked out for him.
Arshavin: 4 - Dreadful is the only word if I'm honest. He tried but nothing would work. Really bad day at the office.
Bendtner: 6 - Worked his socks off but looked out of place on the wing.
Chamakh: 6 - Looked hungry for goals but nothing would fall for him.
Subs:
Fabregas: 8 - My man of the match. Completely changed the complexion of the game and netted a penalty.
Walcott: 7 - Another who made a huge impact when coming on. Tormented Leeds defence.
Vela: 5 - Pretty ineffective, didn't have time to do much.

I have to say we got off the hook on Saturday and I'm pretty grateful that we're still in the FA Cup. Going to Elland Road will be no easy feat but I suspect we'll see a stronger side for some reason. The winner will face Huddersfield in the 4th round. Don't know about you but I really fancy that at the Emirates. Let's make sure it happens. Benik Afobe says he won't play against us should it pan out that way. spaeking of Afobe, he has agreed to extend his loan at the Galpharm Stadium until the end of the season. Anyway we've got a big game tomorrow night to focus on, hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with a detailed preview of that. I'm hearing the reserve team captain Miquel is in the squad again.

Now for the latest on our transfer targets. Its obvious we're going to have to dip into the market this month for a centre-back. Squillaci suffered a hamstring injury against Leeds on Saturday and will be out for a minimum of two weeks. We all know the story with Vermaelen. He just can't seem to get on with his rehabilitation without suffering a setback. His achilles is meant to be fine but he has this pain which the medical staff can't seem to find the solution to. The boss says he's seeing the best consultants in the world anyway so hopefully the problem will be resolved sooner rather than later. We will have to be prepared for the worst case scenarion though and that being he might well be out for the remainder of the season.

Lots of possible recruitments have been mentioned so far. A lot of you appear keen on Gary Cahill. He has played well over the last two or so years for Bolton but we have to be cautious if we are interested in him. Bolton want upwards on something like £15m. That'a a lot of money to spend on a centre-back and I know for a fact that Arsene will get the blame if he flops. Remember everyone wanted Hangeland last year? We didn't get him and he's been very average this season so we do have to be very careful.

I do have a bit of interesting news on our search for a centre-back over the summer. Our number one target from the beginning was Phil Jagielka. We had a £6m bid rejected by Everton which is understandable because even I know he's worth more than that. They wanted in excess of £12m which we thought was over-priced. Our next target was Per Mertesacker. We had a £10.7m bid rejected and didn't continue our pursuit in him from there although I understand we are still interested in him. No contact has been made with Bremen since the summer though. Milan are also thought to be monitoring his situation. Towards the end of the summer we offered Blackburn £10m for their highly rated youngster Phil Jones. The offer was rebuffed though and we were forced to search elsewhere. We definately won't be going back in for this lad this month as he's out for the remainder of the season. Emir Spahic was another player who Arsenal were after in the summer and we were certainly talking to him. Talks broke down at a pretty early stage though. His form has since dropped and is currently serving a ban for smashing a guy across the face so its hard to see us rekindling our interest there.

Christopher Samba is a player who we could go for this month. We haven't singled our interest yet but he wants out of Blackburn and they would be willing to sell. Personally he's not my first choice but he wouldn't be a bad player to have as back up either. Its hard to see us going for Gary Cahill. We were definately interested in him before but since then we splashed £10m on Koscielny who is similar in age to the Bolton defender. Still wouldn't completely rule it out though. Sol Campbell is a name that has popped up in the last few days. He wants out of Newcastle and they're willing to let him go. I really wouldn't go there unless we were at the stage of panic buying to be honest. He's old and the legs are only getting slower. Not exactly the player you want to call upon when your desperate. There are also unconfirmed reports of a  summer bid for AC Milan's Thiago Silva. Appraently if they signed Mertesacker we would look to take the Brazilian off the Italians. We also made a bid for Pepe Reina which Liverpool rejected. That has been a blessing in disguise if you ask me because we have seen Fabianski's true colours this season and of course Szezesny has the scent of the first team.

Its going to be a very interesting transfer market as far as we're concerned. Wenger will act fast in my opinion because of the injury situation and that fact that he generally likes to get the business out of the way as quick as he possibly can. That's all for now folks, may be back tomorrow with a preview of the Ipswich game. Take care.