Abanoned AFC Blog…

Yes, It is official my fellow Gooners, Arsene Wenger has singed a contract-extension that will see him stay with us until 2011, That is music to any gooners ears im sure.

Wenger, who has been with Arsenal since 1996, says he feels a “responsibility” to the young side he is building at the Emirates Stadium and now looks almost certain to stay on. He also said he loves the Club and the job at Arsenal and didn’t want to leave.

Am I still motivated to go on at Arsenal? Yes absolutely. I am very motivated,” Wenger told RMC radio.

“With all the young players I signed, I feel a kind of responsibility.

“I am in talks with Arsenal. I can’t see any drawback to extend. There will be some news on Thursday or Friday.

“We had a nice start to the season. We still have our technical game, and we have a young team that has got a little more experience. “We lost the star of our club, Thierry Henry, so it has changed something indeed.

“But you know maybe it has pushed the youngsters to take on more responsibilities.”    “It is a little early to take stock after three matches at home. Our real challenges will be away from home against the big teams.”

Well, No suprises at all Arsenal clearly dominated the game on sunday and we did it with pure style too, With a 3-1 win against Pompey to give us an equal first-place spot on the Premier League table, just behind Liverpool, who are in front because of there 6-0 thrashing of Derby County.

First half goals to Emmanuel Adebayor and Cesc Fabregas made us lead at the interval before Tomas Rosicky scored on the 59th minute, just 60 seconds after though ex-Gunner Kanu got the Pompey conselation.

David James took down Van Persie in the sixth minute and then Ade took the penalty and converted, a bit of a wierd decision to let Adebayor take the penalty, I though that V. Persie would have been a better choice, But anyway he still got the goal to give us a 1-0 lead before the 10-Minute mark. Cesc than made it a two goal lead ten minutes from half-time, a trademark Arsenal peice of play gave us a corner on the left. Rosicky swung it to the near post and Gilberto headed goalwards, But missed then a combination of Sean Davis and Francesc Fabregas blocked it on the line. The 20-year-old Spaniard recovered to turn the ball home from close range to ger his fourth goal in five games, That tally of four goals equaled his of the whole last season.
However four minutes after the half-time break Philippe Senderos was sent off for a hauling back Kanu as he raced through. The Nigerian ex-Arsenal player then gave Portsmouth a lifeline a minute after Tomas Rosicky had fired home a nerve-calming third for the Gunners.

An okay game for us and a good well-earned Three points and a great home record for us this campaign, Hopefully this unbeaten run will go on for a while, as I guessed Fabregas scored, But Robin VP Did not get his double.

A good three-poits but anything less than this result would have been a failure.

We have done it, After the whole summer off-season Arsenal have finally secured the signiture of Diarra from Chelsea, for a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee. Apperently, Arsene was after Lassana before he went to Chelsea, But the Pensioners offered more and then got him.

He is a good little player, and has played in the back and as a midfielder for Chelsea, Where he will generally play at Arsenal is so far an unknown, But I think that because he has taken Freddie’s old number 8 he will play in a midfield role, maybe as a wingers role? Whether he plays against Pompey is still undecided but I don’t think that he will play on sunday.

Awarded  individual accolades of Young Player of the Year by both former clubs, Le Havre (2004) and Chelsea (2006), Diarra has gone on to play for France in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, he is a good addition to the squad and hopefully plays as well in an Arsenal shirt as he has played in previous games.

Lassana Diarra said to Arsenal.com:  “I have great respect for the manager Arsène Wenger and am attracted by the style of football that the team plays.  Of course I am excited by what the future holds and keen to play my part in helping Arsenal fight for trophies this season and for years to come.”

Arsène Wenger said:  “Lassana is a multi-functional player, making him a great addition to our squad.  Not only is he hard working, he has a creative edge and is comfortable playing in the middle of the pitch or at right back.”

Arsenal are on a roll and getting better at defeating stubborn sides like City, while Pompey are improving but much like Reading, still unpredictable in how they will fight or collapse. They could give Arsenal a scare, at most, but that’s not going to change the course of the match too much.

We are going into this game with a good record, Two wins and a draw that should have really been a win for us, While Pompey have a draw against Man U, Another draw a win and a lost.

Hleb is out ill though, And he has been possible with Fabregas our best player so far this campaign and him not playing on sunday is a real low for us, But whether we use our new signing Diarra remains to be a mystery.

Pompey have some good solid players in the likes of Ex-Gunners Sol Campbell, Kanu, Lauren and with the addition of new signing David Nugent they are certainly no push-over, and can suprise some (Well, Let’s be fair, Suprise a lot) by winning against us, But as of right now and I don’t this will change, We will not end our unbeaten start to the season by them getting the 3 points, If they get 1 point I will be quite suprised and from a Gooners point-of-view, Pretty disapointed.

As I said last week against Man City, If Manuel Almunia plays well in goals it should be Bye-Bye Jens, And should Almunia keep a clean sheet and saves well and we win by 2 or so goals, the Lehmann leaving “fiasco” will be all but over.

They have real quality,” said Wenger. “Portsmouth are a very shrewd club with Harry Redknapp in charge. He always buys good players. He came to Arsenal and took a few from us!” “They have a very strong spine. Sylvain Distin, Sol Campbell and David James at the back. Kanu and Lauren too. They are very intelligent and I feel those former Arsenal players means when they come to us they are always highly motivated.

“Portsmouth are a team with physical strength, tactical strength and lots of experience. “Their last performance against Chelsea was very good. On the evidence of what we saw they could have taken a point.

“There is quality that is we must be very careful against this side. We just want to continue our run and be on our toes.” added Wenger.

My GoonerBlog Prediction for the game, Unsuprisingly an Arsenal win at the Emirates, A 3-0 win and Van Persie to get a double and Fabregas or Gallas to net one.

The Draw for the new UEFA Champions League is out and Arsenal, No offence to any of the teams, But we do have one of the easier groups this season. A big challenge though will be Savilla, Defending UEFA Cup Winners should they get through and if they do, the two games we play agaisnt them should be entertaining. But if AEK Athens come trough instead of Savilla they will not be a pushover after signing Brazilian World Cup Winner and FIFA Player of the Year, Rivaldo from cross-town rivals Olimpiakos in the off-season. My pick is that we will go though, and to top the group and should Savilla not make it, We could go unbeaten, But if they get through they will defintly come second.

Group A: Liverpool, Porto, Marseille, Besiktas
Group B: Chelsea, Valencia, Schalke 04, Rosenborg
Group C: Real Madrid, Werder Bremen, Lazio, Olympiakos
Group D: AC Milan, Benfica, Celtic, Shakhtar Donetsk
Group E: Barcelona, Lyon, Stuttgart, Rangers
Group F: Manchester United, Roma, Sporting Lisbon, Dynamo Kiev
Group G: Inter Milan, PSV Eindhoven, CSKA Moscow, Fenerbahce
Group H: Arsenal, Sevilla/AEK Athens, Steau Bucharest, Slavia Prague

Former Arsenal chairman David Dein has sold his 14.58 percent stake in Arsenal to a consortium led by Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov.

Red and White Holdings Ltd. said in a statement Thursday that it had paid 75 million pounds (US$151.1 million; €110.7 million) for the stake and appointed Dein as the company’s chairman.
Red and White said it had “committed funds” to enable it to increase its stake in Arsenal.

“However, Red and White confirms that it has no current intention to make a takeover offer for Arsenal or to acquire a shareholding in Arsenal which would trigger an obligation to make a takeover offer for Arsenal” As it said in the Statement.

Arsenal managing director Keith Edelman was not concerned. “David’s free to do what he wants to do,” Edelman said at the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco. “Clearly it’s not a change in shareholding structure.” Thank God

Edelman said Arsenal didn’t need outside investment - something Dein disagrees with. Without new investors, I feel very soon Arsenal might not be able to compete successfully at the very top level, despite the fantastic work of (manager) Arsene Wenger,” Dein said.

Red and White is an investment company established specifically to hold equity interests in Arsenal. It is co-owned by Usmanov and long time business associate Farhad Moshiri, a London-based investor.

Usmanov is involved in mining, telecoms and natural gas in Russia and was ranked 278th in Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest people in 2006.

Dein will develop proposals to support the future success of Arsenal and will focus on increasing Red and White’s stake.

“Red and White believes that in light of the fast-changing landscape for football, both in the UK and globally, it will be able to assist Arsenal and ensure that it will be able to thrive in the future and become the leading football club in the world,” the statement said.

It added that keeping Wenger at the club was “vital to the future success of the club.” Wenger, who has been with Arsenal since 1996, will reportedly soon sign a new contract. His current deal expires at the end of the season.

Dein was ousted from the Arsenal board in April after falling out with other members of the board over the possibility of a takeover by American businessman Stan Kroenke. Kroenke owns 11.26 percent of Arsenal right now.

Dein’s departure was given as one of the reasons why striker Thierry Henry said he left us to  go join FC Barcelona in the offseason.

“I have always had the best interests of Arsenal at heart,” Dein said.

“I firmly believe that the involvement of Red and White with a significant stake and the long-term commitment of Arsene Wenger are absolutely the best outcome for the club, fans and shareholders.”

Simply Stunned.

No Suprises at all, Arsenal winning convincingly 3-0 and as I predicted Rosicky scored agaisnt his old boy-hood club, Eduardo netted his first also as I said last post, But Van Persie didn’t score, Fabregas did.

Tomas Rosicky goal in the seventh minute was a nice one, and Cesc and Eduardo goals in the final 8 minutes of play gave us a 3-0 win at the Emirates and a 5-0 Aggragate win to give us a place in the Champions League group faze, Which we should defintly finish in the top 2.

Eduardo, Gael Clichy and Theo Walcott all started instead of Fabregas, Hleb and Ade (Emmanuel Adabayor) were on the bench after starting for the City game, The subsitution worked well as Fabregas came on and scored, But also Fabregas really shook up the game a lot as he usually did, But some of our players we’re not really playing up to there normal high standards, Something in the air at the Emirates?

Correct me if im wrong but, Fabregas has scored 3 goals in 4 games, And in every game a midfielder has scored except for the Rovers game when Robin VP got the goal. Tomas Rosicky later said that Arsenal’s midfielders have been netting more goals and having more attemps this season and that “Fabregas, Hleb and myself are all scoring” which is a good thing and our attackers are not doing all the goal shooting, Which is good for the team.

Overall it was a satisfactory game for the Gunners, And although it was a 3-0 win, It is not suprising at all, A 5-0 Aggragate win to put us into the Group stage is a nice way to do it, and we should have some confidence going into the Pompey game and the CL Group stage.

Clive Clarke, On loan from Sunderland to Leicester finated in the Leicester dressing rooms at half time at a Carling Cup match, The tie was later abandoned. While Savilla’s Antonio Puerta also collapsed when Savilla played Getafe.

Paramedics rushed down into the tunnel to save the 27-year-old and Leicester Cheif Executive Tim Davies said “He was seriously ill, Our thoughts and Prayers are with Clive and his family”. Clarke is in a stable condition at Nottingham Queen Medical Centre and looks like he will be well once again.

Forest were leading the Carling Cup tie 1-0 at half-time thanks to Junior Agogo’s goal. However, after a delay of 15 minutes, Forest boss Colin Calderwood and Leicester manager Martin Allen emerged from the tunnel to announce to the crowd that the game had been abandoned.

Calderwood said: “We are afraid that due to the serious illness of a Leicester player both clubs have agreed to postpone the match.”

Forest chief executive Mark Arthur said later: “I think football is secondary to human issues. “As soon as we found out the serious nature of Clive’s situation, we went straight to the referee and said we would do whatever is right by Leicester”.

“Obviously, they are going through great trauma at the moment and we very quickly agreed between the three parties that the game should be abandoned.”

But, The other player, Savilla and Spain player Peurta passed away in Hospitalafter he had a sudden heart-attack  while jogging back to his own goal 35 minutes into the clash against Snachez Pinjuan on Saturday. His team-mates, Oppisiton players and Medics rushed to his side immediately after his fall. He was able to walk from the pitch but doctors said that he collapsed again in the changing rooms and had to be given cardiac resuscitation before being taken to the Virgen del Rocio hospital.

He was placed in intensive care and doctors said on Tuesday his condition had deteriorated before his death.

Sevilla were to play AEK Athens in the second leg of a third round Champions League qualifier on Tuesday but the match has been postponed until Monday 3 September because of the incident. As a consequence of teh incedent, the league match against Osasuna that was scheduled for next Monday has been postponed also, The UEFA Super Cup is not going to be post-poned of what im aware of.

To Anonio, Rest in Peace, this shows that Football is more than a game, Real guys play it, and they too can have attacks that any one else can.

Thanks to BBC for the Source for both Articles.

Following his disatrerous start to the season and costing us 3-Points at Ewood Park, In which we would have been topping the table im sure, Jens Lehmann is no longer the gaurenteed Number One ‘keeper for Us.

Arsenal Wenger has noticed Jens’ blunders this season and has said that when he returns from injury, Almunia and Fabianski could be in Arsenal shot-stopping position. Although, Wenger has a bit of a record by saying certain players are “injured” when he does not particually happy with them, as he did with Henry and Cashley towards when they were leaving.

If Lehmann isn’t the auomatic pick for Number 1, He has said he will leave Arsenal and go to a club were he is gaurenteed a spot in the goals every week, In fact he only just stayed with Arsenal this year despite being urged to leave us to go to either Hertha Berlin, Stuttgart or even Werder Bremen, Where a No. One spot would have been his every game.

When asked if he could guarantee Lehmann would be Arsenal number one this season, Wenger said: “You’re asking me to say something that I can never say”. “I don’t know how long Lehmann will be out,” Wenger confirmed. “He’s never happy when he’s injured and he’s never happy when he’s not playing.”

“You asked me to give a message to Almunia that, no matter how he plays after a few games, he will be automatically out. You can never say that; that means his performance is not important”.

“We are in a competitive world. Of course, at the start of the season, you have a number one and then a number two comes in and you have to give him a chance. I think Almunia is good enough to give me a problem. You go from game to game and there is no guarantee for anybody.”

“I have the highest respect for Jens. I bought him here at 33 and made him number one, and since he has always been number one. When he is fit I have to assess the situation. There is no guarantee for anybody. We are in a competitive world.”

With all that being said, Could the Germany Number One be leaving the Emirates Stadium? If he does, He will be missed he has provided us with many great moments and awesome saves, But now in his latter years he is a bit of a frustrating player to watch at times, recently last year and onwards.

Today I finished the Higbury page and now you can see it by clicking on the tab near the site’s header.

It took me around 3 hours to write it up, But it was worth it and now, should you ever need to know anything about the Old Stadium, you can right here on GoonerBlog. I was about to post it last night and I had saved it but, as i clicked post the internet would not work for the rest of the night, so as soon as I came home I put it up.

I have put two photos up for it, The Highbury logo that was mowed into the pitch, and Henry scoring the last Highbury goal, If you have any obligations, Please tell my by commenting.

Soon, I’ll put up a Kits section that will have all of our kits that we have ever worn since 1913 or whenever they go back further, And ‘Keepers kit’s will go up but not every single one at the moment, the Kit section should be up by the beginning of next month.  Another section should be up soon too, Jokes Page about the Mancs and Spurs, well anything besides anti-Arsenal jokes will be posted up, The Season section will be up next month by too that will concentrate on how we’re going this current season and an End-off week lader will be posted there and will be updated every two or three days. History section will take along time, The Highbury section is big, But the whole of our history should be up by Novemeber, Can you Copy ‘n paste of Wikipedia? (Im joking, But if it is not infrigement can some one please tell me in comments).

Make sure you look at the About Us and Highbury sections too, And another link should be up in the future, Thanks!