Awwww  (as in "awwww shucks," not "arsene wenger wenger wenger wenger") damn, nothing is going on.

Nasri on Euro delay (I'm still confident we'll get him, though), and nobody else in the works. 

Jens maybe goes back to Germany.  Mkay.

And, will Arsenal replace Edelman with David McNally, recently managing director of Fulham?

Nothing else.  Not even stuff to be witty about.

Meh.

Yo!

I was going to talk about the Arsenal reserves, but it then occurred to me that we haven't gotten into our opposition for next year, and all the rumblings dealing with said squads.

For example, the BBC has had an entire thread dedicated to Chelsea managment rumors.  I'm hoping for one of those cinematic failures...a mean, hard-hearted man who dreams of victory at the cost of his family, friends, and the lives of his players.  And then, in the end, when they could win by being evil, the manager realizes the wickedness of his ways and loses the game but saves his soul. 

And Arsenal takes the league.  Everybody wins!

Then, in the sequel, the formerly evil manager is sacked and replaced by a robot.  The robot understands all of the technical aspects of football, presumably, but it can't capture the spirit of human competition.  Its circuits fizzle and pop. 

Arsenal takes the league, again. 

Well, I could go on. 

Back to rumors: there seems to be no easy end to the "Ronaldo to Realcelona" fiasco.  I love the story about SAFerguson flying to Portugal to woo Ronaldo some more.  Maybe a promise of two haircuts per game will make the difference....

Plus, the Man City garage sale.  They may be pursuing Ronaldinho, too.  In his current form, he shouldn't be too hard to catch.

Finally, for now, you might enjoy the Liverpool Crouchgate.  15 million?  That's numberwang!

There are various links throughot the BBC and The Guardian, and, you know, all the other silly places to look too.

Awww deee ose. 

Full of hot dogs.

I went to dollar dog night yesterday and ate more than my share of hot dogs.  How many = more than my share?  Yeah, good question.  And I don't even do that "break them in half, dip 'em in water" trick used by the Japanese extreme eating guy.  Then I woke up to find silly media controversey and near nothingness in Arsenal news.

First, Hleb is even more likely to go now, and perhaps to Madrid.  Whoooo.  Hleb is a nifty dribbler, and he does draw the defense toward him.  But I would like more than 10 goals in three years from a player of his potential.  Seriously, he should score more.  The same goes for Rosicky, if he can ever come back from injury.

Second, in more positive news, Mark Randall and Nacer Barazite both want to work hard enough to get into the first team.  Of course they do!  But it is nice to hear that anyhow.  Check out Arsenal.com for the stories there.

And here's my favorite Mark Ranall almostmullet: 

And Third: oooooh: Danny Fizman says

     -Arsene will be supported in whomever he wishes to bring in.

     -Arsenal goes for big talent, not big names.

     -Arsenal players are paid well, comparable to ManU, above Liverpool.

     -More.

It is a fairly thorough Q and A, and worth the read if that stuff is your cup of tea.

In personal news, Addster has disappeared.  Nobody has seen him, so I figure he's on the Chelsea bench.

In Addster's honor:

"You're just a fat Paris Hilton."
Arsenal fans to Liverpool's Andriy Voronin.

Oh Hleb. 

I tried to look up funny pictures of his hair, but I couldn't find any.  He does have a rather cave-mannish cut though, doesn't he? 

He says that he'll meet with Wenger in the next few days to decide his fate.  I think he's being kinda stupid:  like Flamini, this last season was his best, and he is likely only to improve with Arsenal.  And as you know, players who leave Arsenal, with only a few exceptions, are usually not so hot elsewhere.  Not that he's gone yet.

All is quiet otherwise. 

Surprised that we haven't been linked to Matthew McConaughey yet.

Speculative, no? 

Honestly, I was thinking about it the whole time I watched Chelsea tie, and then lose to, Manchester United.  I kept harkening back to our loss vs. Barca two years ago (we played so well for so much of the match) and to our games this season. 

Frankly, with a healthy squad, I think Arsenal would have beaten either team yesterday.  Sure, I'm biased, but I think that both Man U and Chelsea were lucky (read: ref help) to beat Arsenal in the final weeks of the EPL campaign.  Chelsea had that nasty "play the ball back deep and press, even after you put the ball out for our injury " move, which led to the goal, and an even further loss of dignity, if you ask me.  Funny how they got so pissy about it when Tevez was involved in a similar play.  A the Bridge, an off-sides call not was not seen as well.  At Old Trafford, Man U had a free kick (goal by Hargreaves) off of a dive--replays show that Gilberto didn't come near him.  And of course, Man U gave away only one penalty kick all season.  Hmmmm.  Wow.  And Hmmm.

However, even if you take away my whining, Arsenal typically rises to big occasions. 

A friend of mine pointed out that when good teams play each other, it is often the ref who makes the game--the teams are too even to separate.  Worth considering.

Also--watching Ashley cry.  Watching Ronaldo miss.  Watching Anelka get blocked.  It could have been worse. 

Transfer rumors--still nothing definite.

See ya.

Someone is excited.

Yeah, I am.

Because it looks as though Nasri will be an Arsenal player, officially, quite soon!  Love that guy.  I could post links but they are all over:  Sky, BBC, etc. 

Who is next?  And, for debate, will Hleb go?  Where, exactly, will Samir play? 

Hello,

Not a lot of news coming out of the Liverpool camp at the moment either.  Besides the ever present Crouch, Penant, Kewell, and Riise possible transfers out, there is not a lot of buzz coming from Merseyside.  Seeing any or all of the four players I just mentioned leave Anfield would not upset me as their collective playing time this past season amounted to approximately 2.9 mins per match (I made that up).

Somewhat interestingly, Liverpool has recently been linked to Villa's Gareth Barry and Middlesbrough's Stewart Downing, both of whom I like. However, I'm not sure where they could possibly fit in with Mascherano and Alonso in the holding midfield roles, Gerrard in the center, and Babel and Kuyt on the wings, which is what I hope Rafa predominantly uses next season.

Shincan, in the same article from above, Henry to the MLS?! Ha! 

Happy Monday?

First up, three of our French players have been "ignored" by their national team.  Clichy, Diaby, and Sagna will sit out for Euro 2008.  If you ask me, I feel bad for them, assuming they wanted to represent their country, buuuuuut I feel super mega happy for Arsenal, who will need and want rested players for the CL qualifiers and the start of next year. 

I'm not so sure that Diaby is world class yet, but the additional experience would do him good, of course.

The other bit of news is that we've been linked with a number of French players now, but really, who knows what the chances are.  I'd give you the names beyond Nasri and Hatem Ben Arfa, but if I linked every name we'll be associated with, there'd be no end to the list.  All speculation and rumor, right now. 

Arsene, change that! 

And finally, it looks like Lehmann may head for Germany.  Good for him.  I always liked him, especially for how scrappy he is.  Jens reminds me of a hockey goalie....without skates.  And pads.  And a mask.  But just as pissy.

Shin out

G'day!

The FA cup is happening right now, and the other leagues--Spanish, French, Italian--are finishing up, but not much is going on for Arsenal.

Cesc isn't moving.  Duh.

Adebayor isn't moving.  Super duh.

And just yet, Wenger hasn't dropped cash on any additions to the squad.

The only news of note is Flamini saying "I didn't leave for money alone; I also left to play at a super giant mega club like AC Milan." He says that Arsenal could have signed him and kept him at the start of last summer.  It should be noted, though, that Flamini's best season was, by far, this last one.   Before that he was much more of a squad player who had good runs in several different positions.  He wasn't the machine that he proved himself to be this time around.  And, in the 2006-2007 season, Gilberto played well, as did Cesc, so there wasn't a lot of space for Flamini in the middle, where he wanted to play. 

So, Gilberto's drop in form allowed room for Flamini, who proved his worth. Then, he got perhaps more than his worth from the Italian team.  Okay.  Good luck to him.

Let's replace him and move forward!

Addster, any news? 

Hello, kids.

Looks like we've got some questions to ponder.

Question one:  Based on recent rumor, and tough to believe based on pricing, will Arsenal make a bid for Samir Nasri?  ooooooooh. 

Question two: Did Jens Lehmann and Manuel Almunia really shake hands?  And, during said shake, did Jens step on Manuel's foot and then punch him, just a little, in the kidneys?  Probably.

Question three: Not an Arsenal question but still exciting: will the EPL's most prolific scorer and serial diver consider a move to Spain?  C. Ronaldo is one of the best players in the world right now; could Real Madrid really offer up the cash that Manchester United would require? 

Answers.

One: Samir Nasri?   

I wouldn't complain.  I've watched him in a few games, and he seems creative, quick, and dangerous.  Sort of like Rosicky, sort of like Messi, and young enough to improve a great deal.  The high price isn't very...Wengeresque...so this falls very deeply in the realm of rumor.  I'll call Arsene later and find out.

In the meantime, Arsenal are reportedly offering some of their current players, Clichy, maybe Sagna, new, improved deals.  Hurrah!

Two--Jens and Almunia?  BFF. 

NO WAY.

Though Jens has the smoothest, silkiest voice ever.  Hard to believe.

And question the third: Ronaldo to Spain?  Maybe.  I don't know why C. Ronaldo would admit to such an interest right before a CL final.  I also don't know how much money it would take, besides buckets, buckets, and more buckets. 

But even if he did leave, Manchester U. would get so much money in return that they'd probably just buy a whole other team --maybe Lyon, maybe Everton-- and just put them on the bench.  They love to spend big. 

Well, we shall see, shall we not?  shant we?  should we shant?  whatever.