After a long wait for some goonerific football, Arsene Wenger and his Red Army…or Purple Army per se graced the National Stadium in Kuala Lampur to take on Malaysia’s finest. The Gunners started the game with a strong lineup using the tactical 4-2-3-1 setup.
Vito Mannone was the custodian between the sticks and his defense line was manned by Kieran Gibbs, Johan Djourou, Thomas Vermaelen and Carl Jenkinson.
Francis Coquelin was the midfield enforcer while Abou Diaby and Mikel Arteta played in advanced roles. Andre Santos, Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh completed the attacking triumvirate.
In a first half that had chances few and far between, Mohamad Amzi Muslim lit up fireworks in the humid Kuala Lampur skies as he blasted in a thunderbolt that left Mannone with no chance in Hell.
The equalizer came late on Thomas Eisfeld latched unto Nico Yennaris cut back to slot the ball home. Chuks Aneke won the tie for Arsenal late on with an effort that deflected off a defender.
The young guns were on song as the likes of Ignasi Miquel, Kyle Bartley, Chuks Aneke, Nico Yennaris and Craig Eastmond strutted their stuff. However, Benik Afobe fluffed his chance to get a shot at glory. In the end, it was a good run-out and Wenger had a few words to say in his post-match interview.
With the on-field activities taking center stage, the off the field proceedings dominated the Arsenal blogosphere with many spicy stories that would make the hair at the back of some necks stand up.
Starting with good news, Laurent Koscielny has agreed to sign a new long-term contract with the club till all eternity I guess. In just two seasons with Arsenal, Bosscielny has notched up an impressive 85 appearances and he has scored six goals.
I’m really ecstatic about this bit of info because it has shown that Arsenal are learning their lessons from the past. Koscielny has grown to become a massive defender and in my honest opinion, he was better than Fabrizio Coloccini that earned a place in last season’s Team of the Year.
Still on contracts, Theo Walcott is another player whose future has been shrouded in mystery. Robin van Persie has taken over the spotlight all summer long but people tend to forget that Walcott is faced with the same situation as well. The winger insists he knows nothing of rumours linking him with an exit from Arsenal this summer, with talks over a new contract ongoing. He stated that he’ll leave that business to his agent and he’ll continue doing his thing on the pitch.
Wenger also wants to resolve van Persie’s future in time for the start of the new season. We are no strangers to Wenger’s intention to keep van Persie but everyone is hoping for a speedy resolution because there’s a fresh season to look forward too.
Manchester City’s gaffer, Roberto Mancini, is getting frustrated over this saga and he’s hoping for the Etihad hierarchy to step up their bid for the Flying Dutchman. Man City had offered £15m for van Persie’s services but Arsenal sent the money back to them with a complimentary “fuck off” message as well.
With so much sidetalk of the club accepting a £20m bid from Juventus, Man City will have to flex their financial muscles a bit to make Arsenal bulge. In my opinion, a move to Juventus would be in everyone’s best interest. They would finally get a striker capable of blasting in the goals on a consistent basis while Arsenal would have done good business for a wantaway 29-year-old with one more year left in his deal.
Sky Sports had reported that Arsenal isn’t doing any transfer business anytime soon but the news making waves in the Arsenal world is that Malaga’s Santi Cazorla has agreed personal terms with Arsenal over a proposed £15.5m move (via Guardian). Apparently, negotiations have been ongoing and Malaga’s present financial woes could force their hands to let go off Cazorla.
Cazorla had been in Villarreal all his life and he secured a loan move to Recreativo Huelva in 2006. However, he secured a big money move to Malaga last season, where he played an instrumental role in the Champions League qualification fairytale adventure.
One of the writers of Memoirs of a Gooner, Escobar, aired his reasons why he wouldn’t want to see Cazorla in Arsenal. It’s worth a read.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news though, but Arsene Wenger has ruled out a move for Yann M’Vila (via Goal.com),
When you look we have Alex Song, Aaron Ramsey, Francis Coquelin, Diaby, Wilshere and Mikel Arteta. We are not short if Diaby and Wilshere are coming back. If we have setbacks in pre-season, it could be different.
This is the same Wenger that denied interest in Lukas Podolski during the winter transfer window and had stated that Thierry Henry was “only practising” with the Gunners.
M’Vila is a player that will contribute immensely to Arsenal’s cause this season but I believe that Wenger is taking a coy approach in handling this issue.
Arsenal’s next match will take place in the magnificent Beijing Bird’s Nest Stadium against a familiar foe, Manchester City. It’s scheduled to start around 12.00pm on Friday 27th of July, 2012.
For those that voted in the poll I created in my last post, 85.95% of the fans that voted wanted the captaincy to be handed to Thomas Vermaelen, 6.14% wanted the band to remain with van Persie while 7.89% didn’t give any fledgling fuck.
Thanks for sharing your opinion on your preferred destination for the Arsenal captaincy this season. Feel free to share yours on this post as well.
Sayonara.
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