After so long without any major transfer acitivity since the departure ofMatt Flamini to Milan and the arrival of Aaron Ramsey from Cardiff, I woke up to the news that Gilberto and Alex Hleb have left Arsenal.

The former would certainly be missed for his professionalism and humble attitude which should endear him much to the fans of his new club, Panathinaikos. I did not think the departure of Hleb would be missed by much at Arsenal.

The Belarussian should have found the net more frequently with the skills that he has but the return of just ten goals in all the matches he played would not push him into the same mould as Robert Pires, the one who many Gooners would like to the same kind of player to don the red and white (or whatever left of it) colours of Arsenal.

There are a few unknown quantity in the Arsenal side for next season. I am waiting eagerly how Samir Nasri would fit in the Arsenal style of play though he already expressed his eagerness to be working with a coach like Arsene Wenger.

Then, there are the youngsters Ramsey and Carlos Vela of Mexico. I believe Theo Walcott will be given more responsibility during the coming season by Wenger as many Gooners are hoping that he would realise more and more of his potentials that saw him taken to Germany during the last World Cup.

If Abou Diaby could do a Flamini or emulate what Marcos Senna had done for Spain during EURO 2008, that would enable Cesc Fabregas and Nasri to do more damage up-front to the oppositions. Even the Brazilian Denilson is capable of doing the same function.

The only area that really disappointed me is the Adebayor protracted transfer saga. I chose to believe in him last season despite him missing a hatful of scoring chances. Unfortunately, the reward was a demand of a hefty pay rise to be at par with the legendary Thierry Henry. 

Par with Thierry? Are you for real?

Now, I really wish that he would go to Barcelona (which is quite unlikely unless Sam Eto'o makes his move too). Despite not having many opportunity I really hope Niklas Bendtner would be able to step up and relegate the Togonator to the bench.

So much to look forward to and I just cannot wait!

Up the Arse!

Well done to Cesc Fabregas for becoming the EURO2008 winner with his nation, Spain.

Now what I would like to see is him helping Arsenal to a few silverwares this season, something we have threatened to do every season but in the end finished them empty handed.

It is not like I am going to switch my allegiance to another team if they failed (God forbids) to win anything but it would make it much, much sweeter to see major cups flocking to the Emirates for the first time and making it their home for a long, long time.

The close season is something that can make your head go spinning around with all the transfer rumours circling around.

Truthfully, I am quite pissed off with the one about Manu Adebayor. If it is true that he is demanding the sort of money just after a season of excellence, then I would really glad to see him gone. The Togolese should have kept pace with manure's Ronalfoo on the goal count had he has more finesse in front of goal.

Most Gooners stood by him despite seeing him missing chances again and again. And he did not take that into consideration, than it is better for him to say good-bye to us all.

...
 

The champions of Europe are going to be determined in a few hours time with traditional favourite Germany playing pereenial big time choker Spain.

The Germans were not entirely convincing during their match against Turkey. However, the usual phrase of being mentally strong came to the fore by snatching the winner in the dying moments with the score tied at 2-2.

Spain on the other hand continued their impressive form with a comprehensive 3-0 win over a resurgent Russian side. Despite becoming a late favourite with many football fans, especially after eliminating the Dutch in the previous round, Russia were never really in the match.

Both teams were rocked by injury news coming into the final with Spain has to play without David Villa and talismatic captain Michael Ballack is a doubtful starter for the Germans. However, both coaches are expected to come up with their own game-plan to overcome those setbacks.

I really would like to see Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas taking the centre-stage again irrespective of him being in the first eleven or as it was in the semi-final match against Russia, coming from the bench and making an impact to the match.

Being a sentimentalist, my heart also goes to Jen Lehmann, who despite leaving Arsenal for Stuttgart in July, still remain one of my favourite Arsenal player.

With the EURO2008 being touted as the best edition for quite sometime, fans could look forward to an exciting finale to the second largest football event in the world.

... 

The mental strength of Cesc Fabregas was evident this morning when he successfully converted the fifth Spanish penalty to take his country to the last four of EURO2008. It is not a small feat considering he was facing the towering figure of Gianluigi Buffon, one of the world's best goalkeeper.

Now Spain are going to face Russia, who overcame the odds by beating Robin Van Persie's Netherland yesterday. Despite having won their group encounter 4-1, nobody in the Spanish camp would dare to think they are going to have an easy ride this time around.

I for one would like to see Arsenal number four shine again in that match to book Spain's place against Jens Lehmann's Germany in the final.

... 

After Germany made it to the last four, two unfamiliar names followed suit.

Turkey and Croatia would create history by qualifying to the EURO2008 semi-final for the first time. After 118 minutes of stop and go football, the match came to life when Rustu Recber did a Nikopolidis and Ivan Klasnic benefited from it.

When one would have thought the Balkan nation had secured their semi-final berth, the Turks won the ball and Rustu's long ball was headed down for Semih Senturk to blast home in added time.

It was the Turks who held their nerves during the penalty shoot-out and Rustu became in instant hero by saving two out of four Croatia penalties. They are going to face the Germans in Basle on Wednesday.

Another new name in the last four is Russia. With Dutchman Guus Hiddink at the helm, Russia upset one of the tournament favourite Holland with a 3-1 win in extra-time. His fellow countrymen just failed to get into gear and could have gone home during normal time.

Hiddink now has to come up with another game-plan when the last four line-up is completed after the match between World Champions, Italy and Spain in order to play in the final which is scheduled on 29-06-2008 at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna.

... 

As a football fan perhaps I should have written something earlier about the on-going EURO2008 but I did not.

My policy in supporting any nation at any competition is the nation must have at least an Arsenal player, regardless of being the first choice or otherwise. Thus, from there you could see that my support has been thrown behind Switzerland (Senderos), Germany (Lehmann), Poland (Fabianski), Netherlands (Van Persie), France (Gallas) and Spain (Fabregas). The Czech Republic and Croatia would have my support too if Tomas Rosicky and Eduardo were fit to be selected.

The first quarter-final saw Germany eliminated Portugal which was a welcomed result especially the 3-2 win would see the end of the mugs from manure being broadcasted, polluting the airwaves with their smug faces.

I would be a neutral fan in the Croatia and Turkey match though I really would like to see the Turks making it to the last four. But missing several key players would make the Balkans as favourites, especially after winning all their three matches in their group to emerge ahead of Germany.

Later People!