A Night at the Emirates + Strengthening our Midfield + Greedybayor

Hello again you Gooners. I'm guessing everyone knows that the Emirates Cup is on tonight with The Arsenal facing Juventus and Real Madrid facing Hamburg SV. Like I said yesterday, I'm expecting us to win tonight's fixture 2-1 or 3-1. Simply because we're much fitter at this point and have the confidence of winning behind us. And with names like (Ole' Gigi) Buffon and Del Piero, they are no walkovers and will probably give us a good run around the pitch. It'll also be intersting seeing Real Madrid and HSV play, especially since we'll be facing em later on and it only makes sense to know your enemy. I also want to see how Van de Vaart is treated on the pitch by both teams. It'll probably be of interest to anyone whose been following his transfer from Hamburg.

And speaking of player transfers, I think most would agree that another Midfield player needs to be brought in. And I'm not talking about another 19 or 20 year old out whose the next big thing in world football. I'm talking about a strong 26+ player who'll be reaching his peak and helping us win a Trophy THIS season. I'm talking about a 6ft giant who'll own the role of a Central/Defensive Mid. Lets face it, it wasn't the number of goals that we scored that let us down, its the number we let it. And having someone snapping at the feet of attackers like an alligator is what we need. Not having someone fill that role will only mean that we're forced to choke some of our game's attacking flair. Right now, we have Denilson and Diaby as succesors to Flamini/Gilberto, and for reasons unknown to few except Wenger and God, Eboue. Now I'm willing to accept that he's a decent Right-Back, but he was an absolute failiure in Midfield. No goals have been recorded on Arsenal.com and quite frankly, that says a lot. Especially since Walcott produced 7 goals appearing mostly as a Super-Sub. Anyways, enough of Eboue-bashing. Outside options are numerous, but names that have been thrown around are Barry, Xabi, Frings, Senna. All of which have their own pros and cons. Personally I think that Xabi is a good choice, especially since he's still fairly young but experienced in his own right. And he doesn't have the over inflated price tag and is on the correct side of 30 (as opposed to Senna and Frings. I would have mentioned Inler, but I really don't know enough about him to give a decent review of the chap.

And Finally its been announced that Ade's signed a new contract. Good on the togolese basterd. Seriously, for a player whose been keeping Arsenal Fans on the edge for the last few weeks, his comments are a little more than dickish.

When I was holidaying there was a lot of speculation, a lot of people were talking on my behalf which is not me — I have never said I will leave the Club and there is no one that can say that. here today so now I can tell everyone that today yes I will sign a contract. I’m feeling very good here, very well here and at the moment my heart is with Arsenal.

Awww, we love you too. I mean, have you ever heard a more definative declaration of loyalty. I still believe that most of the crap we heard during the summer was from his agent. But him playing ball and not quashing the rumors (especially after saying that he'd never consider leaving at the end of last season) either makes him a moron or a utter twat. Footballers these days....Anyways, under the new contract, he'll be at Arsenal until 2012 (hah) and will be earning anywhere from 60,000 Quid to 100,000. I say this because I've heard a number of different figures. I'm guessing its closer to 60,000 or 70,000 with a number of performance based incentives.

We'll thats it then, hope you guys enjoy the match as much as I probably will. I hope it isn't a borefest. I hope that RVP scores a hatrick (I hope he manages to finish the game in one piece more though). Most of all, I hope they show it in Bangladesh. Otherwise it'll be another boring football less night. And they're quite boring