Stuttgart tonight marks the start of pre-season 'proper'

Morning and happy midweek to you all.

We've got a game tonight against Stuttgart in what could be called the first 'real' pre-season game. Whereas the others have all featured teams with mostly youngsters with some regulars thrown in tonight should see a return to action for the majority of the first team squad.

Again the result really isn't that important but at the same time good results in pre-season can give a team a good lift and confidence as they begin their campaign. Look at last summer and how well we performed in the Emirates Cup and the Amsterdam Tournament. It definitely played a part in us starting the season so well.

Tonight though is more about fitness and getting some match sharpness back. One man likely to play tonight is Robin van Persie who is hoping to have an injury free campaign. He says:

Last year I missed too many games and I am still disappointed about it. This is a new year with new chances. Hopefully I can be injury-free this year.

He's not the only one hoping that. Regular readers will know I'm a big fan, I think he's a fantastically talented player, but so far his career has been blighted by injury. Some of them due to bad luck, others due to him not managing them properly and coming back too quickly. And I think we can all understand that. Everyone wants to play but he's got to be a little more mature. I really hope he can have an injury-free campaign and if he does I think he'll score a lot of goals. If he spends another season mostly in the treatment room though you have to start thinking about alternatives.

One of the names to emerge from pre-season is that of Jack Wilshere, a central midfield player who has caught the eye in the games so far. He is the youngest of the pre-season squad and the boss seems to have high hopes for him. He's obviously not ready for first-team football yet though and there is the danger that we hype our youngsters a bit too much. As talented as they are, and there are some obviously talented young lads, very few of them are going to make the breakthrough the first team squad.

Arsenal said goodbye to Gary Lewin yesterday. We've done this before but good luck to him and thanks for everything.

Gilberto talks about players who want to leave clubs for more money and challenges them to earn their money by winning things. He says:

When you win things, you achieve more than anybody else. You get better contracts, and more money, anyway. I can’t blame a player who wants a good contract. But I believe if they stay at the club, they can earn good money and do a lot for the club and themselves. So if they win something, it means more and they are more appreciated by supporters.

It's been mentioned before but a lot of player's contracts at Arsenal are achievement based. So if you win trophies you get more money. For most players that's an incentive to perform and to win things. There are those though who find that rather too much like hard work and would rather just go somewhere else to do the same thing and get paid more. What can you do? You meet them in every walk of life, not just football.

Finally for today OleOle's Fantasy Football game is kicking off soon. Prizes include match tickets, Champions League trips, PS3s and more. To sign up click here and I'll set up an Arseblog league which we can keep track of during the season. Let me see if I can't blag an Arseblog only prize as well. Details to come.

Right so, busy day today. More tomorrow.