Howdy, a quick look at the Saturday stories for you.

The main one is that goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski has signed a new long term deal with the club. Arsene Wenger said:

I rate Lukasz highly and I am very pleased that he has committed his future to the Club. I believe he is a top competitor, he’s intelligent and reads the game very well and has all the ingredients to be successful in his position.

Now, after the tail end of last season I don't suppose the news that Fabianski has signed a new deal is going to have anyone jumping up and down with joy. He was poor in the semi-final against Chelsea and provided some other rather flappy and unconvincing moments. 

However, he's our number 2 goalkeeper, he's only 24 which is extremely young in the life of a goalkeeper so there's plenty of time for him to get better, and I really don't see the point of getting in any way stressed about this. I think, and I'll include myself in this, that we have a tendency to write off players too soon. Also having to go out and buy a different number 2 would take money away from where we really need to spend it so I'm happy enough to see if Fabianski can improve.

Plus we recently signed a half-Norwegian, half-Irish goalkeeper (who is very young, I know) called Sean McDermott (he's even got his own street named after him here in Dublin). They're all just keeping the shirt warm for him, I'm telling you.

Elsewhere we've been linked again with PSG's Mamadou Sakho. He's only 19 but there's a bit of a buzz about him. His agent is quoted as saying:

He will be moving clubs this summer. Arsenal are interested, but the club are too cheap at the moment. A transfer will happen soon. He wants to play football in England and Arsenal are a good club. They want him the most. Bayern Munich are a top European club, so I think it will be Bayern or Arsenal.

Us, 'too cheap'? That's a new one on me. I know that what an agent says and what's actually happening are very often at odds but this isn't the first time we've been linked with this player. He wouldn't necessarily bring a great deal of experience to the party, less than 40 league games from what I can gather, but he'd definitely bring a mohawky toughness and nobody can argue that's something we've been missing.

You'd also like to think that Wenger's contacts at PSG would give us the edge over Bayern if we really were interested in the player.

Jack Wilshere talks about how Theo Walcott has been helping him out as he makes his way towards the first team and speaks highly of the young English talent at the club.

The Mirror speculates that Philippe Senderos will come back to the club and fight for his Arsenal future but unless they've actually spoken to Senderos, which I sincerely doubt, it's just speculative copy. Much as I'd like to see him back I think his future probably lies elsewhere.

Dennis Bergkamp believes Arsenal need to spend this summer, saying:

It's wise to get some new players in for the team's sake. It's always a good feeling when you get four or five new players in the dressing room.

He talks about Yaya Toure as a possible purchase but we've been down that road often enough so there's no comment from me on that. Interesting that he said four of five players. It could be that many when you consider the possible departures - Gallas, Adebayor, Sylvester (please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please), so as they say 'Dennis knows'. 

It is Dennis that knows, right? Yeah, thought so.

Right so, busy day. Got some cold pizza to eat for breakfast. Bring it on. More tomorrow.

Morning all, it's a new week and there's no point looking backwards. We can sit around all day and wonder why he didn't pick Arshavin, in particular, or Song but it's not going to make the slightest bit of difference to anything.

We play Liverpool at Anfield tomorrow night and that's where the focus has to be. We'll be looking to bounce back from the Chelsea defeat in the FA Cup, while this will be their first game since going out of the Champions League to Chelsea.

They have the advantage in that they had no game this weekend and they've had a bit more time to get over the disappointment. They have no distractions now. The league is their only chance of silverware this season and defeat to us would more or less end their hopes so there'll be nothing complicated about their preparation.

Meanwhile we don't have much time to rest some legs and get our heads ready for the game. Robin van Persie says:

We have to play the game against Liverpool on Tuesday now, whether you are happy or if you are not happy. It is the Premier League and we need those points, but I am confident because we have strong characters.

Whether van Persie plays or not remains to be seen, he's got a groin injury, but let's hope he's right about strong characters. As I said yesterday if there's anybody feeling sorry for themselves after Saturday then they need to snap right out of it and get their heads straight. The guys who didn't really perform at Wembley will be looking to make amends, I hope.

Obviously the team selection is a crucial part of that and Arsene's got to look at the mistakes he made in his team selection at the weekend and put things right.  

Kolo Toure believes the fact the Liverpool game comes so soon is a good thing, saying:

The good thing is that we only have a couple of days to get this loss off our back. We will head to Liverpool on Tuesday and look to get the three points. We just have to put all this to the back now and focus on the next game.

And he says the young players will learn from the mistakes, which is all well and good but what about the mistakes the more senior players made? They need to step up too. 

One man who will no doubt be feeling the pressure is Lukasz Fabianski. As good as he was against Villarreal, he was as poor against Chelsea, but he's got the backing of the manager, who says:

I just want to see him recover because I firmly believe he will be one of the best goalkeepers in the world. He has the talent. He is brave, he is intelligent and technically he is very good. He was not at his best on Saturday but we have to accept that.

Somewhat hyperbolic from Arsene, you have to say, but it's obvious that he's trying to give his confidence a boost. In an ideal world Almunia would be coming back into the team but that's not going to happen. We need Fabianski and if he feels he's got the support of the manager then it will help him recover. As will a good performance against Liverpool. That will redeem him far more than words and fingers crossed he can do that.

He's still very young in the life of a goalkeeper and even the most experienced ones can have bad games. Did we not see Jens Lehmann concede similar goals to Chelsea's second during his Arsenal career? I've seen David Seaman beaten at his near post. So these things happen to the best. How he responds to the Chelsea performance will be a big indication of his quality, so here's hoping he can do that.

As yet there's no team news for tomorrow but you'd hope that we'd have Bacary Sagna back in the squad. Again I expect a bit more rotation. I think we'll definitely see Arshavin this time, I think Nicklas Bendtner will start as well, along with Nasri and Song in midfield. Apart from those changes I don't think we have too many other options, certainly not at back anyway as Djourou and Clichy are still out, the latter likely to miss the rest of the season with a stress fracture of a vertebra in his back.

Anyway, no doubt we'll have more to discuss tomorrow. Till then.

Morning all,

so we won a trophy! Hurrah. I think that's the third time we've won the Amsterdam Tournament. We drew 1-1 with Sevilla in a game which told us little that we didn't already know.

Lukasz Fabianski had a quite marvelous game in goal, commanding his area and making some fantastic saves. I was glad to see him have that kind of a game as things like that will ensure competition between the two keepers and competition means you get better performances.

We saw that for all their talent that some of the kids are still very raw. Aaron Ramsey caught in possession twice just outside our box, Johann Djourou once and our full backs got the run around all night. Our goal came from Carlos Vela who showed good strength to hold off the defender and finish well. I think he's going to really push on when surrounded by more experienced players. The manager said it was a lesson in defending under pressure and really it won't have done anyone any harm.

So, pre-season is over and done with and now it's time to get on with the real thing. We start with the Champions League qualifier on Wednesday against FC Twente and with midfield looking very light at the moment there's unlikely to be a signing before that game. Arsene Wenger says:

At the moment, I am not close to concluding any transfer deal, because I am too busy here. Maybe next week something can happen, but for now we have to focus on the Champions League and forget about transfers because it is a big target for us.

Of course it's a big target but wouldn't signing a good player make life a bit easier? Perhaps that's just me. It does look as if there is something going on though and as I said yesterday I think the sooner we do the deal the better. I think, as it stands, we're more than capable of beating Twente but I think everyone would feel a lot more confident if the squad was that bit stronger.

The boss also dismissed reports that Justin Hoyte would be leaving the club saying no firm offer had been received. There was a Boro scout in the stadium last night and I suspect someone told Hoyte because he played like he didn't want to be bought. I thought his performance was very odd last night.

Rounding up the stories in the Sunday papers the News of the World we're 'keeping tabs' on Yaya Toure. Zzzzzz.

They also have a story where Manuel Almunia says Theo Walcott needs to be a bit nastier on the pitch. I remember some film where this American footballer guy was running through to make a touchdown and from under his shirt he took a gun and started shooting the defenders out of his way. That would be cool although probably just a touch too nasty.

And that's really about it. Have yourselves a good Sunday.