Right, well football's back and we can finally put the Interlull behind us. Obviously there was plenty about Thierry, Ireland and France and what have you at Arsene's press conference yesterday but I think enough has been said on here about it.

The only thing I will comment on is his call for technology to be used to help referees. He said:

They [FIFA/UEFA] have come out with a solution with one [referee] behind the goal, but the best one is technology.

The biggest anger for me is that we are still in 2009, sitting here where millions of people see what happened but one guy doesn’t see it and we can’t help him. That is the most frustrating thing.

Hard to argue with that and I think the sooner they find a way to introduce video technology to help referees the better. Obviously it brings up many issues. When/where can you use it? How often? Can you do it without stopping the fabled 'flow of the game'? However, I'm sure if you got enough clever people together they could come up with a system that works and can be fine-tuned after it is introduced. The fear, of course, is that with Blatter and Platini at the respective helms, their dinosaur ways will prevent it from happening for as long as possible.

Moving on, thankfully, to today's game against Sunderland there's some unexpected team news. After initally saying Theo Walcott would be 'short', Arsene announced he was back and part of the squad for the trip to the north-east. Timely news with the absences of van Persie and Bendtner and with Vela back as well it means we do look to have options up top - although quite small options. 

Last season's trip to the Stadium of Light saw Arsenal rescue a point with a Cesc header in the 90th minute, and on top of the Fulham game it was another little sign that perhaps Arsene had chosen to rely on the young midfielders a bit too soon. You would expect to see a much different Alex Song today than the one who struggled alongside Denilson last year.

Under Steve Bruce Sunderland are a better side than this time last year as well. They've beaten Liverpool, a bit fortuitously it has to be said, and were 30 seconds of injury time away from beating Manchester United at Old Trafford, so they certainly have something about them. We might be a bit concered with post-Interlull tiredness, especially as key players like Gallas and Sagna did 120 minutes in midweek, Cesc played 90 for Spain and Arshavin travelled to somewhere quite far away. 

Eboue is a fairly natural replacement for Sagna but the big decision AW has to make is whether or not to rest Gallas, who you forget is 59 now. I suppose it'll come down to how the player himself feels. If he can get through today then the midweek game against Standard Liege is probably the best one to give him a break. With Sylvester likely to start today at left-back, and I think Sagna rested, I would be surprised if Gallas didn't play. Making three changes to the back four seems a little risky.

Up front the focus will be on Eduardo. After signing a new deal in midweek he'll be full of beans and has probably gone off to buy an even bigger watch. Arsene Wenger said this week that if he hadn't suffered that injury he reckons he'd already have 100 goals for the club, which would be quite something considering how long he's been with us. Maybe he's trying to boost the confidence of a player who has looked a little rusty but I think with a run of games he'll find his form again. With support from Arshavin, Nasri, Rosicky et al, we should have plenty to trouble Sunderland today.

Rounding up the other news Arsene talked, again, about the progression of Aaron Ramsey who will be firmly in his thoughts after his fine display for Wales. I don't see him starting today, I think Nasri or Rosicky will be given the nod, but he's not so much knocking on the door now as battering it. His time will come very soon.

With Robin van Persie's placenta treatment in the news the manager revealed he's not a fan of such treatments saying modern medicine is the best medicine. The placenta thing is all a bit hubble-bubble, like some old crone cooking up a poultice, but if it does no harm then it may help a player - even if he just thinks he's getting better more quickly.

And that's really about that. Nothing left to do but eat bacon and fashion some kind of raft which I'm sure will be needed by the end of the day if it keeps raining here.

Fingers crossed we get ourselves back on track straight away and take the three points. Till tomorrow.

Another fun night of Carling Cup action at the Grove saw Arsenal go through to the quarter-finals with a 2-1 win over Liverpool.

As expected the team was a mix of youth and experience. Nicklas Bendtner, Eduardo and Samir Nasri got minutes under their belt to get themselves fit, at the back Senderos and Sylvester provided a solid foundation while Lukasz Fabianski returned in goal.

The surprise inclusion of the night was that of Craig Eastmond in the holding role in midfield. I haven't ever seen much of him before and from what I can gather he's only just moved into midfield in the reserve/youth set up having played most of his time as a right back. Ahead of him Aaron Ramsey and Fran Merida provided the craft in the centre of the park and after last night the more established first team players will know they've got some serious competition on their hands.

The first half provided two outstanding goals. We took the lead when good work from Eastmond made Vornin's pass look very sloppy, it broke to Merida on the edge of their box and he cracked it home off the inside of the post to make it 1-0 to the Arsenal. His first goal for the club and what a strike it was.

Having had most of the play ourselves Liverpool came back into it. They had experience in their team too. Kuyt, Voronin and Babel began to get involved more and they equalised with a terrific goal from left back Insua. A dipping volley from outside the area which left Fabianski with no chance.

Honours even at the break but five minutes into the second half we scored what turned out to be the winner. Nicklas Bendnter, who appeared the rest of the time to be playing in wellies, got the ball in their box, shifted it past Skrtel and lashed it home from close range with his left foot. 

As the game went on we suffered a bit in terms of tiredness/fitness and Liverpool pressed to try and take advantage. They probably should have scored when Kuyt fizzed one across goal but Babel didn't even get near it. They might have had a penalty on another night too when a shot hit Senderos on the arm but I think it would have been a fairly generous decision.

In the end we took the ball into the corner, this team perhaps conscious of closing out a game, and victory was secured. Arsenalist has highlights.

Afterwards Arsene said:

I believe overall it was a game of top quality with two teams who really went for it. You had the quality of the passing, sometimes the ball was played through a very short space but at a high pace and overall you can say tonight we gave the people what they paid for and I'm very happy to say that and we had top quality in every position I must say.

The stand-out performers on the night for me came from Arsenal's midfield. Debutant Eastmond can feel very pleased with his night's work, Fran Merida showed why Arsene so wanted to keep him. He's clever on the ball, works hard and his goal was first class. But top of the pile for me was Aaron Ramsey. I said yesterday there might be a player or two worried about his progress and if I were Abou Diaby I'd be very worried indeed.

Ramsey was at the heart of everything we did. He worked hard, his passing was excellent (although he did get a bit tired in the last quarter of the game), and some of the stuff he did when surrounded by Liverpool players was fantastic. There was one move in particular in the first half when we went from our right back position to create a half chance in the Liverpool box which resulted in a corner and Ramsey's ability to find a pass in crowded midfield areas was just brilliant. He's still got a bit to learn obviously, he's still only 18, but it's clear to see why the manager says he's 'pushing hard' for a first team place. If he continues to progress like this then it won't be long before he's appearing regularly.

Samir Nasri's return was great to see also. He got 90 minutes under his belt, which clearly cost him towards the end of the game, but it'll be vital to get that kind of match fitness. His quality on the ball gives our midfield/front three another option so fingers crossed he stays fit and doesn't pick up any residual niggles from his broken leg.

At the back I thought the full backs were solid, Gibbs in particular had a good game, credit to Sylvester and Senderos whose experience at the back was crucial and Lukasz Fabianski had a solid return in goal. Despite the manager saying he would have no worries bringing Almunia back I expect the Pole to keep his place in nets for the North London derby on Saturday.

The draw for the quarter-finals takes place at the weekend and there are potentially some tough opponents. Ourselves aside the other teams in the draw are Man United, Man City, Chelsea, Sp*rs, Blackburn, Portsmouth and Aston Villa. Obviously it'd be nice to avoid to the first four and probably Villa in the next round but whoever we get it's going to be another good challenge and learning experience for the lads. Onwards and upwards.

Now with the Carling Cup out of the way, so to speak, we can begin to think about this weekend. None of the players who started against West Ham played last night, although I do wonder if some of those who played against Liverpool will have done enough to force themselves into the reckoning for the Sp*rs game. Plenty on that fixture to come in the next couple of days. 

Your final reminder then to win tickets to the game with thanks to Emirates Airline. You must get your entry in to the competition by midnight tonight and tomorrow the Randon Number Generator will do it's thing and choose the three lucky winners of pairs of Club Level tickets.

Until then.

Imagine a world without coffee. It would be a truly dark and terrible place. When I was a younger chap I had a mate whose mother refused to buy coffee for some reason but insisted they drink chicory. I would imagine that is not at all pleasant. Like having beef stew but without beef and with chunks of gopher instead.

Moving on there's Carling Cup action tonight against them old Mugsmashers who will be riding high after their weekend win against United. That win means that they are not in 'the worst crisis evah!!' and instead are 'right back in the title race!!'. What kind of a team Benitez puts out will be interesting. He can't really afford to risk any of his good players and traditionally he's used the Carling Cup in the same way as we have, playing youngsters, but without the same success.

From our point of view it looks like it'll be a pretty strong line-up. There's experience at the back with Senderos and Sylvester, Fabianski returns in goal (damn you 'holic for getting to the Pole position gag before I did), Samir Nasri is back for his first start since breaking his leg in pre-season training while Eduardo and Bendtner will return from their little knocks to get back to match sharpness. Unfortunately there's no Jack Wilshere who misses out with an ankle injury.

The return of Nasri is a welcome one, although where exactly he's going to fit into this team remains to be seen. Personally I'd see him as part of the midfield three. With Song the holding midfielder you have Cesc + 1 and he can certainly do that job, as well as being part of the front three in one of the wide positions if necessary. However, Arsene says:

Basically, I can play him where he is needed. I would say more in the defensive role, but because he can dribble he can play on the flanks.

Nasri has pace and he can play in a role that is half a winger, a dropped winger who will come in sometimes, can go wide, so of course it has to be balanced maybe with a striker on the other side sometimes.

Clear as mud, right? I've read that about 10 times now and I still don't really know what it means. I know we used him in a defensive midfield role last season but I'm not sure he's suited for it. He's a clever player with quick feet who can finish well and to me it's obvious we'd get the best out of him further up the pitch. It's down to him, however, to make a position his own and the quality he brings to midfield is no bad thing at all.

Perhaps the manager's thinking regarding Nasri as part of the midfield three is being influenced by the development of Aaron Ramsey. The young Welshman is very much in the manager's thoughts, as he says:

He is really pushing hard - and the other midfielders have a lot of work to keep him out of the side because he is getting very close.  He has made a big improvement compared to last year, when he still looked a little bit like a youth player, but now he looks like a [first-team] player.

Ramsey will play tonight and get another chance to impress. I've got to agree with the boss, he really does look a much different player this season than last. Physically he looks much stronger, he's better on the ball and he's really got a chance to become a more regular part of the first team. With AW also singing the praises of Fran Merida, who should also play tonight, there's certainly going to be a serious amount of competition for places in the Arsenal midfield if the youngsters keep developing the way they have.

There are perhaps one or two older players, and I mean 'older' relatively, who must know they haven't really taken the chances they've been given in the first team and who will be rather worried about the kind of progress Ramsey, in particular, is making. And rightly so. The manager also talks about Sanchez Watt pushing on to challenge the strikers at the club. 

Maybe there's an element of the manager talking up the young players to motivate them, perhaps there's an element of talking them up to let the more established players know they've got hungry youngsters looking to take their place - whatever his thinking it seems like a while since we've had this kind of situation at the club and competition for places is always a good thing.

With a big, big game coming up at the weekend the Carling Cup is always fun to watch. While we all want the 'youngsters' to perform there's no real pressure, which is often reflected in the freedom of our performance. I'm looking forward to tonight.

And that's really about that. For those of you who have been asking about the Arseblog iPhone app it is still being reviewed by Apple so hopefully we'll have some news on that in the next few days. I'll keep you updated.

I've also been trying out the official Arsenal app which is pretty good, I have to say. There's the news feed from the official site in handy iPhone style, highlights of games which worked perfectly for me over wifi but were a bit temperamental over 3G as well as handy stuff like fixtures, the league table, ticketing info and galleries of pictures which can be saved as desktops etc (the goal clips are streamed though, you can't save them to the phone). Overall a success, I say.

And finally a reminder about the Emirates Airline competition to win one of three pairs of club level tickets for Saturday's game against Sp*rs. If you haven't already entered, and it appears that most of you have, click here for all the details.

Right then, I've got to see a man about some t-shirts. Have a good one, here's a smashing of the 'smashers tonight and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

A quick Saturday round-up for you.

And that's about it. More tomorrow.

But seriously, it's quiet. There's Stan Kroenke's share purchase which brings his stake in the club from 28.3% to 28.58%

Perhaps this is a reaction to Jabba's recent statement about how he's keeping his beady eye on things afer the club rejected his oh-so-generous rights issue offer. Who knows? It just means the American is now the largest shareholder by another little bit. I expect a bit more share movement over the next few months as the lines that are drawn become much clearer.

Two of the younger players at the club are convinced the lads will learn from last season and make things better in the one ahead. Theo Walcott says:

It was a good learning curve for us all, but next year it is all about the trophies. Hopefully we have had the years of experience now and can bring something back for the fans.

While Aaron Ramsey says we need more focus against the so-called smaller teams in the league:

I think we have proved that we can beat the top teams and the title contenders. Now we need to pick up more points against the bottom half of the table. That's the main lesson we have learned from last season. It is frustrating to lose against teams further down the table when you have beaten the big sides. 

I think there's a balance to be found but I'm not sure one win against United and one win against Chelsea proves that much beyond we can pull a performance out of the hat when we click. 

It'll be interesting to see what happens with Ramsey this season. If we do buy that mythical central-midfielder we're all hoping he's going to be the player who's first on the team sheet beside Cesc. Then you've got Denilson, Diaby and Song and then Ramsey. 

I hope he rises to the challenge and kicks on but it wouldn't be that much of a surprise if we loaned him out so he can get a solid year of playing under his belt.

Real Madrid have said they don't want to sign Cesc. So that's that then, no doubt. No more Cesc to Madrid stories this summer. Interesingly, in a very slow Saturday so there's not much else to talk about kind of a way, a poll on the El Mundo site shows that when asked if they'd prefer to sign Cesc or Franck Ribery, 78% of Barcelona fans chose the bloke who wouldn't look out of place cast in cement and attached the side of a cathederal.

The Daily Mail outdid itself yesterday with possibly the most ludicrous piece of fiction of the summer so far. They claimed that Barcelona were willing to offer us Alexander Hleb + some cash for Cesc. I mean, seriously. They might as well offer us a great big bowl of vomit with a spoon made from hardened goat's jism. I can't honestly think of a more stupid transfer story this summer.

The Mirror links Sylvester with a move to Bordeaux. It'd make sense on every level. We have six centre-halves in the squad at the moment, that's too many. Sylvester has, in the most diplomatic way possible, failed to convince anybody that the £700,000 we paid Manchester United last summer was worth it and I don't know that there'd be too many tears shed over his departure.

And on that cheery note I shall bid you good day and talk to you again tomorrow.

Morning all, it's Friday. Hurrah! I have a poxy cold. Booo!

Early team news ahead of the Chelsea game on Sunday is that Adebayor, Nasri and Sagna might be back from injury. Let's hope they are because we need them back and we need a big performance, similar to the one against Man United.

Chelsea are formidable opponents, people might talk about how their form is not great at the moment, but they've only conceded four goals in the league all season and they've scored thirty-two. It's not exactly as if they're there for the taking, or anything. In fact, they'll be looking at us and thinking it's a great time to play us. The only thing is they have been more prolific in front of goal away from Stamford Bridge and have conceded more goals at home than away so perhaps that's something we can exploit.

Cesc says we won't be going there to defend, which is good because we're really not very good at it. He says:

Our target is to go there and win. We need to get some points back. Arsenal never go for a draw and a club like Chelsea will be the same as us. Every time I have played against them they have gone forward and tried to gain victory. We will expect it will be the same on Sunday.

There's no Drogba, of course, he's suspended after his coin chucking antics but they do have Nicolas Anelka who is probably in the best form he's ever been in since he left Arsenal. We know they have quality in all areas though so it's going to need a big, big performance from our boys. More on that game in the next couple of days.

The pre-match stuff will be full of the return of Gallas to Stamford Bridge, particularly after what has come to light in his autobiography. He has well and truly poked the hornet's nest by bringing up his acrimonious departure in his book and that's making plenty of headlines this morning. All I'll say is that I think footballer's biographies are a stupid idea when they're still playing. When you're retired you can say what you want but given everything that went on last week the last thing we need is another Gallas inspired media shitstorm. What good does it do anyone?

Chariman PHW says Arsene has reiterated that the manager has money to spend, if he chooses to spend it. He says:

There have been suggestions that we keep stopping him from buying - that is not the case. He certainly has got money if he wants to spend it.

He goes on to talk about how Arsene will only buy if he can find players who will improve the squad. Which is just common sense - but when it gets to a point where every single fan can name players who would be an improvement over some of the squad members then you have to accept that the squad needs work. Anyway, this is old ground which has been covered time and again and we still have January to cope with.

Aaron Ramsey talks about living with a Sp*rs player and his ambitions to become an established first team player at Arsenal.

Not much else going on so let's crack on with the Arsecast. On this week's show I chat to GilbertoSilver from Gunnerblog about the events of the last week both on and off the field, as well as that I get some insight on our new CEO from Glenn Davis who is a football writer for the Houston Chronicle as well as a radio presenter for 790AM Houston where he has a show/podcast called 'The soccer hour'.

Amaury Bischoff PI is there and the penis of the William Gallas shows up too. Plus I announce the winner of the Savile Rogue scarf and give you another chance to win the sought after scarf in all of scarfdom (and do check out the site if you're looking for Christmas presents, they are quality).

You can subscribe to the Arsecast iTunes by clicking here. Or if you want to subscribe directly to the feed URL you can do so too. To download this week's arsecast directly - click here (16mb MP3) or you can listen directly below without leaving this very page.

As well as that there's a dedicated Arsecast hotline available all season long should you desire to make a comment, get something off your chest, share a song a chant or hilarious anecdote. Feel free to call it any time during the week, it'll go to voicemail and you can leave your message. The number from inside the UK is 020 3286 6360 or from outside the UK it's +44 20 3286 6360.

Ok, that's your lot. Have a good Friday. I can currently only breathe through one nostril and my eyes hurt. Stupid eyes. Till tomorrow.

Ouch. Not hangover, football injury. Got a kick on the outside of my right foot playing 5-a-side last night and this morning I can't put any weight on it at all. I can hobble around using my heel but that's about it. And it's fucking painful, stupid foot. Reckon I have to go to the hostibal to get an x-ray. Gah. It was fine last night though, which is the weird thing.

Anyway, back to matters somewhat more important, Arsenal play Aston Villa today at the Grove. The team news it that both Adebayor and Almunia are in the squad. Almunia has recovered completely so is likely to start while the boss says he hasn't decided whether or not to play Adebayor. There'll be one young Dane cursing the recovery powers of the Togonian.

Whichever striker he picks I think we'll see the same formation as against United last week. We've really said all there is to say about how we need to play, about how irrelevant last week would become if we didn't follow it up with the right result today, so let's just hope we get the Arsenal of last week and not the Arsenal that faced Stoke. We want the Dr Jekyll Arsenal and not the Mr Hyde one. I think. Whichever one of them was the good one. And by good one I'm talking about the mean-spirited, ruthless one.

Arsene Wenger reckons seven or eight of Tuesday's Carling Cup team will play for Arsenal in the Premier League. He says:

If you look at the team that played in the Carling Cup Final two years ago our midfield was Walcott, Denilson, Fabregas, Diaby. That was the midfield that started against Man United. We have a good idea of the potential development of the players. That’s why I believe seven or eight will play.

Beyond Song and Djourou, who have a measure of Premier League experience, perhaps the one closest to making the breakthrough is Aaron Ramsey and the boss says there's no better place for him to be than at Arsenal Football Club. He says:

I believe he has something special. He has the work-rate, he has the spirit and he has good vision. He has all the physical and tactical ingredients to become a great midfielder. He still needs to develop his technique but he has what is needed to become a top-level player.

In the bits and pieces we've seen of him so far he's been impressive. He set up Adebayor's second goal at Blackburn, he set up Bendtner with a back heel against Sheffield United and he does seem to have an eye for the crafty little pass in and around the box. That's something that could well be vital as we come up against teams who like to get men behind the ball. His long passing is good too and he seems to have a mean free-kick on him. I'm tipping him to be semi-regular in the Premier League by the end of the season.

You can see some video of Wenger talking about the young players in The Sun today. 

Lukasz Fabianski's agent says other clubs have been asking him about the Polish stopper but says Fabianski is enjoying his time at Arsenal and is working 'step-by-step' to become Arsenal's number 1. If he does make it I can't imagine there'll ever be a dull game. Still, his emergence and progress is a good thing. Competition is vital, especially in the keeper's position. We saw how Lehmann responded when his place was under threat, Almunia performed excellently when he knew Jens was ready to back in at any time, and the duel between Fab and Al should keep them both on their toes.

There was good news about Eduardo who should be ready to play in about 'two or three' weeks, according to Arsene Wenger. I'd imagine they'd be a few reserves games under his belt before he's reintroduced to first team action though, so if we start to see him in the squad around Christmas time then that'd be about right. 

Right, that's about it. I've got to go get my foot looked at. Fingers crossed we get the right performance and result. Till tomorrow. 

Oh man, what a busy morning we have. Not that I'm trying to hype things up or anything but there's so much going on it will rock your socks, even if you happen to wearing open-toed sandals like some kind of priest.

Firstly, good news. It appears that Aaron Ramsey is going to be just as good as Cesc Fabregas. This is most timely indeed as it means we won't miss Cesc one bit when he goes back to Barcelona next Tuesday week for a world record fee of £13.99 and some Green Shield stamps. Welsh coach Brian Flynn says:

He can be whatever he wants. I see him as a top six Premier League and a top international player. He’s as good as Fabregas was as a 17-year-old. He’s moved to London and can establish himself in the Premier League.

We really haven't seen very much of him since his arrival but from what I have seen I can confidently predict that he is much, much better than either Denilson or Song and should be Cesc's partner from here on in. It's not that I'm setting the expectation level too high so much as desperately trying to build him up so it will inspire him to be completely awesome.

In all seriousness though I'd like to see him get a bit more playing time. The boss has spoken about what a great engine he has and maybe he's the one to provide that bit of high-tempo midfielding that we've been lacking in certain games this season. It's worth a try, isn't it? I mean, it's not like we have an abundance of riches for him to get past.

And even though it's only just October and the transfer window doesn't open until January The Sun is linking us with St Etienne midfielder Blaise Matuidi (OleOle link). If only Brian Moore were still alive.

"And here comes Matuidi ... blaising through the midfield..."

Mikael Sylvester made his debut for the club in the reserves game against Stoke the other night and he says he feels mighty real after getting some minutes under his belt. Reserve coach Neil Banfield said of his performance:

He has won so many trophies but he is still here flying out on the edge of the box and blocking shots. He is a credit to our profession and as a senior pro, it was first class, absolutely first class.

What a disgrace. Flying out on the edge of the box, blocking shots, winning tackles and no doubt he probably won some headers too. I hate the way these players come from other clubs bringing their scabby way of playing football with them. We'll soon knock those rough edges off him.

Banfield also talks about how the club will help young players who aren't going to make the grade at Arsenal find a new club. I suppose it has to be a big part of how the youth operation goes as so few actually make the grade.

Not much else happening as all our players are away preparing to get injured for their countries. The training ground is a quiet place. There's only Arsene, Almunia, Denilson and Rosicky who are passing the time by making Hallowe'en decorations. Rosicky's pumpkin Adebayor face is apparently quite terrifying and merely looking at it caused Tomas's good hamstring to snap right in two.

But don't worry, he's on course for a first team start in December.

2012.

Until tomorrow, Arsebandits.

Last night was all about the result and on that basis nobody can have any complaints this morning.

Yes, we all know how light the squad is, we know how many players we had out injured, but there really is no need to cover all the old ground again. As expected we started with Ramsey and Denilson in the centre of midfield and I thought overall they did pretty well. Twente, knowing how youthful we were in there, set up to make life even more difficult for us by playing 5 in midfield. Classic McClaren spoiling tactics and for the most part it worked quite well.

The first half was a real struggle for us. One long range Clichy effort apart (from which Sagna put the rebound wide) we didn't have much to show as an attacking threat. On the hand there were some worrying moments at the back from us. Almunia came out to smother one attack, Gallas played a crazy offside which saw their striker go through but he stumbled and again Almunia came out to stop the attack, and Clichy and Denilson were opened up way too easily on the edge of the box allowing their player to shoot not far over the bar.

The second half was better from us, Twente faded a bit, we seemed to find our range a bit better and we opened the scoring when the Penis of William Gallas cocked one home from a Robin van Persie free kick. There was a touch of good fortune about it but sometimes that's what you need. It's a bit of a cliché but you make your own luck at times and Gallas' run and the timing of it was down to him being the most experienced Arsenal player on the pitch. We didn't do much else to trouble the Dutch goal but late on Djourou played a nice ball over the top for the otherwise quiet Theo Walcott who squared to Adebayor who scrambled it home to make it 2-0. Job done and that really is as much as we need to think about this morning (goals via 101greatgoals).

It wasn't pretty, it wasn't much fun to watch, but it's a result we can take back home and it does make life a bit more comfortable for us. Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:

We were a very young team and we did not lose our nerve, did not panic. In the end maybe our technical superiority allowed us to score two goals - that is a massive advantage for the second leg, but we will be on our toes.

The absence of Cesc was keenly felt but then any side in the world would miss him. What's amazing about him is the way he finds space and time on the ball no matter who he's playing against but it will have been a good learning experience for both Denilson and Ramsey. The former really does show for the ball all the time, he doesn't hide, while Ramsey displayed that fantastic engine the boss spoke about but you can see how he can improve the technical side of his game. It looks like they'll have to team up again to face West Brom on Saturday so here's hoping that last night helps them establish a decent partnership.

The return leg takes place on August 27th. Now though it's time to concentrate on the Premier League. We're just two days away from the start and we have the honour, if you can call it that, of kicking off the new season. Lots to come in the next day or two in terms of previews and pre-match, pre-season analysis. If you missed it yesterday then Arseblog's Perry Groves (not the ginger legend Perry Groves) wrote a piece summing up his thoughts ahead of the new campaign. Check out Thoughts from the top of the blue quadrant here.

Theo Walcott is back in England U21 set-up but I don't think there's any harm in that. Other than that there's not a great deal to tell you, news and squad news ahead of Saturday to come tomorrow along with an Arsecast.

Now, the other day we ran a competition for you to win a copy of Arsènal - the book co-written by Alex Flynn and Kevin Witcher of the Gooner. I asked you what was Arsene Wenger's first game in charge of Arsenal and the answer was, of course, Blackburn Rovers (a 2-0 win). He had a hand in the game against Borussia Monchengladbach but was not officially Arsenal manager at that stage. There are five copies to give away and the RNG has pulled the following fives names from the hat:

John Deasy - Patrick Bogan - Paul Aries - Eoghan Mitchell - Holly Hickman.

Congratulations to all of you. I'll be in touch to get your details some time today. If you didn't win thanks for entering (I should repeat that unless otherwise stated Arseblog competitions are open to everybody no matter where you live) but remember you can get the book at a discount price thanks to Arseblog.

Arseblog readers can get over £2 off the £12.99 publishers’ online price, making the book £10.91 plus postage and packing. Of the money you save, over £1 per copy will be donated to charity. Originally, Arseblog was going to donate any moneys raised to the David Rocastle Trust, but it seems to no longer exist. So the next best thing seems to be to donate it to the Cancer Research UK charity in memory of the great man, and in the hope that they can find a cure for the disease that robbed us of an Arsenal legend.

To buy the book online, simply click here and select ‘buy now’. In the window that opens enter the word rocky in the promotion code box and your £2 will be discounted when you press the ‘go’ box next to it.

Right then, that's your lot. More tomorrow.

We spoke during the week about how an injury to either Cesc or Denilson would leave us very stretched in central midfield and sadly that's the situation we're faced with as the former has a hamstring strain that will rule him out for the next two weeks or so.

Not only that, going into tonight's game against FC Twente we're missing also missing Kolo Toure and Philippe Senderos as well as the other names we weren't expecting to play anyway. It looks as if Aaraon Ramsey, just 17 years of age, will start alongside Denilson in midfield tonight. I suspect we'll line up like this:

Almunia - Sagna - Djourou - Gallas - Clichy - Eboue - Ramsey - Denilson - Walcott - Adebayor - van Persie

The full squad is here and as you can see we are very light on options in defence should we pick up a knock there and when our next option for central midfield is 16 year old Jack Wilshere then it really does highlight just how light the squad is. Arsene Wenger says:

Basically, it is a choice of a young player or an even younger one. The trouble is, when you have to play Champions League qualifiers so early, you push players and they get injuries, which is what has happened.

All well and good but injuries happen and maybe it's just me but at Arsenal they seem to happen all the time. The best way to cope with injuries is to have a squad big enough and to have players who aren't injury prone. In central midfield we've spoken about how often Diaby is out injured yet we go out and buy Bischoff who hasn't played a game since 1876.

It's the absence of Cesc that's so worrying though. He is absolutely pivotal to us but perhaps we're expecting too much from him. As I mentioned he only returned to pre-season training on July 29th, that was after a long, tough season with us then a Euro 2008 campaign with Spain. Should we really be putting him in a position where he has to play so soon? Had we gone out and bought the central midfielder everyone knows we need then we could have eased him back in a bit slower.

Of course that's easy to say with hindsight but it's little more than common sense. So tonight is going to be interesting. I still think we're capable of beating Twente but I imagine the Dutch side will be looking at our team, seeing who's out and thinking that if they have any chance of winning the tie then they've got to go for it tonight. Obviously McClaren's usual conservative way of thinking might scupper that but if I were the coach I'd be looking for my team to go out and really give it a good try.

On the other hand it's a chance for Ramsey to impress. He came looking for first team football and now he's got it. Of him Arsene Wenger says:

Ramsey has a lot to learn. He has a fantastic engine, is good on the ball with a reasonable technique, although he has to improve that.

Denilson too will be rubbing his eyes wondering how, all of a sudden, he's become the senior player in central-midfield and it's a good chance for him to show the manager that he's good enough to be considered there on a regular basis, not just in an injury crisis. He's had a good pre-season and hopefully he can continue that form tonight. He must know, and Ramsey too, that it's a fantastic opportunity. It might not be ideal for us but I suppose this is where we really see what players are made of.

So while the injuries are worrying and there's plenty to discuss the bottom line is we can't do anything about it ahead of tonight's game. We'll have eleven players on the pitch and we need to get behind them and support them. The danger is that another injury in central midfield and we're looking at playing Ramsey and Wilshere in the opening game of the Premier League season - and when Arsene realises their combined age is 33 he'll sell them both and play two 14 year olds.

Whatever plans the manager has to buy somebody (and however long he wants to leave it to get the best value possible) are going to have be revised. The squad is now threadbare and it's time for the club to sort it out. We can't wait for Diaby to return, we can't seriously be counting on Bischoff to play any significant part this season and even the players themselves want the manager to sign an experienced midfielder. Once tonight is over and done with then some serious work has to go into addressing this problem, and it is a problem.

I don't think I can ever remember, certainly not in recent times anyway, such a collective sense of unease amongst Arsenal fans going into a new season. There's certainly hope and expectation but there's just the feeling we're living under a cloud a bit at the moment. The perfect solution to that is us winning games though, and hopefully we'll start tonight.

In other news Middlesboro have confirmed they've made a bid for Justin Hoyte and are awaiting a response from Arsenal. Given the current state of the squad and the fact that we only have two fit centre-halves and (sadly) Eboue is needed in midfield I'd be surprised to see it happen. On the other hand I wouldn't be surprised at all.

Fran Merida could spend this season on loan at Real Sociedad, where he spent some of the last campaign. I was surprised not to see him involved in pre-season at all and I wonder, with the emergence of Wilshere and the purchase of Ramsey, if the breakthrough will ever come for him at Arsenal.

Thoughts from the top of the blue quadrant - an article by Arseblog user Perry Groves. 

Right, well that's about it. The new season is just hours away. I'm nervous but excited. I'm nercited and excervous. Come on you reds.

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.