http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god A blog about Arsenal & their best player Cesc. http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/the-call-up http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/the-call-up <p> The real football returns today as Arsenal make a trip to Steve Bruce's Sunderland as we get our league campaign up and running again. With RVP &amp; Gibbs injured we are at least able to welcome back Theo, Denilson, Traore, Wilshere&nbsp;&amp; Vela and within the week we should have&nbsp;Fabianski, Diaby and Gibbs available too. As I said before it's going to leave the boss with a few headaches when it comes to team selection and a few players may not be happy at being omitted. I'm sure with 2 games a week from here until just before Christmas that most of the players will get a fair crack of the whip and it's up to them to grab their chance when they get it. </p> <p> With that in mind I think the team for today will be Almunia, Sagna, Traore, Gallas, The Verminator, Song, Cesc, Rosicky, Arshavin, Nasri &amp; Eduardo with Don Vito, Silvestre, Theo, Eboue, Ramsey, Vela &amp; Denilson on the bench. I could be wrong and the 2 players most likely to get into the team from my suggested bench are Ramsey and Eboue with Silvestre also a posibility at left back. The boss has hinted that Sagna and Gallas may be rested after playing 120 minutes for France on Wednesday night and Arshavin may be rested too after a long journey and a bitter disappointment with his country. My team is what I see as the ideal team and I would hope if we rest our 2 French defenders that Silvestre will not replace either of them. I suppose Eboue and Senderos could play but I think it's dangerous to make so many changes in the defence. </p> <p> Hopefully we can get right back into the rhythm that we were in before the international break and bring our game to Sunderland. We may have more injuries than most teams in the league but Sunderland will find it difficult without Jones and Cattermole in their team. Luckily for us Jones got himself a straight red card a couple of games ago and he's serving a 3 match ban and Cattermole is out injured. We will get to see exactly how good Cana is as we were heavily linked with him last summer but the boss decided that Song was the man for him in that position. Bent has been in good goalscoring form since he left The Spuds but he will find it harder without Jones to help him. If things aren't working out up front at least we have Vela and Theo on the bench to give us options. </p> <p> There was an interesting stat on the club site about us not having scored a goal in the first 15 minutes of a game yet this season despite having scored 55 goals in 19 matches and an early goal today would be&nbsp;very welcome. Even if we don't get that early goal I think we have more than enough to beat Sunderland as long as we give the game everything we have and don't take them for granted. I'm predicting a 2-1 win for Arsenal with Eduardo and Cesc scoring the goals that help to keep the pressure on&nbsp;Chelsea before they visit The Emirates next Sunday. They are having injury problems of their own too with Lampard reportedly getting a bit of RVP style placenta fluid therapy for his injury. Drogba has a broken rib or 2 thanks to Johnny Evans too and I'd love to play them without those 2 players but we'll see if Drogba returns and Lampard seems certain to miss the game. </p> <p> The match is live on the radio in Ireland but I imagine I will try to get a stream and watch the game live. I'll be checking Twitter before the game as I find there's no better place to find a stream and the chat among fellow Gooners during the game is always enjoyable. I won't be visiting the supporters club for the match either as it's not live on the TV as far as I know and I'm also going to miss the Champions league group game on Tuesday night as it's my 20th wedding anniversary. I will however get to meet up with all my fellow Wicklow Gunners for the Chelsea game and I'm really looking forward to it as I haven't been able to watch a game out there since the 4-1 win against AZ on November 4th. </p> <p> In other Arsenal news the boss seems happy that the qualifiers for Euro 2012 can be played on Friday and Tuesday instead of Saturday and Wednesday and he thinks that it will catch on and give players 1 extra game to recouperate after their international committments. Wojceich Szczesny has joined Brentford on loan for a month which probably means that Don Vito will play against City in the Carling Cup unless the boss feels Fabianski needs a run out after his recovery from his injury which he received against Liverpool in the last round. Our ladies have drawn the holders FCR 2001 Duisburg of Germany in the quarter finals of the ladies Champions league and if they can win that very tough tie they will have Potsdam of Germany or Roa of Norway in the semi finals. The games will be played on March 10th and 17th and I wish the ladies good luck as they will need it. </p> <p> Congratulations to Lady Arse who won a football signed by the first team squad on Arsenal TV last night and hopefully we'll get to see a picture of it when it's delivered. The boss has had his say on the whole Thierry Henry/France/Ireland affair and he thinks the game should be replayed to be fair to Ireland. I agree with him but I can't see it happening with FIFA in charge. Incidentally did anyone hear a single word about the whole thing from Platini yet? The boss has also called for the introduction of video technology to ensure that we don't get these ridiculous decisions in the future and again that's up to FIFA and they are dead set against it. That's it for today. </p> <p> Here's the Arsenal fund raising day advert in case you haven't seen it. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDeZ9xumgMY">LINK</a> </p> <p> And to finish today's title track from The Clash. It's for Eduardo who has his chance today to answer the call up that he has wanted since his horriffic injury last season. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYdaMtXwapE">LINK</a> </p> <p> See You Tomorrow. </p> Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:30:00 -0600 http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/positive-vibration http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/positive-vibration <p> The debate about Thierry Henry's handball against Ireland rages unabated here in Ireland but I'm going to leave it behind and talk about&nbsp;some really interesting football instead. The manager&nbsp;told us yesterday that Denilson, Fabianski, Vela and Traore are all available to play against Sunderland&nbsp;tomorrow and it means that we&nbsp;come out of the international break with more players available than when we went in for the first time that I can remember. Of course we have lost RVP for the next 6 weeks at least and that's a shame with the form he's been in but we are the top scorers in the league and the goals are coming from everywhere in the team. With Eduardo and Vela available to play this weekend we have enough firepower to beat Sunderland but I'll preview that game tomorrow. Theo, Diaby&nbsp;and Wilshere are&nbsp;all very close to returning also and the good news about Gibbs is that he has not broken any bones but he has brusing on his bones and soft tissue on his right foot. Gibbs has a chance of being ready for the Champions league game against Standard on Tuesday and he should definitely be ready for the Chelsea game the weekend after. </p> <p> There were stupid rumours in the papers last week that Eduardo was on his way to Liverpool but they have been well and truly been put to bed as he has signed a new contract at the club which will keep him with us for a few more years at least. The boss has said how he is quite happy with the outcome of the injuries for RVP and Gibbs as when he first heard they were injured he feared they would be missing for a lot longer. With Traore available to cover for Gibbs we will still have 3 of our best defence available and that will make it easier on him if he does fill in at left back. In midfield we have a wealth of talent available and the manager will have to think long and hard about who he picks and who he puts on the bench as well. Some players are bound to be disappointed by any decisions that are made but that's why the boss is paid so much money. </p> <p> Some of our players did very well with their countries over the last week or so and we will have quite a few players at the World cup next year. The French squad should include Gallas, Sagna, Clichy, Diaby and maybe Nasei too. Both Senderos and Djourou should be there with Switzerland Eboue will be there with the Ivory Coast as will Song with Cameroon. I'm sure Theo will be in the England squad and Gibbs is a possibility too but I think Wilshere is very much an outside bet at this stage. Cesc is an absolute certainty for Spain and Vela, Bendtner and RVP will be there with Mexico, Denmark and Holland respectively. That's a total of 15 players at the very most who will be getting very short holidays next summer. Let's hope it doesn't affect us too much next season. In addition a number of our players scored for their countries during the last week. Ramsey got 1 against Scotland for Wales as he ran the show in a 3-0 friendly win, Eboue scored 1 of the Ivory Coast's goals in a 2-2 draw away to Germany, The Verminator managed a goal as Belgium beat Hungary 3-0, Eduardo scored 2 as Croatia beat Liechtenstein 5-0, Gallas scored the all important goal that qualified France for the World Cup against&nbsp;Ireland&nbsp;and of course Cesc scored for Spain in a 5-1 win in Austria. Our players just seem to love scoring at the moment although we have not scored a goal in the first 15 minutes of any match yet this season despite having scored 55 goals in 19 matches. That is sure to be remedyed very soon and hopefully it will be this week. With 9 matches in 29 days between now and Christmas week we can expect an awful lot to report and talk about. </p> <p> I have the day off work and all next week too but I have made myself available for an hour and a half of work at 5.30 this evening that is very near to my home and the same again at 6 on Sunday evening. With football at 7.30 tonight I'll be in a hurry to get there on time but as we will be playing for 90 minutes I can live with starting a few minutes late. The Arsenal match is live on the radio tomorrow here in Ireland but as of yet I don't know if it's on the TV so I'm not sure what my plans are at 3 tomorrow afternoon. If I can't watch the game I think I'll listen in and spend the duration on Twitter too. I'm part of a fairly big Arsenal community on Twitter and news and reports come thick and fast. The goals from a game are usually available to see pretty quickly and it's always a good place to get a stream for live matches. The link to my Tweets are in the side bar and if you're new to it just send me a Tweet and I'll try to hook you up with fellow Gooners. Well that's about it for today and with our season back in full swing tomorrow things are looking up again. </p> <p> Here's a little bit of what Eduardo can do. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gu4OD7Ul0Y">LINK</a> </p> <p> And to finish today's title track from Bob Marley and The Wailers. There is a poitive vibration about the club after an international break for a change despite the RVP injury. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__1GvhLTEcc">LINK</a> </p> <p> See You Tomorrow. </p> Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:30:00 -0600 http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/hateful http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/hateful <p> Yet another late blog today due to circumstances beyond my control yet again but as I have no work after today until Monday November 30th normal service should be resumed. I blame it all on Thierry Henry as after playing football last night I made my way home to watch the last hour of the France v Ireland World cup play off and I was delighted to hear Ireland score the goal that put them back in the tie just before I got out of my car. At half time I put on a home made pizza and quickly started downing a few bottles of Heineken to help me to ease the tension. Ireland completely outplayed France for most of the match and when they didn't take subsuquent chances that came their way I was worried. The game went into extra time and penalties loomed in half an hours time before the intervention of Henry in the first period of extra time. A high ball into the Irish box should have been cleared but it wasn't and as it was about to go wide Henry handled it twice before poking it back across the goal for Gallas to head into an empty net. If Eduardo was on a charge of purposely deceiving the referee for his supposed dive then Henry will have to be charged too but I won't be holding my breath. Apparently he even admitted it afterwards but still I don't expect FIFA or UEFA to act on his admission. It's a shame that a player I consider to be Arsenal's greatest player ever has sullied his good name by doing this and as a result the benefits for his country as it guarenteed qualification for the World Cup. </p> <p> In Arsenal news Eduardo signed a new long term contract yesterday and I think that shows that the boss believes that he is over his injury troubles with his leg. I think he's a fantastic goalscorer and I'm delighted he has signed on for a few more years. Arshavin will have the summer off as Russia were beaten in their play off by Slovenia and Eboue managed to score for Ivory Coast in a 2-2 friendly draw against Germany. Cesc also managed to score a goal as Spain won 5-1 in Austria despite going 1-0 down. All of our players will be back at the club today and/or tomorrow and we will know then how we stand as regards injuries and fitness but there was some good news yesterday as the club announced that Gibbs has not broken any bones in his foot but he does have briusing to the bones and soft tissue in his right foot. If it was me I would be able to play with my left foot in that condition as it's only for standing on seeming as I'm right footed. </p> <p> There isn't a whole lot of other Arsenal news today as we wait for those players to return but over here in Ireland the only football topic of conversation on the TV, Radio, in the streets and in the workplace is Henry and his apology on Twitter where he apparently said that if he hurt anyone he's "sorry". We have government ministers attempting to get the match replayed and Henry has become public enemy number 1 with the majority of the 4 million inhabitants of the Republic. I could have taken a defeat if it was deserved but to have it taken from you by foul means is a bitter pill to swallow. I have removed Henry from my list of favourite players on Oleole and it will be a long time before I forgive him. If France believe in fair play they should offer to replay the match and the main instigator behind it should be Platini. Let's see what he's really made of - as if we didn't know already. That's it for today but it should be back to all things Arsenal tomorrow. </p> <p> Here's a look at Henry's handball. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFz_VNTdjyU">LINK</a> </p> <p> And to finish today's title track from The Clash and it expresses how we as a nation feel for Thierry Henry. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y86gw9xblsI">LINK</a> </p> <p> See You Tomorrow. </p> Thu, 19 Nov 2009 06:12:00 -0600 http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/is-it-a-dream http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/is-it-a-dream I have a lend of &nbsp;friends N97 and Im trying it out at the moment. If this woorks out I know what Ill be getting for my birthday in 2 weeks time. Im writing this on the phone so this is a test really but as the phone costs the same as new mp3 player and I get €125 back from envirophone I will be getting one seeming as my mp3 player has broken. Come on you Gunners. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:50:18 -0600 http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/another-one-bites-the-dust http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/another-one-bites-the-dust <p> Good Morning fellow Arsenal fans from a damp and cold Dublin. Sorry for the late blog today but circumstances which I can't go into here have conspired to delay me and I must now try to work and blog at the same time which isn't always easy. First things first and I must change the trousers I'm wearing as they're soaked through but luckily as I work in the rag trade there's always a sample pair to change into lying around somewhere although the fact that the sample legs are 4 inches too long doesn't help a lot. Anyway enough of my petty problems and on to all things Arsenal. </p> <p> Our injury troubles continued last night as our second choice left back, Kieran Gibbs, went off with a foot injury after only 21 minutes og England's under 21 match in Lituania. There's nothing on the club site as usual but we'll probably find out later how serious it is. He was taken to hospital for x-rays which would indicate that something or other is broken but I hope it's not too serious. It leaves us with Traore as the only fit left back at the club and I think he's just back from an injury too. If he hasn't recovered the next options would be Gallas, The Verminator or Silvestre who can all play there although I wouldn't like to break up the central defensive partnership which would leave Silvestre as the next choice. I hope it doesn't come to that as it scares me when he is in the team. It's a pity for Gibbs as he deserved a chance to show what he could do in the first team and stake a claim to make that position his own. I'm sure that given the same oppurtunity Traore will feel that maybe he can stake a claim too. He has a lot of ability and speed going forward and a very good shot too but it's his defensive game that has been called into question in the past. </p> <p> According to reports in the papers today RVP's placenta fluid specialist has treated other Premier league players before and he's the first one to openly admit it. The thought of having placenta fluid rubbed on parts of me to make me heal quicker doesn't exactly appeal to me but needs must I suppose for RVP and I can only hope that it works. As it stands the manager is without his first 2 choices in the pivotal role of his attack and at left back also as November's shadow begins to lurk over us as per usual. Also I read today that Sir shits his pants a lot reckons that the race for the title will be a 2 horse race between Manure and Chelsea. Let him underestimate us all he wants but in my opinion he knows we are better than them and he is trying to disguise the fact by writing us off. We should have beaten them at Old Trafford, without Cesc, and we are ahead of them in the league with a game in hand on them. I'll have to leave things there or there will be no blog at all today. Hopefully, for me anyway, Ireland can overcome France tonight and progress to the World cup but most importantly of all hopefully Arsenal won't get any more players injured tonight. </p> <p> Here's a clip of the long unbeaten run we went on last season. The same again with a few more wins would be very nice. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgrMd1qtbJM">LINK</a> </p> <p> And to finish today's title track from Eastwood and Saint(not Queen). We have suffered yet another injury on international duty but at least there are no more internationals for a few months and we can concentrate on Arsenal. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1G7zElaWq0">LINK</a> </p> <p> See You Tomorrow. </p> Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:17:00 -0600 http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/it-doesn039t-make-it-alright http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/it-doesn039t-make-it-alright <p> The news on RVP's injury is a little more encouraging than I had first feared and according to the club he will be out for 6 weeks but we have heard that before about other players who have ended up missing for a lot longer. It does appear that the player himself has taken some advice from the Dutch FA and he will be making a trip to Serbia for a radical new treatment that involves massaging the injured ankle with fluid from a placenta. Apparently this method was used by PSV striker Danko Lazovic on a similar injury last season and it helped him to return aftera month which sounds hopeful but a little disgusting too. The player supposedly has the blessing of the club in this venture as it can't make it any worse I would imagine. RVP said that the ankle ligament was almost completely torn off when Chiellini caught him but it was not intentional and to be honest it didn't look intentional to me when I saw it. He is sure to miss the league games with Chelsea and Liverpool and with Bendtner out too the limelight will be focussing on Eduardo. From a purely selfish perspective I will have to find a replacement for RVP in my fantasy team and it's a shame as he was getting very close to Drogba in the race for the striker with the most points and helping me make my way up the overall rankings. </p> <p> It would appear that RVP is again the only worthwhile Arsenal news with the exception of the ladies team who kept up their 100% start to the season by beating Sunderland 5-1 for their 13th win this season on Saturday. I can't wait for the interlull to end as the lack of anything worthwhile to write about is doing my head in. I could mention Mark Randall talking about the reserves chances of winning their league or Arshavin talking about how he is finding it hard to settle in London but what's the point as they're only filler stories while we wait for the real football to start back up on Saturday. Hopefully things will pick up fairly quickly after tomorrow night's games and we will soon know if all our other players come back intact. Keep your fingers crossed that we have no more injuries. That's it for today. </p> <p> Here's a quick look at Croatia's 5-0 win over Liechtenstein with goals 3 and 4 coming from Eduardo. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3916756/">LINK</a> </p> <p> And to finish today's title track from The Specials which I recorded at their Dublin concert on Sunday night. The challenge on RVP may have been a fair one but it doesn't make it alright for me and I hope Chiellini gets his come uppence soon. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78Va2Xitqg">LINK</a> </p> <p> See You Tomorrow. </p> Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:30:00 -0600 http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/monkey-man http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/monkey-man <p> It's Monday morning yet again and I can't understand how it came around so quickly. I went to see The Specials play live in the Olympia in Dublin last night with my younger brother and they were fantastic. First of all we went to the Foggy Dew and Sunday night there is the Reggae and Ska night which was just what we needed to get us in the mood as we saw Return Of The Bionic Rats thump out some great ska and reggae songs from years gone past along with some very good material of their own. It really got us in the mood as did the beers that accompanied the music and we then headed to the Olympia for what we knew would be a great gig. When The Specials took the stage we weren't disappointed as we were in the upper tier of what was built as a theatre and the floor rocked as we all danced in front of our seats. They turned out great song after great song and I have to say that they were every bit as good as they were at Oxegen last July but this time we got over an hour and a half instead of the 40 minutes that they were allotted at Oxegen. </p> <p> Anyway enough of my thrilling weekend and on to all things Arsenal. It appears that the only Arsenal news appearing anywher concerns the injury suffered by RVP playing for his coiuntry against Italy on Saturday night. Depending on what you read he will be back playing in 6 weeks or he won't even be able to resume training for a minimum of 8 weeks. Either way it's a blow to Arsenal and it's one we need to overcome at once before it threatens to destroy our season. If the 6 week scenario is true we will see him back at the start of January and I hope that that is the case but as with all Arsenal injuries we never know the full extent of what is wrong with him and how long it will be before we see him back in the team and terrorising defences. I do know that Eduardo is the natural succesor to RVP but I also know that he can't play the position in the same way that RVP does and we&nbsp;may have to adopt a slightly&nbsp;different style to accomodate him. Other than that Theo and Vela are waiting to get a chance and any team that has to play us while RVP&nbsp;is injured will not get an easy ride from either&nbsp;of these 2 talented strikers. With nothing else to report and me needing to take it easy after last night that's it for today. </p> <p> Here's a clip of Rambo's goal against Scotland for Wales. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3921126/">LINK</a> </p> <p> And to finish today's title track from&nbsp;The Specials recorded live at The Olympia last night by me. To be honest I can't find an Arsenal connection for the title but who cares as I had the time of my life at the gig. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvLfIzXiwSI">LINK</a> </p> <p> See You Tomorrow. </p> Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:30:00 -0600 http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/the-hurting http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/the-hurting <p> I watched the Ireland v France World Cup play off last night and I was glad to be an Arsenal fan as we are lucky enough to support a team that knows how to play football. I'm Irish and it was hard to watch my country playing so poorly but to be honest the only players in the Irish team who looked up to the standard last night were Given and Duff. Ireland had only 41% of the possession at home and although France created very little the goal was inevitable as Ireland dropped back further and further and opted to kick the ball straight back to France at every oppurtunity rather than trying to use it. France got the 1-0 win thanks to a deflected shot from Anelka that was going nowhere and to be honest Ireland had the 2 best chances of the night but they were stopped by a mixture of good defending and good goalkeeping. The thing I took out of the game from an Arsenal perspective was the performance of the French goalkeeper Lloris who looked every bit the&nbsp;goalkeeper we need to step in and claim the number 1 jersey for Arsenal. He commanded his area, made all the right decisions and played very well with the exception of 1 kick the was sliced into&nbsp;touch. It might be a bit premature after seeing him only once but I would love us&nbsp;to sign him in the January transfer window. The Arsenal players in the French team, Gallas and Sagna, played well and came through unscathed which is the important thing. The was a curious incident at the end where a fight almost developed as Lassana Diarra turned his back on an Irish&nbsp;player who tried to shake his hand. Throughout the game he had complained to the referee about perfectly legitimate challenges being fouls and he was pretty poor also. I'm fairly glad that he left us as he seems to be thr type of player that we could do without. </p> <p> I had thought that there was very little going on in the world of Arsenal but when I turned on my computer this morning I read the news that RVP had injured his ankle playing for his country against&nbsp;Italy. Having seen the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haoGpaWMaww">tackle</a>&nbsp;I don't think we can blame the Italian defender as the ball was there to be won and RVP was just a little unlucky. He did look to be in a lot of pain but as yet there is nothing on the club site about it as per usual. In fact as I type this there has been nothing at all on the club site since last Friday. I know the interlull is in full swing but surely there is something of interest for Arsenal fans to be reported on the Arsenal.com. I digress from RVP's injury at this stage and I have read varying reports about the length of his protracted absence from the team but I don't suppose we'll know what the exact situation is until the club decide to tell us. Having just been voted the Premiership player of the month for October I suppose the injury was bound to happen and the question now is who will replace him in the Arsenal team. With Bendtner also out for up to a month it would seem to put Eduardo at the top of the pecking order and he did manage a couple of goals for Croatia in a 5-0 win against Liechenstein yesterday. Theo is due back from injury very soon and Vela can play in that position too but I don't know if any of them can fit into our new system as well as RVP did. We will see next Saturday what the feelings of the manager are on who his successor will be as we make our trip to Sunderland. </p> <p> Apparently Aaron Ramsey played very well for Wales yesterday as he scored 1 goal and made the other 2 in a 3-0 win against Scotland in a game in which he totally outplayed Darren Fletcher. He is pushing very hard for a starting berth alongside Cesc in front of Song and ultimately I think the boss has him earmarked to replace Cesc if and/or when he does move on. Hopefully if that happens it won't be for a very long time and Ramsey will have forced his way into the team before that. Another Arsenal player to get on the scoresheet for his country was The Verminator who got 1 of Belgium's goals in a 3-0 win against Hungary. There are plenty of stories about potential targets for us in the transfer window and also a ridicilous story about Liverpool looking to sign Eduardo in January too. I won't bother naming any of the players here as it's all idle speculation but the 1 story that might have a little bit behind it is that Senderos says that he might be on his way in January. That's it for today and I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that RVP isn't out for too long as I'll be over there in January and maybe February too to see my beloved Arsenal. </p> <p> Here's the highlights from the Belgium game in which The Verminator managed to score from a set piece. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/3917613/">LINK</a> </p> <p> And to finish today's title track from Tears For Fears. RVP was hurt last night and it hurts all Arsenal fans and possibly our chances of winning something major this season. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOKQ3RBDKy4&amp;feature=related">LINK</a> </p> <p> See You Tomorrow. </p> Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:25:00 -0600 http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/saturday-night http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/saturday-night <p> It's Saturday morning and the mind numbing boredom of the interlull is well and truly upon us. To say there is nothing happening is an understatement but I'll do my best to report the little bit I can find. It's going to be brief due to the obvious lack of news and a very busy day ahead of me. </p> <p> The Barcelona president has said that Cesc is their type of player but they must respect Arsenal. How many times do Barcelona have to spout out about our captain before they are taken to task by FIFA or UEFA?&nbsp;Cesc is contracted to us and we do not want to entertain any approaches for him as he is the best player in the world on current form. If he continues with his current form we have the capability to sweep all before us as he is ably supported by the likes of RVP, Arshavin, Rosicky, Gallas, The Verminator and Song. </p> <p> Ahead of our home match against Chelsea at the end of the month it has emerged that Drogba,&nbsp;Lampard, Boswinga, Tweedey &amp; Terry are all injured and the first 3 of them all look certain to miss the game. It makes a pleasent change for them to have a few of the injury problems we have and the longer it continues the better&nbsp;our prospects of beating them and winning the league. All we want is for Richard Dunne to kick Anelka up and down Croke Park&nbsp;tonight and add him to that list for it to become a striker crisis for them. </p> <p> It&nbsp;emerged that the driver that Cudicini had his crash with is an Arsenal fan but for the papers to be reporting this it just shows how slow things are today. I have no grudge against Cudicini despite him being a Spyd and I wouldn't wish 2 broken wrists and a broken pelvis on anybody never mind a goalkeeper. &nbsp;Fran Merida has said he is committed to Arsenal and he is happy at a club who play fantastic football. He said the boss has involved him more in the first team but I don't think he has signed the new contract offered to him yet. </p> <p> I'll be watching Ireland against France tonight as they attempt to make it to the World Cup next year but they are severe underdogs and I am not overly hopefull of them making it. The biblical style deluge we have had over the past few days may be a leveller and I'm sure Ireland will play a style of football that is not exactly attractive to say the least but if they make it the party next summer will be phenomenal. That's it for today. </p> <p> Here's a clip of some recent goals from Arshavin. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuyESiwqCcg">LINK</a> </p> <p> And to finish today's title track from Suede. For a change tonight a team other than Arsenal will be getting my full support. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC22Y5t_iwc">LINK</a> </p> <p> See You tomorrow. </p> <p> ps I just saw David Beckham on the TV and he's obviously supporting Jedward in that dreadful programme X Factor as he has adopted an attempt at their hair style. </p> Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:38:00 -0600 http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/top-ranking http://www.oleole.com/blogs/cesc-is-god/posts/top-ranking <p> I thought there was nothing happening in the world of Arsenal yesterday but I was mistaken as there is absolutely nothing happening today. The only news of any interest at all that I could find was that the boss said that he will continue his policy of giving fringe players and youngsters a chance away to Man City in the last 8 of the Carling Cup on my birthday next month. I have been given a present of a trip to a comedy club that night and it probably means I'll miss the game but worse things have happened at sea I suppose. Arsenal are also playing on my 20th wedding anniversary against Liege in the Champions league and I don't imagine I'll see that game either. </p> <p> Getting back to the Carling Cup I would imagine the boss's policy is playing a different 11 players to the ones that will have played against Chelsea 3 days earlier as we have Stoke at home 3 days later. We could have a team consisting of Fabianski, Traore, Eboue, Senderos, Silvestre, Wilshere, Denilson, Nasri, Diaby, Vela &amp; Eduardo and with City playing their best possible team it would be a tough task for us to reach the semis. However it hasn't escaped my notice that since Richard Dunne left City and Lescott &amp; Toure came in their defence has become decidedly dodgy and we are capable of scoring against any team with the talent we have and the system we play. I'll leave it for now until nearer to the day but I will say that City will underestimate our kids at their peril. </p> <p> I said I would have a look at players to transfer in to your fantasy team today and also some tactics too so here goes. In the next gamesweek 4 teams have an extra game and players from those clubs will obviously score twice in 1 week if they're in your team. This can move your team up a lot if you get the right players and they manage to score well. The 4 teams in question in the next round are Hull, Everton, Fulham and Blackburn and among them there are a few players worth having. In my opinion David Dunn is the best bet with 4 goals, 1 assist and 11 bonus points in the equivalent of 7 and a half games. However he has missed games through swine flu and injury and both of Blackburn's games are away from home where their record has been far from good recently. He's available at a very good price of 5.8 million at the moment. I honestly don't think Blackburn have any other players that are worth transfering in but if I'm wrong I'll be the first to admit it. </p> <p> Hull haven't exactly being scoring hatfulls of goals this season but if they do anything good it would seem Stephen Hunt or Giovanni are behind it in some way or other. At 5.1 million and 5.8 million respectively they are well priced and Hull have 2 home games against West Ham and Everton so if you fancy taking a chance you could do worse. The Hull defender Zayatte is doing very well points wise too and he has managed to miss 3 games in which they conceded 13 goals. I don't know if that's chance or if he genuinely makes a difference but personally I won't be putting a Hull defender in my team. </p> <p> From a Fulham perspective Dempsey would seem to be the best buy and Duff and Murphy are fairly handy too although they both are quite injury prone. Zamora has done well recently too although Football Guy would say you would be mad to buy him. At 6.4 million Dempsey is a little bit expensive but he might well be worth it. As for Everton it would seem that the only 2 possible buys are Baines and Saha but Saha is very injury prone and Everton's defence is dodgy too. With trips to Manure and Hull I think a fit Saha could do well but again it's a risk. </p> <p> Overall it would seem that no particular goalkeeper is standing out and I would say that if you have an expensive keeper you might be better off selling him and banking the money after buying the likes of Jensen, Sorensen or Hart. Richard Dunne is again at the top of the defenders chart and there isn't a better defender for getting bonus points which gives him an edge. His price continues to climb even though Villa aren't keeping clean sheets at the moment. Alexander of Burnley is doing well thanks mainly to his penalty taking and to be honest I wouldn't touch him as Burnley ship a lot of goals although his price is very low. In midfield if you don't have Cesc as your captain you are losing ground every week as he continues to excel. His nearest challenger is Lampard who has 19 points less and has played 250 minutes more. Gerrard is so injury prone that he's not worth the huge price but Lampard is as consistent as ever and if you have money to spare he's worth it. Andy Reid of Sunderland and Etherington of Stoke are both available at a good price and doing very well at the moment which makes them worth a punt too. As strikers go it's hard to look past Drogba although RVP is scoring very well at the moment and Torres despite doing well is, like Gerrard, too injury prone. At a lower price Bent and Rodallega are good buys and Saha isn't too bad as I said earlier except for the injuries. Bent and Jones have struck up a good partnership at Sunderland and Bent is suffering a little with Jones suspended at the moment. Thankfully from an Arsenal perspective Jones still has a couple of games to go in his suspension and we won't have to face him in our next match. </p> <p> It's also worth remembering that due to Europa league committments Fulham and Everton will miss a league game in gamesweek 17 and Hull and Stoke will be the teams that miss out with them. Fulham and Stoke manage to get their game back in during gamesweek 20 in early January but I'm looking too far ahead at this stage. If you transfer in players with an extra game don't forget to drop them or at least sub them when they have no game. That's it for today. </p> <p> Here's a great goal from the seemingly forgotten man at Arsenal. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uueLbIU1bmg">LINK</a> </p> <p> And to finish today's title track from Bob Marley and The Wailers. If you follow my advice it will help your fantasy team to become one of the top ranking teams. </p> <p> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXkd5mAPYHg">LINK</a> </p> <p> See You Tomorrow. </p> Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:30:00 -0600