I guess we start, once again, with farewells to a player.  Kolo Toure has followed the sky blue gravy trail led by Adebayor to Eastlands.  Amazingly enough, I don't feel the same reaction to his departure than I did for Adebayor.  Perhaps it's that he was the last of the Invincibles.  Probably it's because he seemed to leave for reasons other than money.  Definitely it's because, as a player and a leader, he gave his everything in every game and was always ready to stand up and be counted.  Adieu Kolo.  And thanks.

So as the Emirates Cup comes to a close today (as of now the lads lead Gers 2-0 from a good shot by Young Jack and a sweet shot by Eddie) we begin to see the shining light that is the start of the season.  In his press conference yesterday, Arsene stated that he'd like to have all his transfer business completed by this Saturday's game against Valencia.  I think that, ...

You know, for the last week or so, I've been working on this nice piece about respect and money and the Adebayor sale.  But as it so often happens when the passion dies, I can't be arsed to care about our former 20-goal scorer now that he's wearing City sky blue.  So long and thanks for the good times, Ade.  Let the City fans cheer your goals and put up with your petulance and your half-ass attitude towards playing. 

Naturally the moment Adebayor went and 25 million pounds were deposited onto the coffers at Ashburton Grove the rags, the experts, the blogs and the supporters started speculating as to who would come in to replace him.  Would Arsene spring Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from the dungeons of Real Madrid?  What about the long-rumored purchase of Bordeaux's Marouane Chamakh?  And what of the rumors linking the club with purchases for Lorik Cana, Blaise Matuidi, Brede Hangeland and...

Looking over the roster as it stands right now and I wanted to give some thoughts over the decisions that will factor into how the rest of the transfer window will follow.  My own personal thoughts as always, but I can take an educated guess or two:

1. Central Defensive Midfielder: The big key acquisition that is left to get.  Look at our roster as it stands right now and the only player capable of filling that role is Alex Song.  Not that he can't do the job, but that I think we'd rather he provide the support than be the primary option.  I've said the usual names being attached to Arsenal, so no sense in rehashing them.  The intriguing thing to consider is how soon Arsene fills that hole.  I think he saw from last year's example of Andrei Arshavin that bringing in a player sooner allows him to mesh with his teammates and helps the club hit the ground running.

2....

Allow me to dust the cobwebs off this corner of the Interwebs and remind folks that, yes, I am still alive and kicking.  Sorry for the long absence, but let's face it: unless you were an American rooting for Team USA or a South African rooting for the Bafana Bafana, there's been very little to get excited about in the world of football.

All of the recent news regarding Arsenal have been of us extending or signing to new deals our current players.  Kieran Gibbs, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Robin Van Persie have each signed on the dotted line that will keep them at Ashburton Grove for the foreseeable future.  And while such dealings often will lack the kind of attraction that a new transfer purchase will bring, let's face it: it's a good sign.  By putting pen to paper, the club ensures that their hard work in developing talent doesn't just walk away after preparing and training said talent...

Isn't it nice when a transfer happens quietly and quickly?

By now you're likely to have seen that Arsenal have completed the transfer for central/left defender Thomas Vermaelen.  The Belgian was the current Ajax defender and comes with a good reputation.  And outside of Vermaelen or his agent mentioning to everyone under the sun that he was moving to Arsenal, no other word was heard about it for weeks.  Definitely not from the club, who didn't even deign to have Arsene Wenger come out and deny it like they usually do.  Maybe they felt that, in a summer where everyone is focusing on the goings on at Madrid and where David Villa, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sergio Aguero, Samuel Eto'o, David Silva and so many other talented forwards and midfielders could all end up elsewhere, that no one would really be interested in where one defender went.

But as anyone who saw Arsenal last season can attest...

Rather than starting with the Arsenal part of this story, let's start elsewhere.  Madrid to be exact.

By now, everyone knows of the sums spent and the players purchased by Florentino Perez as he appears deadset on continuing on his trend of bringing the biggest names in football to El Santiago Bernabeu.  

56 million pounds for Kaka' on Monday.  80 million pounds for Cristiano Ronaldo on Thursday.  136 million pounds.   That's a quarter of a billion dollars that was just spent to unite the reigning and former World Players of the Year under the white flag of Madrid.  

And the rumors are that this is just the beginning of a massive spending spree that could see them bring in coveted striker David Villa, the even more coveted winger Franck Ribery, right back Maicon and midfielder Xabi Alonso before the window closes in August.  

...

...and less than 48 hours later, I'm apparently proven wrong.

There's now strong links suggesting that Thomas Vermaelen, central defender and captain of Ajax is on the verge of a 10 million pound move to Arsenal.

The source?  Vermaelen himself, quoted from a Dutch newspaper as saying that the "move to Arsenal"
is the right move for his career.

So I guess we're either getting us some Dutch defending OR the man himself (the player and not his agent) is not being honest.

Which one do I believe?

Does that make the rumors of bids for Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko or Marseille's central defensive midfielder Lorik Cana any more true?

Or what of the rumored swap between us and Man City with Kolo Toure heading to Eastlands while we get...Micah Richards?

My head's spinning.

Silly season...

Well the season ended and the real news dried up in a hurry.  No surprise on either case.  Of course, it being the silly season, rumors abound of arrivals, departures, hijackings and enough money being thrown around to build your own harem of supermodels. 

But if you've noticed that I've been absent, it's not by choice.  Life gets in the way.  And the rumors that are going around are not necessarily that exciting.  Let's look at them:

1. Arsenal will sell Emmanuel Adebayor to Milan: well, Ade's agent has come out and said no one's called him yet.  To be fair, Milan right now are too busy with the Kaka' deal, which is rumored to bring in anywhere between 50 and 70 million pounds. 

BUT the problem is that having just appointed Leonardo to take over Carlo Ancelotti, it's unlikely that the Milan braintrust has gotten together to determine how they're...

FT. Arsenal 4 - Stoke City 1.

In the annals of Arsenal lore, it's unlikely that yesterday's game will live in memory.  Unlike the first time we encountered the Potters, there was no surprise to be had.  This time we worked to minimize the effects of Rory Delap's well-known throws.  This time the attack was focused and the finishing precise -- because no one took the game for granted.  

In reality the game boiled down to the first 18 minutes.  That's when we established a 3-0 lead through a James Beattie own goal, a Robin Van Persie penalty and an Abou Diaby header.  Though Ricardo Fuller pulled Stoke back one via his own penalty shot, Van Persie re-established that three goal lead before the first half ended.  It has to be said that, through all the ups and downs of 2008-09, our Player of the Season has to be RVP (or as I like to call him "the whole f'ing show" after former...

Just wanted to post a few, brief thoughts on yesterday's debacle against Chelsea.

- We have major issues at the back.  No surprises there.  Are they the kind to be fixed with one new purchase OR do we need to invest in a new coach for the defenders?  Someone who can get them organized?

- Poor, poor Lukasz.  He's had one bad game after another in the last few weeks.  He has the talent to be a #1 keeper, but it's clear that the odd FA Cup/Carling Cup game just won't cut it.  Loan him out and give him the chance to learn how to organize and work with a backline week-in and week-out.

- Diaby out wide.  RVP alone up top.  Then Bendter on the wing?  What, we couldn't put Eboue in as a striker?

- Chin up, Kieran Gibbs.  There'll be better weeks than the one you just had.  But don't forget how this one felt.  Let it...