Well there wasn't much about Adebayor today, but Hleb is making plenty of headines. Earlier today he was quoted talking about Wenger and Cesc. Some interpreted the quotes as bashing his manager and supposed friend. His attacks on Wenger were nothing more than saying that he and the manager did not share the same opinons about his role in the team. Doesn't really sound like slammng to me. Then he said of Fabregas, "With scoring opportunities he's more selfish than I am. Given the chance to shoot he always goes for it - unlike me." Again, I don't really see this as nasty. More just stating the truth. To anyone who remotely follows Arsenal it's obvious Cesc and Hleb are friends. I think this was more stating their differing styles of play. Finally, he spoke of his future, "I don't know where I will play next season. It's being negotiated with two clubs and will be decided soon. I would prefer to move to Barcelona." Well, I'm sorry Mr. Hleb, but I don't think they're really in for you. I really wish you would give us a chance and realize the big clubs really aren't after you. We could use you as you are a great player.

Now, that was much earlier today. The interesting bit is that later on today he gave another interview stating, "In some newspapers it was mentioned that I have attacked Arsene Wenger and Cesc Fabregas. But let me tell you: This is not true! The statements in the papers are definitely not my statements. I would never ever say something disrespectful about them. And there is a simple reason for this: Cesc is a very good friend of mine and Arsene is one of the persons I respect most." As I said, the media is rehashing old quotes to make things interesting. I really think Hleb has realized the fact Barcelona aren't after him. There's no room for him in their attack and he'd likely be on the bench. In my opinion, there's a good chance of Hleb staying at the Emirates. And that won't upset me one bit when you think about the depth we'd have on the wings or in the slot:

Rosicky, Hleb, Nasri, Walcott, V. Persie, Vela, and the cunt Eboue can all be effective out there, especially the first four.

Now on to Chelsea news and Scolari's interview. Chelsea turned down Inter's first bid (less then seven million quid) for Fat Frank. It's being reported that their next bid won't be any higher than £11 million. Scolari, however, said of Frank,  "I asked him if he wanted to stay at Chelsea, not only for this season but for more time. He told me after 15 minutes that he wants to stay and he wants to play for Chelsea for many years. " Well, I don't know if that's what Chelsea supporters wanted to hear or not. If I were them, I'd prefer him to leave and let Ballack be the focus in the midfield. Scolari then went on to say, ""Drogba is part of my plans 100%. No, 200%." I really didn't think that was the case. I didn't figure Drogba to be wanted by Big Phil. Anyways, I still think Drogba may want to leave and I'm not sure how Peter Kenyon would go about things then.

On the Arshavin front, the Russian forward's agent Dennis Lachter made the headlines again today.  "It's going to be a very big transfer," Lachter added. "Zenit will definitely not accept an offer of less than 30million euros (£23.8m)." I personally don't see it being that expensive, I'm fairly sure Dick Advocaat and Zenit are resigned to losing their superstar. As it's looking more and more like England for him, it's becoming obvious that the reports of Chelsea and Arsenal are pretty spot on. I do believe his favoured choice would be the Emirates but I don't see us outbidding that cunt Abramovich if Big Phil says he wants him.

In other news it's reported that Villa will accept a bid of £15 million and Steve Finnan for Gareth Barry. If Alonso leaves and Barry comes in, I really think their midfield will be much worse. Alonso is the only one in the center of that midfield (Barry, Gerrard, Mascherano) who has great technical ability.

And Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe for Pompey next season should be pretty dynamic.

 Have a good day all, I'm off to have a couple drinks. I'm thinking some Jim Beam and Coke?

Hello all (fingers crossed that I'm not just talking to my dad)! After being inspired by Arseblog and my combined love for football and journalism I decided to give this a shot.  Thanks for any comments or thoughts, look forward to chatting with everyone.

 So the Dutch may have suffered a big upset as the result of quite a stale performance in the 1/4 finals to Russia, but I must say as an avid Oranje fan I was quite pleased and surprised at the quality shown by the players throughout the tournament. In fact, surprised is a damn understatement. I was utterly shocked! In all honesty, I didn't fancy us getting through the group.  I really still am not convinved by the defense, but at least have been given a bit of hope by the way they played in the group stage. Obviously, the Russian attackers and fullbacks tearing through our defense at every opprotunity brought me back down to Earth. However, with two outstanding holding midfielders in Engelaar and De Jong in front of them, the defense has what it takes to pull together and be just good enough for a good run at the World Cup in 2010. One thing that wont be questionable in 2010 will be their attack. Right now their attacking talents are still quite young with Sneijder at 23, Van Persie 24, Afellay 22, Robben  24, Van der Vaart 25 and Huntelaar 25. In two years time Sneijder, RvP, Robben and Van Der Vaart will be in the prime of their careers while Huntelaar and Afellay should be out of the Eridivisdie and into one of the big three leagues which will only further their careers. Hup Holland! Thank you for playing some great football and handing the damn Italians a kick in the ass.

In retrospect, Spain we're always going to win for me. They are so damn gifted technically, have great pace and a well balanced midfield not to mention a stable defense. Congrats to Spain and it's fans on a great tournament which was well deserved. Only problem I had was Xavi winning the player of the tournament. He was good, but for me was far outperformed by Senna, Fabregas, and Iniesta. Senna, for me, was the key in keeping that defense together. I had seen him play for Villareal a few times before the tournament and knew he possessed fantastic ability, but I didn't expect him to have such a big impact for Spain. I was really praying the Gunners snapped him up, but after signing that Bischoff fellow (or about to sign him) and Villareal's ridiculous evaluation it just wont happen.  Now that I've mentioned Amaury Bischoff I'm pissed off again. Apparently 20 minutes of first team football in two years is good enough to fight for a spot with the ten other young center midfielders we have? At least he was on a free.

Anywho, congratulations to Spain, you were fantastic and played some great football. It really gives me hope that Arsenal's technical abilities and passing game will bring home some trophies this season. Special kudos go to Cesc Fabregas, not just for winning the second largest football tournament in the world, but for the complete maturity and love for his club he showed by dedicating the win to us Gooners and his teammates. He's as professional as a footballer gets and he's only 21. While fucking Adebayor is out whoring himself around Europe, Cesc puts in a fantastic performance in Euro 2008 (he should of started over Xavi) and is rewarded with a major trophy. I can't be arsed to dig up his quotes, but they were something along the lines of I hope to win many trophies with Arsenal and I'm glad I could dedicate this to our supporters.

That's fucking brilliant! Cesc for captain! Adebayor to be given a boot in the ass!

 It's so damn tough keeping bias out of this..