Wenger's protege makes his point at Gamba

With the Euros waning into insignificance with the elimination of England, and the 'much-fancied' Russia (okay, I admit it was me who backed the 20/1 shots to lift the trophy), I thought it was time to wander into a world where football is still played with passion and skill.

Watching Gamba Osaka play is something akin to watching Arsenal, as I've mentioned to netizens before with all the accompanying frustration and joy. And what could be better than watching Arsene Wenger's old club, Nagoya Grampus, take on the mighty Asian Champions League perennials? Except, this year, Gamba's place amongst Asia's elite is under threat. A poor start to the season has drizzled all over optimistic fans expecting a third-placed finish. Instead, fifth will suffice. Mmm, sounds kind of familiar, doesn't it?

Thanks to Alan Gibson of JSoccer Magazine, I was fortunate enough to meet Gamba's very approachable president, Mr Kikuo Kanamori. I also managed to see what happens in the Curva Nord, which is the place occupied by Gamba's most vociferous supporters or 'ultras'. Not content with just vocally getting behind their team, they even throw in some synchronised dancing when the team scores. It hasn't been happening as much as it normally does this season, so the dancers have been taking an unwelcome break. But the singing goes on regardless. I have to say that, for some Twitter twit claimed that the fans were barracking the team after falling behind to an early strike. How wrong can anyone possibly be?

Inevitably, it was Josh Kennedy who set up the goal, with his head, to put Kensuke Nagai on the scoresheet. The same combination struck again as Nagoya raced into a two-goal lead after just 18 minutes. Yet, there was no sign of any heckling from the Gamba supporters. A bit of consternation perhaps when some passes went astray, but that was it. The boys with the megaphones continued to cattle-prod Gamba's ever-willing followers into injecting some much-needed confidence into a nervous-looking team.

The 'ultras' had the opposite effect on me, I must confess, as Alan accidentally led me into a private members' area of the terraces. While he disappeared into a throng of noisy blue-and-black shirted fans, I wondered if my face would end up black and blue too for having the temerity to cross a line I didn't know existed. A tough-looking fan with dark glasses told me in no uncertain terms that I couldn't pass. 'No', he said, as he barred my way. While I waited for Alan to return, I looked along the terraces and saw that some standing areas had seats. Not the most comfortable looking ones, I must admit. The sort of seat that might make you sing out in pain. No doubt, Gamba's planned new stadium will have 'none of that sort', as Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood once said of the Gunners' majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke. We'll have to wait until 2014 to find out if my guess is correct about seating arrangement in Osaka's proposed new stadium (see photo above). 

And will Gamba's new stadium improve results? Well, even in the old stadium, they need to improve fast. If not, Gamba's new 36,000-capacity ground (which could hold up to 40,000 if the president gets his way) could be hosting J2 matches. Luckily for Gamba, the club appear to be in capable hands off-the-field, at least. President Kanamori-san has never been fearful of addressing the fans and, likewise, they are not afraid to voice their opinions. Right now, they're of the opinion that something must be done soon to arrest the decline. Masanobu Matsunami's transition from assistant manager to manager has been less smooth than it might have been. The legendary outgoing boss, Akira Nishino, has cast a bigger shadow over his successor than is healthy for Gamba. It was almost inevitable, given Nishino's success, that this would happen (although fans of the Liverpool bootroom dynasty may beg to differ!). To make matters worse, Nishino has pitched up just down the road at Vissel Kobe, transforming Gamba's 'little brother' into a respectable mid-table team. Meanwhile, the dark cloud of past glories will hover over Gamba, until they shake off the threat of relegation. No matter how hard the ultras sing, the hard work has to be done on the pitch and, miraculously, some of it came to fruition against Nagoya.

'On a wing and prayer' is a phrase that came to mind, as Gamba clawed their way back into the game with a hotly-disputed Sota Nakazawa diving header. Grampus were furious that Nakazawa was ruled onside, but their protests were futile.

When Takahiro Futagawa equalised with just 15 minutes left on the clock, the Nishino cloud was temporarily lifted by a grateful euphoria which swept around the stadium. Yet Gamba so nearly surrendered even that, with goalkeeper Yosuke Fujigaya rescuing the home side late on as Grampus went on to almost score from a counter attack. Fujigaya saved with his feet and the points were shared.

Would a point be considered enough for Grampus boss Dragan 'Piksi' Stojkovic? He seemed mildly disappointed when he spoke at the post-match press conference: 'It seems like we dropped two points, but I think we played very well in the first half and Gamba played very well in the second half. This is my first impression.

'It's a problem for Gamba why they don't win at home. We tired in the second half.

'We were very close to scoring the third goal when we played with three strikers: Tulio, Yuki Maki and Kennedy, and we were very close to losing. Anything can happen in the last few minutes. 2-2 is a good result. Away against Gamba, no problem.

Gamba's first goal looked a tad offside and on that very subject, Pixie commented diplomatically on the decision: 'A kind of mystery to me, from my position.'

Later, he privately confessed: 'He [the referee's assistant] told me he didn't see it. Why are you allowed to play if you don't see the situation? I accept the mistake but don't tell me you don't see it. It's a big advantage for the home team.

'From my position, I saw my players go up and protest, even (Seigo) Narazake my goalkeeper, who is very calm. He started to explain to the referee.

'At half-time, 2-0 and 2-1 are very different scorelines. The 2-1 scoreline and this goal gave Gamba hope. But the problem is my team. We have to be cleverer and more intelligent to score five goals and finish the game.

'I thought it was offside but the linesman said: “No see, no see”. Sometimes, it's difficult to control emotions. The game is a passion. You cannot be calm and sit on the bench. I need to express my feelings.

'The most important thing for the officials is half-time. In the last game, we played 4 minutes additional time against Jubilo Iwata at the end of the first half because the goalkeeper broke his finger.

'After a few minutes [in the dressing room] they [the officials] said 'time'. Why? For television. But TV has to respect the game. If [Joshua] Kennedy needs to go the toilet, what can I do?'

Piksi admitted Grampus's problems may be exacerbated by absentees: 'I think Kensuke Nagai will go to London. Keiji Tamada had an operation today and will be out for 3 months.'

However, Piksi could still spare a thought for his opponents: ''Gamba are in trouble. If we had played 10 percent better - easy. They need something in front.'

Whatever Gamba needs, they need it soon or they will face at least one season in J2. And neither the fans, the president, nor the players deserve such a fate.

Meanwhile, Piksi deserves the challenge of the English Premier League and perhaps, one day, he will follow in the footsteps of his former Grampus mentor, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal could cash in on rivals' instability, Squillaci & Park

It is not normally the business of this website to discuss goings-on at other clubs. However the departure of Harry Redknapp at Spurs and the appointment of Roberto Di Matteo at Chelsea gives us Arsenal fans something to chew on. From our point of view, we need to know whether Chelsea and Spurs will push as hard next season for our much-coveted Champions League spot.

Looking at Spurs first, you have to say under Redknapp they were much more formidable despite not winning any trophies. You just have to look at their finishing league positions under Harry to realise. He bought wisely and his team played attractively, hence the link to the England manager's job.

Luckily for us, the Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has a tendency to self-destruct, in my opinion. It makes me appreciate the stability offered by the Arsenal Board of Directors who have stuck by managers and not dismissed them at the drop of a hat or a point. Stability maybe boring to some but at least it leads to success. Ask Manchester United!

Lots of Spurs fans are fearing the worst, and unless they can appoint someone as good as Jose Mourinho I think the only way is down for them. All the names being bandied about as Redknapp successors are inferior to Harry and I think the best they can hope for next season is a mid-table finish. It wouldn't surprise me if they sacked their next manager halfway through the season. Trigger-happy chairman tend to do that.

Talking of trigger-happy chairman, how long can Di Matteo stay at Chelsea as boss? Not that long is the answer. He's been given a two-year contract and I will be surprised if he sees that out. The Di Matteo has a huge challenge on his hands next season as the team is in transition. However, I expect Chelsea to finish above Spurs but below Arsenal. That, ultimately, will not be good enough for a Roman Abramovic.

We have to thank our lucky stars that our board have more about them than the chairmen of our London rivals. So for once, I'd like to praise our board the sterling work they've done. However, there is always room for improvement, so let's hope we take the opportunity this summer to put some distance between us and the two teams down the road.

There is some encouraging news on the transfer front with Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger refusing to comment on the possibility of the club raiding Montpellier for striker Olivier Giroud. Goal.com claim that Wenger was asked the question on French TV. He apparently told TF1: "I won't say anything to you. Even under torture!"

We are hearing a deal worth €14.8 million is set to be concluded shortly with some websites claiming that the 25-year-old France international striker will temporarily leave the French training camp in order to put pen to paper on a €60,000 per week deal. I can't see it myself, I think we will have to wait until France are knocked out of Euro 2012. As long as it happens before the Premier league season begins, I will be happy. Perhaps that is the "exciting news" that Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis is promising.

Meanwhile, moving out of the club could be Sebastien Squillaci. Newly-promoted Bastia want the French defender to add experience to their back four for their forthcoming Championnat season. There is also interest from Evian (good for rehydration) and Brest (cue smutty jokes). Most fans will be happy for the 31-year-old to move on at any price after an unsuccessful stint at the Emirates.

The word "unsuccessful" brings to mind Park Chu-Young. Arsenal's South Korean striker is in hot water it seems regarding the controversy surrounding his military service, or lack of. He recently told a press conference in his native country: "I understand that there was a huge controversy concerning my military service. I would like to apologise for all the trouble this caused, and for letting people down.

"I learned a lot about football while playing with AS Monaco for three years. I started dreaming of learning more in Europe as a football player. But even though I delayed my military service, I never plan to emigrate or avoid it altogether.

"I submitted a handwritten letter to the Military Manpower Administration pledging to fulfil my military duty, and I promise again that I intend to honour that."

Who knows, perhaps, the furore this has caused has affected Park's form. When he was granted a ten-year residence permit in March this year by the principality of Monaco it meant that he could delay his military service until 2022, by which time he will be 37-years-old.

However, now that he has been named in South Korea's Olympic squad, there is a possibility he could be excused military service completely. Well, if South Korea team manage to win a medal that is. Park seems to be really going for it given that he's now training in Japan, having outstayed his 60-day permission to remain in South Korea while resident in another country.

From an Arsenal perspective, we can only hope that Park plays well enough to secure himself a move to another club with us recouping most of the transfer fee we paid out last summer.

Eriksen's Arsenal 'no go', Giroud green light, Benzema on amber & Arshavin's checkmate!

Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham transfer target Christian Eriksen is staying at Ajax for one more year, according to London 24.com.

The website took their quotes from the Dutch newspaper de Telegraaf. Eriksen told them: "I think it's worth spending another year at Ajax because what really interests me now is to play and grow as a player. I do not need to risk anything and take a wrong step in my career. We'll see what can happen in the summer of 2013."

I'm quite glad to hear this as the 20-year-old Denmark international was not that impressive in his country's opening game in Euro 2012. Although Denmark won, I don't think Eriksen was instrumental in victory. But at the age of 20, he should improve, so by next year he will be a hot property than he is now.

Meanwhile, one player who could be joining Arsenal this summer is Olivier Giroud of Montpellier. His club manager Rene Girard told the French radio station RMC: "Arsenal are very interested and Giroud wants to play in England. If Arsene [Wenger] agrees with the president, he [Giroud] will sign them."

Another player we could sign, although it is a bit of a long shot is Karim Benzema. Apparently the Real Madrid ace is being offered to Manchester City, that's according to the Manchester Evening News.

Benzema is under contract until 2015, but his representative Jonathan Hope is quoted as saying: "I have put Benzema forward after a talk with a very reliable and highly-placed source at Manchester City as a possible summer signing.

"We are working closely to secure the exclusive mandate to obtain the paperwork firstly after  serious interest from the champions.

"We spoke with Manchester United two years ago and it went nowhere, which I can see is perhaps is a regret on their part.

"The player has stated himself he will not go to Manchester United, however, he has not ruled out a switch to join the champions. I will have a clearer picture soon after the Euros when I have time to sit with his representatives.

"But, personally, I can see the business being done and to be fair it will rock English football. I must stress this is at the discussion stage.

All seems in good order but this is football and things change fast."

The player himself has recently said this: "I would never say never about coming to England and, to be honest, I have no real preference in terms of teams. But that is a long way in the future, not something I would even consider at the moment."

It all sounds very much like agent talk at this stage, but it is interesting that Manchester City see Benzema as an alternative to Robin van Persie, whom they fear they may miss out on. I wonder if Arsenal could conclude a swap deal with Real Madrid. That would make a lot of sense, but it is pure speculation. However don't be surprised if you read in the newspaper tomorrow.

Also in the realm of speculation is the report in the Daily Mail that Arsenal will not sell Arshavin on the cheap. Recently I read we were prepared to sell the Russian for £3 million, but now it appears we want £8 million. That's a lot of money for a 31-year-old. Of course I think he's worth it, but I'm not sure Zenit St Petersburg will pay it.

On that very subject, the fictional website Meerkat Manor Meerkovo.com interviewed our Russian maestro:

Congratulations on beating the Czech Republic 4-1. The opposition started the game well don't you think? Did it surprise you how they started?

Yes. Playing for poor-pup-side like Arsenal I do not see many cheques, so I feel very surprised to see so many cheques in one night. They make it confusing because goalkeeper is also Cech. He is a double Czech, but we are good at chess so we get him checkmate! Ha ha!

At the beginning of the first half the manager Dick Advocaat said something to you. What did he say?

Dick asked me to mark Czech right back. Not easy for creative player. So I laughed "ha ha, did you make joke?" I heard of clever Dick that he is funny Dick.

In the second half, the Czechs scored. Did that make the Russian team nervous?

No, I told the team not to be nervous because Rosicky is playing. If he is their playmaker then the Czechs won't play much. We let them score to make a match of it. It was getting too embarrassing for Mr Wenger. How can he leave me on the bench for Rosicky? I did not want to rub Arsenal manager's face in it, so I told teammates let Czechs score one goal.

You have always been on good terms with Rosicky?

Yes because he knows his place. His place in the Arsenal sickbay is not under threat from me. I take him flowers every day and bottle of Lucozade. It is my little joke. The Lucozade is specially made by Lukasz Fabianski. He drinks the real Lucozade then he fills it up again if you know what I mean! Rosicky sometimes says this Lucozade takes funny, but I just say: "I am Gooner, get it down you son". Rosicky is Czech, but cannot check so it's checkmate again! Ha ha!

Arshavin 4-1 Rosicky

Arsenal's meerkat rules okay! Andrey Arshavin showed the world exactly why Arsenal paid £15m for him. The question remains how does Russia boss Dick Advocaat get the best out of him? I'd say giving him the armband and a free role helps. Don't expect Arshavin to track back. He won't do it. But if you want assists and genius, then play him.

Arsene Wenger has rarely got the best out of Arshavin simply because he plays him out of position or not at all. If he thinks Tomas Rosicky is a better player than Arshavin after this mauling of the Czech Republic then I'd like him to explain his reasons.

Rosicky is better defensively than Arshavin and he has a better work-rate. But as good a season as he has had, the 'Little Mozart' will never unlock defences like the 'meerkat'.

Of course, we all know Arshavin will be sold. I can see him going to Barcelona if he keeps this kind of form up. Otherwise, he'll return to Zenit St Peterberg.

One player who caught the eye tonight was the Czech's right back Theodor Gebre Selassie. He's 25 and the first black player to represent that country. He's got pace, zest and technical ability. He'll make a good signing for someone for there's no way he'll stay at Slovan Liberec after this kind of performance.

Arsenal's Sir Chesney is not set for a knighthood

Who said the opening game of Euro 2012 would be a tepid affair? Me! I made a mistake. By I got the result right, more by luck than judgement. I said 0-0, it was 1-1. Good job I didn't bet on the scoreline. The result means I'm £2.25 richer with my quid stake. From an Arsenal fan's perspective that's where the good news ends!

Unless the BBC have knighted Szczeny. We always call him Chesney. However, the BBC think it's pronounced Sir Chesney. If they're right about that let me know. It's news to me!

Anyway, his performance didn't deserve a knighthood. A beheading maybe. He was at fault for Greece's goal, scored by their vibrant sub, Salpingidis (not to be confused with salpingitis, which is inflamation of the pelvic area).

It got worse for Arsenal's newest knight with Salpingidis beating the offside trap. Faced with a one-on-one, Sir Chesney chivalrously tripped his opponent. A red card and one-match ban for the knight. He will miss the Russia game.

The knight's replacement Tyton saved the resulting penalty and now Sir Chesney may have a battle on his hands getting back into Poland's starting line-up. Apart from the two monumental mistakes, Chesney wasn't that bad.

Let's hope he gets back in. Our number one needs as much experience as possible. I hope Arsene Wenger notes that Chesney needs competition for his place in the Arsenal team. Without that, he will not improve as quickly as he would otherwise. Surely Le Prof knows that. It's not rocket science.

It will involve money though and our board prefer not to spend it. Maybe Sir Chesney's performance today will prompt to do it anyway!

Not good old, it's same ol' same ol' Arsenal

Today is the day when Euro 2012 begins in earnest. I'm so excited I'm up at the crack of dawn just say this! In fact, it's not even the crack of dawn. Oh yeah, I'm that excited! I'm doing my writing before all the other websites. The early bird catches the worm and all that, a policy I wish Arsenal Football Club would follow.

What we are about to see will consist of Arsenal has-beens, like Ashley Cole; Arsenal legend should've-beens, like Andrey Arshavin; an Arsenal might-have-beens, like Petr Cech. Most of all, as Arsenal fans will watch on as a glittering parade of stars show the world their wares to potential clubs. Unfortunately, we are unlikely to be one of the potential clubs as we become increasingly unwilling to dip into our transfer  kitty. Arsenal's policy is mend and make do. So what if we take to the field with a shabby squad, we can still take pride in our philosophy.

That philosophy is not about to change. All we can hope for is a less shabby squad than last year. The signing of Lukas Podolski is an example of a slight sea change at the club. Ivan Gazidis claims lessons have been learnt from last pre-season, when we concluded most of our transfer business on transfer deadline day after a disastrous start in the league. If the policy is indeed to do business as soon as possible, then I would like to ask the question why have we only signed one player prior to the start of a major international tournament. The chances will sign someone during Euro 2012 is negligible.

After finishing third in the league so many points behind Manchester United and Manchester City, you would think the club would be eager to make some major improvements to the squad. Instead, with temporarily improved the squad  with the addition of just one big name, fully in the knowledge that a number of big names are about to leave. I felt to see how this policy is going to work.

The website Ashburton Grove is well worth a read, for it gives an insight into the club's policy. It is a well-balanced article, although I disagree with the “Fabregas’s disgraceful behaviour” headline. It may be read on though, so I suppose it did its job.

The main thrust of the article is Arsenal CEO Ivan Gazidis’s question time with the fans. We are being promised a future that may never come to pass. While UEFA are keen for Financial Fair Play (FFP) to work there is no guarantee that it will. I still can't see how UEFA expect the big spenders to play fair.

The article goes on to say that despite Arsenal having two billionaire shareholders, we are unwilling to compete with the more extravagant clubs. One of those billionaires, Alisher Usmanov, won't be offered a place on the board, that much is clear. All Gazidis was prepared to do is admit that our wage structure may need changing. If we are to keep Robin van Persie at the club we may have to.

The most interesting thing, however, about the article is what Gazidis reportedly said about the sale of Cesc  Fabregas: "Me trying to sell you selling Cesc Fabregas is a step forward for Arsenal – that's a pretty hard sell. From a technical perspective it clearly wasn't. But in terms of what we got out of Cesc and what we got out in terms of players who are committed this year wanted to be here, those are the type of judgements you end up having to make in my goodness, those are so, so difficult." I think everyone is entitled to make mistakes but the CEO’s fuzzy thinking is apparent in the lines above. A decision should have been made much earlier about the situation regarding Cesc and Samir Nasri. Instead we were fed lies about how only one player would be allowed to leave of the two want-aways. We always suspected that Nasri would be sold. Then we would keep Cesc for one more season or until we found a replacement of sorts.

The article goes on to say that Cesc "refused to play for us" during the pre-season when he was fit. Even if that were the case, surely the club held the whip hand. Cesc was still on a long-term deal. A spell in the reserves would have sorted out his reluctance to play. He could have been sold in January, if necessary. The club messed up. It’s a simple as that. We didn’t get anything like the money we should have done for Cesc, so we wouldn’t have lost value by disciplining him or not playing him.

I’m not sure if it’s ineptitude that is causing the club to make so many bad decisions or whether it is something more sinister. Whatever it is we don’t need it. If the same mistakes happen again this summer, heads should roll. Please don’t think I’m having a go at Arsene Wenger. I’m not saying he should go. Far from it. I just believe he deserves better support from the board than he seems to be getting. We all know we need David Dein back at the club. Why can’t the board put personal differences aside and invite him back? Maybe then I would start believing that the board have the club’s best interests at heart.

Half a million banked? Who will Arsenal spend it on?

We are only days away from the Euros beginning, so unsurprisingly Arsenal have been linked with a plethora of players. The aptly named Sabotage Times has linked us to 2 wingers: one from the Ukrainian international side and one from the Swedish international team. I have to confess I don't know much about either. Yevhen Konoplyanka is a nice easy name to pronounce isn't it. Not! The 22-year-old is currently playing for Dnipro so we will watch with interest as he takes the field for his international team. You'll be wearing the number 19 shirt and will probably start for the Ukraine on the left wing. He's a bit taller than our very own Andrey Arshavin, but I can't see Arsene Wenger plunging in the transfer market to buy another eastern European wideman, no matter how exceptional he is.

Could Arsenal bring in a Scandinavian  wideman though? Anders Limpar anyone? The man in question is Christian Eriksen of Denmark and Ajax. He doesn't necessarily play wide though. He's been compared to Michael Laudrup by the great Johan Cruyff and is expected to play just behind Denmark's main striker. He wears the number 8 and is considered to be Denmark’s best player, so we shouldn't be able to miss him, should we? But would we miss him if he didn't come to Arsenal. I will let you know after Euro 2012. In fact, I would be very surprised if we bought playmaker this summer, after watching Chelsea and Manchester United strength in that area of field, I'm sure our club's policy will be to watch, to pray and to avoid touching the coffers.

The Daily Express meanwhile is running the story and we are in talks with Argentina international Lucas Biglia. The 26-year-old Anderlecht skipper could be on the move apparently for £8 million and we may swoop for this defensive midfielder. I don't believe a word of it, then does not had much luck with Argentinian football players. Does anyone remember Nelson Vivas, who wasn't too bad? And Fabian Caballero, who wasn't that good? I thought so. That's why it's very unlikely that we'll be buying Argentinian players while Wenger is in charge.

The good news is we have some extra money for transfers, now that Oguzhan Ozyakup is joining Besiktas for £570,000. According to the Daily Star, Arsenal have inserted a 25% sell-on clause, which should see us reap some of the benefits should the midfielder come good later in his career. He certainly has some talent, but appears to have some attitude to go with it, some of which may not be good for team spirit. I base this assessment on what I saw at Stevenage in the pre-season last year. Ozyakup was really on the case of one of his teammates, and personally I couldn't see the point. Often players know when they make a mistake, especially when it's an obvious mistake. They don't need to be castigated for it. And they certainly don't need to be told what it is by a teammate. That is what Ozyakup appeared to do, which is why I am not so sad to see him leave the club.

Some may feel similarly about Andrey Arshavin. An article in FT.com suggests that our lovable meerkat is ‘unpopular’ in the dressing room. I would imagine that Andre is not Wenger’s favourite player due to his propensity to speak his mind. Even that alone could make him unpopular in the dressing room when Wenger is there also. The article is about Robin van Persie ostensibly and I suggest you read it as it is very informative and interesting. I'm left feeling that Robin will leave in pursuit of trophies elsewhere. Hopefully, I have jumped to the wrong conclusions and the man who can't bear to lose at table tennis will consider third place in the league as an acceptable state of affairs. If he really is an Arsenal fan and he should learn to accept that just like we have to! Seriously though, I won't blame Robin if he does leave. As long as he does not join another English club, he goes with my blessing.

Crocked Theo, Ox delight & toilet roll transfers!

It’s the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee holiday and we’re ‘celebrating’ with some depressing weather and the following depressing news: Theo Walcott is crocked. Sort of. Theo has tweaked his ankle and hamstring, but still reckons he’ll be ready for the tournament. From an Arsenal perspective, it might be best if Theo misses Euro 2012, as I’m sure he’ll return from it just as knackered as all the other participants. If he does miss it, another player on the waiting list will get a call-up. Even if he was a winger, I don’t think Rio Ferdinand would be getting it! Purely footballing reasons, of course! Yeah, right!

Anyway, one man's loss is another man's opportunity and, looking at the Telegraph for a moment, it sounds like the media have a new darling. Yes, it’s opportunity knocks for another Arsenal winger. It's great to see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain getting the plaudits he deserves for a decent first start for England. It wasn't the scintillating performance at all from the England team in general, but ‘The Ox’ provided us with some of the brighter moments of the game.

The Telegraph’s Henry Winter didn’t comment much on the Belgium team that ‘The Ox’ and co were up against. Of course previous Arsenal transfer target, Eden Hazard is on the way to Chelsea and another previous Arsenal transfer target Jan Vertonghen appears to be on his way to Spurs. Or is he? The deal is not done yet, so there has been talk that Arsenal may hijack the move. Personally, I can't see that at all. The 25-year-old defender will be at White Hart Lane and the deal is expected to be confirmed within days or weeks. I'm not too upset about it myself, having seen his display against England I don't think Arsenal are missing out that much. Or is that the case of sour grapes? I'll let you, the reader, decide.

One player who did catch the eye was his international teammate and number 7: Dries Mertens. He was playing on the left wing for Belgium, and I thought he gave England's right back Glen Johnson quite a few problems. He only joined PSV Eindhoven last summer and has racked up 21 goals in 33 games already, not a bad achievement for a winger. I think we should try to sign the 25-year-old, but somehow I can't see it happening.

Something else I can't see happening, is Robin van Persie moving to Italy. Nevertheless, ClubCall claim that Arsenal have told Juventus that we want €30m for the Holland international striker. With the match fixing scandal going on in Italy at the moment it is incredibly difficult to imagine them personally heading that way. No doubt it is in ‘the pipeline’ like ClubCall’s claim about our proposed deal for CSKA Moscow star Seydou Doumbia. The last ‘pipeline’ I saw was a piece of toilet roll without paper. I think that says it all, and I will deposit both stories in the aforementioned cylindrical container where they belong.

While we're talking about silly transfers, is it worth mentioning that Gregory van der Wiel is up for grabs? The Ajax and Holland international right back will probably move to Chelsea but wouldn't it be a good idea for our club to make a move given Bacary Sagna's recent injury record? Some might say that ‘Corporal’ Carl Jenkinson is a good enough replacement for Sagna, but I'm not quite sure he's up for the task on a long-term basis despite some admirable performances last season.