This time of the year can be very tedious for supporters throughout football. Rumours and gossip about potential transfer targets are rallied around whether they are serious or not. Manchester City seem to be getting linked with every footballer who has two feet and a desire to earn double they would at any other club.
Arsenal battled well on Saturday to beat Hull City at the windy KC Stadium.
Arsenal went into the late kick-off match at Hull knowing that their adversaries above them in the league had all been fortunate to record victories late in their games, and 3 points from the match was even more of a necessity for Arsenal to stay in the chase.
Arsenal came back well from a goal behind to defeat Everton 3-1 at the Emirates.
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Well apologies all for the lack of updates, what can I say it is summer and I have been partying it up a bit!
But now the summer is drawing to a close and the new season has begun so you can be assured of regular updates here at Arsenal Online.
So, the new Premier League season is under way, and Arsenal got off to a decent start by beating West Brom 1-0 at the Emirates.
It wasn’t a stellar match by any standard, but it was the right result on the first match of the season (Which Spurs and Man Utd both couldn’t manage 
), and it was a better Arsenal Team performance than the Champions League qualifier against FC Twente.
This is how they lined up :
Almunia,
Sagna, Gallas, Djourou, Clichy,
Walcott (Toure 72), Eboue, Denilson, Nasri,
Adebayor, Bendtner (Van Persie 69).
Now that Eboue has little chance of getting his old place in the right of defence back from Sagna, he looks likely to play a filling-in role for others in defence and midfield more regularly. And while Arsenal definitely missed Cesc’s set-up play, Eboue actually had a pretty good game covering for him in midfield.
Adebayor had a pretty dreadful match up front, failing to take any of his chances and missing a bit of a sitter in the second half. That said, he always works hard and digs in to help the team, but he is there to score goals! I think I heard him get booed by Arsenal fans at one point when he attempted to strike in from a narrow angle when Nasri was clear in the centre. Not sure about that, but he is a man with something to prove this year.
Speaking of Nasri, the little guy had a great game again, he looks great on the ball and he managed to pop up in the right place to score a goal on his Premier League debut. He looks to be fitting into the side very well and hopefully should only improve as he gets more games under his belt.
Anyway, job done for Arsenal. West Brom really didn’t show too much menace, but a 1-0 scoreline always gives this Gooner a dodgy feeling towards the end (I never liked that Go West song anyway) and I was a little nervous, despite West Brom’s lack of threat, you never know! (I am not what you would call an optimist 
) As for the Brom, I think they will be helped a lot this season by Scott Carson saving their arses! They didn’t really look comfortable against us, never really got much of a passing game going, but the Emirates is a tough place to come on the first day of the season. I don’t think they are too bad a side though, I think they might have enough to scare a few teams this year. I did quite the look of Miller up front, maybe not the most skilful player, but the guy is a beast! The young lad Barnett in defence looks like he could become a decent defender in the future too.
Well not much more to say about the West Brom game, it wasn’t the toughest game but 3 points board, Man Utd drew and Spurs lost, what more could a Gooner ask for?
Next up Arsenal are away to Fulham (Saturday, 17:30) which should be a little more of a test and then it’s time to stick a few past McClaren’s Twente in midweek.
In Arsenal Online site news, I have been hard at work over the weekend on a new design for the site, the design is almost finished and I should begin slicing and coding it up soon. Even got the Mrs. to sketch up a cartoon Gunnersaurus so that’s definitely something to look out for. Keep ‘em peeled!
Here’s some highlights of the game :
Today there are reports[1,2] that the Football Association are considering taking action to stop the trend of players harassing and surrounding referees. Under th
e mooted new rules the referee will still be able to speak to all players, but only the captain from each team will be allowed to approach the referee.
Whilst it’s a shame that this needs to be enforced, it is necessary with the increase in this activity in the last few seasons leading to hostile environments for referees.
I never really understood why players so consistently do this, when it is clear that you will never be able to get the ref to change his mind. I thought that most people knew that refs only take orders from Fergie
Michael Johnson for the Gunners?
Arsenal have been linked [3] with another midfielder, 20 year old Michael Johnson of Manchester City. Johnson, having not much more than a year’s experience in the Premiership would be a purchase that would seem to fit in with the Wenger style of buying on potential. However it is easy to think that if Arsenal are to challenge for the title this season they will need to find someone to fill Flamini’s boots. Johnson surely isn’t ready yet and at a report price of £12m he sure is pricey. Personally I would really like to see Gareth Barry brought in to fill this role but at the time of writing it looks unlikely.
Nasri excited by Arsenal move, Missing his mum.
Speaking of midfielders, Samir Nasri has been speaking to French sports paper L’Equipe about Arsenal.
“I love the game, I’m passionate and Arsenal’s football culture made me dream,”
“I had a lot of fun watching all their games last season. To me, this culture and the way they play represent what football should be.”
“When you see how they play in England, it means I need to improve on the physical level and in the air, as well in terms of intensity and regularity,” he commented.
“The team plays in 4-4-2. I had a chat with Arsene Wenger and I’m going to play on a wing because that is where their playmakers are, splitting with the full backs.”
“My parents won’t be with me anymore so I’m going to have to cope with it and learn to be independent, In the meantime I have asked the club to have someone cooking for me and cleaning because I’m not used to being autonomous, I’ve always been living with my parents.”
I think he is certainly right about needing to improve his strength and physical presence, I have seen him in some Marseille games where he looked easily hassled. But of course he is still pretty young and as he becomes older he should not be so lightweight.
