Sergio Ramos was given a lesson that could come in useful should he take over from Martin Jol. How to graciously accept defeat at the hands of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.

Fabregas Forces First Goal For Gunners

The Gunners are currently top of the Premier League and they took their form straight from Saturdays victory over local rivals Tottenham Hotspur in to the game with Sevilla. They were gifted a first half goal by the visitors when a shot from Fabregas was deflected in to the goal. The young Spaniard will no doubt try to claim the goal to add to his already incredible tally for this season; he was instrumental both of the other Arsenal goals.

Eduardo Seals Victory

Robin Van Persie scored the Gunners second when he popped up at the back post to thump Sagna’s flick on from a Fabregas cross. Sevilla threatened on the counter attack, with ex-Spurs striker Fredi Kanoute coming closest to opening the account for Sevilla despite the perpetual booing from the home support. Thierry Henry’s replacement Eduardo left it late to add his name on the scoresheet, he finished from a few yards out after Fabregas and Hleb created the opening.

Martin Jol’s position as Manager of Tottenham Hotspur has become even more uncomfortable over the weekend, following his sides defeat at the hands of local rivals Arsenal.

Bale Becomes Spurs Legend After Scoring Free-Kick Against Arsenal

Things were looking up for Spurs who were able to name Bent & Lennon in the squad for the first time in weeks. The home side started brightly and Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov was brought down on the edge of the box, from the resulting free-kick Welsh youngster Gareth Bale appeared to surprise the Gunners goalie whipping a left-foot free kick in to the bottom corner of the goal much to the delight of the home fans. Bale was brought to White Hart Lane with a reputation of being a free-kick specialist, a reputation that appears to have been as justified as much as his transfer fee.

Another Long Range Goal, Another Capitulation

Spurs failed to capitalise on the opportunities that were gifted to them to increase their lead further will Keane, Berbatov and Bent missing one-on-one opportunities. Spurs were also looking fragile when under pressure from the Gunners attack. Arsenal got back in the game through a stroke of good fortune, referee Mark Clattenburg made Fabregas retake a wasted free-kick because he was distracted by the stewards doing their job on the sidelines. Arsenal seized the opportunity, Adebayor taking advantage of poor goalkeeping by Paul Robinson to guide home the free-kick.

Fabregas was soon on the score sheet himself for the fifth time this season when he struck from all of twenty-five yards as he stood in acres of space in front of the Spurs defence. His blistering shot flew in to the goal past an outstretched Paul Robinson.

Adebayor Seals Victory With Goal Of The Month

With Spurs fans wondering who will be their new manager could be after seeing their side fall to pieces again following Martin Jol’s substitutions.  Arsenal rubbed salt in the wound, Adebayor created his own space, flicking the ball away from Dawson only to volley it past Robinson. Who must have been wondering what he had done wrong in a past life to have inflicted such a bad run of luck, he has had more goals scored past him from out side the box than any other keeper in the Premier League.

Following the poor start to the season Spurs fans will be hoping to kick start their season with a win over bitter rivals Arsenal. Spurs have had a lot to cope with in the first month of the season. They have had a congested treatment room, a boardroom embarrassment as well as the poor run of results. Although it has not been all bad news the players have closed ranks and put on a few good performances apart from a few lapses in concentration and playing some players out of position.

Wenger Signs New Deal Keeping Him At Ashburton Grove Until 2011

Arsenal are buoyant, second in the Premier League on the same points total as leaders Liverpool, and this week the commander in chief Arsene Wenger put pen to paper on a new deal keeping him at Ashburton Grove for another four years. There had been speculation that the Frenchman would leave at the end of the season at the end of his contract after ex vice chairman David Dein left at the end of Last season.

Injured Spurs Players Ready For Arsenal

Tottenham will also be in good spirits as they have a few of the walking wounded passed fit to take part against the Gunners. Anthony Gardener, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, Aaron Lennon and £16m striker Darren Bent will all be available for Saturday.

According to under fire manager Martin Jol, Darren Bent is ‘in good form’, Lennon will provide attacking menace on the right flank to match Bale on the left, finally giving Spurs some balance in midfield. The more difficult decision is which two to play in the central midfield roles. Jenas & Huddlestone seem to provide the mobility and defence splitting passes that link up the play from defence to attack. Although Jol likes to play Didier Zokora who often lacks the killer ball and can get caught out of position in the play.

The game is a must win for both teams which could lead the game to being a tense, hard fought nil-nil draw, rather than the free flowing footballing spectacle that both teams could make it.

Home                                                Away

Sep 19, Sevilla/AEK Athens (h)     Oct 2, Steaua Bucharest (a)
Oct 23, Slavia Prague (h)                Nov 7, Slavia Prague (a)
Dec 12, Steaua (h)                            Nov 27, Sevilla/AEK Athens (a)

The Gunners begin this years UEFA Champions League campaign at home to Sevilla or AEK. Having reached the final two seasons ago, Arsene Wenger will hope his new breed will be more successful in the new era after Henry.

The draw for the Champions league was populated with the usual suspects and some new fringe teams. There were no less than six British in the draw. The big four from England Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are joined in the draw by the old firm from north of the border. Glasgow Rangers will welcome the windfall from the group stage, the £10m should help ease their current financial situation. Celtic scraped through the last round beating Spartak Moscow in a penalty shoot out to earn a place in the draw for the group stage.

UEFA Champions League GROUP A

Liverpool FC (England)
FC Porto (Portugal)
Olympique Marseille (France)
Besiktas (Turkey)

Last years beaten finalists Liverpool will hope their newly strengthened squad can go the extra mile this year, but they may be distracted with their domestic campaign. They will have trips to Portuguese side Porto who have been successful in the competition in recent years. Marseille are back in the big time after recovering from the scandals of the last decade, they may do well enough to compete for the second spot although they might settle for for the UEFA Cup spot. Besiktas will enjoy their participation in the Champions League, they are familiar with the format having played in the UEFA cup last season.

UEFA Champions League GROUP B

Chelsea FC (England)
Valencia (Spain)
Schalke 04 (Germany)
Rosenborg (Norway)

Premier League runners-up Chelsea will be confident of their progression from Group B, their assembly of stars should cruise through the group as they try to secure the one trophy that has eluded Jose Mourinho in his tenure as Chelsea manager.

Chelsea’s toughest test will come against Spanish side Valencia, who they managed to beat in last years quarter final. Although it must be said that Schalke and Rosenborg will be no push overs as they fight for the second qualification or UEFA Cup place, Schalke finished second in the Bundesliga last year behind Stuttgart.

UEFA Champions League GROUP C

Real Madrid (Spain)
Werder Bremen (Germany)
Lazio (Italy)
Olympiakos (Greece)

Spanish League winners Real Madrid have Germany’s third placed team Werder Bremen in their group along with Italy’s third place side Lazio, which will suit Madrid’s new man in charge Bernd Schuster who has recently strengthened his squad, adding names like Robben, Sneijder and Heinze. The fourth team in the Group C is Olympiakos from Greece.

UEFA Champions League GROUP D

AC Milan (Italy)
Benfica (Portugal)
Celtic (Scotland)
Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)

2007 Champions Milan will face Glasgow Celtic again this season after playing them last year.  Benfica, Celtic and Shaktar Donetsk will be competing for the second place and the UEFA Cup place, unless they manage to raise their game to upset the Champions.

UEFA Champions League GROUP E

FC Barcelona (Spain)
Olympique Lyon (France)
VfB Stuttgart (Germany)
Rangers (Scotland)

Instantly recognised as the ‘Group Of Death’ Glasgow Rangers will struggle to make even the UEFA Cup place. Winners from 2006 Barcelona who are fresh from a pre-season tour of Scotland will be favourites to top Group E. Barca & Celtic are joined in the group of death by winners of their respective leagues Lyon who won in France and Stuttgart who won the Bundesliga.

UEFA Champions League GROUP F

Manchester United (England)
AS Roma (Italy)
Sporting Lisbon (Portugal)
Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)

The English and Italian authorities will hope there is no rekindling of hostilities between Manchester United and Roma, after the violence that erupted in last seasons clash. The new and improved United squad will want to try and better the 7-1 result they managed last season. Ronaldo and Nani will face their old club Sporting Lisbon. The fixture that could cause the upset will be Dynamo Kiev, clubs that have a trip to Kiev in late October early November in the bitter cold may not perform well allowing the Ukrainians to exploit their familiar conditions.

UEFA Champions League GROUP G

Inter Milan (Italy)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
CSKA Moscow (Russia)
Fenerbahce (Turkey)

Another group where trips to a freezing cold Moscow could be a deciding factor in who is successful in the group. Italian Champions Inter Milan should finish top of the group, then it is a three way scramble between PSV, CSKA & Fenerbahce for the other two places.

UEFA Champions League GROUP H

Arsenal (England)
Sevilla (Spain) or AEK Athens (Greece)
Steaua Bucharest (Romania)
Slavia Prague (Czech Republic)

England’s fourth placed team face two eastern European sides in Steaua Bucharest and Slavia Prague, having dispatched the Czech Republic’s other entrant to the competition Sparta Prague in the qualifying round. The fourth club to be in the group has yet to be decided. The game between UEFA Cup holders for the last two seasons Sevilla from Spain, had their game against AEK Athens postponed following the death of Sevilla defender Antonio Puerta.

The mass exodus of the ‘Big Names’ from the Emirates Stadium continues just weeks after the departure of Thierry Henry, Freddie Ljungberg has left to join West Ham for a nominal fee that could rise to around £3million, the same fee that Arsenal paid for him seven years ago when they bought him from Halmstads.

The 30 year-old Swede said his decision was made easy after Thierry henry left for Barca. Ljungberg also said that the ambition of the Irons board was greater than the board at the Emirates Stadium.

Ljungberg has not been in the best form, of late he has been injured more often than he has been fit. A player of his stature will bring something to the restructured squad and as a rotational player he could be kept fit enough to contribute enough to help guide the side to success. Being an international captain and a regular in the champions league should demonstrate he has the composure and talent that the claret and blue lacked at times last season.

Chairman of the board at Arsenal Peter Hill-Wood has told the club website that he has entered in to talks with Arsene Wenger about extending his contract beyond the twelve months he has left on his existing deal.

The Frenchman was linked with the Real Madrid position following the dismissal of Fabio Capello. The uncertainty surrounding his future has created instability in the dressing room at the Emirates Stadium. Players are considering their own futures as they watch their leader planning a future that may lie elsewhere. They have already watched the club captain Thierry Henry leave for Barcelona in a cut price deal, Henry being the latest in a procession of big names that have left the club in the last few seasons.

Arsenal have experienced difficulty in attracting new talent to the club, they have already been snubbed by Ryan Babel and William Gallas has voiced his concerns about the clubs inability to attract stars. Big players with reputations to protect would be best advised to steer clear of a club that will be changing the management in twelve months for fear that the new manager may not want to keep them around as he attempts to make his mark on his new squad and bring in his own playing staff.

Hill-Wood told Arsenal.com “I’m confident he’ll stay” he also said “Hopefully, in the not too distant future we’ll have something positive to say about it”. Cynics will say that this announcement will give the impression that all is well at Ashburton Grove, Arsenal will hope that it sends the right signals out to potential signings. So far they have only signed relative unknowns Fabianski, da Silva and Sagna, although die hard Gunners will jump to the clubs defence to remind us that nobody had really heard of Henry or Vieira before they were unveiled by Arsene Wenger.

With more departures on the card with speculation in the press over Ljungberg and Fabregas and Wenger hinting that Reyes will be playing elsewhere next season. It would seem that Arsenal would have it all still to do if they are to compete next season with more than just kids, especially when you consider the rest of the big four have brought in a galaxy of stars and the pretenders to the coveted fourth Champions League spot are also bolstering their squads in a bid to exploit the Gunners weakness. North London rivals Spurs have brought in Bent, Bale, Kaboul and Taarabt, while Pompey have recruited Nugent, Muntari, Distin and Hreidarsson and Newcastle have brought in Geremi, Rozehnal, Barton and Viduka.

West Ham United have sold their club captain for £8.5 million to Aston Villa. There had been rumours about the England Under-21 captain’s future after he submitted a transfer request at the end of last season.

There was a changing room bust up that caused a rift between the player and the club. The press put the team’s poor performance on the pitch down to the fall out between the captain and the club, the player felt he was “hung out to dry” by the club.

Reo-Coker was delighted to sign the new four year deal with Villa, glad to get away from the grief at West Ham and overjoyed to be working under Martin O’Neill.

Dinamo Zagreb have announced that they have agreed to sell their prized striker Eduardo da Silva to Arsenal for the same fee they received last week for club legend Thierry Henry. The Brazil born Croatian international will join his new team mates provided he passes a medical at Ashburton Grove.
Da Silva leaves a club where he recently signed a ten year deal, however he has become a big fish in a very small pond, he has been the leagues top goal scorer for the last two seasons. He has also shone for his adopted country scoring 7 goals in just 12 appearances.

He has big boots to fill if he is to replace Henry especially if he is being bought for a similar fee to that received from Barcelona for Henry.

Just days after finalising the season tickets for next season, Arsenal have announced that they will be selling club captain Thierry Henry. Ever since the departure of David Dein there has been a multitude of stories about the instability of the clubs future.

A number of high profile players have made comments in the press about where they see their future. The presence of influential Frenchmen Wenger & Henry were the factors that most players said would ensure that they committed their futures to the North London club.

Now with Henry’s imminent departure a matter of tying up loose ends and organising the removal men, and Wenger having just one more year left on his deal. There could be a mass exodus from Ashburton Grove or at least a struggle to regain the glory of the last ten years.

Arsenal have been quiet in the transfer window, probably due to the fact that chief deal maker David Dein has resigned, compounded by the constant stream of rumours about the club and the future of the two biggest names at the club. Few players would want to come to a club knowing that the manager could be different in a few months at worst or in a year at best. Although there could be an opportunity for some of the clubs youngsters to stand up and make an name for themselves in a similar manner to the way Henry did eight years ago.