First things first, some theme music to go with today’s post.

I know this is a completely selfish thing for me to say but I’m going to say it anyway: the first international break of the season could not have come at a better time.

Following the non-news of Mark Schwarzer’s non-arrival there is virtually nothing of substance floating around the Arsenal blogosphere, which is perfect for me because I’ve just moved into a new apartment in Berlin.

The thought of coming up with insightful articles about Arsenal whilst frantically moving furniture, fitting lightbulbs and painting walls is enough to make me shiver, so I’m rather happy to enjoy a week off from football.

If there is one thing worth touching it is the announcement of Arsenal’s official squad for the Premier league season. But then I think: what really is there worth to say?

Have a look at the list for yourself (home-grown players in bold, U21s in separate list):

1 Almunia, Manuel
2 Arshavin, Andrey
3 Bendtner, Nicklas
4 Chamakh, Marouane
5 Clichy, Gaël
6 Denilson
7 Diaby, Abou
8 Djourou, Johan
9 Eboué, Emmanuel
10 Fabianski, Lukasz
11 Fábregas, Cesc
12 Koscielny, Laurent
13 Mannone, Vito
14 Nasri, Samir
15 Rosicky, Tomas
16 Sagna, Bacary
17 Song, Alex
18 Van Persie, Robin
19 Vermaelen, Thomas
20 Squillaci, Sébastien

Under 21 players (selected)

Gibbs, Kieran
Ramsey, Aaron
Traoré, Armand
Vela Carlos
Walcott, Theo
Wilshere, Jack

There’s no alarms and no surprises to be found in Arsenal’s list like Owen Hargreaves’ inclusion by Manchester United or Spurs bumping Jonathan Woodgate off their list as a result of Rafael van der Vaart’s signing (a good piece of business, the bastards).

Arsene Wenger hasn’t finally given up on Robin van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner either, despite cripple status, which I suppose is a good thing.

At first I was a little bemused by Wojceich Szczesny’s absence from this list but a detailed article from Young Guns guru Jamie Sanderson about the squad lists suggests that he, plus about 50 other young players, are automatically registered in the U21 category and the list provided above by The Guardian was simply shortened for relevance.

Personally I don’t really see the point of all this squad list nonsense. The aim is supposed to be about increasing the number of home-based players to improve the quality of the national team but as so many have said previously, decreasing the quality of the league is far more likely to hurt the national team than improve it.

In my opinion the FA would be far better off to stop making concessions for their English “superstars”, come up with a detailed plan to develop a new style of play from the grass roots up and cease production of every single English tabloid.

Sure, we might miss out on cracking photos of Bendtner with his pants down, but that’s a price I’m sure most Englishmen and women would pay for a better national football team.

Anyway, I’m going to leave it there. Take it easy, enjoy your Thursday and I’ll speak to you soon.

Oh, and like it or lump it but Egnoue will be speaking to you sooner.

Thoughts?

Have your say on Arsenal’s squad for the season by leaving a comment.

As of 6pm UK time the English transfer window is now closed.

I had intended to cover “Deadline Day” in a fair bit of detail but was instead forced to help out a friend with an extremely stressful travel insurance problem here in Berlin.

In the end, it seems I didn’t miss much.

Indeed the biggest news for Arsenal is not what happened but what didn’t happen: goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer signing from Fulham.

Yesterday I expressed my desire to see the Australian join the club but it wasn’t to be as Mark Hughes held onto his man and Manuel Almunia held onto his No 1 shirt.

On one hand I’m obviously disappointed that this move didn’t go through. I firmly believe that Schwarzer would have improved our team and it would have been a lot of fun to see a fellow Australian playing in red and white.

But on the other hand I feel quite good. For all of Almunia’s faults as a goalkeeper he’s still a bloody good bloke and a loyal servant of the club and it’s good to see him get the opportunity to show what he can do this season.

Call me optimistic, deluded or just a massive softie, but the thought of him playing a blinder after all that’s gone on excites me just a bit.

The only other transfers directly involving Arsenal players were Mikael Silvestre’s permanent move to German side Werder Bremen and Armand Traore’s one-year loan move to Juventus.

Silvestre’s exit was expected even if the final destination of Bremen was not, while Traore’s move is particularly intriguing.

A few seasons ago William Gallas called Traore the most talented of all our younger players and it will be interesting to see how he handles the experience of playing in another country for one of the very biggest clubs in the world. Personally I think he’ll do quite well.

The comedy story of the day is Alex Hleb’s loan move to Birmingham. From Arsenal to Barcelona to Birmingham, Hleb must go home every night wondering why the heck he didn’t just stay put with his buddy Cesc Fabregas.

And that is that, I’m afraid.

Thoughts?

Have your say on the transfer deadline day by leaving a comment.

There will undoubtedly be a lot of articles over the next day or so that label Arsenal’s Champions League draw as “easy”.

In truth, it is anything but.

Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting Braga and Partizan Belgrade are not big names in European football, but once the novelty factor of Eduardo’s early reunion with Arsenal subsides a couple of harsh truths will emerge from this draw.

For starters, our boys have a lot traveling to do.

Braga might not be too far away (and have a unique and beautiful stadium) but Belgrade is while Donetsk is the second-most Eastern club in the Champions League after Rubin Kazan.

At this stage of the tournament I consider travel to be far more of a concern than the quality of the opposition because of the knock-on effect long trips have on the following Premier League fixtures.

A quick look at the league fixture list shows that five of the six games we have following Champions League outings are away from home and exceptionally difficult games: Sunderland after Matchday 1, Chelsea after Matchday 2, Manchester City after Matchday 3, Aston Villa after Matchday 5 and Manchester United after Matchday 6.

Things are kicked off with a home game to Braga on Matchday 1, which should see three points secured.

The only home game, against Newcastle after Matchday 4, follows the most difficult fixture of the group, Shakhtar Donetsk away. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see points dropped.

The thought of playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge three days after a long trip to Belgrade is a scary one, particularly as they have a laughably easy corresponding fixture at home to mighty MSK Zilina.

Eduardo’s return to Emirates will come three days before a trip to Manchester City on Matchday 3 while Braga away comes four days before a visit to Villa Park.

Perhaps the most important thing for Arsenal to do is qualify early.

With an away trip to Old Trafford following a home game against Partizan Belgrade on Matchday 6 fielding a reserve team could be significant, particularly if United are also comfortably through.

Arsenal should qualify from Group H comfortably, as we usually do, but the impacts of some very long trips and awkward fixtures may be felt domestically.

As such, any mention of the word “easy” to describe this group would be naive.

Thoughts?

Have your say on Arsenal’s Champions League draw by leaving a comment.

Arsene Wenger has confirmed the signing of French centre-back Sebastien Squillaci from Sevilla.

“We needed a centre-back of quality and experience if possible, and at the right price – he was all of that. He is a real defender and is good in the one against one, good in the air, and can score goals on set-pieces as well. I believe he will be suited to the English game. He will train with us tomorrow morning, but will not be involved on Saturday. I made a bid on the day Sevilla played in the Champions League, so he did not play as he was waiting for the transfer.”

There will be more comment to follow shortly regarding Squillaci’s signing.

Have your say on the signing of Squillaci by leaving a comment.

AFCB editor Andrew Weber rounds up the day’s news…

Squillaci to sign

Spanish club Sevilla have confirmed that Sebastien Squillaci is heading to London today to complete a medical and sign for Arsenal.

“Defender Sebastien Squillaci is tonight travelling to London to have a medical at Arsenal, the club he will be transferred to after an agreement was reached by the two clubs pending the results of the medical.”

It’s obviously exciting and positive news: for all of my personal question marks that surrounds Squillaci’s quality as a player we are in desperate need of a fourth central defender and he certainly ticks that box.

Squillaci’s arrival should ensure a healthy level of cover and competition is maintained at the back, the importance of which will become more apparent as the season wears on.

Theo’s development

After Theo Walcott’s excellent hat-trick against Blackpool over the weekend, both Arsene Wenger and Walcott have commented on his future as a player and the likelihood of him finishing his career as a striker.

The manager said:

“I believe that Theo can score goals because when he was young he scored goals. I know it goes a bit away between 18 and 21, when players mature and adapt to the top level. But I think Theo can score goals again now, and I am convinced he will finish in the middle. First of all he has good timing of his runs, and he senses when you have to go behind the defenders. And then he has electric pace – once he is a yard behind a central defender, nobody in the world can catch him.”

“He is developing still and maybe what happened to him is part of his development. He was too nervous in front of goal, he rushed his movements. Now he is composed, and once a player feels and understands how to be composed and calm in front of goal, it opens their mind. We forget at what pace he does things, like when het cuts the ball back. When he goes forward he can only cut the ball back because no-one can keep up with him!”

While Walcott said:

“The boss signed me as a striker but I’ll happily play anywhere for Arsenal. There’s a lot of competition up front now with Marouane and Robin, so as long as I provide goals and pop up with one now and then I’m happy with that. But if the boss wants me to play up front I’m buzzing from that. I’m working in training up front so I’ll go from there.”

They are interesting comments, particularly the one from Wenger about players losing their goalscoring touch between the ages of 18 and 21.

I think sometimes we forget how young these players are and fail to appreciate that their development happens more gradually than perhaps we would prefer.

Walcott is a perfect case in point: after bursting onto the scene with his raw pace his tendency to make poor decisions have frustrated fans enough to believe that he may never develop into the player that Wenger believes he can be.

Carlos Vela, Denilson and Abou Diaby are three other players that perhaps appear to be developing more slowly than supporters would like and often go from thrilling one week to frustrating the next.

But perhaps we need to stand back a little bit from the situation, understand the inconsistency that youth brings and give the young players the time and support they need to fulfill their potential, even if it means less trophies in the short-term.

It’s just a thought.

Have your say on the AFCB news round-up by leaving a comment.

AFCB editor Andrew Weber rounds up the day’s news…

Transfer window goes mental

In a transfer window that has been calmer than Gilberto Silva, the news from the past twenty-four hours has gone all Jens Lehmann. It reads like this:

• William Gallas is to complete a medical with Spurs.

• Fulham have turned down another bid from Arsenal for Mark Schwarzer.

• Sevilla have confirmed Arsenal’s offer for Sebastien Squillaci.

• Jay Simpson has ended his 12-year career at Arsenal by signing for Hull City.

While it is reassuring to see that bids have been put in for both Schwarzer and Squillaci, both players I would like to see come into the side to complete the squad, the news about Gallas is a massive shock.

A former Arsenal captain about to sign for Spurs? My word, it’s massive.

In some ways I think the news will please the Arsenal fans who never really liked Gallas and never, ever wanted him to be captain the club.

I cannot personally put myself into this category but I know a lot of people only supported Gallas because he was an Arsenal player and will welcome the opportunity to rip into him at The Emirates at the next North London derby if he does indeed sign.

Can you imagine the songs that will be sung about his tantrum at Birmingham? It’s going to be intense.

It’s also interesting to note that if Gallas does sign for Spurs, he will have played for all three of the biggest clubs in London: Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs.

In the hypothetical handbook “How to be a Popular Londonder 101″ I would suggest this would be way down the list.

On another note, regarding Simpson’s move to Hull I just have to say good luck to him.

He’s always given his best for Arsenal and done well when called upon once or twice for the first team and I hope he can push on and make something of his career. A goal or two against Spurs, Manchester United or Chelsea would go down nicely, too.

Frimpong “betters” Nasri

Just one day after Samir Nasri was announced to have sustained a meniscal knee injury, Arsene Wenger announced that Emmanuel Frimpong has gone one better in the 2010/2011 Arsenal Injury Competition by tearing his cruciate knee ligament.

“We have had another blow with Emmanuel Frimpong. He has done his cruciate in training. That is a massive blow. A cartilage is three to four weeks but a cruciate like that one Frimpong did yesterday is six to nine months. I rate him highly and I still have a lot of faith in him but we will miss him for six to nine months.”

As the manager stated, it is an absolutely massive blow for Frimpong, who impressed in a couple of pre-season friendlies and looks a genuine candidate to nail down a starting position in the team later in his career.

Although it is unlikely to impact the team much this season – each one of Alex Song, Denilson, Abou Diaby and Craig Eastmond are ahead of him in the pecking order – the injury will effectively put his development as a player on hold for an entire season, which is a massive shame.

Obviously I wish him all the best in his recovery and if one good thing can come out of this I hope it’s a burgeoning friendship with fellow knee-injury suffer Nasri.

Keep an eye out for a matching pair of “Frimpong & Nasri BFF” tattoos to surface sometime next year.

Good news for the weekend

Thankfully I can sign off with some really good news today: five first-team regulars have all been passed fit and are eligible for the team for Blackpool on Saturday.

“All are available – at different levels [of fitness]. I need to make up my mind who I integrate in the squad. But there is no major problem for anybody really. Denilson has not played since 14th April and not played one minute of a game [in pre-season]. He still needs to work. All the others are quite available, at least to be on the bench. But at the same time we do not want to rush it. To have a good season you need a good preparation so we want to especially build up Cesc and Van Persie well. They came back on 5th August and you need three to four weeks’ preparation if you want to do well in the Premier League.”

Judging from those comments you have to assume that Djourou and Song will start the game, Fabregas and van Persie will be on the bench and Denilson will be given a further week’s rest.

I mentioned yesterday that I feel the midfield will see Song combine with Abou Diaby and Jack Wilshere, a combination that should be strong enough to see off newly-promoted Blackpool at The Emirates.

I totally agree with the manager about Fabregas and van Persie: I see no reason to bring them back at this early stage of the season and I believe we have more than enough good players to cover until they are fully ready to play.

Although starting well in the league is important Manchester United in particular have shown in recent seasons that winning the title is a marathon, not a sprint and I would be much happier to sacrifice a little bit of quality in the early stages in order to see us finish strongly.

Have your say on the AFCB news round-up by leaving a comment.

AFCB editor Andrew Weber rounds up the day’s news…

Nasri unlucky again

Before the start of the 2009/2010 season Samir Nasri suffered a broken leg in an unfortunate training ground incident involving Abou Diaby and missed the first two months of the campaign.

He recently spoke of his frustration over that injury and a desire to remain fit and healthy this season to overcome his previous inconsistencies and make a proper mark on the Premier League.

So it is with hilarious inevitability that after completing an impressive 90 minutes against Liverpool on Sunday he has suffered a meniscal tear in his knee and will be out of action for a month.

While it’s obviously another frustrating blow to a player who needed to make the most of the early part of the season to make his role in this team clearer, the good news is that in short-term it shouldn’t impact on us too badly.

While Denilson and Cesc Fabregas are both likely to remain absent from the starting team against Blackpool this weekend, the surprising news that Johan Djourou is ready to return should allow Alex Song to rejoin the starting team in defensive-midfield, rather than filling in for the suspended Laurent Koscielny at the back.

Song and Djourou’s return should allow Abou Diaby to push forward into his more favoured attacking midfield role while Jack Wilshere should retain his place as the energetic, tackling central midfielder, at least for one more game.

The real worry comes if one or two more players go down and let’s face it: it’s not exactly unfeasible.

Squillaci to sign: the end of Nordtveit’s season?

An interesting transfer story to report today: Arsene Wenger is reportedly looking to sign French central defender Sebastien Squillaci from Sevilla (try saying that five times really fast).

Squillaci is not a player I know a lot about – other than the fact that he is 30-years-old, a French international and played in that the excellent AS Monaco team that took the Champions League by storm in 2003/2004 – but with a fourth central defender an absolutely necessity I would welcome his signing with open arms.

A first-choice defender for the Spanish club, Squillaci was left out of Sevilla’s squad in the Champions League qualifier against Sporting Braga to avoid being cup-tied, suggesting he is set to make a move to another club.

Sevilla director Ramon Rodriguez confirmed:

“The player asked us not to play this game due to an important offer from a team, although for the moment, we consider the bid to be inadequate and Squillaci remains a Sevilla player.”

At this point in time I see our central defender pecking order as Thomas Vermaelen first, with Djourou second and Koscielny third and Squillaci would slot nicely into the fourth position, providing good competition for his less-experienced counterparts.

It would also see the end of Harvard Nordtveit’s role in the first-team this season, with the Norwegian youngster likely to go on loan if Squillaci is brought in.

Other news bits

• Arsenal have been approached by Benfica about signing third-choice left-back Armand Traore.

Have your say on the AFCB news round-up by leaving a comment.

AFCB editor Andrew Weber rounds up the day’s news…

Fabianski wants to earn respect

The eldest of our two Polish goalkeepers, Lukasz Fabianski, has once again spoken of his determination to prove his critics wrong and earn the respect of the Arsenal fans.

“As a player you have to prove you deserve a chance. I can understand every single shout against me and it can only motivate me to play better and work harder. But of course I am going to do everything in my power to show that I deserve to be respected. Then maybe they [the Arsenal fans] will start singing my name – that would be wonderful.”

I suggest Lukasz pops some Otis Redding on his iPod, because that’s the only place respect is going to come from at this point in time.

But seriously, if there is one thing that I really like about Fabianski (apart his wicked hairstyle) it his willingness to accept criticism and take responsibility for his mistakes.

It’s just a shame that he makes those mistakes in the first place.

Nevertheless, like Manuel Almunia you have to admire his determination to keep working to become a better player, even if he has been unable to show it for the Arsenal first team so far.

My personal opinion of Fabianski is that he will develop into a strong goalkeeper, even if doesn’t happen at Arsenal.

He has the same nuggety feel of Victor Valdes, a player who for his first two seasons in the Barcelona first team combined brilliant shot-stopping performances with some horrendous errors, and could develop quickly if he manages to string a few good games together in a row.

Whether that happens this season (or ever) is hugely debatable however, given his previous performances and the likelihood of another goalkeeper being signed.

Other news bits

• Arsenal Fanshare, an excellent new concept aimed at protecting the club from being owned by a single rich individual by allowing supporters to purchase shares in the club at a fraction of the price of normal shares, has launched.

• Arsene Wenger suggests the new English Quota Rule has the potential to end in multiple court cases.

• Clock End and North Bank have finally returned at Emirates Stadium.

Have your say on the AFCB news round-up by leaving a comment.

AFCB editor Andrew Weber rounds up the day’s news…

Almunia admits worries

A day after captaining Arsenal at Anfield, Manuel Almunia has admitted he is struggling to cope with the speculation surrounding the goalkeeper’s position at Arsenal.

“To be honest, it is so difficult [to concentrate]. Arsenal is a big club and speculation is always in the news and everywhere. The only thing I can do is keep working because I have a contract here and I have to do what the manager wants from me. If somebody comes in, I will have to talk about my future at Arsenal. That is it.

“I don’t see anything else outside Arsenal. It will be very, very difficult to play for another team in England if it wasn’t Arsenal. Spain, also, would be difficult. But I am 33 years old and only have a few more years left in football. I would like to enjoy them. I am a keeper who enjoys playing – just playing. I have to work and if one day I am not good enough for Arsenal, I will talk. That is no problem.”

I’ve said before that I believe a new No 1 goalkeeper is a must for Arsenal to challenge for the title this season and if one does come in before August 31, harsh as it seems, it will be Almunia who makes way.

With the news that Arsene Wenger is expected to improve an offer for Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and Shay Given also emerging as a possible option after being left out of Manchester City’s team against Spurs, it genuinely appears like Almunia’s time will be up at Arsenal.

Yet despite the dark clouds looming for the Spaniard, one has to admire loyalty and commitment to the Arsenal cause: it’s clear he is not the sort of person to throw up a hissy-fit if things go his way and that will help make negotiations a little less painful for everyone involved.

Chamakh’s bravery gets respect

Arsene Wenger was quick to praise new signing Marouane Chamakh for his performance against Liverpool and more specifically, the part he played in the goal.

“Chamakh showed with the goal that he is not frightened to put his head and body in. That is exactly what the League is all about and that is what we love here.”

Although it was hilarious to see Pepe Reina put through his own net after his part in the Fabregas-in-a-Barcelona-shirt incident, it was a little disappointing to see Chamakh get denied a debut goal by the width of the post.

The Moroccan showed on many occasions for Bordeaux that his best attributes is his ability in the air – a product of his height, an outstanding vertical leap and the bravery of an Australian Rules footballer – and it was great to see him show those attributes in his very first game in an Arsenal shirt.

Gerrard makes a fool of himself

Like Chamakh, Laurent Koscielny had an eventful debut at Anfield, putting in a great defensive performance, kicking Dirk Kuyt in the balls and then being sent-off harshly in stoppage time.

Koscielny was also the player on the receiving end of an overly aggressive and unnecessary Joe Cole tackle that saw the now-Liverpool player see red and left the French defender with a “a big knock on his shin” that the Arsenal medical stuff thought “could be broken”.

Cue Steven Gerrard’s ridiculous summation of the incident:

“When you see the player’s reaction after the tackle you think that might be the end of his game but he sprinted back onto the pitch for the second half – but there you go.”

It’s a fairly stupid statement by a clearly very stupid man.

Both Eduardo and Aaron Ramsey have had a leg broken by similarly-dangerous tackles so if any team is going to react to them it is going to be us.

And for the record Koscielny hardly “sprinted back onto the pitch for the second half”, he walked on with all the other players and was clearly feeling the injury throughout the remainder of the match.

Twat.

Have your say on the AFCB news round-up by leaving a comment.

On the eve Sunday’s season opener against Liverpool the biggest talking point in the Arsenal team, that of who will start in goals at Anfield, has become even more debatable.

Arsene Wenger, speaking at the pre-game press conference, confirmed that whoever starts as goalkeeper on Sunday will be Arsenal’s No 1 for the season, but remained intriguingly tight-lipped about his decision.

Let’s look at the quotes:

“The goalkeepers are great, all ready to play. I just wait for my decision and you will get it soon. The guy who plays on Sunday will be No 1. It is never for definite but it will be a consequence of what I have seen in pre-season.”

There’s nothing much given away here but it is good to know that whoever plays will be given the confidence boost of being known as the No 1.

“[Szczesny] has not played one game in the Premier League. I believe he has huge quality but I believe it would be a great gamble to play him.”

I’m uncertain as to why Szczesny has been singled out (although it’s likely he was asked a direct question about the Pole’s chances of getting the shirt) and I find this answer rather intriguing.

If Szszesny is not in the running, then why wouldn’t Wenger just rule him out?

Is he just having fun with the media or is there actually a real chance that the young Pole, who handled his time at lower league Brentford superbly last season and has been called Arsenal’s best goalkeeper by Young Guns author Jamie Sanderson, could start?

“Man United play with a goalkeeper who is 40 years old and Chelsea with a keeper with seven years in the Premier League. You need experience at the back.”

This comment strongly suggests that Manuel Almunia will be recalled for the Liverpool game and, rather disappointingly given the need for improvement in the goalkeeping position, be given the No 1 shirt for the season.

There is a romantic contrast to this conclusion though; that Mark Schwarzer will sign before Sunday’s game and walk out at Anfield as Arsenal’s new goalkeeper.

It may seem unlikely to see something happen so quickly but with the Australian missing Fulham’s season opener against Bolton with a phantom back injury and Mark Hughes confirming he has requested a transfer, it’s not impossible.

Wenger’s comment about Edwin van der Sar being 40 and Petr Cech having enormous experience could be in part justification for the future signing of Schwarzer, who is 37 and as experienced as any other goalkeeper in the Premier League.

Stranger things have certainly happened, although Wenger will have to get a wriggle on.

Just for the record, if I had to place the five goalkeepers in order of preference for today’s game it would be as follows: Mark Schwarzer, Wojciech Szczęsny, Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski, Vito Mannone.

A reminder…

AFCB has three great season preview articles for Arsenal’s 2010/2011 season – be sure to check them out below:

• Arsenal FC Blog re-launches for the 2010/2011 season
• AFCB’s Arsenal 2010/2011 Season Preview
• AFCB Writers’ 2010/2011 Pre-Season Arsenal Predictions

Have your say on Wenger’s goalkeeper comments by leaving a comment.