Giving a new meaning to penalty box Apparently punching a guy in the stomach is a red card offence these days! I just don't know what the world is coming to, and neither does NAC Breda's Anthony Lurling who clearly thought his body blow was within the laws of the game. Spotted on 101GreatGoals Click to continue reading...

So that's where Paul Robinson got the idea... I didn't wake up and decide it was National Pan Steve McClaren Day (surely every day is Pan Steve McClaren Day), but that is the way it has turned out. Thanks to Off The Post reader Koert for spotting this beauty. Fast-forward 4mins six seconds into this video [. Click to continue reading...

... it hasn't This interview was from last week's action. When will he ever learn. At least he manages to slip-in the English cliche: "Anything can happen in football." Click to continue reading...

Its Yank vs. Yank when Tim Howard and Everton travel to Liege to take on Oguchi Onyewu and Standard Liege, while Carlos Bocanegra and Rennes travel to Holland to finish the job against Twente in UEFA Cup action. Click to continue reading...

Emmanuel Adebayor scored a hat-trick as Arsenal strolled to a comfortable victory over Blackburn at Ewood Park. It was always going to be a test for Arsenal seeing as how the last performance away from home was a dire 1-0 loss to Fulham. After a stunning double win over Twente and Newcastle at the Emirates. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has hailed the performance of new boy Samir Nasri and described his performance against Newcastle as complete. The young midfield maestro was outstanding on Saturday and followed up goals against West Brom on the opening day and FC Twente in the midweek Champions League qualifier with an influential performance against The Magpies. Click to continue reading...

The article I'm currently writing in this very moment was originally spawned a few minutes before the final whistle had gone at that poor, to say the least, away game at Fulham last Saturday, just before one of the worst Arsenal performances I've ever been unlucky enough to witness became an ugly fact. Click to continue reading...

Stupid decision to go away for the weekend. Stupid stupid stupid old me.

I can only go by the radio commentary and a grainy web stream from Fox Sports Australia, but my ears and eyes had a wonderful afternoon; we were fabulous.

The contrast to the Fulham game could not be more extreme, and thank the lord for that.

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Arsenal's post-Fulham rehabilitation continued yesterday with a comfortable 3-0 win over Newcastle. Since that black day last week we've won two games, scored seven goals and kept two clean sheets. Not bad.

Of course you have to take the quality of the opposition into account, and both Twente and Newcastle are poor teams, but you can only beat what's in front of you.

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  Arsenal entertain Newcastle United on Saturday hoping to restore pride to the Emirates faithful after a 1-0 loss at Craven Cottage last week. Newcastle are so far unbeaten in the Premiership and will be tough opponents. Arsenal welcome back Cesc Fabregas to Premiership football after completing an hour in the 4-0 win over FC Twente [. Click to continue reading...

Arsene Wenger has confirmed that William Gallas, Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri have overcome niggles and are fit to face Newcastle tomorrow. The trio had picked up minor injuries from the 4-0 win over FC Twente in midweek but the Gunners boss revealed that they are ready to play. "There were doubts over Gallas, Walcott and Nasri [. Click to continue reading...

According to Soccer by Ives, and confirmed by various sources, Dutch side FC Twente is considering making an offer to MLS for Chivas USA and United States national team midfielder Sacha Kljestan. Kljestan's play during the Olympic games opened the eyes of many european scouts. Click to continue reading...

It's been an eventful week, the performance against FC Twente was certainly an improvement, however given the weakness of the opposition it's hard to get carried away. I was quite amused by some banter from Mark Lawrenson on the box, he was ripping the piss out of Steve McLaren's new dutch accent and what he may have said to his depressed players at half time, whatever he said it certainly Click to continue reading...

  Nicklas Bendtner has been talking on Arsenal's 6-0 aggregate win against FC Twente, and has also been speaking about getting 90 minutes on board, and the loss to Fulham on the weekend he said . . . I think we looked confident all through the game. They tried to press us hard in the first fifteen [. Click to continue reading...

Every time young Nick got the ball, he had to look down towards his new feet and told them what he wanted them to do. Sometimes he succeeded but most times they just did what they damned well pleased. Nick was very proud that by the end of the match, they started to listen to him and his right foot actually scored a goal after Nick told it to do just that. Click to continue reading...

It's always nice after an unexpected defeat to inflict a backlash on your next opponents, with Arsenal running riot against FC Twente on Wednesday night. Gallas, Nasri, Walcott and Bendtner all scored to ensure the Gunners ran out 4-0 winners, with Cesc Fabregas returning to inspire a team that had . Click to continue reading...

Arsenal's 6-0 aggregate win looks great in the papers this morning, but lets not be fooled by it. They never posed a threat and in true Gordon Ramsay style, they were "blitzed" "griddled" and "done". At 2-0 down from the first leg, and then conceding a goal to Nasri on 26 minutes, FC Twente basically were going out and had nothing to lose. Click to continue reading...

By 1970's Gooner Midfield inspiration is what was clearly lacking against Fulham and midfield inspiration is what we got against Twente in the Champions League in the form of Cesc Fabregas. The question is what will Arsenal do if and when Cesc is injured or unavailable in some other way. There is simply no one ready to replace his trickery, vision and creativity. Click to continue reading...

26/08/2008

Artmedia Bratislava - Juventus (and. 4 - 0) 1 - 1
Panathinaikos - Sparta Praga (and. 1 - 2) 1 - 0
Wisla Cracovia - Barcellona (and. 4 - 0) 1 - 0

27/08/2008

BATE Borisov - Levski Sofia (and. 0 - 1) 1 - 1
Kaunas - Aalborg (and. 2 - 0) 0 - 2
Dinamo Kiev - Spartak Mosca (and. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal looked a shadow of their usual selves against Fulham at the weekend and Arsene Wenger and skipper William Gallas have both demanded urged for a ‘top-class' response as The Gunners seek to hold onto a 2-0 advantage over FC Twente and reach the group stages of the Champions League. Arsene Wenger promised a new signing [. Click to continue reading...

Today sees Arsenal take on FC Twente in the second leg of the Champions League Qualifier.  A 2-0 lead from the first leg should be enough to see Arsenal progress through to the group stages.   What remains to be seen is not whether or not we win, but can Arsenal , for the first time produce [...] Click to continue reading...

Perhaps some football tonight can take our minds off all the stuff like ...erm... football. Er... it's the return leg against Shteve McClaren'sh FC Twente and the good news is that Cesc Fabregas is fit.

The boss says he doesn't know if he's going to play him from the start or not but I think he will.

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26/08/2008

Artmedia Bratislava - Juventus (and. 4 - 0) 1 - 1
Panathinaikos - Sparta Praga (and. 1 - 2) 1 - 0
Wisla Cracovia - Barcellona (and. 4 - 0) 1 - 0

27/08/2008

BATE Borisov - Levski Sofia (and. 0 - 1) ore 18.00
Kaunas - Aalborg (and. 2 - 0) ore 19. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal midfield maestro Cesc Fabregas is set to return from a hamstring injury as the Gunners' play the return leg of their UEFA Champions League qualifier against FC Twente at Emirates Stadium tomorrow evening. Switzerland international Phillipe Senderos won't play though. The 23-year-old was today undergoing a medical with Serie A giants AC Milan. Click to continue reading...

12/08/2008

Artmedia Bratislava - Juventus (and. 4 - 0) ore 20.45
Panathinaikos - Sparta Praga (and. 1 - 2) ore 20.45
Wisla Cracovia - Barcellona (and. 4 - 0) ore 20.45

13/08/2008

BATE Borisov - Levski Sofia (and. 0 - 1) ore 18.00
Kaunas - Aalborg (and. 2 - 0) ore 19. Click to continue reading...

The reaction to the defeat on Saturday has been, undoubtedly, overblown. But due to the stratification of the Premier League into the Champions League teams, the UEFA Cup sides, and, well, the rest, defeats can no longer be treated in the 'c'est la vie' fashion they once were. People talk about the Premier League like it's a marathon and, in many ways, it is. Click to continue reading...

Middlesbrough have completed the £3million signing of full-back Justin Hoyte from Arsenal on a four-year contract. The 23-year-old, a former England Under-21 international, has agreed a deal to stay with the Teessiders until the summer of 2012. On his move, Hoyte seemed surprised at how quick everything had been sorted. Click to continue reading...

Looking rusty and a wholly inferior side without Cesc Fabregas and a seasoned holding midfielder, Arsenal failed to start their Premier League campaign with any improvement over their lackluster victory over FC Twente at midweek. Though three points were won by Arsene Wenger's inexperienced squad over last year's "Arsenal of the Championship" West Bromwich Albion, were it not for Samir Nasri's Click to continue reading...

Ah, football. So nice to have you back. Having not been able to see the entirety of the Twente match - not a bad thing from the sound of it - this was my season opener.

And didn't it open in a lovely fashion? Nice work by Clichy led to a precise pass by Denilson and a smooth finish from Nasri. Click to continue reading...

So here it is. At least. The new season. Are you excited? Chomping at the bit? Psyched? Pumped?

Yeah, all of those things. As usual on the eve of a big game we hear a lot from Arsene Wenger at his pre-match press conference. Sometimes on a Saturday morning I look at the glut of stories and it's amost intimidating thinking about how to sort them and present them.

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"It is unthinkable for us not to be in the Champions League. Twente's equivalent in England? Tottenham!"
Robin Van Persie before Arsenal's Clash with FC Twente Click to continue reading...

Arsenal new-boy Samri Nasri looks set to make his full debut in the Premier League opener against new boys West Brom tomorrow. The £12million Frenchman missed Wednesday's Champions League qualifier against FC Twente because of a niggling thigh and knee complaint. And the appearance of the former Marseille man will be a huge boost for manager Arsene [. Click to continue reading...

Well here it is, the start of another season, finally. It seems like it's been ages since the last one, but probably just because everyone's been bitching and moaning all summer about how Wenger can't manage a team. Even with the Euros this summer seemed ridiculously long. But tomorrow that's all over because the Premiership starts, and we've got West Brom up first. Click to continue reading...

Champions League Arsenal's second leg against FC Twente will be shown live on BBC3.  The BBC paid £200,000 for the rights to the game beating both Setanta and ITV in a bidding war for the rights to show the game.   Transfer Rumour Mill Arsenal are reported to be monitoring the Ipswich Town winger Danny Haynes. Click to continue reading...

What was obvious to all the fans, has now become a reality with Wenger, we need at least another player in midfield. Wenger has confirmed that he will sign someone before the return leg with FC Twente, but not before the start of the season.   Whilst Ramsey has done well so far, he is still only [.. Click to continue reading...