C'mon show some spunk, Arsenal mates!

The Arsenal midfielder shows why he might be the doyen of his generation. At a press conference when asked whether Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas would stay on he went completely unscripted.

"Loyalty is a big part of football and it shows if you are a real man or not.

Between Gervinho's forehead and Juan Mata's chin (above) Arsenal
should score a number of goals

The 10 day deadline set by Arsenal seems to have worked as Barca after forging a war by proxy actually flew in Josep Maria Bartomeu, their vice president and director Raul Sanllehi to London to negotiate for Cesc Fabregas's transfer.

The horror will be if Juan Mata scores the winning goal against Arsenal. At £23.6m, he's not that expensive. Chelsea acted decisively after Andre Villas- Boas was left unimpressed by their lack of cutting edge in the midfield in the Stoke opener.

He was keen on coming to the Emirates but Arsenal failed to make a bid in July.

Ryo Miyaichi the Japanese wunderkid embarks on the South East Asia tour

After weeks of the never ending tragicomedy spectacle of the media getting pretzel shaped over Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, Arsene Wenger finally broke radio silence vowing to fight as hard as possible to keep both players at the club.

Samir Nasri finds a clever way to hide from Arsenal fans

Here is news that is further distraction to Arsene Wenger and effectively puts the lid on any more transfers into the club.

Samir Nasri might not an Arsenal player come Monday but there are reports suggesting he will be included in the squad to play Liverpool tomorrow.

Half time at White Hart and its a familiar breakdown in defense that gives Spurs the one goal lead.

Emmanuel Adebayor floats the ball into the box. Per Mertesacker gets fronted easily by Rafael Van Der Vaart and Bakary Sagna fails to track back leaving the Dutchman free to control with a hint of a hand before he chests the ball down and finish past Szcezsny.

The Arsenal legend, the top scorer in club history gets teary eyed at the unveiling of his statue, part of the club's 125th anniversary. Arsene Wenger looks on like a strict father expecting his favorite child to say the right thing.

" I'm here and you're there and we're not together. Backs to the wall r us."

The signs of retreat were everywhere. From Cesc Fabregas preferring to spend his day in Barcelona at the Spanish Grand Prix to Arsene Wenger cheerleading Man Utd's Champions League dream. But it was on the pitch once again to remind us where it had all unraveled.

Patrice Evra acting as an instigator (what's new?) encouraging his France team mate to dump Arsenal and come aboard a "winning team" like Man Utd has generated an expected reaction.

These maybe alarmist words but with Paul Scholes retiring and Ryan Giggs approaching the twilight of his career Man Utd are looking to replenish their midfield.

Every data point (pass, cross, offside, out of play etc) mapped in these two hemispheres (one for each half) between Man Utd and Barca in the Champions League finals.

Simon Kuper's fascinating article in the FT about how the data revolution is slowly changing the face of soccer. There might be a time when quants will emerge from their gray shadows and take their rightful place on the cover of Four Four Two.

Natalie Portman's character hallucinates to success

Paul Hayward furthers the Arsenal in crisis trope which is a particular favourite amongst sports pundits. The central theme revolves around a group of disillusioned players who want to leave Arsenal because it has consistently defied the usual barometer of success.

Pep Guardiola's words have to be carefully parsed for how much they do not want Cesc Fabregas.

" We will fight to the end to try to get Cesc because we believe he will improve the team and the squad."

Nowhere in that sentence are the words "needed", "important", "future", "1000 year reign", "homecoming", or "enough already".

A year late but tomorrow will see Fabregas don a FCB jersey

Cesc Fabregas is to land today evening in Barcelona and he's expected to undergo a medical examination before the club formalizes the deal tomorrow. He might be unveiled as early as Wednesday at Camp Nou for the second leg of the hugely anticipated Super Cup between Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The Daily Mail reports that Shakhtar Donetsk have confirmed Arsenal's interest in Jadson and have left his future in his hands.

Mircea Lucescu, head coach of the Ukrainian champions:

" I can confirm Jadson is wanted by Arsenal,' said Lucescu. 'Now it all depends on him.

There will be no more midfielders, strikers, or goalkeepers. The only question is cover for Thomas Vermaelen whose Achilles heel injury seems to be dragging on forever.

Vermaelen's been a fantastic addition but is a known injury risk. While at Ajax he missed a substantial number of games in four out of the five seasons.

Gary Cahill might be back on the table

Thomas Vermaelen has suffered another injury set back which now needs surgical intervention on his damaged Achilles heel. He's now expected to miss a further six to eight weeks.

Sebastien Squillaci is also out for possibly three weeks with a hamstring injury.

Full marks to Leyton Orient for pulling of an incredible draw. They reached the semifinals of the FA Cup in 1968 only to be beaten by Arsenal 3-0. To chants of 'You've got Cesc Fabregas and we've got great pies and mash" their fans were having a good time savouring a rare big moment.

History looked to be on Arsenal's side as Tomas Rosicky ended his goal drought turning Nicklas Bendtner's lofted cross adroitly past Jamie Jones in the 53rd minute

The stage was set for Russell Slade to introduce Jonathan Tehoue with a recently acquired super sub reputation.

Back to the drawing board

The dust has barely settled. From the braggadocio of the "quadruple" barely two months ago to surveying the detritus of this season. Arsene Wenger has the look of a man utterly bewildered by these developments. He set sail for the New World but all he found was his way back to Dover.

Wenger summing up the season after the Fulham match.

" But we are not to go overboard. Maybe one year you will realise that it is not easy to finish in the top four every time. Even if people say we have to spend money, we have to be realistic. We cannot buy players for £50 million and, even if we try to strengthen our team and spend money if needed, that is fact.

At Arsenal next season?

Arsene Wenger has been a long time admirer of the former Lyon striker now at Real.

"His movement is always intelligent, he is able to combine well with other players to make a difference, and also make individual strikes. So, in my opinion, he is one of the best in the world.

Paging Yao Ming: Wenger is looking for height

Arsenal gave up 23 goals from set pieces the same as last season. This amounts to 53.5% of goals conceded, the highest in the Premiership. The explanation given by Wenger after Arsenal's humiliating loss to Stoke.

" We have conceded, I think, 21 from set-pieces and only 17 in open play.

Wenger has been The Angry One

The professor is adopting a less academic tone with his confrontational remarks while on the Asian tour. He railed against Xavi for being disrespectful, went after City for its controversial Etihad naming rights sponsorship, and now, turned his wrath on Roberto Mancini for being out of order for pursing Samir Nasri.

Let me go, I beg of you!

It appears Barca are inching their way to an agreement with Arsenal for Cesc Fabregas and are ready to meet their €40m demand. A large difference of €6m separate the clubs but Barca's solution is a combination of down payments and deferments. They are proposing a €34m up front and €6m to follow later in tranches.

Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund began their title defense in impressive fashion with a 3-1 win over Hamburg. Kevin Grosskreutz with a brace and Mario Gotze scored for the champions with Robert Tesche pulling off a late consolation goal for Hamburg.

Dortmund showed some very clever interlinking play to score their goals.

" I am positive because we have good quality and a style of play that is known by the players. So we want to add not quality but super quality."

So said Arsene Wenger in his press conference amongst many other things including the fact that Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri did not make the flight to Benfica for Arsenal's final pre-season match.

I for one welcome the departure of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. Full disclosure, Fabregas is my favourite player at Arsenal and wear his no 4 jersey proudly to all the matches. You will find fewer fans more bereft when he leaves. And yet, there is a sense of overwhelming relief when he finally signs on the dotted line which brings this whole exhausting and none too edifying saga to closure.

Arsene Wenger is having none of it.

"We focus on the players we have and we believe we have enough strength. I saw all the games over the weekend and I don't see why we should be suddenly afraid of anybody in England."

Alright then. This is all deja vu time. Wenger puts up another one of his bombastic statements (choose your pick: Quadruple, Super Additions, Abou Diaby is the next Patrick Vieira) and then on the day of the match prowls on the sidelines looking sick as a dog as things don't go Arsenal's way.

The Arsenal midfield gets busy without Fabregas

Juan Mata is now a Chelsea target. Jadson disappeared down a black hole. Eden Hazard is the choice of the chattering class but there is no traction in the circles who make these things happen. Meanwhile, Nasri is on the cusp of leaving for City which further weakens the midfield.

Emmanuel Frimpong is a unit: Now he needs a bit more control

It's hard to believe we're just three matches old and already Arsenal wears the scars of a full season. The weak of heart need not apply because we really do not how this will all end. A spectacular supernova implosion or a gradual decline into a red dwarf?

Rennes midfielder Yann M'Vila has been linked with Arsenal

Arsene Wenger might finally bring in a late cavalry charge to add quality to the midfield.

Yann M'Vila the highly rated holding midfielder from Rennes is a £15million target, although there are reports of Rennes denying any such link.

Samir, your manager needs you. Do the right thing.

Roberto Mancini has threatened to pull the plug on the Samir Nasri transfer deal because Arsene Wenger could cup tie the French midfielder if he is featured in the Udinese second leg playoffs.

Wenger has made clear he expects Nasri to be ready to play which if it should happen will render him ineligible to play for City in the CL should the transfer go through.

Eden's balls might prove a hazard to other clubs

Arsene Wenger is making his much awaited push for getting quality into the Emirates by offering £22m for highly rated holding midfielder Yann M'Vila. Rennes had rejected his initial bid of £15m.

Can't see how they can reject an offer that increases the initial amount by almost 50%.

Peter Hill-Wood: Another prick on the wall

The saddest part of Arsenal's annihilation at Old Trafford is not the scoreline which is in itself a reflection of a heartless and cruel policy of turning to ingenues to save the club's season. That it was done by a Utd side that had its share of injuries and untested talent filling in huge shoes left by Paul Scholes, Edwin Van Der Sar, Nemanja Vidic, and Rio Ferdinand inflicted the deepest cut and left Wenger's bragging rights of turning to youth for provenance in tatters.

A few things have shaken out this summer. The inability of Arsenal to hold onto their marquee players who overtly cite the lack of titles as their reason for moving on while also negotiating better personal terms with their new owners seems to be the new reality. Arsenal's restrictive wage structure in this free market economy is seen as a liability as they bleed players to clubs who pony up without ceilings.

Emmanuel Frimpong who has emerged as a very reliable deputy to Alexander Song in anchoring the midfield is seriously contemplating switching national allegiance to Ghana. The Arsenal midfielder has long flirted with the idea but it appears he's come to a decision after meeting with Ghanaian FA officials earlier this week.

Park Chu Young is still awaiting his visa

In his first ever press conference after transfer deadline day, Arsene Wenger disputed the perception the 8-2 thrashing at the hands of Man Utd triggered the desperate last minute signing spree.

Instead the process was more deliberative in the like for like calibration for departing players.

Sudoku: A cheap way to help improve Arsenal's lack of concentration

That is the adage. On the ropes, manager a drink short of delirium tremens, disgruntled fans baying for the management's blood. No matter. Mother Nature has the cure. Play Arsenal and everything will be right as rain.

A bit of this will not hurt Arsenal

Five matches into the season and a perfect record. An outpouring of 21 goals with just four conceded. And the latest, a win over arch rivals Chelsea by a 3-1 margin. Utd are already separating themselves by their intimidating performances.

His side's effervescent start is still not enough to make Sir Alex happy.

Finally, the Arsenal board responds. And in a positive way. This should be a huge shot in the arm for Arsene Wenger. However, there are some words that Ivan Gazidis uses that seem such obvious deflections of the blame game.

" It's nonsense based on the need to always create a mini-crisis .

Arsenal will go poof if Wenger were to leave

Guess who said this in 2009?

"It is not often that a boy of five or six is always living with adults in a little village. I learned about tactics and selection from the people talking about football in the pub - who plays on the left wing and who should be in the team.