Arsenal are set to offer club legend Thierry Henry a two-month loan deal but is coach Arsene Wenger right to resign the French striker? There can be no doubt that Thierry Henry is Arsenal's greatest ever forward and having been voted as the Premier League's best ever foreign import in a SKY One poll – [.

A horror show from Arsenal goalkeepers Vito Mannone and Łukasz Fabiański condemned Arsenal to a 3-1 defeat to Olympiakos and proved once again that Arsene Wenger must sort out the team's goalkeeping problems. Unbelievably bad, pitiful and far from reliable. How else can one describe the current crop of Arsenal goalkeepers currently vying for Wojciech [.

By Alan Duffy

Bristol Rovers' Memorial Stadium, scene of the crime

Reports that Bristol Rovers midfielder Jordan Goddard relieved himself in front of visiting Corby Town fans during their recent FA Cup game are now being investigated by the Pirates.

Arsenal 2004/05

GK Lehmann
RB Lauren
CB Campbell
CB Toure
LB Cole

RM Ljungberg
CM Veira
CM Gilberto
LM Pires

CF Bergkamp
CF Henry

Arsenal 2011

GK Szczesny
RB Jenkison
CB Koscielny
CB Djourou
LB Traore

LMAshavin
CM Rosicky
CM Ramsey
CM Coquelin
RM Walcott

CF Van Persie

Arsenal 2004/05

GK Lehmann
RB Lauren
CB Campbell
CB Toure
LB Cole

RM Ljungberg
CM Veira
CM Gilberto
LM Pires

CF Bergkamp
CF Henry

Arsenal 2011

GK Szczesny
RB Jenkison
CB Koscielny
CB Djourou
LB Traore

LMAshavin
CM Rosicky
CM Ramsey
CM Coquelin
RM Walcott

CF Van Persie

Wojciech Szczesny v Udinese, Schmeichel v Arsenal, Lehmann v Villarreal: six of the best penalty saves

The 'keepers who saved their clubs

View the full story here: Talksport

A news article on 2011-08-25 15:09:05 from: Talksport

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Since Jens Lehmanns (first) departure from us the position of goalkeeper at Arsenal has been a source of amusement for supporters of other clubs.
I, like many other Gooners, didn't find it funny.
In fact I'd rather have stuck pins in my eyes and pull out the hairs from my eyebrows one-by-one with chopsticks made of wasps than laugh along.

Every year I write a preview of the season and this year will no different. Given the circumstances and the timing, however, I feel I should stress this is based entirely on where we are now. Not where we might be, or indeed hope to be, in a few weeks time.

So, without further ado, let's start where we always do, with:

GOALKEEPERS

Last year's verdict: Arsenal need a new goalkeeper.

Tomorrow is the first day of the traditional Emirates Cup, a two-day pre-season tournament held in London, featuring Arsenal and three fairly big sides. This year we'll play Boca Juniors and Thierry Henry's Red Bull New York; Paris St. Germain will also take part.

(Be sure to also read Homey's transfer/news round-up)

Who designed this cartoon?

One word: Impressive. As the saying goes, you do not get a second chance to make a first impression, and as this one goes by, it was impressive stuff. The £10million signing from French champions Lille was the star of the show as the Gunners overcame FC Cologne 2-0 in a pre-season friendly. Despite sporting [.

Arsenal are close to completing the signing of Bolton defender Gary Cahill for an estimated £17 million with Cahill ready to agree personal terms.

Earlier this month the Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis met with his Bolton counterpart Phil Gartside to discuss the possibility of the 25-year-old's transfer, with Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger also ready to seal the transfer of Christopher Samba from Blackburn Rovers.

Arsenal are lining up an £18million move for Valencia winger Juan Mata after coach Arsene Wenger identified the Spaniard as his top transfer target this summer.

Mata recently became a champion with the Spanish U21 team this summer and was also a part of Spain's World Cup winning team of 2010.

Earlier, I took a look at the players who might be signed by Arsenal this summer. Naturally, for there to be incoming players, there has to be departures. There has been numerous times, not only this last season but over the last few seasons where a large number of players have let us down with their sub-standard performances.

Lineups are in:

Fulham: Starters: Schwarzer, Hangeland, Sidwell, Johnston, Murphy, Senderos, Hughes, Dempsey, Zamora, Greening, Briggs Bench: Stockdale, Salcido, Gera, Etuhu, Gudjohnson, Kakuta, Davies

Arsenal: Starters: Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Diaby, Wilshere, Ramsey, Nasri, Van Persie, Chamakh Bench: Lehmann, Walcott, Denilson, Squillaci, Arshavin, Eboue, Miquel

Last game of the season.

It strikes me, in these dark times, that the one thing that will keep us all sane is a well thought out list of our possible ins and outs this summer.

So, with all the correct implements calculator, Rothmans football book, Shoot annuals 1978-1985, a tattered copy of the Roy of the Rovers when Roy loses his leg, four bananas, a large pot of coffee, two mobile phones (naturally) and an opium pipe that would have Sherlock Holmes keening with envy here is the definitive Arsenal transfer list for 2011-12.

Van der Sar, Fabio, Ferdinand, Vidic, Evra, Nani, Carrick, Anderson, Park, Rooney, Hernandez.

Bench: Kuszczak, Owen, Berba, Smalling, O'Shea, Rafael, Valencia

Cesc Fabreas was injured during training yesterday.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Walcott, Ramsey, Nasri, Van Persie.

Lineups are in:

Bolton: Starters: Jaaskelainen, Steinsson, Cahill, Knight, Robinson, Lee, Elmander, Muamba, Taylor, Sturridge, K. Davies Bench: Bogdan, Petrov, M. Davies, Klasnic, Moreno, Cohen, Wheater

Arsenal: Starters: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Walcott, Nasri, Fabregas, Song, Wilshere, Van Persie Bench: Lehmann, Ramsey, Squillaci, Arshavin, Gibbs, Eboue, Chamakh

Come on Arsenal!

Lineups are in:

Tottenham: Starters: Gomes, Corluka, Dawson, Gallas, Assou-Ekotto, van der Vaart, Huddlestone, Modric, Bale, Crouch, Pavlyuchenko Bench: Cudicini, Kaboul, Bassong, Lennon, Sandro, Pienaar, Defoe

Arsenal: Starters: Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Song, Diaby, Walcott, Cesc, Nasri, RVP Bench: Lehmann, Gibbs, Squillaci, Wilshere, Arshavin, Ramsey, Bendtner

Do I need to say anything about this one?

Wojciech Szczesny has demonstrated that he has the talent to be a great #1 keeper for years. What he – and every other keeper at Arsenal presently (except, perhaps, Lehmann) – lacks is the ability ...

Lineups are in:

Arsenal: Starters: Szczesny, Eboue, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Diaby, Wilshere, Walcott, Fabregas, Nasri, Van Persie Bench: Lehmann, Gibbs, Squillaci, Arshavin, Song, Chamakh, Bendtner

Liverpool: Starters: Reina, Aurelio, Flanagan, Carra, Skrtel, Spearing, Lucas, Meireles, Kuyt, Suarez, Carroll Bench: Gulacsi, Robinson, Kyrgiakos, Shelvey, Cole, Maxi, Ngog

No real shockers in our team Sagna was not able to pass his fitness test, so Eboue comes into the lineup, and Song is apparently not well enough to play, so Diaby comes back into the team after a very good performance last weekend.

11am ET, live in the US on FSC
Last four head-to-head:
1-1 (h) 08.15.10
0-1 Arsenal (a) 02.10.10
1-2 Arsenal (h) 12.13.09
1-2 Arsenal (a; Carling Cup) 10.28.09
Last three matches:
Liverpool: 3-0 City (h); 1-2 West Brom (a); 2-0 Sunderland (a)
Arsenal: 3-1 Blackpool (a); 0-0 Blackburn (h); 2-2 West Brom (a)
Goalscorers (league):
Liverpool: Kuyt 9; Meireles 5; Gerrard 4; Maxi 3; Carroll, Johnson, Kyrgiakos, Ngog, Skrtel, Suarez 2; Cole 1
Arsenal: van Persie 12; Nasri 9; Chamakh, Walcott 7; Arshavin 6; Song 4; Fabregas 3; Bendtner, Diaby, Koscielny 2; Djourou, Eboue, Sagna, Squillaci, Vela, Wilshere 1
Referee: Andre Marriner
Guess at a line-up:
Reina
Flanagan Carragher Skrtel Aurelio
Kuyt Lucas Spearing Meireles
Suarez Carroll
As long as Johnson and Kelly are injured, it's hard to see anything other than the lineup we saw against City.

Goodbye Danny Fiszman

The sad, but not unexpected news that Danny Fiszman has died, aged 66, comes just days after he sold his shares, and with them control of Arsenal, to Stan Kroenke.

Like Kroenke, he was not the kind of man who courted publicity, preferring to operate in the background.

Written by Harry

As the sun shone all over Bloomfield, Arsene's battle weary troops took to the field with Lehmann starting his 200th game for the gunners.......No mean feat, apart from the fact his 199th was 3 years ago!! Manuel was injured in the warm up.......I think I heard that Eboue had tied his bootlaces together.

Lineups are in:

Blackpool: Starters: Kingson, Baptiste, Cathcart, Evatt, Crainey, Southern, Adam, Varney, Taylor-Fletcher, Campbell, Puncheon Bench: Rachubka, Eardley, Omerod, Philips, Kornilenko, Reid, Beattie

Arsenal: Starters: Almunia Lehmann, Clichy, Squillaci, Koscielny, Eboue, Diaby, Wilshere, Fabregas, Arshavin, Nasri, RvP Bench: Lehmann, Rosicky, Walcott, Ramsey, Gibbs, Chamakh, Bendtner

No real surprises in the starting lineup.

Arsene Wenger had his pre-Blackpool press conference today. It looks like most of the journalists are saving post-match comments that they got for the papers tomorrow, but it seems like we will have a lot of big quotes to chew over. I watched the presser "as live" on ATVO, so I'll try to sum up what we do know for now.

The man, the myth, the maniacal legend has returned to grace us with his wondrously insane ways Mad Jens is back.

There is a law in Germany which states Jens must cause drama with each and every goalkeeper who happens to own a German and/or Polish passport. Just the way it is.

Lineups are in:

Arsenal: Starters: Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Song, Wilshere, Arshavin, Nasri, Walcott, Van Persie Bench: Lehmann, Diaby, Fabregas, Rosicky, Eboue, Chamakh, Bendtner

Blackburn: Starters: Robinson, Salgado, Samba, Nelsen, Olsson, Emerton Jermaine Jones, Phil Jones, Nzonzi, Hoilett, Santa CruzBench: Bunn, Dunn, Rochina, Mwaruwari, Roberts, Hanley, Diouf

The big news for us is that both van Persie and Bendtner are fit, van Persie fit enough to start, apparently.

Last but not the least - Alex Song

Who is the most important player at Arsenal FC?

Its not the luckless but always loyal Almunia.
Its not the remarkably consistent Bacary Sagna.
Its not the El Capitan.
Its not the Verminator.
Its not K-OS.
Its not our inhouse metalhead TR7.

Last but not the least - Alex Song

Who is the most important player at Arsenal FC?

Its not the luckless but always loyal Almunia.
Its not the remarkably consistent Bacary Sagna.
Its not the El Capitan.
Its not the Verminator.
Its not K-OS.
Its not our inhouse metalhead TR7.

Highlights of yesterday's draw with West Brom, as well as player ratings for that match, after the jump.

West Bromwich Albion v Arsenal by jordanip

Now onto the ratings:

Almunia 4 I'll try to keep this rating short, because I don't really feel like looking up "awful" in the thesaurus.

Lineups are in:

West Brom: Starters: Carson, Reid, Meite, Olsson, Shorey, Scharner Mulumbu, Brunt, Morrison, Thomas, Odemwingie Bench: Myhill, Cech, Tchoyi, Fortune, Tamas, Cox, Jara

Arsenal: Starters: Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Wilshere, Denilson, Nasri, Ramsey, Arshavin, Van Persie Bench: Lehmann, Rosicky, Eboue, Gibbs, Chamakh, Miquel, Bendtner

Rambo starts.

It's official then. Mad Jens has come out of retirement and is back at Arsenal on a short-term deal till the end of the season. Will it turn out to be a masterstroke, a disaster, or be irrelevant in the title race? That is the question.

I've seen a broad range of opinions covering pretty much every possibility.

Wenger held his pre-match press conference today. Most of the information is not new, but rather just confirmed what most of us have been speculating. Vermaelen is out for the season and Djourou is out for at least six weeks. That means we really only have Kos and Squillaci for the run-in, plus Iggy, who I assume will be promoted to the first team bench, and Song, who really should only be used as a centreback in an emergency as his presence is sorely needed in the midfield.

Por Halftown
Edwin Van der Sar ha decidido cerrar la tienda a los 40 años. Sólo Seedorf le ha sobrevivido de aquel Ajax campeón de Europa en el 95. Como Ferguson pasa varios pueblos del mediocre polaco Tomasz Kuszczak, antes de navidades el United se dejó algo más de 3 kilos en el fichaje del danés Anders Lindegaard, que a sus 26 años se gana la vida parando balones para el Aalesunds FK noruego.

Por Halftown
Edwin Van der Sar ha decidido cerrar la tienda a los 40 años. Sólo Seedorf le ha sobrevivido de aquel Ajax campeón de Europa en el 95. Como Ferguson pasa varios pueblos del mediocre polaco Tomasz Kuszczak, antes de navidades el United se dejó algo más de 3 kilos en el fichaje del danés Anders Lindegaard, que a sus 26 años se gana la vida parando balones para el Aalesunds FK noruego.

Didn't see this coming.

Apparently Johan Djourou has undergone a whole battery of tests after his injury against Manchester United, which Arsene Wenger said after the match would keep him out for the rest of the season, back in his native Switzerland. And the Swiss FA are now saying that the injury was not as serious as originally feared and believed.

The possibilities we see Mad Jens make his illustriously insane return to a proper pitch, bench or stand seems so remote it isn't worth teasingly titillating ourselves with the mere possibility.

But dream we must.

As a consultant/coach, Jens has been working with Arsenal's keepers this year.

With Fabianksi out for the rest of the season, we're only one injury away from Manuel Almunia resuming his position as Arsenal's starting goalkeeper.

Let's say Szczesney picks up a knock in training or gets Shawcrossed on Wednesday night it would mean Big Al coming in for a string of important games that could include Barcelona away and the Carling Cup Final.

I've spent the last decade holding to the dogma that choke holds and headbutts from Gennaro Gattuso are signs of endearment. Somewhere, Marcello Lippi is nodding.

Whatever the case, Joe Jordan comes off as something of a hero after their skirmish last night. Not for standing in the face of a snarling dog, but for taking the lickin' and not launching a backflip into triple lutz on his way to the patented stop, drop and roll that most footballers employ when scraped with a nail.

Saturday's match against Wolves was the ideal way to set the mood for Wednesday's clash with Barcelona. Robin Van Persie was in great form as he finished both goals for us. The rest of the squad was also up to the task, and this is evident in the fact that Wolverhampton had 0 shots on goal, and only 2 shots to begin with.