Arsenal 1 - 1 Aston Villa
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Not a great result, but not necessarily a bad one

I wasn't sure what to expect from this game.

There were a lot of unknowns.

How would Arsenal play on the bigger pitch? How would Villa react to the new stadium? Would the Villa players give 110% to try and stay in O'neil's team if he brings in new players? Is the Cole/Reyes nonsense affecting the spirit? Would the international games take their toll on the players? Would Arsene tell the players to take it easy because of the mid-week game? etc, etc, etc...

So in the end, I wasn't too disappointed with the result

Aston Villa came to defend, and not get battered, and they only just managed to do that.

There are a lot of players out, and there is a long way to go, so for me, the picture is more or less a positive one.

Another obvious positive was Walcott's performance.

He set up the goal and looked dangerous on the ball.

He's much better than Reyes already!

FACT: Reyes continuously gets disposessed and gives the ball away in attacking situations

FACT: Walcott apparently didn't lose the ball once on saturday

FACT: Reyes is desperate to go to Spain

FACT: Walcott is desperate to play with his hero Thierry Henry

If Walcott gets 15-20 games this season, I'm sure he'll end up with better stats than Reyes would get, even if he was to play every game in the whole season.

If you think I'm wrong, check the OPTA stats at the end of the season and prove it.


Anyway, the sooner the Cole deal gets sorted out, the quicker the squad can be finalised, and the players can focus properly.

There is just a slight feeling that the season hasn't really started yet, and until the transfer window closes I'm sure it'll stay that way.


Next up, Dinamo Zagreb

ASHLEY COLE has said some really stupid stuff in the past, but declaring that he IS available for selection and also that he hAs some sort of special relationship with Arsenal fans is TOTALly over the top.

Incase you didn't know Mr Cole, here's an explanation of what you did.

You Betrayed All Those That You Befriended Whilst Only Young!!!

Betrayal I say!!

And now you pretend that there's no problem, and it's all no big deal??

When will you get the message??

Dinamo Zagreb 0 - 3 Arsenal
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Two goals from Cesc either side of one from van Persie looks like being enough to put Arsenal through to the next round even before the 2nd leg in two weeks.

Zagreb seemed very decent, and always looked capable of scoring up until Cesc's first.

They played almost as if they believed that the tie was all but done and dusted towards the final stages of the game, so will probably look at the 2nd leg in two weeks time as a nice day out before they go into the UEFA cup.

It was quite a strong performance considering the stage of pre-season that the team is at. I must admit that I was expecting the passing to be way off, and the players to tire early in the second half, but that didn't happen.

Rosicky started on the left, taking Reyes' place and did very well on his debut. His link up play with the rest of the team was good and he looks like he won't take long to settle.

Fabregas, the new number 4, just seems to keep getting better and better almost every time I see him play.

Both of his goals were well taken and his performance tonight clearly showed that even at the age of 19, he's already become one of the most important players in the side.

Actually, all of the players who pulled on the shirt and played deserve a mention, not just Rosicky and Cesc.

All those who didn't want to, don't deserve anything at all.

In fact, now that I think about it, there are some players on SEVENTY THOUSAND POUNDS A WEEK, who openly profess to not even care about the club.

But we won't mention them.

Because the road to the Final in Athens starts here.

Right!

I'm just about getting fed up of this!

Jose Now says He Doesn't want to go anywhere, and denies all knowledge of the quotes about wanting to join Real that are attributed to him.

He says:


“I did not say these words, I’ll tell you once again, I am happy at Arsenal and I am looking forward to the coming campaign. We have a new stadium this season and we are pushing for honours in all competitions. I do not want to leave Arsenal."


So there you have it.

Another denial, surely soon to be followed by another plea to leave.

Well at least this is all slightly more interesting than waiting to hear when Cole is finally going to go.

So which is it?

Does Jose really want to stay? Is he just a victim of press lies?

Or is he just taking everyone for a ride?

Maybe he actually is responsible for both sets of contradictory quotes, and his plan is to engineer a move without actually appearing to have done so.

Well as far as I'm concerned, he's an Arsenal player until he goes and I don't trust a word he says any more.

He played well in tonights friendly, which Arsenal won relatively comfortably with goals from Gilberto, Adebayor and a Van Persie penalty.

What a strange silly season this is turning out to be!

Real Madrid have yet again managed to successfully unsettle an Arsenal player.

Reyes openly admits that he's been unsettled by all of the stupid talk that's been coming out of Madrid recently.


"I miss Spain and I have a unique opportunity to return with what Real are offering. Everyone has to understand I can't let this chance slip away. Real Madrid are unique.

I don't know what is happening but I am a little unsettled by all the rumours."


So after all of the hard work and effort by Arsene and many others at Arsenal, all it took was a few Marca and As 'journalists' to completely ruin it all.

It's obvious from the reaction to the first fake story that most Arsenal fans don't mind if he goes or stays.

He's still only a young boy, and living in England makes him (and therefore probably his immediate family) unhappy, so it's better that he goes in my opinion.

The only obvious problem is a replacement.

Arsene doesn't like spending.

I don't think he'd spend big money even if he had it.

In fact, I think if he had £40m to spend he'd rather buy 40 young players for £1m each, than two £20m players.

He may well have £40m to spend if Cole and Reyes are both sold.

But how will he spend it?

Your guess is as good as mine...