Hernanes 22 year old Midfielder has been watched by a few clubs recently and have been told that Arsenal have been looking at him possibly there could be a link regarding Denilson. He’s a midfielder who you could say has hit the scene quite late at 22 but nevertheless he has alot of talent. He plays in centre midfield for Sao Paulo and has a good tactical awareness and can defend when told to but what really makes him stand out from the rest is his body language and ability on the ball. He is flat footed but strolls around like he owns the pitch, A minor point to his game is that you get the impression he won’t be running around for 90 minutes and this is where he saves his energy and uses his brain by taking up positions like he’s been playing the game for years, you can guarantee he will keep the ball for team and create something eventually. He is very composed in tight situation with the ability to dribble and not spur a chance when presented and has shown he can shoot from all ranges which comes from a young age as he grew up as an attacking midfielder. I think the lad will get a move to Europe eventually whether it’s to us or not but with Gilberto Silva potentially leaving this summer he would be a welcomed addition.

When you take a look at what we had in Robert Pires we was lucky to have such a talented winger who was not deterred by his lack of pace in the league which pace goes a long way to helping you fit in but he was just a magician so elegant on the ball with the composure and technique to put the ball in the back of the net from any range but interests me is his directness, That mentality of wanting to take on the defender putting the defender on the back foot which is something we lack. When Robert left we all knew that the time had to come but later in his career he wasn’t as effective considering his bad knee injury and probably needed a league where he could get that extra touch on the ball so Spain come calling with Villarreal the suitors and Bobby departed to finish off what was a remarkable career.

We the fans was looking for a replacement who was just as good as Robert as his presence was a big loss to the midfield, It was the 23rd of May 2006 when gradually the rumours got stronger and were eventually confirmed that Tomas Rosicky had turned his back from Atletico Madrid to head to the Emirates in a deal worth £7,000,000 and for me it was a shock but I was really excited at the same time!. Most fans would have known who Tomas Rosicky was from his Dortmund days and his games for the national team. Tomas the heart of their attack who was named the little Mozart for his picturesque performances lived up to his £18,000,000 price tag at Dortmund and became a cult hero but there was a different side to him alot like the Germans themselves, he would putting in alot of hard gritty determined performances and not afraid to lung into a challenge when needed it looked like we had a great player coming.

When we look at his Arsenal career he made his debut in the Champions League qualifier against Zagreb in an important game and managed to get his first goal against Hamburg also in the Champions League and what a goal it was, a cracking shot from 30 yards which left the keeper no chance and I think we was all rubbing our hands at the prospect of this season with Rosicky in the team. It was short lived because despite getting only 3 goals that season he showed flashes of brilliance but lacked consistency and can we put that down to the unlucky injuries he had? Or the fact he needed time to settle in the Premier League? I was going to give him that benefit of the doubt with Wenger saying he is the man to replace Pires. This season I’m far from impressed with his performances despite his 9 goals, not only can he not stay fit he is not the same player we brought because I don’t see him putting any defenders on the back foot with runs bursting from midfield taking 3 or 4 players out the game on a consistent level. I feel he should be doing alot more for his talent showing more confidence and more selfishness if you like rather than playing with his back to goal out wide and looking to pass which slows down the attack. So far he has alot of living up to do to fill Pires boots who was the ever reliable but despite his flashes of genius because we have not seen the Little Mozart yet more like the Injury Table Regular but am I being harsh on Rosicky who is a part of a team at Arsenal rather than being the stand out player of a team but it does look like he relishes a role where he is the key vocal point in attack which he isn’t at Arsenal.

Well the big day is not so far away and we couldn’t have had a worse match to come off on after the painful United result but we must keep our optimism up. Milan are one of the biggest clubs in the world who have attracted all sorts of world class players throughout the years they have always kept the same game plan, youth development and tactics with putting defence first and revolving the attack around the playmaker but is there a sense of vulnerability with the Milan team this season?.

Milan currently stand 5th in the table a staggering 21 points behind there city rivals Inter. There is no doubt there defence is still working as a world class unit the record speaks for its self but strangely Milan have been finding it hard to finish off games despite the wealth of attacking talent at their disposal but the new breed coming through like Pato could change that story very soon on what he has shown recently. They struggle like ourselves when the opposition get stuck into them, ruff them up abit and don’t give them time on the ball but allot of teams this season have stopped Kaka from effecting the game by assigning a man marker to keep tight to him and managed to get a result. The danger for me is though is Pirlo, given our weakness at set pieces this is not the guy we want to be delivering balls into the box or to be given allot of time in deep areas starting off their attacks.

When we take a look at what we can do to stop them I think the best option is to assign a 4-5-1 with Gilberto to do what he done to Riquelme to Kaka, I know this sounds ridiculous giving his recent performances but it’s all we have and given he’s trained with him for Brazil maybe he can give out a great performance. Defence wise I don’t think there’s a problem because we have the pace advantage over them to continue to keep a high line and catch their front men offside but we will need to beware of their full backs over lapping on the counter so Clichy and Sagna need to be extra alert. Matthieu Flamini who’s been touted as the new Gattuso would be pointless to have him doing anything else then stopping Pirlo, he has to keep up the pressuring on Pirlo for 90minutes nonstop or we could be in serious trouble as I got the feeling Gattuso will be assigned to do the same to Cesc. If Ade can hold the ball well up top then we could be well in here as I don’t think there defence has come up with such a striker and could find themselves having a torrid evening, but whatever happens the players need to show 110% effort not just for the fans but for the good of themselves. We should all know by now that Milan’s team isn’t very youthful and is full of experienced players but can we believe that the experience in these players don’t mean nothing as they look to be lacking the drive and confidence to succeed with the season they have had, How would they react to an early goal and 55,000 Gooners putting there share of the work in?

Sorry this was rushed and hope you got a good read but what are your views on the game ?

Today was such a bad result for us to lose to our rivals in such a manor but what makes it worse deep down for me is how the team played. What can we actually come up with to find the answer to this performance, was there still bruising in the mentality from the Tottenham result which was exposed by a rampant Manchester United who battled and won every ball who set the tempo and tore us to shreds with a crowd giving them that extra in their performance or should we go for the excuse old excuse of we had a weak team?.Whatever the excuse Manchester United look to have wanted this battle more and I suppose every dog has its day but the truth is that we Arsenal are the best team in the country and the table does not lie come the 38th game we will have won the war and they can have beat us 4-0 all they like because we are the best football team playing in this country and will be going around north London with the premiership trophy waved from the top of a bus signing “ we are the champions “.

Short and sweet tonight but remember we can drown this result with a few pints wake up in the morning and we are still 5 points clear at the top!

Carlos Vela the young protégé from Cancun started out his trade for Guadalajara in Mexico where he didn’t get to play any games but the hype around the kid was enough for him to earn his place in the Mexico under 17 team for the world cup. Vela the frail looking kid made his name in this tournament where he bagged 5 goals, it was his movement off the ball that caught the eye and his determination to help his team abit like the qualities we see in Adebayor today but he also had something else to his game, that knack to be in the right place at the right time and the ability to not spur a chance and not only was he special the team was special and they went on to win the under 17 World Cup beating Brazil 3-0 in which Vela scored and dedicated his Golden Boot award to his father afterwards.

After the celebrations Vela had a choice now as he had made his name on one of the biggest stages for a youngster. The offers flooded in from across Europe with Guadalajara offering a new contract and alot of money to secure his family financially but he turned the offer down to sign with us in November 2005 for a reported £2,500,000. We was all aware of what player Wenger had brought and couldn’t wait to see him in action but due to the Non-EU citizens rule in the U.K Vela could not play until he had earnt a work permit.

Vela was shipped out to Celta Vigo in February 2006 where he didn’t feature for the 1st team because the current manager felt he was too inexperienced to play him but then was farmed out to 2nd division side Salamanca and this is where he made his mark. He was playing up front and showing signs of becoming a good striker banging in 8 goals and creating numerous assists for his team mates, He became the fans hero here and everyone loved Vela but they knew he had to go the boy had too much talent. His performances was noted by the national manager and made his full international debut for Mexico in a September 2007 friendly against Brazil and got his 1st goal against Guatemala in Los Angeles.

Come the start of 2007 the loan bids were flying in for Carlos who Osasuna were successful in their bid agreeing to a 1 year loan with an extension. Vela had been looking a very different person come the start of the season for Osasuna where he wasn’t the little boy anymore he had put on alot of muscle and grown alot. With that new look come a new Carlos, He’s no longer playing of the shoulders of defenders but just playing on the left wing and dropping deep with the licence to create and get himself into the box but one thing is for sure he has not lost any of his desire and willingness to run for the cause but he’s alot more harder to budge of the ball just ask Sergio Ramos! And has alot of power when running with it too with the technique required to make it at the top level. He managed to get his first goal for Osasuna in a match against Betis which was a mere tap it but his goal against Bilbao showed that he hasn’t lost any of his predator instincts as the ball was lofted over the last line of defence and Vela shaped up and hit a half volley from a acute angle to beat the corner in his near post it was a great goal and I’m sure there is more to come from this great prospect.

Well what can we expect from the Mexican hotshot, has he sorted out our left side problem or is he nudging out a striker?

I would like to hear your thoughts please thank you

After the news of Ronaldo’s potential career ending injury I would just like to ask the question are talented young players being exploited too early?

Age in today’s game is more significant than any other era and alot of youngsters who are put in the mould of potential stars are eventually required to play in the 1st team as soon as possible to gain the so called word ” experience “, although this may sound relevant for the players career im slightly concerned that how many games there playing to get this experience, is more always better?. Professional football is a very physical game and can be mentally draining for a young player which can be caused by such things as the media and pressure to perform to your abilities, but you have to take into account alot of young players bodies haven’t developed fully and it is difficult on the muscles to withstand this sort of intense situations and eventually leads to bad injuries which in effect harms there development and shortens there career or you could say they are hitting their prime to early, there needs to be a little bit of leeway given to youngsters today there’s no rush for a 18 year old for example to be chucked into the deep end and develop so quick because only the exceptional talents will sometimes relish the challenge.

It’s a sad sight when you see such players like Ronaldo in such a sorry state when he should have enjoyed a nice end to his career and should managers be responsible for controlling the extra ordinary talents to make sure they fulfil every year of their career? When you take a look at Juninho Pernambucano whose a year older then Ronaldo and currently playing to a decent level for Lyon and has so for the past couple of years you just have to look at his past he really hit the scene quite late but has a good couple of years left in him still with that burning desire to still play unlike another Brazilian Ronaldinho. Let’s just hope that the current generation of young players like Cesc and Messi can get the most out of their career and still keep their hunger for the game.

What are your thoughts on this?

What a great start to the game when only 4 minutes gone we won a corner , Eduardo delivered in a ball into the box which dipped and swerved into the path of Senderos who shrugged off some slack marking from Benni McCarthy to put the ball home and my thoughts was how many can we get ? .

As the game went on in the 1st half we had some nice build up play but lacked the final the ball and that final touch we just needed that bit of luck to get the break through but wasn’t to be with Blackburn defending deep and keeping it narrow . Eventually we all got restless the players were trying too hard to get the 2nd goal and left allot of spaces in which Blackburn took advantage with Reid picking up some nice positions unmarked in midfield and Bentley in some dangerous positions on the right and they did create some good chances but the break came at a good time for us as Blackburn were starting to really fancy their chances.

About 10 minutes into 2nd half I noticed Clichy was reluctant to get forward I could only think that was because of the threat from Bentley in which it did stop the Blackburn man from effecting the game from the right and had to come inside to find the ball but we did miss Clichy’s attacking nature as countless times we looked for him to deliver a ball into the box but wasn’t there. The game gradually got messy at times and was signs of Arsenal getting the second but just couldn’t find that pass or a clean shot, Adebayor had run the legs off Oojier in which he had to be taken off with a thigh injury and was duly rewarded for his efforts when Hleb got through in from a Cesc ball, He cut inside and laid it off to Ade who deceived the defender with his 1st touch and slotted it in the bottom corner.

Tonight’s performance was a battle, Everyone worked extra hard despite the international break with a standout performance from Hleb who’s touch was faultless his dribbling was immaculate but all in all we done the job tonight 3 points in the bag, a clean sheet and defensive performance like the old guard and 5 points clear with 12 games left COME ON ARSENAL