Above is the well-publicised leak (thank you Arseblog) of either a commemorative shirt being released next season, or our actual kit for next season. As feedback goes, people will be clamouring for it if it is the real thing (there are many pages linking to how this is actually a fake), and I for one will be ordering it immediately if it proves to be the real McCoy.

On to the blog, and today I’m dealing with the Felipe Melo spiel – more to the point, how I feel the club should be resorting to transfer rumours in some sick, twisted fantasy of mine.

Arsenal need to publicly tap up Felipe Melo – even if the debate lingers over whether we need to reinforce central midfield.

Since the Patrick Vieira-Real Madrid fiasco of 2002, Arsenal have long appeared a soft touch when it comes to staving off reported interest in the club’s players.

After Vieira left, Spanish papers targeted Thierry Henry, who eventually left for Barcelona (credit to him last night after getting a start against Stuttgart ahead of that idiot, Zlatan). After Thierry, we’ve never heard the end of Cesc-to-Barcelona headlines.

Late this season, rumours have circled around Roma’s pursuit of Gallas, who allegedly also want Eboue and Vermaelen.

I know a lot of Gooners are proud of the way Arsenal conducts itself off the pitch – there’s always been a touch of class about the red and white and Wenger’s behind-closed-doors transfer policy has been nothing but by-the-book.

Surely now, it’s time to fight fire with fire. Time to unsettle a few players, offer suggestive quotes about wanting certain players and get players and backroom staff in on the act. If Wenger feels too strongly about his principles in this regard, people like Cesc, van Persie and Arshavin – players the press will listen to – should surely start blabbering on, mischievously, about Lionel Messi this, De Rossi that, until those bastard clubs decide to shut their collective traps.

We might not need Felipe Melo – but Juventus are just one club who have given us grief over our coveting our players publicly. Is it time Arsenal dished some dirt straight back, despite the Juve chairman’s wishes?

Wishful thinking. But still – would you prefer to see Arsenal fall to the dark side of transfer politics, or keep their clean, classy image they’ve done so well to maintain of late?

Many have noted, including Le Grove and Myles Palmer, that Arsene Wenger missed training (imagine Tom Cruise missing a Scientology awards evening) the day before the Bolton match and conducted an earlier-than-usual press conference.

It coincides tastily alongside rumours of Arsenal signing Fulham defender Chris Smalling (their ‘other defender’) and whispers of signing striker extraordinaire, Eden Dzeko.

Smalling himself is a combatitive, pacy defender who could indeed be the replacement for William Gallas. But I hope that contract talks with the ex-captain are progressing, as I reckon he can still be star for the club for at least another year.

The Dzeko ‘whispers’ are nothing more than that, propagated by certain parties who’ve been wrong on these things before. But it’s simply worth mentioning because of the pants-wetting factor were it to be true. It has a snowball’s chance in hell of happening, but sometimes, you just never know.

Second string FA Cup line-up

With our good form in the league increasing the weight of the Premiership’s priority, it’s only natural that the FA Cup game this weekend is going to drop in Wenger’s estimations. This naturally has its critics, but it’s also something we just have to get used to.

Yes, we all love the FA Cup, as do the players, as does the manager. But we simply cannot risk injuring more players in an already-stretched line-up when ‘the big one’ – the league title – seems within our reach for the first time in two years.

Diaby and Sagna are already pencilled out of the fixture, and you can bet that not many of the midfield players will be risked either.

Ramsey and Merida would definitely have been given a chance, but injuries robbed them of that, while Rosicky will be kept on ice for Villa. Theo Walcott could get at least an appearance with the Czech’s absence.

But despite injuries potentially ‘robbing’ us of the Cup, there are a number of reasons to be positive. We will not be throwing lambs to the slaughter like we did at Man City in the League Cup. Arsenal will have plenty of experience to call upon in new signing Sol Campbell who – while not quite the player he was many years ago – won’t just wilt under Stoke’s bombardment. The big man should be well assisted by Mikael Silvestre and Armand Traore.

The deputising Fabianski will take confidence in that backline (with Coquelin possibly at RB), as will a young midfield including the likes of Eastmond, Wilshere and Emmanuel-Thomas.

Eastmond has had sporadic appearances in the first team, so should be versed enough to last at least 70 minutes, while Wilshere needs to spruce himself up as a loan target.

Jay Emmanuel Thomas offers the most interesting option and potentially Arsenal’s secret weapon with his industry, his strength and his utility.

So while you might decry Arsenal ‘throwing’ the cup again, it’s certainly better than ‘throwing’ the league by risking further injuries to first teamers.

And maybe, having said all that, our chances are still a lot better than people realise.

But first, to a little transfer speculation – also, if you haven’t read it already, there was some serious news in Angola involving Emmanuel Adebayor. Read the reaction to it here.

We’ve been linked rather spuriously to Sol Campbell after the big man has spent the last eon training with us after walking out on Notts County earlier in the season.

Wenger has been characteristically coy about the prospect of signing him, which I hope is a giveaway that he won’t be signing a defender who, great though he once was, has lost more than a few yards of pace since leaving Portsmouth.

Campbell’s main redeeming feature is his awesome prowess in the aerial battle. But signing a defender for this reason alone ignores the fact that Gallas and Vermaelen have been coping very well in this field and have put to bed a traditional weakness of ours. Sure, we need depth desperately in defence, but I really cannot fathom Campbell as the answer.

I said Wenger’s coy response was hopefully a giveaway into his not signing Sol. Given the man is available on a free, he’s free to choose from any suitors for his signature, and that includes us. I would warrant that Arsenal are at the front of his preferences, were we actually interested.

Whenever Arsenal had a chance to sign a big player (like Arshavin) whose signature was contested by other clubs, Wenger goes into his shell, plays mind games with the press, and no-one knows which way he’s going with it.

With Campbell, there’s no need for that. Were we to put in an offer for him, I cannot fail to see him choosing someone over us. Except maybe Spurs if his sole aim was to beat the American Samoan record for own goals scored in a match. I think it was 34? (Correction: Madagascan, and it was 149).

I would hope that we are in for better, younger, more athletic defenders than Sol. Like Vieira, his best days are long gone. His memory should remain as an awesome defender who – a walkout against West Ham aside – gave some extraordinary service to the club that will not be matched again.

To the Everton game, and I hope you’re all lighting your shrines, praying to your deities and avoiding the cracks in the pavement to ensure we actually have a game on today.

The team is as you were for the mid-week game that never was, only with Nasri on the right flank in Rosicky’s place. Cold weather makes for nervy hamstrings, and as long as Nasri is fit and in form (which he is), he should start.

Everyone else is as you were and on paper, this is a team that should see an Everton side as depleted by injury as we are. You never know in football, but there you have it.

Not too in-depth an analysis, obviously, but my mind is so numb from a lack of football that I just want to enjoy a home game without too much intellectual rigour. This might call for a beer or two but, because I’m travelling in the morning, it will be dark, lonely sobriety for me.

It does seem like ages since we last played a game. Stupid Europe and their silly cold weather. Apart from Israel, which I hear is having a heatwave. Where are all the global warming advocates when you need them?

Right. I’m off to pack some suitcases, get a bit of FIFA into my system, plug in the laptop to the telly and get some Red and White action into me. See you in the blog tomorrow!

Those ’sources in the Spanish capital’ that we love so much claim young upstart Fran Merida is on his way out of Arsenal after apparently signing a contract with Athletico Madrid. If true, the deal will see him join the Liga side once his contract with the Gunners expires in July.

The hype that followed Fran upon his arrival in Arsenal has never quite been matched from his sparse appearances in the red and white. At times a dynamic tyro in midfield, Merida was too often out of his depth and stretched in vague roles.

Even when sent out on loan to Real Sociedad, he failed to make any impact for the struggling cup, unlike lesser lights Henri Lansbury and Jay Simpson.

Meanwhile, Tomas Rosicky has signed on the correct dotted line and will be at Arsenal for the next season at least. While there is no confirmation on exactly how long the deal is for, there has been a bit of division over whether it’s the right thing for the club or not.

If Rosicky is ever going to have a solid season for Arsenal, it is more than likely going to happen next season. While there is still time for him to work some magic in our favour right now, you can only expect his injury worries to finally clear in a medium – not immediate – time-frame.

You simply cannot let a player with such technical quality like Rosicky go off for free. It’s the kind of thing you regret happening (Flamini, anyone?), and to have someone like him only making the bench bodes well for the standard Arsenal is trying to set.

He adds immaculate depth to our squad when fit, and I say it is a gamble worth banking on.

Furthermore, the benefits of keeping Eboue – not just for the sheer improvement he’s made on the pitch – for the sake of squad harmony cannot be understated. As a close friend of Fabregas, Rosicky’s contract extension will have benefits stretching into other areas of the club.

And with news that Cesc Fabregas could be out until early February (yikes!), we’ll need all hands on deck for a tough, tough month.

Bolton preview tomorrow. Be sure to share your thoughts on these players in the comments. In the meantime, why not become a fan of Third-Gen on Facebook?

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Meanwhile, the Arsenal world kept spinning with an expected (if we’re honest) draw at a committed Burnley side, followed by a solid 3-0 home win against the most despicable small club going, Hull.

After Man United and Chelsea’s repeat show of some horror weekends, Arsenal have emerged twice the stronger of the ‘Top 4′ clubs within a fortnight, after so decisively being written off by everyone after the Blues mauled us 3-0 at home.

We sit an encouraging 6 points off of Chelsea, with a game in hand. Win that game (now rescheduled to January 6, at home to Bolton), and we overtake Manchester United for second place.

The doom and gloomers now turn their attentions, rightfully so, to who will replace Robin van Persie, after grumpy-guts Wenger said the Dutch forward could well miss the whole season. It’s a massive, massive loss for the club and terrible for the injury-prone genius. But even the manager says he will have to get his wallet out for the January transfer window.

My one complaint of some of the speculation – that punters are missing the fact that certain players are cup-tied – has now gone out the window, with Wenger saying he’s more than happy to buy someone ineligible for the Champions League. He effectively says that the domestic competitions are equally prioritised alongside the European Cup; that way, it makes for an enforced rotation.

So without further ado, here’s a small taste of strikers I could see us having a punt at. Hardly original, but ’tis the season and all that.

Luca Toni

A favourite from the forum-lurkers, Luca has surely got to be one of the most overrated strikers since Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and is nowhere near the Swede’s standards. Won himself the European Golden Boot several seasons ago for Fiorentina, but has looked a bit of a plank since joining Bayern Munich. Nevertheless, the Michael Owen-type temptation to sign him up, available on a free, is huge, and he would certainly offer us something both aerially and physically. His finishing is bound to frustrate fans who jumped on Adebayor’s back for similar sins.

Mario Balotelli

As talented and spontaneous as he is expensive and flammable. Has a trouble-making streak similar to Adebayor’s, which could certainly cause long-term trouble. Has an insane ability to score goals out of nothing, both from an arrowing run or from long range. Unfortunately, there is no in-depth info on his ability to hold the ball up and distribute it to players, other than some scant showings while watching Inter Milan (incredibly boring). Potentially could feed off as a support striker, but would cost far too much for something we already have.

Carlton Cole

At first I thought this was an absurd rumour over a player who, not too long ago, was more of a clumsy, bumbling forward than a close-control, incisive finisher Arsenal needed. Yet this season he’s come out of the woodwork as the one shining light for a very sorry West Ham outfit. Has power and a finishing ability, though his control, while improving, still leaves a bit to be desired. A bit of the unknown factor despite playing in the media-saturated Premier League. His default priciness as an Englishman could be offset by his club’s financial dire straits.

Eden Dzeko

The number one, if very fanciful choice for Arsene Wenger, surely? Oozes flair, a fantastic shot from range, incisive finishing, good heading ability and aerial prowess. Plenty of pace, good control, a complete package of a footballer. Cup-tied in Europe after deputising for the eliminated Wolfsburg, but could add a genuine impetus to Arsenal’s league campaign. His fantastic partnership with the Brazilian Grafite shows he could work wonders alongside our zippy support forwards and would add a real fear-factor to proceedings. Will be very expensive.

Louis Saha

Has plenty of Premier League experience and would be glad of a shot at a top 4 side away from struggling Everton. Can alternate between receiving the ball and distributing to team mates and target man. Excellent at running onto through-balls and would be a smart, if conservative, signing by Wenger. But does he have the strength that Arsenal so reportedly lack? He has traditionally played alongside players who can hold their own, for Fulham, Man United and Everton. Arsenal can’t boast the same cloggers to support him.

Who do you want to see come into the side? Leave your dream signings, and the reasons, in the comments!

Maybe not the last one. Anyways, it seems that the doom and gloom is gathering at the tail-end of 2009, after some major fall out from the Chelsea debacle.

But arguably, most of the negativity is summed up by Robin van Persie’s injury. Amazingly, for a team that prided itself in the strength in depth we had in attack, we’re suddenly appearing rather brittle after one injury. I suppose Bendtner’s absence exacerbates it a bit, but nevertheless, we’re looking worse for wear. Eduardo’s lacking for confidence, Walcott doesn’t know where he’s playing, and Vela seems way out of his depth.

Bacary Sagna is the latest to speak up, saying that Arsene Wenger needs to splash out and replace van Persie. It’s clear that the striker’s absence is having a weighty effect on the club and it would be difficult to carry on with our dilineated resources.

But Mr Myles Palmer (should I just say You Know Who? ‘Voldimort’ is already taken by a certain whats his face) reckons that RVP’s replacement will come in the form of the one and only Thierry Henry, in a loan deal from Barcelona. He implies it’s a done-deal and then goes on to chastise the 226-goal ‘timid poser’.

Of course, it’s not a done deal. You Know Who also insisted that Patrick Vieira was on his way back to the club, fully ignoring the fact that Wenger just does not re-sign ex-players.

Fully aware of the fact he won’t come back, you’d have to say it would be an interesting signing anyway. Shorn of his old pace and perhaps goal threat, playing the distributive role in van Persie’s absence could still prove a good fit for an Arsenal side in need of a boost. But would our old number 14 fit in well with a young side very much their own team now, and with a Walcott touting his old number?

As mentioned earlier, it’s December, which is a new month that is not November. It has to be seen as a new start by the side. Our first fixture is Wednesday in the Carling Cup against Moneybags FC at Eastlands. And I’m afraid of the fact that the youth team will be sent out in a not-so-happy hunting ground.

There are pros and cons to a second-string side in this game – the pros concern a fearless, young team giving the first teamers a rest before the Stoke game, and perhaps relying on Citeh underestimating them and sneaking a win.

The cons are that we are exposing ourselves to another serious loss, which regardless of what team is put out, will further dent confidence around the club. Perhaps more damage would be done if the first team suffered any kind of loss too.

But I think Arsenal should learn from Liverpool’s mistake earlier this season and make a real, proper fist of a cup competition this season. We’re not out of the league yet, despite the huge points gap. But we’re one game away from being in a two-legged semi-final. That’s nothing to be sniffed at.

So I seriously hope Wenger is bluffing, and can throw in the likes of Walcott, Rosicky, Eboue, as well as promising youngsters like Ramsey and Wilshere, Eastmond and Merida.

Would you like to see the League Cup prioritised? Let the comments be your hunting ground.

While I’ve always had respect for the institution that is Liverpool, Rafa Benitez has really got that club by the balls, in a terrible way. He’s convinced the majority of their fans that the mess the club finds itself in is not his fault, that he does not have as much money as Arsenal to compete in the league (why is this never pointed out as sheer lunacy, given our stinginess in the market?), that the owners are running amock with the Anfield club.

Well, next time I get to spend £20-odd million a season on some marquee players (Torres, Aquilani), they certainly have always had more spending power than Wenger was willing to part with. The common retort to this is that silly argument about ‘net spending’, ie, profits/losses made on his wheeler-dealing, but it simply doesn’t stand. Rafa has bought far more chaff than he has wheat in the plethora of players signed up.

So what if it does go nipples-up for Liverpool? On the brink of a possible exit from the Champions League, miles behind in the title race and throwing away their one chance of a trophy in the League Cup against Arsenal, it’s looking like a distinct possibility for the Reds of Merseyside.

What, you ask, does any of this have to do with Arsenal?

A fair bit, in a speculative way. Fans’ insecurity over the state of our goalkeeping department has seen many fantasy managers revise their priorities as to which positions we need to restock.

And while Almunia, Mannone and Fabianski don’t fill some with confidence, Pepe Reina has been the one shining light for an otherwise abject Liverpool so far this season. They might be leaking like a sieve at the back, but none of that can be attributed to the keeper, who has made some fantastic saves and kept them in a match many of their players never deserved to be in.

If it really is the end of the road for Liverpool (though I doubt it is), Reina would stand as one hell of a coup for Arsenal. Of course, I’m not spouting a rumour here or anything: it is total conjecture and highly unlikely of ever happening. Besides, when at some angles you look like a Richard Cranium, perhaps it doesn’t help with the club’s marketability factor.

Kroenke nears ‘that’ threshold

Meanwhile, in more serious news, Silent Stan Kroenke has upped his stake in Arsenal to within a whisker of the mandatory takeover threshold.

There’s been a bit of hesitancy kicked about in the media over Kroenke’s growing power at the club, but I think most of that is to do with the financial crisis in America and Britain’s natural angst towards that predicament, the clowns that are running Liverpool and also the debt incurred by the Glazer family on Manchester United.

The shares he’s gathered to inch closer to 30 per cent have been gathered from Chairman Peter Hill-Wood, which means the bloc of power in the boardroom has not grown much against the so-far quiet Alisher Usmanov trolls.

Given the rumours that Kroenke is looking to sell off the St Louis Rams, that may be seen as a sign he’s getting funds to total up the entire bid required to buy out the club.

But at this moment in time, I don’t see the American making a move in that direction just yet. The board have inched close enough to that 50 per cent power margin so as to make Usmanov close to irrelevant (as well as a potential suitor, Nina Bracewell-Smith), giving him time to bring the potential share price from 10,ooo to something like 8,500 after 12 months.

Interesting times ahead. My allegiance is tentatively behind the American, much rather than United fan Usmanov – but in the end, one can never really tell which way these things are going to go.

Liverpool fans, afterall, were rejoicing when their incumbents signed on the dotted line, and look at them now.

In other news, a shout out to whoateallthepies who list Third-Gen (or ‘3rd Gen’ to those in the know) among the top Arsenal blogs – a bit humbling as there’s some excellent company in that list. Furthermore, Fran Merida looks set to sign a new contract with the club to stave off interest from Athletico Madrid, and Arsene Wenger praises Robin van Persie and captain Cesc Fabregas to the hilt.

So what do you think? Would you, hypothetically, welcome Pepe Reina to the club? Your thoughts, comments, and Scousers’ calls to neuter me, in the comments section. For now, bye bye.

Sometime this morning, I remembered Aston Villa were throwing the dice at Anfield against Liverpool, so I checked some the appropriate feeds as well.

At first, I saw the preliminary headlines like ‘Liverpool defence will see off Villa’, and ‘Rafa wants six’ (in reference to ‘going one better’ to their Villa’s 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the Scousers).

Then of course, I check the score, to find it currently sitting at 2-0 at half time. Aston Villa won the match 3-1.

While Rafa Benitez blames all and sundry apart from himself, it’s a timely reminder that, on the eve of a vital Champions League qualifier against Celtic tomorrow, Arsenal cannot afford to be complacent.

It’s the buzzword doing the rounds today, but cliches are quite often overstated truths – here’s a little list of reasons and history suggesting why Arsenal might stuff it all up against the Bhoys:

• Arsenal 1 – 2 Hull City: The Tigers went for broke on Arsenal’s own patch last season and pulled off a stunning result in the days before their manager’s character was revealed for what it was. Attacking teams expose themselves greatly when taking it to Arsenal, but every now and then, it works.
• Arsenal 0 – 2 Aston Villa: Again, last season, Arsenal decided against showing up at all and duly paid with a clinical showing from the Villans.
• Manchester United look distinctly beatable this year – many eyes may be on that match instead of on the essential ‘bread and butter’ of beating Celtic.
• I just used wording that suggest I took ‘beating Celtic’ as ‘bread and butter’ish. We’re doomed.
• Cesc Fabregas will not be playing.

The last reason is not as crucial as I made out, of course – while the team benefit greatly from his incredible range of passing and vision, the team’s mobility is not dependent on the young Spaniard.

Heck, even Denilson has shot his mouth off, and while Arsenal will win the game if they can find space, keep the movement and tempo high and keep possession, I prefer cautious, understated build-ups to games.

Abou Diaby has been in the news lately, mostly down to his outrageously good showing against Portsmouth on Saturday and it will be interesting to see how he is used against Celtic.

I always seem to think back to the Carling Cup ‘men against boys’ Final between Chelsea and Arsenal – for the first 70 minutes, Chelsea simply could not handle Diaby before he was subbed off and things went pear-shaped.

So he has the ability to orchestrate a team in the Cesc-mould, but against Portsmouth, he played a different role which was reliant on Fabregas finding him with a good pass. He was popping up everywhere and seemed to thrive under a versatile 4-3-3 formation.

Will he orchestrate? Will he run around like a mad thing? Will he do the lazy one? Who knows. But losing Cesc means the dynamics are shifted in Arsenal’s armoury. Perhaps drafting in Aaron Ramsey could be the answer?

If anything, the formation at least looks set to stay while players still learn the angles. One criticism has been the strikers’ apparent shortage of goals so far, to which I say ‘be patient’, but also highlight that it makes us even more dangerous as a team.

If our strikers suddenly become assist-merchants rather than goal-threats, static opponents will continue to get ripped to pieces as a mobile midfield proves more and more difficult to mark.

Finally, Fabregas’ absence has reportedly ‘reignited’ our interest’ in St Ettiene midfielder Blaise Matuidi – I’ve stood by this rumour for a while, simply for the fact that his versatility would act both as cover for Fabregas and for Song when the latter jets off to Africa in January.

We remain hopeful. There should would could be signings announced soon after the Celtic game – but first thing’s first – win the damn thing!

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Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, George Weah, Cesc Fabregas… you know the rest well enough by now.

Yet that list never, ever includes defenders, apart from perhaps new Moneybags FC mascot Kolo Toure.

Even so, his greatest legacy was re-inventing the careers of the famous back four, scooping Sol Campbell from under Spurs’ noses and getting William Gallas plus £5million for Ashley Cole.

Having completed Arsenal’s pre-season warm-ups, the manager has been able to show off his attacking talent to no end by tinkering with both 4-4-2 formations and Barcelona’s famous 4-3-3.

While you cannot read too much into friendlies, one thing that is obvious is Arsenal are now one of the most flexible attacking units in world football.

Attack, attack, attack!

The acquisition of Andrey Arshavin, Eduardo and the eventual late belated delayed return of Thomas Rosicky has meant Wenger can boldly experiment with an attacking triumvirate with some serious talent.

Above is something close to what will be first choice, injuries aside, should the 4-3-3 get the go-ahead. With Alex Song playing the shielding role, it allows Fabregas to dictate play in favour of the 3-prong striking force as pictured, interchangeable with Bendtner, Eduardo, Rosicky, Vela and Wilshere.

Fabregas, Nasri and Song can also swap with Ramsey, Denilson and Diaby as need be, with Eboue able to deputise if we’re really desperate – the need for a genuine first-team contender to be brought in has been done to death for central midfield, so I won’t go into that.

Total football

The value of the 4-3-3 is that the old sea-biscuit of ‘Total Football’ that Wenger was preaching a few seasons back seems to be bearing fruit in how versatile and interchangeable Arsenal’s attack has become.

Similarly, in the more traditional 4-4-2 formation, while the centre of the park remains the same in principle, the wings are able to exploit the talents of Walcott, Arshavin, Eboue, Rosicky and Nasri to bring a different dimension where need be.

4-5-1 formations, while mostly detested by Arsenal fans, can also be used if the middle of the park is ‘flooded’ with Song, Denilson and/or Diaby.

But the common denominator in each of these formations is that first ‘4′ – the defensive back-line, which is positively threadbare after the players pictured above.

The need for a new player is most obvious in defence – midfield is very debatable depending on which way you look, and Wenger might be looking at it one way and we another. Added to that, the burgeoning talent of Francis Coquelin and Jay Emmanuel Thomas (versatile) might be further reason not to buy a CM.

But defence looks an outright shambles in parts, no matter which way you look at it.

Here we have, from what I can tell, all possible combinations of defensive line-ups for Arsenal in the forthcoming season (all assuming Senderos isn’t sold to Everton – if he is, replace him with the new guy!, assuming he comes in too…).

The priority back-four are listed at the top of the field – Clichy, Vermaelen, Gallas and Sagna is a pacy, strong defence that are confident in possession and hopefully can learn a thing or two from Vermaelen on how to defend a set-piece.

But as you go further down the list of possible options, our strength in depth reaches Code-Blue levels. Sure, Djourou is highly rated in several quarters – he rates himself as the perfect man for replacing Kolo Toure (The Sun hilariously picturing Gallas instead of Johann, there – but this side desperately needs a defensive acquisition first and foremost.

Defender: the priority signing

A strong strikeforce and a strong backline may be able to hide Arsenal’s wishy-washy centre.

Rightly or wrongly, fans have their appetites whetted by the mention of players like Hangeland and Matthew Upson when mentioned in headlines.

While Marouane Chamakh scores a goal and nets three assists in Bordeaux’s opening game in Ligue 1, our reported interest in the striker is generally met with disdain and/or bemusement from the terraces.

The man is reported to have had trouble sleeping at the very thought of not being able to sign for Arsenal – further more, there are a list of attack-minded players literally biting each other’s heads off to get through London Colney’s doors.

But when it comes to defenders and prospective youth, suddenly we’re found wanting.

Arsene Wenger may just have hit a wall with regards to his reputation of developing defensive players in particular – while Liverpool, Manchester United and even Manchester City can pull several young England prospects who ply their trade at the back.

While Wenger’s pursuit of Chamakh may appear puzzeling at first (and while we as fans fixated with the 24/7 headline-cycle cannot believe we ‘haven’t signed Hangeland/Felipe Melo/Lorik Cana’), maybe Arsenal, for all its incredible scouting network, are having a bit more trouble than you would expect.

It might explain the new acquisition of French World Cup winner Christian Karembeu, a tough-as-nails defensive midfielder in his heyday – but seeing as he’s on as a scout, it does not affect the coaching at Arsenal.

UPDATE: Check out Spanish Fry Andy Weber’s interview with Arseblogger at ArsenalFCBlog.com.

Food for thought – more tomorrow!

After first being mentioned on sites without much reputation for truth-telling (and not many sites went with the story), it was eventually confirmed by Arsenal FC that the Czech international had picked up a hamstring injury ruling him out for the next 6 weeks.

Yet while it is incredibly frustrating for the fans and much, much more so for the man himself (he’s in the football equivalent of ‘developmental hell’), it is not entirely unexpected.

Having had such a big lay-off from very complicated injuries, hamstring complaints are almost guaranteed to follow an athlete around in his recovery.

You may recall that the exact same thing happened to Eduardo upon his brief return last season after the Roma penalty shoot-out, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Wenger has come out saying the injury is ‘not a major problem’ and when things are put into perspective, six weeks is not that bad – competing for his place in attacking midfield are Andrey Arshavin, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and even Nacer Barazite. Both Eboue and Diaby can fill in too, while Samir Nasri has five weeks of recovery before his return to action.

So while we are a little short for the first month of Premier League action, we should be fine assuming we don’t hit that wall of injuries we always seem to come across.

(Just looking at that picture above, though, really, really shows you how frustrating it is to have injuries deny Arsenal of potentially awesome attacking trios. One can weep).

Scuffle for Hangeland

I have a confession to make: as cliched as this rumour has become, I really, really want us to sign Hangeland.

This isn’t a Cana or a Huntelaar rumour where we all slice ourselves open with Youtube abandon – Hangeland was a collossus for Fulham last season and would be the perfect replacement for Senderos.

Sure, he doesn’t have the years on his side that Senderos does, but as much potential as the Swiss has, Hangeland is an outright more dominant, mentally-strong defender who has a full season of Premier League experience to show off.

Which is exactly why Roy Hodgson, one of the much more respectable managers out there (suitably matched to Fulham who I will respect greatly as a club), is so desperate to hold on to the Norwegian. The Fulham boss says no contact has been made from our side yet, which given the merry dance that is involved in keeping transfers a secret, makes me believe what Hodgson says.

While none of us can honestly say what Wenger’s targets actually are (though a midfielder, controversially, may not be one of them), I would hope that should Senderos end up sold to Everton, Hangeland is the one to beef up the Swiss’ vacancy.

Vieira oh woah

The Vieira rumour has been going around now and I really haven’t voiced my opinion too much other than the odd rambling on Twitter.

In theory, I think Vieira would really lift our club from a fan’s perspective, but also on the training pitch and occasionally on match day on the pitch. His experience would be an awesome thing to endow to the likes of Alex Song and even Francis Coquelin, while he would be great muscle to put in against smaller teams away from home.

Of course, Wenger has said that no moves have been made towards his signing – but you would think that if it were to happen, it would be easy enough to sort out. Vieira will not be expensive and would literally jump at the chance of signing for his old club. Sensational if it happens.

Champions League draw

At 12:30 UK time, there’s the small matter of the play-off draw determining Arsenal’s fate in the Champions League. Win a two-legged tie, we’re through to the group stages; lose, and we’re in the ignominy of the Europa Cup. Wenger has said we don’t have to worry about missing out from a finances perspective, but I’d rather not even contemplate not qualifying, thank you.

Due to seeding reasons, the only teams we can actually face are Fiorentina, Athletico Madrid, Anderlecht, Celtic and Timosaura (a Romanian mix of a Dinosaur and a Tiramisu, apologies to Goonerholic).

I’ll be live-tweeting the draw, so make sure to get back here at 12:30 GMT – the twitter feed will be up in the side bar, but there is also a new post you can catch on the NewsNow feed coming your way soon. UPDATE: Arsenal have drawn Celtic away for the first leg with a return leg in the second. I’ll take that with arms wide open, thank you.

In some site updates, the Match Reports section has been updated with each fixture linking (in future) to the corresponding report written by yours truly. Also, oggle at the pretty graphics on the sidebar with the Valencia match coming up – all ‘new’ design elements harking back to the very, very early days of Third-Gen.

I’m all a-tingle with sentiment. Don’t forget, live Twitter updates for the Champions League play-off draw! See you then.