All hope is not lost

Well, the situation we are in is not horrible in fact you could say that it is quite good seeing as we are level on points with the best team in the league. The fact is, the team to beat will always be Man United and despite Chelsea's new found believe, you do feel that it will come down to us or United. Having said that, I do feel that Chelsea still has a great chance. They might not be playing brilliantly but they are winning and of you look at the players that will be coming back into that side you will see that they will be significantly improved.

Like a lot of you, I expected a walk in the park despite our poor form of late. This result is not the end of the world. United scored six but so what, Newcastle were very poor. I am not saying that United were not fantastic yesterday, because they were. It was simply outstanding the second half, the passing and movement of Tevez and Ronaldo in particular was simply magnificient. Also, what a player that Anderson has developed into. All around the side they just look brilliant. At the back they have one of the best keepers and the best central defensive partnership in the league, they just don't look as if they will ever concede goals.

I always try and cheer myself up by saying it could be worse, I support Spurs, Pool or Newcastle but that is just not enough. Last season, I would have accepted a result like this and just moved on but this season with all the noises made by the club about inner strength aswell as the well as our league position makes this unacceptable.

I agree with most in saying that this was probably coming, we haven't been convincing in any of last few wins. Then again, Chelsea have been labouring through games as have United up till yesterday that is. I just hope that we can pull together and pick up three points at Fulham. The players have to rally together and not allow this loss to hurt them in any way, because if we begin to go on a little blip at this stage of the seaon it could cost us the title. United do not look like dropping too many points again this season so we are going to have keep up with them.

We dropped points in seven games this season.

Blackburn Rovers (a) 1-1 Not really a bad result

Liverpool (h) 1-1 Good result

Manchester United (h) 2-2 Decent result

Newcastle (a) 1-1 Should be winning up there

Middlesbrough (a) 2-1 Very poor result

Portsmouth (a) 0-0 Decent result

Birmingham (h) 0-0 Very poor result

From the games in which we have slipped up only twice we should we really have done better in my opinion. Of course you want to win every game but in reality you can't and we dropped most of our points in difficult games. We are bound to drop silly points every now and then as are United and Chelsea.

January transfer speculation.....

Chelsea set for busy January with Ivanovic, Alves, Anelka, Berbatov and Villa all on thier shopping list

Chelsea have kicked off a £50million spending spree by agreeing an £8.9million deal for Lokomotiv Moscow's Serbia centre-half Branislav Ivanovic. Avram Grant will then turn his attention to deals for Bolton's Nicolas Anelka, Tottenham's Dimitar Berbatov, a right-back and a midfielder.

Stiliyan Petrov has warned Spurs fans that unsettled striker Dimitar Berbatov will "get what he wants" during the transfer window.

Lazio striker Goran Pandev is keen on a move to Tottenham.

Marlon King has told his Watford team-mates he will be leaving the club this month.

Derby and Fulham have joined Sunderland in the race for Blackburn midfielder Robbie Savage.

Roy Keane is ready to take England Under-21 striker Leroy Lita to Sunderland from Reading.

Bryan Robson will spend £6.5million to reignite Sheffield United's promotion push, with perennial January transfer window favourite Nigel Quashie among the players coming in.

DAILY MIRROR

Chelsea's Wayne Bridge is a shock £7million transfer target for Liverpool. Chelsea will spend that cash on Branislav Ivanovic and then invest another £45million in Sevilla's Dani Alves and Valencia's David Villa.

Birmingham are making a move for Manchester City's out-of-favour striker Georgios Samaras.

Derby are hoping to tie up a deal for Tottenham bad boy Hossam Ghaly.

Arsenal midfielder Alexander Hleb is a top transfer target for Spanish giants Barcelona.

Thomas Sorensen has pleaded with Martin O'Neill to let him leave Aston Villa.

Marlon King is set for a £5million move to Fulham.

DAILY STAR

Everton are tracking Sheffield Wednesday's £1million-rated centre-back Mark Beevers.

Michael Bridges looks set for a swift return to Hull after his loan switch to Sydney FC turned sour.

Derby boss Paul Jewell is lining up a move for Hull goalkeeper Boaz Myhill.

Alex McLeish is planning a major clearout at Birmingham, with five players set to be shown the exit.

DAILY MAIL

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp will not allow David Nugent to end his unhappy spell at Fratton Park this January.

Arsenal are trailing Espanyol goalkeeper Kiko Casilla.

Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez will turn his attention to Wayne Bridge after failing with another bid to sign Gabriel Heinze.

DAILY EXPRESS

Spurs have attempted to put prospective bidders off Dimitar Berbatov by slapping a £35million price tag on the striker, who is a target for Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City.

Manchester United defender Phil Bardsley will snub a move to Sheffield United in favour of joining Sunderland.

The FA's technical development committee, designed to solve the mystery of the lack of young English talent, has not met in 18 months.

DAILY RECORD

Falkirk's John Stewart has joined Queen of the South on loan.

Gretna have released David Cowan and Colin Scott.

Burnley v Arsenal - FA Cup - Sunday January 6, 2pm

Big boys to start at Turf Moor

Personally I'm very eager to see if we get far in the FA Cup this season. Many people don't give it too much importance, but if we fail to win the league, which is highly likely, the FA Cup would be great. Seems ages ago since we last won it in 05, with Jens saving Scholes' penalty, and thus denying Roy Keane of a trophy in what would turn out to be his last chance to get a trophy for United.

Things have changed drastically since then, we have lost two captains and won nothing. However, there is a beleieve amongst fans and players of Arsenal that this could be our year. The Fa Cup is one of my favourite tournaments so I hope that we field a strong side in respect of our opponents.

The Daily Mail reckon we will play our first choice eleven

Premier League stars get FA Cup call as Arsenal save youngsters for crunch clash with Tottenham

Arsene Wenger has decided that his Premier League big guns will launch Arsenal's bid for the FA Cup this weekend because he wants to ensure that his youngsters are rested and fully prepared to face Tottenham in the Carling Cup semi-final next week.

Having regained top spot from Manchester United with an unbeaten fivematch run over the Christmas holiday period, the Gunners will now focus on the twin challenges presented by the domestic cups.

They meet Burnley at Turf Moor in the FA Cup third round on Sunday and three days later bid for a place in the Carling Cup Final when they face their north London rivals in the first leg of the semi-final at the Emirates Stadium.

Normally Wenger would be tempted to play some of his younger players in an FA Cup tie against Championship opponents but he wants to be sure they are all fit to continue their remarkable progress in the Carling Cup.
The average age of the team that has knocked out Newcastle, Sheffield United and Blackburn Rovers is 21 and the Arsenal manager wants to retain faith with the same players for the two-legged semi-final against Tottenham.

"I've decided that it will be the first team that plays at Burnley on Sunday," he said.

Wenger's ability to exchange one complete 11-man line-up for another of almost equal quality underlines just how successful he's been in scouring the globe for players.

There was little doubt that Arsenal would retain their two-point lead over Manchester United from the moment that Croatian striker Eduardo scored the first goal after just 70 seconds of yesterday's comfortable 2-0 win over West Ham at the Emirates.

It was a victory that completed a profitable Christmas programme and sent Arsenal into the New Year in good spirits. "2008 must be great!" said Wenger when he wished the media a happy New Year after the match.

Faced with crisis headlines just a couple of weeks ago, Arsenal got back on track with 13 points from the five matches - three London derbies and two tough away games - that followed the early-December blips at Middlesbrough and Newcastle.

The season of goodwill has also revealed Arsenal's tough underbelly and their willingness to adopt route one football when required.

This direct style of play was successful in the 4-1 defeat of Everton and again yesterday when West Ham's central defenders Anton Ferdinand and Matthew Upson were exposed by Arsenal's switch of emphasis.

"When they meet us some teams now play 4-5-1, mark tight and push high up the field," said Wenger. "With the pace and power of the players we have this allows us to get into the space behind their central defenders. It gives us an option."

West Ham, buoyed by the win over Manchester United that helped Arsenal regain leadership in the title race, competed for every ball in the first half but still conceded two goals.

"I think it was just one game too many for us over the holiday period," said West Ham manager Alan Curbishley. "From the moment Eduardo scored it was an uphill task for us. I think both sides ran out of legs in the second half. It was a very tired effort - especially from us. I think the Manchester United game took a lot out of us."

With an unprecedented 13 players injured - former Arsenal hero Freddie Ljungberg became the 14th in the 37th minute - West Ham simply didn't have the quality to respond when Arsenal took a grip on the game.

Eduardo's classy finish exposed the hesitancy in the heart of West Ham's defence. He took a cross from Cesc Fabregas on his chest and was given the time to turn and drive the ball past Robert Green for his fifth goal in his last three appearances. "It was a great goal from a clinical finisher," said Wenger.
West Ham had chances of their own in an enthralling first half with Mark Noble, Carlton Cole, John Pantsil, Ljungberg and Ferdinand all testing Manuel Almunia.

But the game was over as a true contest when a long pass from the impressive Gael Clichy caught Ferdinand and Upson out of position, allowing Emmanuel Adebayor to nudge the ball beyond the advancing Green and score from an almost impossible angle.

It will be a difficult game as all cup games in this country are but needless to say we should should end up comfortable winners. Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue will both start thier last game before jetting of to Africa to represent the Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations.

Both men set to feature against

Burnley

He is arguably the best player in the English premier League at the moment and certainly the best young player on English soil. He is 5’11’’, possesses a boyish face and an equally boyish charm but exhibits a very much mature character on the football pitch. He is the most crucial member of the most entertaining team in the Premiership and has already established himself as a key figure in his national football team.

Yes, it is one Francesc Fàbregas Soler, preferably called “Cesc”, who might be still only 20, but is already rated as one of the finest and most gifted footballers on the planet. So much so that this current Arsenal squad that oozes aestheticism from every pore is most dependent on him for inspiration and guidance.
A Catalan by birth, Cesc moved to Arsenal from FC Barcelona in the 2003 summer at a time when he was just over 16 years of age and scored on his second ever appearance in Arsenal colors, hitting one of the 5 goals that rampant Gunners stormed past Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Carling Cup.

Cesc’s entry to the Arsenal first team in the Premiership in the 2004-2005 season was observed by most as a stop-gap measure for the absence of Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva and Edu but he soon transcended the bar and became the lynchpin of this exciting and young Arsenal squad that manager Arsene Wenger has so painfully and meticulously assembled and developed through a truly excellent youth system.
With Vieira’s departure in the summer of 2005, Ces was asked to play the midfield role and boy, didn’t the Spaniard play his part! Cesc was pulling the strings from the centre of the midfield as Arsenal strolled to the UEFA Champions League final in 2005-2006 only to be beaten by Barcelona in the final. Although Arsenal didn’t win any silverware, it was Fàbregas’ rise that set the tone.
Last season again Fàbregas was brilliant. More than anything, he became better with every game and at 20, he is already a full fledged Spanish international and is a regular first team player too in a squad that has loads of talent and quality in every department. Cesc again emerged as the best Arsenal player last season as Thierry Henry fell out Arsene Wenger (apparently) and fell out of the pitch due to injuries.

Compare Cesc with Anderson, the Brazilian Anderson who was signed by Manchester United for a staggering £17million from FC Porto in the summer and you do have a considerable amount of fodder for a debate. The 19-year old Anderson Luís de Abreu Oliveira made his first club football breakthrough at the Brazilian club Gremio but lasted only just 5 matches in the first team after spending years at the club’s youth academy.
Not that he turned out to be an ugly duckling or a very naughty boy but because that Portuguese giants Porto got so indulged by him that they decided to sign him, just as they had signed the Brazilian talent Diego, before the bigger clubs of Europe could hawk. That was in December 2005 and helped Porto win the domestic league. Next year too Anderson was celebrating another title victory but those celebrations were certainly decimated by the fact that he had missed five months of the season with injury.

This summer Sir Alex Ferguson and his money spinning Manchester United side got so interested in the player that a deal was as soon as (well, almost) as soon as the interest as conceived. And on the account of the performance displayed by the Brazilian, who is already a full-capped international for his nation that money doesn’t appear to have been wasted.
Anderson might not have made as many starts as a player with his reputation would have liked to but he has definitely had had his moments. Especially against Arsenal earlier this season when he was pitted against the best playmaker in the Premiership at the moment Cesc Fàbregas and dominated possession and midfield; to be honest, Anderson was better than his Spanish counterpart in the dual between Manchester United and Arsenal.
But Anderson’s best performance to date has come in Manchester United’s 4-0 win over relegation favorites Wigan Athletic at Old Trafford in October when he fashioned a brilliant through ball for Carlos Tevez to hit the back of the Wigan net. Anderson has been quite decent, if not good, in the UEFA Champions League although it must be said that he is yet to score his first goal in Europe for Manchester United.

So who is the better player between Fàbregas and Anderson?

Both are of about the same age and both play in a similar position. At the moment of course, Cesc is by far the better one. With his playmaking prowess and boyish enthusiasm mingling well with great maturity, Cesc has become one of the best in European football. But Anderson is just starting on the voyage and is anticipated to come big in the next couple of seasons. Several football pundits say that Anderson has been signed as a long term replacement for Paul Scholes and that tells really

By Soccerlens

The title race so far!

Arsenal came into the 2007/2008 having lost club captain Thierry Henry, Vice-Chairman David Dein and seemingly any chace of winning silverware. However, they have proved everyone wrong and playing outstanding football along the way as well. They currently stand two points clear at the summit of the EPL, in the semi's of the Carling Cup, in the last 16 of the Champions League and will begin thier Fa Cup journey this weekend..

It has been an ideal start to the season for us Gunners. The title race is far from over with United posing the biggest threat whilst Chelsea and Liverpool feel that they too are in with a shout. Loosing Toure this month is going to be huge but you do feel we have the capacity to deal with it. Senderos hardly fills me with confidence but along with Song he has played tremendously well in our Carling Cup run. Much will hinge on club captain William Gallas who really needs to play at his very best if we are to maintain our lead in the EPL.

Our midfield looks fantastic, everyone seems to understand how the other plays and it is a truly a joy to watch. Our greatest asset so far this season has been our bility to win ugly, we have picked three points in games that last season we would have drawn or lost.

I believe that if we play the football we have been playing all a long than United will not be able to stop us. The fact is when we have our best XI out there we are damn near unbeatable. Wenger seems to have reverted back to a more traditional 4-4-2 thsi past couple of games and I have to say I am very pleased. We look a lot more comfortable with two men up there.

The title race is far from over but I feel that it there for the taking, we are clearly good enough. We just have to play with the same level of consistenct troughout the season.