Gooner Talk

The ever-professional that is Bacary Sagna released a statement on Arsenal.com earlier saying that he’s 100 percent committed to the Gunners’ cause.

After rumours linking Sagna with a move to Real Madrid in the French press, he immediately refuted them by issuing the following:

“This is a great Club and I’m proud to wear the shirt. I’m looking forward to returning for pre-season training in July and preparing for the challenges that next season will bring. We have a great squad of players at the Club and I know that we can achieve something together at Arsenal, my focus is nowhere else.”

During his time at Arsenal, Sagna has worn his heart on his sleeve throughout almost every game.

The Frenchman’s athletic runs from the back, coupled with his determination in defence, make a perfect combination and it’s understandable why the supporters have taken to him so well since his signing from Auxerre in 2007.

However, this is where we come to Emmanuel Eboue. The much maligned Ivory Coast star received mixed signals from Gooners last season due to his up and down league form.

“It would be hard [to leave],” Eboue told France Football. “But I think it would be harder to experience another season like this one, too far off the pitch.

“In any case, if I leave Arsenal, it would be for another league because it is out of the question that I develop elsewhere in England.”

It really does beg the question that are only a few of our players fully committed to the club? Cesc Fabregas, Sagna, Eduardo, Gael Clichy are a few of the loyal stars. But the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor and Eboue have already touted for moves away from the Emirates in recent weeks.

Give your views on the players’ commitment in the comments section below.

Gael Clichy revealed all in an exclusive interview on France television earlier this morning.

The French fullback, who missed the latter part of the season with a back injury, spoke about the Arsenal fans’ chant for him and his problematic back injury while Gael’s father talked about his ‘natural’ right foot!

Speaking to Fabulous Sport show, on Canal +1, the 23-year-old said:

“It’s an injury [back problem] I’ve had since I was 6-7 years old. The pain came back recently and I think that was due to fatigue of the previous seasons. Many people said I needed a rest, but I was really upset because I missed a lot of important games.”

Meanwhile, Gael’s father went on to talk about his son’s ‘natural right foot’.

“What a lot of people don’t know, is that Gael is a natural right footer and he never used to use his left foot. But I was a referee for some of his matches when he was a kid and I told him: ‘if you score with your right foot, I won’t award a goal’. And he did it, he worked on his left foot and it became a better one. He now thanks me a lot!”

He finished with a word of praise for the ‘Gael Clichy, Clichy’ chant which has hit the terraces recently.

“It’s an honour, I think it’s a great melody with great lyrics. It shows that they [Arsenal fans] thought a lot about it. People think we don’t care about the chants when we are on the pitch, but I do listen to it.”

Here’s hoping Gael comes back fully fit for pre-season in July, and perhaps he’ll have more of a challenge for left-back with Kieran Gibbs’ emergence this season.

Take it away Gooners..

Brazilian midfielder Denilson has been rated as the 16th most efficient player in the Premier League by statistics experts Actim Index.

Despite being criticised by many Arsenal fans this season, Denilson proved to be a reliable figure in central midfield during Cesc Fabregas’ three-month absence.

Actim Index is the official player rankings system for the English Premier League and the Football League Championship. It is statistically proven to identify the best players regardless of position by taking into account positive contributions within a game, as well as team results.

Denilson is the only Arsenal star inside the top 20, but there are places for Manuel Almunia, Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri who have all had very consistent campaigns.

Click on the thumbnail to see a bigger version:

Arsenal will spend the close season contemplating a fourth trophy-less season, and for the 3rd time in four seasons Arsenal will also have to settle for 4th place in the league.

The talk in England is often of the “big four clubs”, but Arsenal run the risk of that being trimmed to the “big three” unless they can find a way to blend youth with experience, and convince manager Arsene Wenger that he needs to run with a bigger squad.

Despite that, I reckon that you could still make a case for Arsenal being listed in Europe’s top eight clubs (and this is backed up by Arsenal being seeded 6th in UEFA’s charts for 2009/10) which probably just goes to show how strong the Premier League is right now.

Arsenal will have an experienced goalkeeper as Lukasz Fabianski has recovered from a knee problem to be fit for the match with Manuel Almunia (ankle) is still out.

Samir Nasri also has a knee injury and misses out for the Gunners.

Long-term absentee Tomas Rosicky is back in training, but will not play again this season. Full-back Gael Clichy (back), William Gallas (knee) and striker Eduardo (ankle) are all sidelined.

Emmanuel Adebayor has an (ahem) official “groin injury” although doesn’t appear to be reveiving any treatment for it, and will take no part in this game – as Arsenal appear to have cotton-wooled the big striker in preparation for a sale to anyone with more oney than sense.

Gooner Talk’s Predicted Line up:

Fabianski
Sagna – Toure – Djourou – Gibbs
Walcott – Fabregas – Song – Nasri
Arshavin
van Persie

Match Prediction: Arsenal 3-0 Stoke City

Post-match highlights will be available at midnight on Gooner Talk for those of you who were unable to watch the game.

Leave your views and predictions of tonight’s game – which kicks off at 16:00 BST time – in the comments section below and the Talk-Arsenal forum.

Arsenal last won the league at Old Trafford in 2002 after Sylvain Wiltord clinched the title with his famous goal, or even more infamous celebration.

Things have changed massively since then though, Arsenal have moved into a new stadium, United are arguably the best club in the world and the north Londoners have Mikael Silvestre as a liability in defence.

Manchester United can retain their Premier League trophy by claiming just a point in today’s game.

Humiliation at home to United in the two-legged Champions League semi-final along with a defeat against Chelsea in the league, a potential party-pooper in Arsene Wenger could manage t0 end the season on a high by delaying Man United’s title parade.

Unlikely scenario? Quite possibly. Arsenal have the worst defensive record of the top four this season, conceding 36 goals in 36 games – a pretty shocking statistic.

Furthermore, the Gunners’ unbeaten record of 21 league games came to a halt with that 4-1 home defeat to Chelsea last weekend and their recent record, aside from a 2-1 home win over United earlier in the season, is not impressive against the big four.

The stats, pundits and fans are all against Arsenal, but today’s game could once again highlight the weaknesses in the Gunners’ team.

Injury news is as follows.

Andrey Arshavin returns from flu, the Russian playmaker will not be facing Rio Ferdinand as the United defender is ruled out with a calf injury

Manuel Almunia remains on the sidelines due to an ankle injury, joining long-term injury victims Gael Clichy, William Gallas, Eduardo and Tomas Rosicky.

Gooner Talk’s Predicted Line up:

Fabianski
Sagna – Toure – Djourou – Gibbs
Walcott – Fabregas – Song – Nasri
Arshavin
Adebayor

Match Prediction: Manchester United 2-2 Arsenal

Post-match highlights will be available at midnight on Gooner Talk for those of you who were unable to watch the game.

Manchester United v Arsenal – Live on Sky Sports 1 & Free Footy Streams.

Leave your views and predictions of tonight’s game – which kicks off at 12:45 BST time – in the comments section below and the Talk-Arsenal forum.

Andrey Arshavin returns to the Arsenal squad for Saturday’s penultimate league game against Manchester United.

The 27-year-old Russian has proved a massive hit since joining the club in late January scoring 6 goals in 11 appearances and notching up 7 assists.

“Andrey Arshavin is fully fit,” Wenger said at Thursday’s press conference.

“Gallas, Clichy, Eduardo and Almunia won’t be available but everyone else will be.

United need just a point to retain their Premier League trophy on Saturday. So Arsene Wenger’s troops will be determined to dash Sir Alex Ferguson’s title hopes.

Champions League ineligibility forced Andrey to miss Arsenal’s last two meetings with United, let’s hope he – and the rest of the team – can make the difference in this vital one.

Predicted Starting XI

Fabianski
Sagna – Toure – Djourou – Gibbs
Walcott – Fabregas – Song – Nasri
Arshavin
Adebayor