Midfield maestro Samir Nasri has claimed the first of Gooner Talk’s Player of the Month award’s after a magnificent debut month in an Arsenal shirt.

The 21-year-old, who made two appearances as a substitute for France during Euro 2008, signed a “long-term” contract with the Gunners two months ago for a reported fee of £13.5million.

Nasri, who has been dubbed the new Zinedine Zidane, joined Marseille as a nine-year-old and made his league debut during the 2004-2005 season.

He can play on either wing or through the centre and won the French First Division’s Young Player of the Year award at the end of the 2006/2007 campaign, as well as being voted Marseille’s Player of the Year by supporters.

How Samir won the award

Samir begun his Premier League campaign in the most awesome of fashions with an early debut goal against West Brom.

A fantastic well-worked goal from the Frenchman, and there was much more to come from Samir in the following three fixtures for the Gunners.

An abysmall away defeat to Fulham mean’t that Arsenal dropped early points in the League. Despite this, Nasri continued to impress and proved to one of the most consistent performers in the side.

Nasri’s big moment came in the return leg of Arsenal’s Champions League qualifier against FC Twente. Samir scored the first goal after neat footwork which took him into the box before striking a sweet shot under the rookie ‘keeper in what managed to finish a 4-0 win for Arsenal.

The 21-year-old’s latest game was a 3-0 mauling of Newcastle. Samir was fantastic throughout and after being taken out by Joey Barton late on, he showed his cheekiness with a little kick out at the disgraced ex-convict.

Well done to Samir for the award, and hopefully he can continue his superb work for the Arsenal.

The article I’m currently writing in this very moment was originally spawned a few minutes before the final whistle had gone at that poor, to say the least, away game at Fulham last Saturday, just before one of the worst Arsenal performances I’ve ever been unlucky enough to witness became an ugly fact. I got exactly the reaction I expected, not the one I’d hoped for, from the fans; we’re in big trouble, we’ve never had a squad this weak before and if we don’t buy some experienced, quality players we will be looking at a team in crisis that, at best, can hope for a spot in the top4.

Now, I could’ve written this article back then, but, just in case, I wanted to wait. I didn’t want to look like a complete moron in case we came out with yet another crappy performance against Twente. It may sound like I had my doubts, but the the 2nd Champions League qualifier leg turned out to be exactly what I expected; Arsenal, reinforced by our unpenetrable fort (except for West Ham), Emirates Stadium, utterly picking poor little Twente to pieces in a high-scoring spectacle.

I could’ve written this article back then too, but, still just in case, I wanted to wait. Now, after one of the most enjoyable games in modern times (exaggerations are tricky things) I can, after an entire week of patiently waiting, finally say: Shame on you! Shame on you for doubting Arsene – he always knows what he’s doing. Shame on you for doubting our squad and shame on you for not seeing through the “Arsenal in crisis”-opinions for what they are. Rubbish, is what they are.

After that game away to Fulham I was devastated, frustrated and pissed off. But I took a while to just sit quietly, not really doing anything, and think. It worked. My conclusion? I came to the conclusion that we still, despite how poorly I just witnessed them play, have the best squad in the Premier League. Not the biggest, not with the most depth – but the best. I really do believe that our first choice starting XI is the best in the world. The evidence is right in front of you; no other team could’ve played like we just played. Newcastle wasn’t bad, not bad at all. Still 7-0 would not be an unfair scoreline. I mean, we can all agree that there is no better guarantee of quality in football than hand-picking by Wenger. There have been some misses over the years, that is true, but even the sun has its’ spots. Up untill the start of this season, not counting the pre-season, with the horrible displays of the previous season still burned into my retina, I thought Eboue was one of those mistakes. He was actually good today. Really good. Practically every player in the squad either is a world class player (and I really mean world class, like top 5 in their position) or they probably will be. Song, Diaby, Denilson, Walcott, Vela, Bendtner, Ramsey, Wilshere, Merida – need I say more? I really could double that list. They all have bad games now and then, but who didn’t have a few bad games in the beginning of their careers? Compare that pool of talent to our rivals and you’ll be in for a pleasant surprise.

I wish we wouldn’t get carried away now though and then unmercifully come crashing down on Wenger and the team as soon as we don’t perform as expected. I even understand the angriest of the angry Arsenal fans after the Fulham game. It’s not acceptable for a team of our standard to play like that and the criticism was definitely justified – well, some of it atleast. Every bad thing said about that particular performance was probably 100% true, but the inference’s and the conclusions made about our future were not.

I, for one, expect us to continue playing like this throughout the season and I can’t see why that is not a reasonable expectation considering the squad we have, assuming the vital players remain healthy. Of course I don’t expect us to dissect Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and win by a significant margin the way we did today, but you get my point. I hope. We could do with another addition to the squad, but who needs a defensive midfielder when we play like we did today?

We have the players needed to win the Premier League and to conquer Europe, but our biggest opponents aren’t the other teams, it’s ourselves and our bad habbit of having not scoring when we should. 3-0 today might seem like a satisfactory result. Point-wise it certainly was and the performance in itself was brilliant, but imagine if we would’ve scored as many goals as you’d expect to score when you have like 25 shots on goal. 3-0 is nothing. Bolton can beat people 3-0. A good old mega thrashing á la Prague in the Champions League last season would’ve been absolutely perfect. Increase our efficiency and we’ll be the best.

Arsenal looked a shadow of their usual selves against Fulham at the weekend and Arsene Wenger and skipper William Gallas have both demanded urged for a ‘top-class’ response as The Gunners seek to hold onto a 2-0 advantage over FC Twente and reach the group stages of the Champions League.

Arsene Wenger promised a new signing before the second leg against Twente but few Arsenal fans would have expected Mikael Silvestre to be that man. Certainly, with Philippe Senderos joining Milan and the Frenchman injured at present, last week’s events actually deplete Wenger’s options.

The Gunners will look to build on the two goals from Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor which gave them a 2-0 lead over Steve McClaren’s Twente side in Arnhem.

Arsenal Team News

Midfield maestro Cesc Fabregas should be back from a hamstring injury for the second leg Champions League qualifier against Steve McClaren’s FC Twente.

New signing Mikael Silvestre will not feature because of a thigh muscle strain, while Philippe Senderos has completed his move to AC Milan on loan.

Abou Diaby (thigh), Amaury Bischoff (groin), Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) and striker Eduardo (leg) remain in recovery.

Predicted Starting XI

Almunia
Sagna – Toure – Gallas – Clichy
Walcott – Fabregas – Song – Nasri
Adebayor – Van Persie

Match Prediction: Arsenal 2-0 FC Twente

Leave your views and predictions of tonights game in the comments section below.

Arsenal skipper William Gallas has urged his young team-mates to bounce back from Saturday’s shock Premier League defeat to Fulham, by cruising through to the Champions League group stages with a win in tonights penultimate qualifier against FC Twente.

The 31-year-old captained a below-par Gunners’ side at Craven Cottage and believes tonights game gives Arsene Wenger’s men a chance to redeem themselves.

Goals from Gallas and Emmanuel Adebayor secured victory in Arnhem just two weeks ago but the Frenchman still feels that Steve McClaren’s team pose a massive threat.

“It’s an absolutely must-win-game, we have to bounce back to victory before welcoming Newcastle because our group is getting better and better as soon as we win,” Gallas told his personal website.

“As a consequence we are going to play this game to win, despite the difficulties we faced against this team in the first leg.”

Gooner Talk will preview tonights game later this afternoon with a match report coming immediately after full time.

In other news, Lukasz Fabianski is going to be Poland’s Number One for the World Cup Qualifiers next month against Slovenia and San Marino, after Celtic’s Artur Boruc received an indefinite ban from the team.

Boruc and two of his team-mates, Dudka and Majewski, broke a curfew after Poland’s friendly in the Ukraine, which ended in a wild party and severe damage to a hotel room.

Boruc, Dudka and Majewski issued a grovelling apology on the Poland FA website but it didn’t save them from the axe.

Fabianski has only played around eight games for Arsenal in the last year, but with Lehmann leaving for Stuttgart he is now the firm second choice behind Almunia. He has also made seven previous appearances for Poland.

Fulham defender John Paintsil may regret his horror challenge on Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Eboue if the FA view television footage of the tackle which occured during the Gunners’ surprise 1-0 loss at Craven Cottage.

Several television pundits pointed out that Referee Martin Atkinson was in a good position to witness the hack-down, despite that, Atkinson failed to show a card and unbelievable gave a free kick Fulham’s way.

The FA, aware of the game’s tarnished image, having launched their new “Respect” programme, could show the film to Atkinson, whose view of the incident may have been obscured.

Arsenal had a day to forget at the Cottage, while Fulham led from the 21st minute, shortly after Robin van Persie missed a sitter when new boy Samir Nasri’s mis-kick from Theo Walcott’s cross left the Dutchman a gaping goal to aim at from eight yards.

Arsene Wenger’s side play the return leg of the Champions League third round qualifying against FC Twente on Wednesday evening with the likes of Cesc Fabregas and Philippe Senderos expected to be back for the tie in which Arsenal hold a 2-0 aggregate lead.

You can follow all the build up to that game – as well as every other Arsenal first team match – here on Gooner Talk.

Craven Cottage has traditionally been a successful hunting ground for Wenger’s Arsenal, but a Fulham side boasting several new signings looked to bounce back from their opening day defeat by Hull.

Arsenal on the other hand, looked to continue from where they left off against West Brom with another 3 points hopefully going their way.

Fulham Starting XI

Schwarzer
Paintsil – Hughes – Hangeland – Kallio
Bullard - Davies - Murphy – Gera
Zamora – Seol

Arsenal Starting XI

Almunia
Sagna – Toure - Gallas- Clichy
Walcott – Eboue – Denilson – Nasri
Adebayor – van Persie

First Half

A scrappy opening few minutes yielded little sight of goal for each side, with possession rarely retained by either team.  Walcott’s pace for Arsenal and Gera’s smart passing for Fulham helped create a few half-openings, but neither ‘keeper was troubled early on. The first decent chance came from good link-up play by the Gunners front two, van Persie feeding Adebayor who curled a shot past the far post.

Sagna produced a fine saving tackle to prevent Zamora going clean through, and minutes later tore down the right wing with Walcott. Theo’s cross met Nasri, who pulled the ball back only for van Persie to fire wide. This miss was to prove costly when a minute later Hangeland lost Gallas from the corner and lunged past the Arsenal captain to put Fulham one up.

Goal – Fulham 1-0: Hangeland (20)

Adebayor hung in the air to head a Sagna cross against the upright with Schwarzer beaten, but the momentary rally by Arsenal after the goal failed to sufficiently test the big Australian.

The first half held little in the way of excitement from an Arsenal point of view, with Murphy and Bullard  seemingly a step ahead of Denilson and Eboue in the middle of the park.  With Wenger’s side seemingly playing without their usual passing radar Arsenal went in trailing at half-time and in dire need of some inspiration.

Second Half

Arsenal started the second 45 in a marginally more positive fashion, Clichy and Nasri combined better than they had done in the first half to set up Adebayor, only for the Togo international’s shot to thunder into Hangeland.  The poor nature of possession soon returned, Denilson spurning a chance to set up a break by overhitting a pass under little pressure.

Fulham’s fluid midfield play continued to put the Gunners to shame, one symptomatic move creating a chance that Zamora thundered narrowly over.  Arsenal had still failed to test the Fulham ‘keeper by the time Zamora next had a hand in a chance for the home side, Davies smashing the ball high and wide from the new signing’s layoff.

After 66 minutes Wenger brought on Bendtner for Walcott with the Dane going up front, van Persie dropping to midfield and Eboue moving to the right wing.  This began paying dividends two minutes later when the Dutchman found space 20 yards out to drive at goal, but his powerful strike fizzed wide of the post.  Though promising, over 2/3 of the game had passed without a single Arsenal shot on target.

Song came on for toure on 77 minutes, but the Cameroon international slotted straight into the defence rather than in a more positive midfield role. It took almost another 10 minutes for a Schwarzer save, but Adebayor’s looping shot was a comfortable catch.

As 90 minutes approached the Gunners found no new invention, and at the final whistle had no more from the game than they deserved.  A truly disappointing performance where Arsenal were not fought out the game, they were outclassed in the disciplines they usually call their own – simple passing and running that Fulham displayed with more confidence and skill.

Player Ratings

Almunia – 5: Had almost nothing to do, could have done little for the Fulham goal, but had barely a save to make.

Sagna – 7: Confident in the tackle and moved quickly down the right, unfortunately had little to exchange with in central midfield when pushing forwards.

Toure – 6: Made one or two good tackles, still looked a degree short of full fitness.

Gallas – 5: Certainly at fault for the Fulham goal, should have attacked the corner but was left trailing.  Still not as dominant as he needs to be in defence.

Clichy – 6: Good in defence, but should have done better with several opportunities to cross.

Walcott – 5: Largely ineffectual, but more down to a lack of service than a lack of effort.

Eboue – 5: Raised his performance in the second half, but raised it to an insufficient level for an Arsenal first-team player. Slack in possession and still embarassing when going to ground under little pressure.

Denilson – 4: A dire performance by the Brazilian, shocking passing and made few challenges. He has shown some serious promise recently, but this goes as a reminder that he is far from the finished article.

Nasri – 5: Poor in the first half, decent in the second, he showed Wenger’s surprise over his rapid adjustment to English football to be justified.  Clearly has agility and skill in abundance, but will take some time to settle in.

Adebayor – 6: Had the best of the chances, but also some of the least possession.  Looked dejected late-on when enthusiasm would have been more useful, his header against the post was as close as Arsenal came.

van Persie – 6: Not a good game by his standards, but in fairness had some woeful service.

Substitutes:

Bendtner – 5: Added very little when he came on, was clearly hungry for the ball but miscontrolled it when it reached him

Song – 6: Was actually controlled at the back when Fulham looked to break after Arsenal pressure, saved a five-on-two situation well at the death.

Gooner Talk’s Man of the Match: Bacary Sagna: In what was a fairly miserable showing by Arsenal the French defender made a few crucial interceptions and probably passed better than alot of his teammates today.

Arsenal play away to fellow Londoners Fulham in Saturday’s Premiership derby at the Craven Cottage

The Gunners managed to win on the opening weekend to newcomers West Brom, while the Cottagers had started their campaign with a loss against another newly-promoted side – Hull City.

The signing of MikaeL Silvestre has gone a long way to assuage fears about a lack of experience in within the squad, and the Frenchman could well shake off a muscular problem to make his debut following the most surprising of transfers from Manchester United.

Fulham Team News

Fulham memorably beat Arsenal at Craven Cottage in November 2006 but have failed to secure a single victory in their 14 London derbies since that game.

Roy Hodgson’s hopes of springing a shock have also been hit by the news that £10 million striker Andy Johnson is still expected to be sidelined for up to three weeks.

Ex-Reading star Seol Ki-Hyeon will continue his strike partnership alongside former Hammer Bobby Zamora.

Predicted Starting XI

Schwarzer
Pantsil – Hangeland – Hughes – Konchesky
Bullard – Murphy – Davies – Gera
Ki-Hyeon – Zamora

Arsenal Team News

Like we revealed to you on Monday, Arsene Wenger has encouraging news on Samir Nasri, who had pulled out of France’s midweek friendly due to an injury problem. The 21-year-old winger, who had scored the match-winner against the Baggies on his debut, has recovered from a thigh problem.

Alex Song is back from Olympics duty with Cameroon while Cesc Fabregas is several days away from full fitness.

Cesc Fabregas (hamstring), Abou Diaby (thigh), Philippe Senderos (hamstring), Amaury Bischoff (groin), Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) and striker Eduardo (leg) remain sidelined.

Predicted Starting XI

Almunia
Sagna – Gallas – Toure – Clichy
Eboue – Denilson – Song – Nasri
Adebayor – van Persie

Match Prediction: Fulham 0-2 Arsenal

Leave your views and predictions of tomorrow’s game in the comments section below.