Carling Cup: Ipswich Town 1 - 0 Arsenal: How Many Wake Up Calls?

Arsene Wenger is very disappointed in all of you. Pic via Daily Mail.

Ipswich Town 1: Priskin 78
Arsenal 0

Arsenal entered yesterday's Carling Cup Semi-Final at Ipswich Town likely thinking it would be a walk in the park. Their effort, in the end, was a mix of some complacency and a lack of sharpness. And as a result, Ipswich Town will go to the Emirates in two weeks with a deserved 1-0 lead in the tie. This is not acceptable, Gunners. To be fair, the majority of the credit in this result has to go to Ipswich Town for playing well and not to how poor Arsenal's performance seemed.

I don't think you can blame this loss on just complacency, though the mere fact that you ever can needs to be unacceptable as well. There are certainly players on this team who are giving 100% without getting results because of those who are not. And it doesn't help when the players who are giving it their all have a bad night simultaneously, as Cesc Fabregas did last night. And, Ipswich, on their night, took advantage.

Arsene Wenger made four changes to the side that needed a late lifeline to force a replay with Leeds United on Saturday, and somehow, I had nine of the starting XI right in my match preview (I think that's one of the only positives I had yesterday...) Laurent Koscielny returned for the injured Sebastien Squillaci in central defense. Jack Wilshere got the start over Alex Song in the midfield. And, Wenger recalled two big names in the attack as Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott started while Tomas Rosicky and Marouane Chamakh dropped to the bench. That move pushed Nicklas Bendtner to the central forward role (where he is slightly less useless but still fairly useless.)

Arsenal had a fantastic first... three minutes or so, and looked like they had about three chances to take a 1-0 lead in the first 90 seconds, but could not capitalize. Then, as the match settled down, Arsenal fell out of any rhythm it looked like the were building at the start. The first half progressed much as the first half went on Saturday. At halftime, I tweeted, "This is just like Saturday, except Arsenal is wearing yellow, have a stronger squad starting, and are playing worse."

The difference between Saturday and yesterday was that the chances were going the other way. There was a point in the first half when a statistic flashed on the screen that both sides had one attempt on target. But, it was Ipswich that had seven chances, compared to Arsenal's three. Even with Fabregas in the line-up, the offensive force just was not there. And, it was worse for most of the second half.

Some players looked like they were just having off nights: Fabregas, Walcott, Wilshere, Johan Djourou, and Kieran Gibbs spring to mind. Laurent Koscielny continues to play himself out of position challenging in one-on-one situations, which also continues to make things harder on his central partner. Emmanuel Eboue has a penchant for being burned at right back. Denilson and Andrei Arshavin just look like they can't be bothered at times; Arshavin is running out of passes on this if he hasn't run out with you already, Denilson surely needs to go. And, Bendtner just continues to be what we all know he is: an impact substitute at best, as long as he can play central forward and the opposition can't win headers.

Tamas Priskin put Ipswich up 1-0 in the 78th.
Pic via Guardian.

In the 76th, Arsenal should have taken the lead. Kieran Gibbs swung a cross from the left flank that just missed the head of Chamakh, the substitute, and caught an unsuspecting Fabregas on the right knee or thigh, on the six yard line, with a wide open net. And over the bar it went. Ipswich got out of jail there and took advantage, almost instantly. Tamas Priskin broke through the defense as Arsenal played a high line, fired low past a diving Szczesny, and put the Tractor Boys up 1-0. Yes, Priskin was offside, and yes, it should not have counted. But you can't say they didn't deserve it.

This match felt a lot like the loss at Braga did in November. Poor performance that looks like it's going to stay 0-0, then the opponent pings a goal, and Arsenal's desperate search for an equalizer goes wanting. Theo Walcott had two chances that were saved excellently by Marton Fulop, the goalkeeper who went to Manchester City on emergency loan last spring and allowed the goal that sent Spurs into the Champions League.

The moral of the story is that, while Ipswich deserved this win, you have to ask questions of Arsenal as to why they showed up with this performance. As my title asks, how many wake up calls does this team need before they stop getting complacent? Arsene Wenger blamed fatigue for the second half performance. That doesn't make any sense, since the players on the pitch largely haven't played much this year. And the players you could argue were fatigued weren't the ones who played lazy.

The tie hangs in the balance going back to the Emirates a week from Tuesday. I believe the lack of an away goal only comes into play after extra time (a 2-1 Arsenal win in 90 minutes would force extra time, not give the tie to Ipswich on away goals just yet.) In any case, let's move forward, bring back the A Team on Saturday, and take three points from Upton Park. Please?

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Tamas Priskin

Champions League: Shakhtar Donetsk 2 - 1 Arsenal: Second Guess

This wasn't as awesome as that other Eduardo goal. Pic via Guardian.

Shakhtar Donetsk 2: Chygrynskiy 28, Eduardo 45

Arsenal 1: Walcott 10

I am going to inevitably keep this recap short, because if I don't, I run the risk of going off on tangents and having the whole thing turn into a profanity laced tirade about Arsenal's performance yesterday. On Monday, I outlined why it was crucial for Arsenal to pick up three points in this fixture, since it would clear their path to the knockout phase, and allow Arsene Wenger to rotate the squad in the remaining two group fixtures. Instead, injuries forced Wenger to make a number of changes anyway, and it was costly. Those two remaining fixtures now look like must-wins for Arsenal to finish top of the group.

Arsenal made a whopping seven changes from the side that beat West Ham United on Saturday. But, only four of those changes were necessitated by injuries, as Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song, Denilson, and Andrei Arshavin dropped out. I'm under the impression that most of these were precautions and three could play Sunday (one hopes, though Denilson will drop for Jack Wilshere back from suspension.) In came Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky, and Craig Eastmond.

Three changes were the case of rotation in the squad, the use of which in this match, a must-win as I've outlined before, bothered me significantly. Bacary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny dropped to the bench for Emmanuel Eboue and Johan Djourou. Nicklas Bendtner started up front in the place of Marouane Chamakh.

Why rotate so much now when winning this match allows you to rotate during a more difficult stretch of fixtures in the future? Arsenal plays Newcastle at home on Sunday. After their next group stage match, one on which there is now more pressure to win, they play Aston Villa away. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Sure, it started off well enough. Arsenal took a lead within ten minutes thanks to the pace of Theo Walcott. In clearing a corner, Jack Wilshere's ball out of danger sprang Walcott, whose lightning quickness meant that nobody was going to catch him. He slotted a neat little ball under the diving keeper and Arsenal looked like they'd win comfortably. Which, apparently, set them up perfectly to be complacent for the oncoming Shakhtar onslaught.

The Ukrainian side dominated the rest of the first half, essentially, and they drew level just before the half hour mark, after a bizarre run-up. Wilshere was fouled but the referee played the advantage to Arsenal, who after a pass or two, lost possession. Suddenly, Shakhtar was racing the other way against ten defenders, and a caught out of position Eboue was forced to commit a foul and pick up a booking to prevent further damage on the counter. The damage would come on the resulting free kick anyway, as a perfectly taken strike found the head of Dmytro Chygrynskiy, then glanced off Craig Eastmond and into the net. Originally an own goal to the young Gunner, the deflection was of a shot going on goal anyway, and Chygrynskiy eventually got credit.

Arsenal played about five solid minutes of time in the first half after their opening goal, but it all came crashing down just before halftime. On the break, Gael Clichy was absolutely skinned alive by Darijo Srna, who then slotted a perfect cross for Eduardo to one-time past a diving Fabianski. To his credit, the Crozilian again did not celebrate him goal. But the stadium certainly did, and it's a goal that can never happen at this level. Clichy's error was inexcusable. He had briefly won back possession, only to try to dribble his way around Srna instead of clearing. He paid the price and looked foolish in the process.

There were a few chances for Arsenal to equalize in the second half with Wilshere coming closest in the early going, but after a while, all of Arsenal's efforts were coming from 20 yards out with very little to challenge Shakhtar's defense. Another sign of rotation appeared when Carlos Vela was the first substitution, with Marouane Chamakh coming on with only about 17 minutes to play at most. Then, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas came on with only nine minutes with which to work. It looked at certain times like Arsenal had no intention of winning this match; they lacked spark in their play for about 70 minutes in total.

Bright spots existed, of course. Lukasz Fabianski was stellar again; let's hope the fact that he was on the losing end doesn't shatter his confidence. Johan Djourou is improving game-by-game, though he still has one too many adventures at center back for my liking. Jack Wilshere did not lose a beat during his suspension and Theo Walcott looks just as fired up as he did before his injury.

On the negative side, after a positive run of games, Nicklas Bendtner was largely useless yesterday. For all of the great work we've seen from them in the past, Samir Nasri and Tomas Rosicky had off nights in terms of their creativity. Gael Clichy needs someone to challenge him for his starting job since Kieran Gibbs seems perma-hurt. I don't think Craig Eastmond is quite ready for the European stage; Henri Lansbury, who was left on the bench, is arguably more ready. Everyone else was fairly mediocre (that apparently means Eboue, Squillaci, and Vela), while Chamakh and JET didn't get enough time to warrant much judgment.

Disappointing match, all in all. One in which Arsenal saw their future fixtures get a little more difficult. I think that's what makes it worse.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Darijo Srna

Carling Cup: Newcastle United 0 - 4 Arsenal: Up for the Cup!

Arsenal took the lead into halftime, thanks to absolute preposterousness. Pic via Daily Mail.

Newcastle United 0

Arsenal 4: Krul 45+2 (og), Walcott 53, 88, Bendtner 83

It looks like we're going for this one this year. There's been a different feeling around the League Milk Littlewoods Rumbelows Coca-Cola Worthington Carling Cup this season. It's hard to say why Arsenal appears to be taking this competition more seriously. Obviously, the last round being a derby against Tottenham had a lot to do with the squad's strength that night. I feel like the biggest reason behind the strength of tonight's squad was, quite honestly, the quality of Arsenal's second string of players.

But, if you're still wondering if Arsene Wenger is serious about this cup this year, keep in mind that he sent Cesc Fabregas on with twenty minutes to play in a 2-0 game.

With this being a Carling Cup game, it's not really worth discussing the line-up in terms of changes in the side since the last league match (FYI, there were nine changes.) Arsene Wenger decided to start a number of players returning from injuries: Laurent Koscielny, Nicklas Bendtner, and Theo Walcott. Wojciech Szczesny got the nod in goal (as I said in the preview, if he didn't start now, he wasn't going to this season.) Johan Djourou, Emmanuel Eboue, and Kieran Gibbs joined Koscielny on the back line. Denilson, Craig Eastmond, and Tomas Rosicky joined Theo Walcott in the midfield, with the Czech wearing the captain's armband. Carlos Vela joined Bendtner up front.

To fit the non-standard squad into Arsenal's standard 4-2-3-1 formation, Vela appeared to play the left wing with Walcott on the right and Bendtner up front, Rosicky played the central role, and Denilson and Eastmond played the holding roles.

The fact that Arsenal could not score in the first five minutes was a bit surprising, given the number of chances. A Vela shot was stopped by goalkeeper Tim Krul within the first thirty seconds, then Bendtner had about four shots blocked after the ensuing corner. The shots kept coming from Arsenal in the opening minutes, but nothing on target found its way past Krul. After this, the match settled into rusty frustration. Despite the flying start, Arsenal did not continue the match very well, in that touches and passes were off. A ton of first touches were terrible. This was clearly a side that 1) doesn't play together often and 2) doesn't see much playing time anyway and, as such, was rusty. Shaking that rust off was a huge point of this match.

The following ten minutes were all Newcastle. Nile Ranger beat Djourou and Szczesny found himself near the 18-yard-line to challenge and the young keeper missed. He did clip Ranger a bit, but nothing more and Ranger stayed on his feet, clear through with an open goal in front of him. Instead of burying it to give the Magpies a 1-0 lead against the run of play, he checked over to try to shoot from his dominant foot, allowing Laurent Koscielny to get back into position. Then, instead of dribbling around Koscielny, Ranger fired a shot right at him. Crisis averted. Not long after, Alan Smith had a beautiful strike from 25 yards out that clanged off the goalpost for a goal kick, though Szczesny actually got a fingertip to it. Kieran Gibbs left the match in the 18th minute with an injury he picked up earlier after a challenge; when was the last time he played a full match? Bacary Sagna replaced him, with Eboue sliding over from right to left back.

Then, nothing happened for about half an hour, unless you're a fan of crosses to nobody in particular.

Arsenal did manage to take a 1-0 lead into the halftime break thanks to an absolutely ridiculous own goal. Words cannot describe how preposterous this goal was, but I'll give it a shot. Arsenal won a corner in the final minute of the first half's added time. Bendtner flicked the set piece into the six-yard box and all hell broke loose. In the scramble, someone in red got a shot on target that was headed off the line by Ryan Taylor. But, the defender's clearing header landed on the back of the head of the goalkeeper Krul, who was on the ground in the scramble. The ball careened off Krul's head and into the net. No, seriously, that's what happened.

Returning from injury, Bendtner and Walcott have scored four goals combined in two games. Pic via Daily Telegraph. 

Arsenal added a second goal eight minutes after the restart, though this would not come without controversy. From a Newcastle goal kick, Bendtner was slowly jogging back into play, but the Arsenal defense won the ball. The pass sprung Walcott ahead with a brilliant through ball. Walcott was onside, but Bendtner, by miles, was not, so he cannot get involved in the play. Walcott was clear through on goal and chipped a shot over the charging Krul to make it 2-0. The controversy surrounds whether Bendtner impeded a defender, specifically Mike Williamson, from getting involved in the play. Walcott was off the races already and nobody was going to catch him anyway, but Williamson could have made it close. Instead, he was checked out of the play by Bendtner, who was offside.

So, the question is how you interpret the (exceedingly complicated) offside rule. In a split second, the assistant referee would have had to determine both whether Bendtner impeded Williamson and whether Williamson could have become involved in the play in the first place. Since Walcott was onside and running well ahead of everyone anyway, I can see why the goal was given, in spite of the gray area. 

Newcastle started pouring everything forward in a desperate attempt to equalize. They made offensive minded substitutions, bringing on the likes of Andy Carroll, Jonas Gutierrez, and Joey Barton. The Toon threw everything they could at Szczesny, who kept the door shut in magnificent fashion. He's talked the talk before and it's good to see that he can walk the walk as well. As a separate aside, I love that, considering he's got an impossible name for a chant, we at the pub have started chanting his name as "Mr. Smith."

As mentioned in the opening of this post, Arsene Wenger clearly wanted this win, as he brought Cesc Fabregas in off the bench, up 2-0, in the 71st minute. After about ten more minutes of Szczesny slamming the door shut (including a point blank save while on the ground off a corner,) Arsenal nabbed a third, as Fabregas slid a perfect ball for Bendtner, who lashed a shot into the top right corner. Walcott picked up a brace five minutes later, after a similar run straight up the middle of the pitch as his goal earlier in the half.

All in all, a great effort, against a side that certainly came to play, and an enjoyable match on the whole. There's a 6 in 7 chance that Arsenal will play another Premier League side in early December's Carling Cup quarterfinal, and two of those six sides were finalists in this competition last year (that's Manchester United and Aston Villa, by the way.) It's four straight wins across all competitions for the Gunners, a feeling that this team could actually win something this year that is growing with each and every win, and a string of players returning from injuries. Let's just keep this rolling, boys.

Hipster Gooner Man of the Match: Theo Walcott

International Gunner Watch - It's Almost Like Good News

Nice scarf, Tommy. Pic via Big Soccer.

With all of Arsenal's injuries, there will only be eight first team Gunners on international duty during this weekend's unfortunate injury period international break. This conveniently gives the wounded the opportunity to spend two weeks training and rehabilitating in London, or just watching pre-season NBA games, as shown in the picture.

Cesc Fabregas will not be playing for Spain, still out with a hamstring injury, but should be set to return immediately afterward the break. Please note that this is usually the exact opposite of how international breaks usually go for Arsenal players. Manuel Almunia should return to action for Birmingham City at the Emirates on the 16th as well. Theo Walcott may need another week, but may return for Arsenal's trip to Manchester City on the 24th. Robin van Persie is a bit behind schedule but could be back by the start of November. Nicklas Bendtner expects to be back in contention by the end of the month. Kieran Gibbs should be back within the next two Arsenal matches as well.

There's two bits of bad injury news and both are on the back line. Thomas Vermaelen's Achilles injury is slower to heal than expected and there is, as yet, no time table for his return. In addition, Bacary Sagna picked up a left thigh injury while training with France and has been dropped from the national squad for this week and sent back to London.

Also, there's the case of Carlos Vela, who was banned from the Mexican team for six months for organizing a hotel party after a friendly with Colombia last month. I think this is something Arsene Wenger, who is known to detest these breaks, should encourage more!

FRANCE: SAMIR NASRI / ABOU DIABY / GAEL CLICHY
Saturday v. Romania; Stade de France, Saint Denis
Tuesday v. Luxembourg; Stade Saint-Symphorien, Metz

France is currently in third place in Group D, thanks to their loss to Belarus. This time around, Les Bleus get to play the 5th and 6th place teams in the six team group. As mentioned above, France will be without the injured Bacary Sagna.

ENGLAND: JACK WILSHERE
Friday with U-21 v. Romania; Carrow Road, Norwich
Tuesday with senior squad v. Montenegro; Wembley Stadium, London

Despite being named to Fabio Capello's senior squad, Jack Wilshere will also be forced to play with Stuart Pearce's Under-21 squad in their Euro 2011 qualification play-off first leg against Romania in Norwich on Friday night. We're all worried he'll be overplayed by England, leading to an eventual injury plagued career, because as you probably know, it's happened before.

CZECH REPUBLIC: TOMAS ROSICKY
Friday v. Scotland; Synot Tip Arena, Prague
Tuesday at Liechtenstein; Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz

The Czech Republic have lost their first and only Group I match and sit in 4th place out of five teams. They had a bye round during the last international break.

RUSSIA: ANDREI ARSHAVIN
Friday at Ireland; Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Tuesday at Macedonia; Philip II Arena, Skopje

Russia is in 3rd place out of six in Group B. They lost to Slovakia and beat Andorra. Both of their matches are away from home in this set of rounds, but their one loss did come in Moscow.

IVORY COAST: EMMANUEL EBOUE
Friday at Burundi; Prince Louis Rwagasore Stadium, Bujumbura

Ivory Coast leads Group I after 3-0 win over Rwanda, during which Eboue scored the third goal.

MOROCCO: MAROUANE CHAMAKH
Friday at Tanzania; Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium, Dar-es-Salaam

All four teams drew in Group D, though Morocco sits in 4th place out of four, since they played a 0-0 draw with a team that comes before them alphabetically (Central African Republic,) while Tanzania and Algeria's draw was 1-1.

ENGLAND U-21: HENRI LANSBURY
Friday v. Romania; Carrow Road, Norwich
Tuesday at Romania; Stadionul Municipal, Botosani

England's Under-21 squad plays a two-legged play-off with Romania to attempt to qualify for the 2011 tournament. The second leg is away from home since England finished second in their group.

POLAND U-20: WOJCIECH SZCZESNY
Sunday v. Germany (friendly)

Carling Cup: Tottenham Hotspur 1 - 4 Arsenal, a.e.t.: Worth Every Extra Minute

Henri Lansbury's first Arsenal goal came at White Hart Lane. Legend. Pic via Guardian.

Tottenham Hotspur 1: Keane 49

Arsenal 4: Lansbury 15, Nasri 92 (pen), 96 (pen), Arshavin 105

I don't think there is anything more satisfying then watching a North London derby that ends with fans streaming towards the exits as fast as they can at White Hart Lane, while the Arsenal section goes mental.

Arsene Wenger, watching from the director's box while serving a one match touchline ban for using the wrong method of getting Martin Atkinson's attention on Saturday, made eight changes to the side that drew at Sunderland, which actually resulted in a surprisingly strong side for a Carling Cup tie. Then again, it was the North London derby. Lukasz Fabianski was given his eight billionth second chance in between the sticks. Johan Djourou was given the chance, as expected, at center half along with first team regular Laurent Koscielny. Emmanuel Eboue and Kieran Gibbs played right and left back, respectively. Jack Wilshere, Samir Nasri, and Denilson started in midfield; Tomas Rosicky, Carlos Vela, and the young Henri Lansbury started up front.

Only three of those were changes from the starting XI on Saturday; Denilson and Rosicky came off the bench on Saturday and started today; Lansbury was the only reserve to crack the line-up, shocking for an Arsene Wenger managed Carling Cup squad, but typical for a North London derby in any competition.

Arsenal controlled possession early, but could not muster much out of it for the first ten minutes. In the 11th, the Gunners had their first shout for a penalty, but nothing was called by Lee Probert as Lansbury was tripped just inside the area by Benoit Assou-Ekotto. Probably should have been a penalty, but the first contact from the Cameroonian defender was just outside the area. Still, it was a missed foul in a dangerous spot.

That didn't matter much four minutes later as the Gunners struck first, in lovely fashion. Major credit on the goal goes to Jack Wilshere, who played an absolutely perfect cross along the six-yard box, where only the sliding Henri Lansbury could knock it into the net. It was the first Arsenal goal for the lifelong Gooner from Enfield in his first start.

Arsenal had two chances later in the first half flagged for offside. The first call was borderline, the second, blatantly wrong. Kieran Gibbs was through after another superb ball from Wilshere and maneuvered around the goalkeeper Stipe Pletikosa as well before everyone realized the linesman's flag was (wrongly) up. The match remained 1-0 at halftime, with Arsenal having controlled most of the opening 45 minutes.

Tottenham made two substitutions, bringing on Robbie Keane and Aaron Lennon, and switched to a 4-4-2 and a more convincing attack line-up, and it worked in four minutes. Robbie Keane, ridiculously offside, was allowed to play on after a through ball and fired a low shot which squeezed just through the arms of the diving Fabianski and into the net. It was a hard hit ball, no doubt, and I know we can be rough on Fabianski because of his hundreds of thousands of errors in the past, but I sincerely feel that he should have had that shot and that Almunia would have had that shot.

Spurs' new found attacking style lasted for about seven minutes before it was all Arsenal again, but the Gunners could not find a go-ahead goal in normal time. In the 62nd, Carlos Vela headed a cross wide. In the 70th, Tottenham had their best chance for a winner as Aaron Lennon was through on goal, but Koscielny slid in with a perfect tackle to deny him. Arsenal brought on Marouane Chamakh and Andrei Arshavin in the 73rd minute to go for the win.

Lansbury was booked for a challenge in the 83rd that marked the first time in a long time that I actually clapped for a booking; this was the kind of "yeah, I'll take a booking to deny a scoring opportunity" kind of challenge that you like to see every once in a while. Two minutes later, looking for a brace, Lansbury whipped a shot that, while stopped comfortably, was one of Arsenal's best looks at goal since their opening goal.

The final minutes of normal time really seemed like a winner was coming for Arsenal. Denilson hit a 22-yard rocket in the 89th that was only palmed down by Pletikosa, but Samir Nasri could not get a foot to the rebound. It was a situation fairly reminiscent of Nicklas Bendtner's winner at Hull City in March, with a little more traffic in front. A free kick from Wilshere in the 90th flew past everyone until finding Djourou on the back corner, but his header could not be directed on goal and was cleared. Two minutes later, Eboue had a deflected look at goal, but there would be no regular time winner for anyone and the match headed to extra time, with every nerve in my body shaking.

Spurs kicked off extra time, but within thirty seconds, it was a penalty to Arsenal. Samir Nasri took a through ball from Arshavin and was taken down by Sebastien Bassong to set up the penalty. Nasri's strike was not the best (but on goal, unlike Rosicky's on Saturday), but the keeper guessed wrong, and Arsenal led 2-1. It was high enough that it would have been saved had Pletikosa guessed right.

Then, three minutes later, another through ball from Arshavin and another penalty to Arsenal, as Chamakh was hauled down by the arm by Steven Caulker. Nasri's penalty this time was perfectly along the ground to a corner, Pletikosa guessed wrong again anyway, and six minutes into extra time, it was 3-1 Arsenal.

As Spurs fans raced for the exits, Arsenal grabbed a fourth; this time, the through ball was to Arshavin and into the net, from Wilshere. Spurs nearly pinged one back from a corner in added time of the first half of extra time, but Robbie Keane flick on goal was stopped on the line by Nasri.

Then, this Spurs fan child cried.

Tottenham clearly appeared like they no longer wanted to be there for the final 15 minutes, as Arsenal passed the ball around, savoring a 4-1 win at the Lane and another round to maybe draw a weaker side and play some more youth in late October.

Oh, the down side. Of course, there's a down side. Kieran Gibbs left hurt, and might have re-broken the metatarsal he hurt last November that kept him out for pretty much the rest of last season. How about that. And the third string left back, Armand Traore... he's out on loan. And the first string left back, Gael Clichy, has probably been the weakest link on the back line this year.

But, anyway, happy thoughts. Happy thoughts. 4-1 win at the Lane.

Champions League: Arsenal 6 - 0 Braga: The Arsenalists Have Been Arsenaled

Hugs! Pic via Daily Telegraph.

Arsenal 6: Fabregas 9 (pen), 53, Arshavin 30, Chamakh 34, Vela 69, 84

Sporting Braga 0

SC Braga thrashed Celtic then stunned Sevilla to get this far in Europe, then the team known as "The Arsenalists" because they took influence from Arsenal in choosing their kit colors got a dream drawing against their inspiration for their first match. It was a night Braga would probably now like to forget.

Arsenal benefited from both Cesc Fabregas and Carlos Vela doubles, while Andrei Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh added two more to contribute to the Gunners' 6-0 win over Braga in London on Wednesday night. It was Arsenal's largest win in Europe since a seven goal thrashing of Slavia Prague nearly three years ago.

Arsene Wenger made three changes from the side that beat Bolton at the weekend, though none of them were necessitated by injury (recall, Diaby did not start Saturday.) Samir Nasri returned from his knee injury to start, replacing Tomas Rosicky on the right wing, while Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy returned to their usual places on the back line after being rested four days ago.

Arsenal were knocking on the door of Braga's goal from the start and had two minor shouts for a penalty to be given before a third shout finally warranted a point to the spot from the referee in the eighth minute, when Marouane Chamakh was tripped by Braga's goalkeeper Felipe (side note, what the hell goalkeeper wears a squad number like 84?) Felipe guessed right on Fabregas's penalty but could not stop the shot and Arsenal led 1-0 nine minutes into the first Champions League match of the group stage.

Another side note: remember where the first Champions League match of the group stage was nine minutes in last year? Arsenal had already been losing 2-0 for four minutes. Oh yeah, then they came back and won.

Most of the match continued in the same vein from this point forward: Arsenal played their pure class tippy-tappy style that we all know and love and Braga at times appeared mesmerized, then decided they should try to counterattack, only to be out-muscled off the ball by a defender or roll a shot weakly to Manuel Almunia.

Andrei Arshavin was put through one-on-one in the 30th minute and did not miss tonight, like he did eighty bajillion times against Bolton on Saturday. Four minutes later, a magnificent goal from Chamakh; a beautiful flick from Jack Wilshere sent the Moroccan through, then a tap shot through the legs of the defender and past the helpless Felipe into the far corner. Suddenly, it was 3-0, and the Gunners were coasting to halftime.

Fabregas picked up his brace as Arsenal picked up their fourth goal in the 53rd after coasting through some effortless defending, passing the ball left to Arshavin, who delivered the cross directly to the wide open Spaniard's head.

Then, the Carlos Vela show: two minutes after Arshavin pounded a shot off the left goalpost, he slipped a through ball to Vela who waited for Felipe to dive low before chipping his shot high and into the net for Arsenal's fifth. Vela would pick up the brace after Fabregas decided not to go through on goal for a hat trick of his own. Again, Vela waited for Felipe to commit, then calmly slotted the ball in the other direction. Carlos Vela has now scored three goals in the last two games; he has been on the pitch for a combined 43 minutes in those two games.

What did we learn today? The most important part to take away from the win is probably that the back four held it together against a team that was billed to be good on the counter, but there were enough nervy moments to make you wonder how this team will actually handle the bigger guns in England and in Europe. Well, that's what all the pundits will be talking about anyway. For us Gooners, let's just enjoy a big win, especially when it comes one day after Spurs blew a 2-0 lead to draw.

International Gunner Watch - Africa Cup Qualification, Eboue Scores

Ivory Coast celebrates a 3-0 win. Pic via CAF.

Here's your recap of Saturday's international action involving Arsenal players:

Morocco 0 - 0 Central African Republic

Marouane Chamakh and Morocco could not secure three points at home against Central African Republic, who are currently ranked 202 in the world.

Mauritius 1 - 3 Cameroon

Samuel Eto'o had a brace in the win for Alex Song and Cameroon.

Ivory Coast 3 - 0 Rwanda

Emmanuel Eboue scored from 25 yards out five minutes from time in the first half to give Ivory Coast the 3-0 lead by which they would eventually win.

Mexico 1 - 2 Ecuador

Carlos Vela played 64 minutes in Mexico's friendly lost, on home soil, to Ecuador.

International Gunner Watch - Euro Qualifiers, Round 1

Qualifying for the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship begins this week, which means a number of Arsenal players will be out on international duty during this, the first international break of the 2010/11 Premier League season. Of course, not all of Arsenal's international players are European; in fact, only nine of the 17 Gunners on international duty this weekend will be participating in Euro qualifiers. Four more will be playing for Under-21 European squads, while four will be playing in African Cup of Nations qualifiers. All this, and Carlos Vela in a Mexican friendly...

FRANCE: Abou Diaby, Bacary Sagna, and Gael Clichy
Four Gunners went to South Africa representing France and three came back (*coughGallasisatraitorcough*) ... Samir Nasri could have been named to this weekend's squad had he not been injured and Sebastien Squillaci, Arsenal's newest signing, was not named to Laurent Blanc's squad.

France is in Group D of qualifying, up against Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Albania, and Luxembourg. France will host Belarus in Saint-Denis on Friday, then travel to Sarajevo to play Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday.

ENGLAND: Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs
England is 12-0 when Theo Walcott plays while Kieran Gibbs has earned his second call-up. Jack Wilshere was dropped to the U-21 squad, so more the peacemaker later. England is in Group G, with Switzerland, Bulgaria, Wales, and Montenegro.

England hosts Bulgaria at Wembley on Friday and will play Switzerland in Basel on Tuesday.

SPAIN: Cesc Fabregas
Those Barcelona players get another chance to tap-up our captain this week, which is just fan-frickin'-tastic. Spain is in Group I with Rosicky's Czech Republic, Scotland, Lithuania, and Lichtenstein. Spain will play Lichtenstein in Vaduz on Friday, but with only five teams in the group, the World Cup champions will not play on Tuesday. Maybe that means we get Cesc back in training sooner, please?

CZECH REPUBLIC: Tomas Rosicky
As mentioned in the above paragraph, Rosicky's Czech Republic are in the same group as Spain. They will have off on Friday, then on Tuesday, they'll host Lithuania in Olomouc.

BELGIUM: Thomas Vermaelen
Belgium and their captain Vermaelen do not have an easy trip into the Euro 2012 as they are in Group A with Germany, Turkey, Austria, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. Belgium will host the Germans in Brussels on Friday night, which would be a huge win. Tuesday, they travel to Istanbul to play Turkey.

RUSSIA: Andrei Arshavin
Arshavin and the Russians missed out on a trip to the World Cup in the final play-off round of qualifying but are in Group B here, along with Slovakia, Ireland, Macedonia, Armenia, and Andorra. Russia starts with Andorra in Andorra-la-Vella on Friday, then hosts Slovakia in Moscow on Tuesday.

ENGLAND U-21: Jack Wilshere
Recently arrested Jack Wilshere has been dropped from the senior squad to the Under-21 squad (though, that's not related.) In their U-21 qualifiers, they'll play Portugal in Barcelos on Friday, then host Lithuania in Colchester on Tuesday. These are the last two U-21 qualifiers, with that tournament being held in 2011. England is second in Group 9, behind Greece. England could be eliminated with a loss to Portugal.

FRANCE U-21: Armand Traore
Traore, now on loan to Juventus, will play with France's Under-21 squad as they play the Ukraine in Kiev on Friday and Malta in Amiens on Tuesday. France is in third in Group 8; they'll be eliminated with a loss to Ukraine or a draw if Belgium picks up at least a point against Slovenia.

ITALY U-21: Vito Mannone
I'm not sure if Mannone starts for the Italian U-21 squad. I do know that he's 22 years old now. Italy is third in group 3. They'll play Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo on Friday and Wales in Pescara on Tuesday.

POLAND U-21: Wojciech Szczesny
Our young future #1 keeper is in group 4, where Poland sits in third place as well, behind Holland who have already qualified and Spain. Poland will play Finland in Pori on Friday and Spain in Grodzisk Wielkopolski on Tuesday. Poland will be eliminated on Friday if they don't beat Finland or Spain wins against the Netherlands.

It looks like all four of these Under-21 teams could be eliminated by the end of the week.

IVORY COAST: Emmanuel Eboue
Ivory Coast are in Group H of 2012 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, along with Benin, Rwanda, and Burundi. The Elephants will host Rwanda on Friday in their first qualifier.

CAMEROON: Alex Song
The Indomitable Lions are in Group E with Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mauritius. Cameroon in this round will play Mauritius in Curepipe on Saturday.

MOROCCO: Marouane Chamakh
Morocco is in Group D with Tanzania, Algeria, and Central African Republic. The Lions of the Atlas will host Central African Republic in Rabat on Saturday.

MEXICO: Carlos Vela
It's a friendly for Carlos Vela and Mexico. They'll play Ecuador in Guadalajara on Saturday.

Arsenal 6 - 0 Blackpool: Welcome to the Premier League!

Theo, please be that awesome every week. Pic via Guardian.

Arsenal 6: Walcott 12, 39, 58, Arshavin 32 (pen), Diaby 49, Chamakh 83

Blackpool 0

Blackpool thoroughly enjoyed their first week of top flight football in thirty years last week, opening their Premier League season with a 4-0 thrashing of Wigan Athletic. Yesterday, Arsenal sent the Seasiders crashing back down to reality.

Alex Song returned to the starting XI, playing his first football since the World Cup, and played at center half instead of his usual position in the holding midfield role, deputizing for the suspended Laurent Koscielny. Samir Nasri's injury meant that Tomas Rosicky was plugged into the starting line-up, while Theo Walcott replaced Emmanuel Eboue, who dropped to the bench.

Play was back and forth from the start, but even early on, you could tell this was going to be a special day for Walcott. Blackpool's left back, Stephen Crainey, will be having nightmares for months after getting torched repeatedly yesterday. Crainey was nowhere to be seen when Walcott opened the scoring, wide open on the right wing to put Arsenal up 1-0 on 12 minutes. Blackpool should have equalized about two minutes later as Gael Clichy lost his man on a cross. Gary Taylor-Fletcher got his head on the ball and had an open net, which he missed just wide to the right.

The match was turned on its head when Blackpool's Ian Evatt was sent off for what referee Mike Jones ruled was a last man foul, as he tackled Marouane Chamakh just at the edge of the area. The position was debatable as to whether or not it should have been a penalty; Andrei Arshavin masterfully blasted the ball into the net, past the diving Matthew Gilks who had guessed right, and it was 2-0 Arsenal with the road side on ten men.

Walcott picked up his second goal of the match just seven minutes later to make it 3-0. Walcott picked up a pass from Jack Wilshere in triple coverage with his back to goal about fifteen yards out, was allowed to turn by the defense and slotted a powerful shot under the arm of the diving Gilks. Arsenal was coasting away with the win by halftime.

It's important to note that Arsenal never seemed to take their foot off the accelerator for the first 25 minutes or so of the second half. Abou Diaby made it four after some brilliant maneuvering from Bacary Sagna to set it up. Walcott picked up his first career club hat trick after a pass from Diaby, once again being allowed to fire a shot despite coverage from at least two defenders. Chamakh missed a sitter a few minutes later, classic Nicklas Bendtner against Burnley style; with a wide open net, the ball took an odd bounce at the last second and as Chamakh slid into the ball's path, he sent it high over the bar, in a situation where it seemed harder not to score.

As if it wasn't bad enough for Blackpool at 5-0, this is when Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas came on, though both are clearly still a bit rusty. Chamakh scored his first Arsenal goal in the closing minutes with a header off a van Persie corner and Carlos Vela had a few very nifty moves that could have already been a goal of the season candidate if he only could have gotten the shot off.

At 5:00 p.m. English time last week, Blackpool was sitting on top of the league. One week later, it was Arsenal on top of the table, for two and a half hours, at least.

International Gunner Recap - France Lost?!

Cesc Fabregas and Carlos Vela both saw time in Mexico City as Spain and Mexico played to a 1-1 draw. Fabregas played only the first half for the World Champions, while Vela played 58 minutes.

Theo Walcott started for England in their 2-1 win over Hungary at Wembley. Kieran Gibbs replaced Ashley Cole at halftime. Steven Gerrard had a brace (hopefully he won't duplicate that feat Sunday) and was replaced by Jack Wilshere, making his top level international debut in the 84th minute.

Andrei Arshavin's sixth minute cross was bobbled by Bulgaria's goalkeeper, setting up the only goal in Russia's 1-0 win. Samir Nasri played 79 minutes as France lost 2-1 in Norway.

I haven't been able to find information about how the other four first team Gunners involved in international play today fared. Here's a recap of scores, though:

Thomas Vermaelen and Belgium lost to Finland 1-0.
Lukasz Fabianski may or may not have played for Poland in their 3-0 loss to Cameroon.
Tomas Rosicky and the Czech Republic waltzed to a 4-1 win over Latvia.
Marouane Chamakh and Morocco beat Equatorial Guinea 2-1.

International Gunner Watch - Useless Friendly Time!

Damn you FIFA, who cares about this round of friendlies, anyway? Pic via Internet News.

Well, here we go again. The Premier League campaign starts in just four days for most teams in England (five for Arsenal and Liverpool and six for Manchester United and Newcastle United.) Euro 2012 qualifying doesn't start for another month or so. So, what better time for FIFA to arrange a mess of international matches that don't count!

Let's assess the damage for Arsenal. 14 Gunners have been selected in this round of pointlessness including 12 first team members. Arsenal does dodge a few bullets in certain circumstances, especially with the much maligned French World Cup team left behind and Robin van Persie and much of the Netherlands World Cup squad omitted as well. Anyway, here are the players you should be praying return to North London in one piece:

Emmanuel Eboue and the Ivory Coast will get their friendly out of the way pretty much faster than everyone else. Of the 12 first team Gunners involved in this round, only Eboue plays today; the rest play tomorrow. Not only is that fortunate for the team trickster, but their friendly against Italy is also being played in London, at West Ham United's Upton Park.

Cesc Fabregas and the World Cup winning Spain squad will be getting back together again, where they will all likely attempt to brainwash him into joining Barcelona. They'll be playing against Carlos Vela and Mexico in the 105,000 seat Azteca Stadium. Every time Carlos Vela plays a friendly at home in Mexico, it seems like it takes him two weeks or more to recover from the resulting jet lag. Hopefully Fabregas can handle the time differences a little better, otherwise I fear we won't even see Cesc in red and white for a month.

England named three Gunners in their squad for their Wembley Stadium friendly against Hungary; all of whom were of course left behind for the World Cup: Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs, and Theo Walcott. As much as I'm excited to see these guys outperform all of the Spurs, United, and Chelsea players that crashed out of South Africa, I just hope the notoriously bad Wembley pitch doesn't cause any damage.

With a trip to Anfield looming around the corner, the team obviously needs Andrei Arshavin ready to terrorize the Reds as he has in the past (to the tune of five goals in two matches. I am not going to stop reminding you all about that.) Arshavin was held out of the Legia Warsaw friendly with a slight muscular problem, so we may need to hope extra hard that Russia's friendly with Bulgaria in St. Petersburg doesn't do any further damage to our Diminutive Ridiculous Facial Expression Maker.

Samir Nasri was left out of France's World Cup catastrophe but has been recalled for this week's friendly with Norway in Oslo. Every French player that was in South Africa has been left behind for this one, which is honestly great news for Abou Diaby, Bacary Sagna, and Gael Clichy. This is also fairly good news for Nasri, who is keen to rebound after a difficult campaign last year. You can tell the fire to succeed is in him this season, and that's exciting.

Thomas Vermaelen is the only Arsenal defender recalled by his national team, which makes sense, since he's Belgium's captain. They'll play Finland in Turku, the Official Christmas City of Finland. Speaking of international defenders, Laurent Koscielny has declared his intent to play for France rather than Poland.

Speaking of Poland, Lukasz Fabianski has been called for their match against Cameroon (who will not feature Alex Song.) Tomas Rosicky is with the Czech team in Latvia and Marouane Chamakh makes his first international appearance as a Gunner as Morocco plays Equatorial Guinea in Rabat.

Two Gunners will also plays friendlies with their country's respective Under-21 sides: Henri Lansbury with the English U-21's against Uzbekistan in Bristol today and Vito Mannone with the Italian U-21's against Denmark tomorrow.

Safe travels to all!

Emirates Cup: Arsenal 3 - 2 Celtic: Too Close for Comfort

Carlos Vela (right) celebrates his goal with Jay Emmanuel-Thomas. Pic via Sky Sports.

Arsenal 3: Vela 3, Sagna 45, Nasri 51

Celtic 2: Murphy 72, Sung-Yueng 83

Arsenal once again dominated the first 70 minutes of a match at the Emirates Stadium in their home tournament, but once again crumbled in the final minutes. This time, however, their lead was large enough to hold up, and the  Gunners retained hold of the Emirates Cup with a 3-2 win over Celtic.

The Gunners controlled the entirety of the first half, opening the scoring early as the efforts of Jack Wilshere set up a Theo Walcott cross to a sliding Carlos Vela to put Arsenal up 1-0 on three minutes. Despite numerous opportunities, Arsenal could not get a second until shortly before the stroke of halftime, when, after a corner kick, it was Bacary Sagna, of all people, who struck an absolutely brilliant drive off his non-favored foot from 20 yards out. Sagna had only scored once before in an Arsenal shirt, a header at Stamford Bridge in 2008.

Arsene Wenger made two positive substitutions at halftime, bringing on Samir Nasri and Marouane Chamakh, both of whom had brilliant games on Saturday. It worked pretty quickly; Nasri added to the scoresheet just six minutes into the second half.

From there, Arsenal took the engines off high gear and it nearly cost them. Sagna and Gael Clichy were pulled on 62 minutes and Thomas Vermaelen was pulled on 73. The back four from this point on looked shaky at best.

Celtic had the chance to ping a goal back from the spot on 68 minutes after a cynical American football-style tackle from Jack Wilshere on Marc-Antoine Fortune in the penalty area. Georgios Samaras lined up from the spot, but missed dreadfully high and wide. It looked like a goal would never come for Celtic...

...until the 72nd, when Daryl Murphy took advantage of a rebound from 10 yards out shortly after a corner. From there, Manuel Almunia kept Arsenal up two after a string of good saves, until the 83rd, when Ki Sung-Yueng was found open in the box after another defensive breakdown. Suddenly, a game which was firmly in control was now a one goal affair with seven minutes to play. Arsenal, however, were able to run out the clock, thanks to no stoppage time being played in the tournament, and were able to retain the trophy for the second consecutive year and for the third time in its four year history.

The Gunners play one more friendly, next Saturday in Warsaw, before opening the Premier League campaign at Liverpool on August 15.

Friendly: Neusiedl 1919 0 - 4 Arsenal: The Sheet's Still Clean

SC Neusiedl 0
Arsenal 4: Walcott 28, Emmanuel-Thomas 30, Chamakh 51 (pen), Vela 65

Quick notes again as I could not watch this one either:

• It appears to have been another comfortable win for the Gunners, who have outscored opposition 11-0 in three pre-season friendlies.
• Arsenal appeared a bit sluggish at the start, but cruised once the cobwebs were shaken.
• Walcott and Emmanuel-Thomas scored two minutes apart to give Arsenal a 2-0 cushion at the half.
• Marouane Chamakh scored his first goal in an Arsenal shirt, scoring from the penalty spot after he was pulled down in the box.
• Carlos Vela added his first of the pre-season on a chip shot.
• Manuel Almunia made his first appearance of the summer and got the start...
• ...but it was second half substitute Vito Mannone that stopped a penalty after Havard Nordtveit handled in the area. 

So far, there have been no tremendously tough tests for Arsenal this July, but AC Milan will come to the Emirates on Saturday for the Emirates Cup, followed by Celtic on the second day (who themselves will be in the middle of a Champions League qualification tie, the first leg of which is tomorrow.)

International Gunner Watch - Carlos Vela

Well, he's not as hurt as I thought at first. Good news? Pic via CBC.

Argentina 3: Tevez 26, 52, Higuain 33

Mexico 1: Hernandez 71

Carlos Vela, who injured his right hamstring in Mexico's second group stage match against France, returned to training before yesterday's Round of 16 match with Argentina, but did not play in El Tri's 3-1 loss to the South American nation. This leaves two Gunners left in the tournament.

Argentina opened the scoring controversially when Carlos Tevez was about seven miles offside. After mass protesting by the Mexican players, they lost their composure and conceded a beauty of a goal to Gonzalo Higuain. Tevez scored again in the second half before soon-to-be Manchester United man Javier Hernandez pinged back one that was too little too late for Mexico.

The good news is that, as opposed to what I previously feared, Vela should be fine for pre-season training with Arsenal. The bad news is there's almost no Arsenal representation left in South Africa, since Fabregas doesn't often start for Spain. So, what's left:

Robin van Persie: Netherlands v. Slovakia, Monday early game LIVE NOW!

Cesc Fabregas: Spain v. Portugal, Tuesday late game (2:30 p.m. EST, 7:30 p.m. BST)

International Gunner Watch - Mexico v. Les Catastrophes

France = Fail. Pic Source = Guardian.

France 0

Mexico 2: Hernandez 64, Blanco 79 (pen)

Pay attention to France now, because it doesn't look like you'll be seeing them for much longer.

Bacary Sagna, William Gallas, and Abou Diaby all started for the French team, who were pretty dreadful on the whole. France have now appeared ridiculously frustrated for 180 minutes in this tournament, and from the results they've put up so far, it looks like they have 90 minutes left in South Africa.

In their 0-0 draw with Uruguay, they at least kept the door shut defensively. Today, they did not. Mexico perfectly beat a woeful offside trap with a perfect chip pass, giving soon-to-be Manchester United forward Javier Hernandez a beautiful opening goal. It's not so much the trap failing that was bad, rather, it was the defenders' lack of hustle to fix the situation when the flag didn't go up from the assistant. They just stood around with their arms in the air in confusion.

The second goal came as a consequence of some bad defense again, but this time, the Gunners on the back line can't be faulted. Patrice Evra, captain and all, appeared to give up on the play as Barrero carried the ball into the box on the break and was taken out poorly by Barcelona's Eric Abidal, giving Mexico a penalty. It was truly a poor challenge from Abidal; he has the speed to be able to close down Barrero, but instead, chose to lunge at him in a sliding challenge that was nowhere near the ball. Blanco converted the penalty, giving Mexico a great chance to advance to the Round of 16.

Carlos Vela started for Mexico, but left with a hamstring injury at the half hour mark. His tournament is probably over. Arsenal players remain made of glass.

International Gunner Watch - Carlos Vela

Vela's World Cup opening goal that wasn't. Pic via Eurosport.

South Africa 1: Tshabalala 55

Mexico 1: Marquez 79

Arsenal's Carlos Vela became the first player in the 2010 FIFA World Cup to put the ball in the net. He was also the first player to have a goal called back on an offside. And yes, it was the correct call.

In a 0-0 game in the first half, a Mexico corner came to Carlos Vela. South Africa's keeper disastrously put himself out of position by missing the crossing ball by a mile. But, in the process of making this mistake in positioning, he put Vela behind 10 of the 11 South African players in addition to the ball, and as such, he put Vela into an offside position.

Despite dominating the early going of play, Mexico found themselves scoreless at the halftime mark against hosts South Africa in the first match of the World Cup. Then, South Africa struck first in the 55th with a brilliant left footed strike from Tshabalala. Vela was subbed off in the 69th minute and Mexico equalized ten minutes later and eleven minutes from time after a defensive lapse by the home side followed a botched short corner by the Mexicans. South Africa had a brilliant chance to score a late winner, but Mphela hit the post after not getting the best of final touches on the ball.

The French, along with their four Gunners, will play Uruguay later today.

International Gunner Watch - Official Squads

11 Gunners will go to South Africa, that is, if Senderos still counts... he does, right? Pic via Daily Mail.

In January, center back Philippe Senderos was moved to Everton on loan because he wasn't getting playing time in North London and needed to see time on the pitch to assure his spot on Switzerland's World Cup squad.

Looking back five months later: Senderos made only three appearances for the Toffees while Arsenal immediately suffered an injury crisis at his position; in the end, Senderos made the Swiss squad anyway. At the time, it appeared that Senderos was gone for good, and that's still probably true; his contract expires this summer. But for now, he still counts as one of 11 Arsenal players heading to South Africa for the World Cup, which begins a week from Friday.

Of those named to their respective national preliminary squads, only Theo Walcott failed to make the final cut to 23-man squads, a somewhat surprising revelation we touched on yesterday.

As for the other ten Arsenal players at the World Cup? France lays claim to four of them, which includes William Gallas, who may also not be long for North London. He joins Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, and Abou Diaby on the French squad in Group A.

Mexico, also in Group A includes Carlos Vela as a striker.

The aforementioned Senderos and Switzerland are in Group H, along with Spain, and Cesc Fabregas, who is also still a Gunner for now.

Everybody's favorite should-have-been-voted-Prime-Minister Emmanuel Eboue will play for the Ivory Coast in Group G.

And Group E will feature three Gunners on three different teams: Holland with Robin van Persie, Denmark with Nicklas Bendtner, and Cameroon with Alex Song.

International Gunner Watch - 5/31/10

William Gallas rescued France on Sunday. Pic via Virgin Media.

Thursday: Denmark 2 - 0 Senegal

• Nicklas Bendtner did not feature for the Danes in their 2-0 win on home soil.

Saturday: Slovakia 1 - 1 Cameroon

• Alex Song played 85 minutes on the back line as Cameroon needed an 82nd minute equalizer from Eyong Enoh to draw level with Slovakia.

Saturday: Spain 3 - 2 Saudi Arabia

• Spain struggled to slip past Saudi Arabia, scoring their winner in second half injury time. Despite all of Spain's struggles in this match, Cesc Fabregas remained an unused substitute.

Sunday: Mexico 5 - 1 Gambia

• Carlos Vela played 56 minutes in Mexico's four goal victory over the smallest country on mainland Africa. Javier Hernandez and Adolfo Herrera Bautista both picked up braces.

Sunday: Paraguay 2 - 2 Ivory Coast

• Emmanuel Eboue was a halftime substitute for the African nation, in a match that was 0-0 at the half. Ivory Coast took a two goal lead before allowing Paraguay to score twice in the final 15 minutes to pull level.

Sunday: Japan 1 - 2 England

• Theo Walcott struggled, along with the rest of the English squad, in their lucky 2-1 win over Japan, which saw the Japanese score both England goals in their own net. Walcott played only the first half and did not impress. He'll still likely make the final 23-man squad, but barely.

Sunday: Tunisia 1 - 1 France

• William Gallas scored the equalizing goal in the 62nd minute as France pulled level with their former protectorate. He was subbed off after 64 minutes.
• Bacary Sagna started the match on the back line as well, took a yellow card, and played 90 minutes.
• Gael Clichy and Abou Diaby both appeared off the bench at the 64 minute mark.

International Gunner Watch - 5/27/10

 Yesterday's friendly for van Persie went a lot better than the last one. Pic via Guardian.

Netherlands 2 - 1 Mexico

• Robin van Persie picked up a brace in his return to international action as Holland beat Mexico 2-1 in Germany. Van Persie, playing his first game for the national team since rupturing ankle tendons in a previous international friendly in November, scored goals in the 17th and 41st minutes. Van Persie was, however, pulled in the 64th with tightness in his hamstring.
• Carlos Vela played the final 35 minutes for Mexico off the bench, two days after starting at Wembley.

France 2 - 1 Costa Rica

• France struggled on home soil to beat Costa Rica 2-1 on Wednesday, needing an own goal to equalize before Mathieu Valbuena scored an 83rd minute winner, assisted by second half substitute, Abou Diaby.
• William Gallas started the match at center back and played the first half, while Bacary Sagna played all 90 minutes at right back.

International Gunner Watch - 5/25/10

Mexico's Carlos Vela had as many shots in one half at Wembley yesterday as he had all year for Arsenal. Pic via CBC.

Yesterday: England 3 - 1 Mexico

• Theo Walcott frustrated England fans as he has frustrated Arsenal fans yesterday at Wembley as he often put himself in wonderful position with beautiful strides down the flank, only to have a poor final touch at the end. Of course, some crosses were better than others, and his work freed up a ball for Liverpool's Glen Johnson, who then had the great individual effort to score England's third and final goal.
• Carlos Vela started for Mexico and had two shots on goal in the first half (equal to the number of shots on goal he had for Arsenal this year) which were both stopped by keeper Robert Green of West Ham United. He probably should have buried the first.

Today: Georgia 0 - 0 Cameroon

• Alex Song played the first half for the Indomitable Lions as they were held scoreless by 119th ranked team in the world, Georgia, in today's friendly match in Austria.

Non-Appearances

• Eduardo has not played for Croatia's national team in a friendly this summer. Croatia beat Wales 2-0 on Sunday.
• As far as I can tell, Thomas Vermaelen has not featured for Belgium either; even though Belgium is not going to the World Cup, Vermaelen will spend his summer in Africa anyway.
• Tomas Rosicky was left behind in Europe, still nursing an ankle injury he suffered after the Manchester City match in April, for the Czech Republic's trip to the United States. The Czechs lost to Turkey 2-1 on Saturday and will play the United States tonight. 

France!

• William Gallas has been declared fit to feature for France, escaping injury in a buggy crash during a team-bonding exercise.
• Gallas, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, and Abou Diaby have all been confirmed as part of France's 23-man World Cup squad.