Sevilla have won the UEFA Cup two years in a row, and last season were within a couple of points of topping La Liga. If this was a big test for a young Arsenal side, then you have to say they passed it with a clutch of A*s.
Seville are obviously a decent side and played some good stuff, but they reminded me of our team last year – fantastic flowing football but a lack of end product. This year, we’re entirely different, and the scoreline reflected that.
Philippe Senderos returned in place of the rested Gilberto, but other than that it was the same side who beat Spurs on Saturday. That meant Mathieu Flamini kept his place in midfield, which was no surprise to me – the Frenchman is nigh-undroppable at the moment.  On several occasions he threw himself at the ball and won it in situations where it seemed genuinely impossible. The spirit of Razor lives on.
After Flamini had come close, it was his midfield partner, Fabregas, who gave us the lead – a deflected drive from range wrong-footing the goalkeeper. Lucky, but had Cesc not been on such a good run he probably wouldn’t have tried the shot. Six goals this season – amazing what momentum can do, eh?
As Sevilla pushed to get back into the game, space opened up on the counter-attack, and the introduction of Eduardo da Silva made a third inevitable. Indeed it was the new number nine who finished neatly after good work from Hleb and Fabregas, before running to celebrate with fellow Brazilians Denilson and Gilberto. I think a start beckons for Da Silva in Saturday’s game against Derby County.
It wasn’t a perfect performance. Philippe Senderos and Manuel Almunia again looked uncomfortable at the back, and the 3-0 scoreline certainly flattered us a little. But, like Cesc and his goalscoring run, the team now have momentum. Arsene is right to re-emphasise the need to keep our feet on the ground, primarily because he knows our focus ought to be directed towards our next few games, which are all distinctly winnable. Take a look at the fixture list, and imagine the kind of roll we could be on when we travel to Anfield on October 28th.
The team spirit in the side is incredible right now, as the picture below demonstrates. Read these quotes from Cesc, these from Van Persie, these from Flamini, and these from Adebayor. They’re all loving playing in a side that plays great football and is now, at last, getting results. We’re doing so well that it barely registered with me that Thierry Henry scored for Barcelona last night.
Finally, I have to touch on the news that Jose Mourinho has left Chelsea. It’s a massive story – probably the biggest since David Beckham left the Premiership.
Whatever your opinion of the man, it’s undoubtedly bad news for Chelsea. Mourinho’s skill was in moulding a team from a squad assembled in a short space of time at vast expense. He was able to form a unity and winning mentality that was second to none in the Premiership. Arguably it was only a spate of defensive injuries last year that denied him a third consecutive title.
But now he is gone, and it seems that in the short-term at least he’ll be replaced by Avram Grant, who may have to face up to vilification from fans who could blame him for Mourinho’s departure.
The likes of Drogba and Lampard could now see their future’s elsewhere. What’s certain is that the entire club has been destabilised by Mourinho’s shock exit. In my opinion, it is going to be incredibly difficult for Chelsea to meet their expectations for this season after losing their manager at such a critical time.
With noises coming out of the camp about the possibility of resting Gilberto (a decision that would flummox me) and the return of Philippe Senderos from suspension, it seems certain that the Swiss centre-half will start alongside Kolo Toure tonight. That could place him up against Malian former-Spurs striker Freddie Kanoute, and that could mean trouble.
At Spurs, Kanoute’s talent was never in doubt, but his application and suitability for the Premiership certainly were. Despite possessing an impressive combination of pace, power and technique, he was never able to impose himself in the league, and his move to Spain was hardly mourned by the Spurs fans.
At Sevilla, however, he has been a revelation. Juande Ramos specialises in getting the best out of players, and he’s turned Kanoute into a fearsome goalscorer as well as a pivotal player that can bring Sevilla’s exciting midfield into the game.
Kanoute’s height, strength, and ability in the air might remind Senderos of his most feared opponent: Didier Drogba. Phil has never conquered the Ivorian, and will be hoping for more success against another effective exponent of classic centre-forward play. If Kanoute is able to bring the ball under control with the same frequency that Dimitar Berbatov was at the weekend, we’ll be punished by the fact that he’ll be laying it off to midfielders far superior to those of Spurs.
Ahead of the Sevilla game, Arsene has been discussing the decision to let his own centre-forward, Thierry Henry, go:
“I knew I took a gamble by losing Thierry – but you cannot keep (players like Emmanuel) Adebayor (out). At his age you have to let him play.”
Although at the moment Wenger’s decision to go with his youthful squad looks vindicated (Juande Ramos certainly thinks so), he’s right to point out that it’s still early days. Tonight will provide arguably our sternest test so far. Sevilla will come to attack us and score goals, and of course we’ll look to get forward at every opportunity too. The space in the game could suit Cesc Fabregas, who the manager has compared favourably to Michel Platini.
On paper, this is probably the most mouthwatering tie of the entire Champions League draw – for a tonne of juicy facts and stats, click here. I’m sure it will be a whole lot more enjoyable if we can take three points aswell as entertain.
Brief takeovery things: 80 or so shares were traded this morning. You can follow the latest here. Arsene is keen to point out that matters off the pitch will not interfere with the team. “You are here in London Colney,” he told journalists. “You can look around and see no-one interfering. We are focused on the game and preparing for the game. That’s all we need.”
Finally, commiserations to Ashley Cole, whose Chelsea side failed to beat the mighty Rosenborg at home last night, in front of a very patchy crowd. Still, at least he’s popular there…
Yesterday, Gunnerblog was first to tell Arsenal fans that Red & White had upped their stake in Arsenal.  What I didn’t realise was quite how much.
This morning it has emerged that Red & White have taken their shareholding over 21%. A series of deals involving smaller shareholders and the investment company Lansdowne Partners (who owned around 3%) has taken Alisher Usmanov’s investment in the club close to if not over the £100m mark.
Red & White will release the same spiel about simply increasing their stake without a view to a takeover, but what kind of businessman invests £100m in a company that doesn’t pay dividends at a price significantly above the going share rate? Buying Dein’s shares essentially changed nothing, but this is an overtly aggresive move towards a takeover.
People keep talking about the board having enough “friends” to place them over the vital 50% mark. But at £10,000-a-share, those friends might be harder to come by.Â
Yesterday’s developments show that Red & White are prepared to pay whatever is required to secure the shares that become available. And there will be plenty of those. Whoever you are, £10,000 is an awful lot of money, especially when you consider you might have picked up your share for less than a grand in the mid-nineties. The board, meanwhile, probably do not have the funds to compete with the Uzbek.
We’re now at a point where Usmanov could very soon become Arsenal’s majority shareholder. Even saying that turns my stomach. It might not mean a huge amount in terms of completing a takeover, but it means a lot to people associated with the club.
In the coming weeks, Red & White will creep closer and closer to the 30% mark. With each share they buy, what happens to Stan Kroenke’s stake becomes more and more crucial. As much as I hate to say it, nothing has changed my view that the arrival of Usmanov on the scene gave a takeover a horrible inevitability.
In other news, Armand Traore was arrested after carrying “an offensive weapon”. Rumours that he was looking angry and asking if anyone had seen David Dein remain unconfirmed.
Arsene has a press conference today, which could provide all sorts of juicy tidbits. Bye for now.
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Earlier this afternoon, a bit of digging by Myles Palmer showed that 320 Arsenal shares had been sold for over £2.6m. Alarm bells rang in my head – to be spending that kind of money on shares, you need serious backing. Either the board were ploughing some of our new turnover into increasing their stake, or…
Red & White had bought the shares. And it’s this latter option that I’ve just had confirmed to me by well-placed sources.
It’s not yet 100%, but Red & White’s press representatives have so far refused to deny the story, only repeating their expressed wish to increase their stake. They’ve purchased at least another 0.5% of the club today, taking them over 15%. This means they will have to make a statement to the press either at the close of play today or tomorrow morning. This is in part why they cannot clarify the matter one way or the other.
I have spoken with the Arsenal Supporters’ Trust, who have released a statement (available below) confirming their understanding that “Red and White have today increased their holding in Arsenal Holding plc”.
Who sold the shares? That’s a more difficult question to answer. No one individual had a shareholding of exactly 260 shares. Either a small collective have sold together or someone has sold part of a larger stake. As soon as I get more on this I will update this page, but it looks like the shares have probably come from one of the hedge funds.
The long drawn-out takeover battle continues.
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 Arsenal Supporters’ Trust Statement, 17/9/07
“The AST understands that Red and White have today increased their holding in Arsenal Holding plc.
Red and White have previously said they will maintain a dialogue with the Trust. We work with the club’s Board and all major shareholders and welcome this.
The AST will not shirk from reminding Red and White of the responsibility their new role brings and that they must cherish the history of the club and understand that Arsenal is its supporters. We will also tell them that we expect them to seek to work with, not against, the current Board, who in recent years have given us both the best stadium and the best football ever played in England.
The AST has made it clear to Red and White that we are against a hostile takeover. “
I’m not one for condoning rash tackles, unless the victim a) has been deliberately stirring up trouble (eg. time-wasting), or b) is Tom Huddlestone. On both counts, the video below makes for somewhat entertaining viewing, and explains just why Bacary Sagna is becoming so popular at Arsenal.
As we continue to bask in the glory of our 3-1 victory over Tottenham, it’s worth looking at the specially edition of Cesc’s goal below – the replay is edited to focus in on the reaction of the Spurs fans. Needless to say, it gave me a good chuckle.
With the Premier League cracking down on videos such as these, I’m not sure how long they’ll last, but thanks to Toronto Gooner from the arseblog forums for putting them together.
Going back to time-wasting, it is becoming a real irritation in football. Take the example at Spurs on Saturday – after going ahead, they indulged in a variety of time-wasting exercises. However, after we scored two late goals, suddenly the stoppage time accrued worked to their benefit, as they sought out an equaliser. Weird, eh. A friend suggested that after a player is fouled, any opposition player touching the ball should be issued a yellow card. It’s essentially an extension of the “Kicking the ball away” rule, but it’s worth considering.
I’m not going to move on to thinking about Sevilla yet, because I’m still enjoying Saturday too much. I hope being top of the Premier League had made your Monday morning slightly more bearable.
