It has been a month of goodbyes from the Emirates camp with the once very densely populated Arsenal midfield getting thinner and thinner as we near the season. Two first teamers Hleb and Flamini left the club to join Barcelona and AC Milan. One very loyal player who I thought might stay to lend some experience to the midfield, Gilberto also left few days back to the Greek club,Panathinakos.

Wenger would not have sold all these players if he did not have a plan. He sure is hardpressed for money, though that is never declared in public, he would have thought about suitable replacements who would come in before the season starts. One heartening matter is that Rosicky would be ready by September and if he and Van Persie can stay fit for atleast 3/4ths of the season, the team would look strong to challenge a lot of top teams for the league. With Eduardo most likely to return by the end of the year, the team would only get stronger.

Gilberto, a world cup winner with Brazil, played in the Copa America just before the 2007-08 season started and was tired to join the squad for the season starting. This meant that Flamini took his place and put in his best season for the club only to go out on a free transfer. Flamini also was responsible to some extent for Diarra feeling demotivated sitting in the bench. He also left for Portsmouth. So Gilberto who had one of his best seasons in 2006-07, leading the side for most of the season due to Henry’s injury, found himself to be the second in line for the holding midfielder role. Well, he did a great job for the team and I wish him all the best for his future.

Thanks also to Flamini the fighter and Hleb the dribbler for their contributions.

As the transfer market begins to pick up some pace we are starting to see the first signs of the players that the three newly promoted clubs believe will save them from a return to The Championship. It is clear to all that Hull, Stoke and West Brom can’t spend any where near the amounts of cash the majority of the Premier League sides can. As such the sides that stay up are usually the ones who make some shrewd purchases during the transfer window. This normally means feeding off the scrapes of what the big boys have thrown away. This article will look at the players who have shown their clubs they still have something to offer by saving their news sides. However for every up must come a down and we will look at those buys which looked good on paper but turned out to be terrible on the pitch for clubs who eventually lost their Premier League status.

Obviously these are the players whom I can think of off the top of my head and I am sure that there will be those of you out there who can name a lot more.

Good buys:

Brad Friedel: Liverpool signed the American goalkeeper for £1m from Columbus Crew. After making just 30 appearances in three years with the Reds Friedel was released and signed by Blackburn, who were then still in Division One (now the Championship). After helping Rovers secure promotion back to the Premier League Friedel had an outstanding season with the side, helping them to a secure position in the league whilst winning the League Cup against Tottenham. Friedel has since gone on to become an icon at Ewood Park as he looks forward to his ninth season with the club.

Kieran Richardson: The man who saved West Brom, at least for one season, joined the Baggies on loan half way through the season when West Brom found themselves in a dire position. However 3 goals from 12 appearances helped inspire the Baggies to escape the drop, despite going into the last day of the season routed to the bottom of the league. He scored one of the two goals in West Brom’s 2-0 victory over Portsmouth to save the club from returning straight back to Division One. His performances earned Richardson a call-up to the England side for their tour of America where he scored both of England’s goals against the USA. Richardson declined the opportunity to have another loan spell at the Hawthorns the following season in a bid to fight for his place in the Manchester United squad but has since moved to Sunderland where he has helped them to avoid the drop, although not in such an impressive manner as he did at West Brom. See what the odds are on the Baggies surviving here

Matthew Upson: The English centre back could never really get a break in the Arsenal side with Tony Adams and Martin Keown in front of him and as such spent a lot of his time out on loan with the likes of Crystal Palace and Reading. In 2003 Steve Bruce decided that he would bring in a centre back to shore up his Birmingham City defence. Birmingham were in the midst of a relegation battle in their first season in the Premier League and the signing of Upson from Arsenal helped guide the Blues to a safe position in the top flight. Upson stayed on for a further four years in which time he helped to establish Birmingham as a Premier League club, at least for a short time. The Blues were eventually relegated with Upson missing the last four months of the season a big factor in Birmingham’s demise. Check out Birmingham’s odds of bouncing back here

Alan Stubbs: Might be considered an odd choice and many of you may wonder why I have chosen the central defender. Looking back on his career he was a successful Everton player who was looked upon by Toffee’s fans as a no nonsense defender who suited the club. However there are a couple of blotches of his copybook, for example in 2005 he moved to then newly promoted Sunderland. At the Stadium of Light Stubbs made a handful of appearances for the Black Cats as they became the worst club to ever completed in the Premier League with Stubbs managing to concede 20 goals in his 10 league games. That was until Derby came along last season who you will remember one just once as they took Sunderland’s crown much to the delight of their fans. Now this may have slipped under you radar during the January transfer window but Rams manager Paul Jewell brought in Stubbs to help his sides leaky defence. No body expected Stubbs to perform miracles and keep Derby in the Premier League but he seemed to hinder the side even further as they failed to win a single game and managed to lose 6-1 at Chelsea and 6-2 to Arsenal, the only thing saving him from conceding more was an injury he picked up during the second half of the season. So here is reminder to newly promoted clubs, don’t buy Stubbs if you want to stay in the Premier League.

Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink: The Dutch forward with a rocket shot may be a hero at Chelsea and may even have created some fond memories for Middlesbrough fans. However at Charlton Hasselbaink will only bring back bitter memories for Addicks fans having spent one year the club in which time the south London club were relegated to the Championship. In his time at Charlton Hasselbaink made only a handful of appearances and didn’t bring the kind of fire power the Addicks fans might have expected when he completed his move to the club. He will have disappointed as many Charlton fans as he did thrill Chelsea fans, although at that time in his career it was clear that Hasselbaink was approaching the end of his time as a Premier League player.

Martin Dahlin: Some of you may not remember the Swedish forward but for Blackburn fans he will probably still cast nightmares over his time with the club. Having arrived from Roma in 1997 for £2.5m Dahlin was expected to help propel Rovers to a title challenge with the Lancashire side having slipped off the pace in recent years following their Premier League title success in 1995. It was still at the time when Rovers had Jack Walkers money and looked to have done well investing in Dahlin who was a decent international striker at the time. The hope was that Dahlin would link up with Chris Sutton much like Alan Shearer had done when he was at the club. Instead Dahlin spent the majority of his time in the treatment room, managing just 27 appearances in his two years at Ewood Park. In 1998-99 Blackburn found themselves involved in a relegation battle, where was Dahlin? He had got himself injured in September and missed the rest of the season. Rovers were relegated and Dahlin left on a free.So the lesson of this tale seems to be do not waste your money on past it players who can’t offer you anything, or those that are likely to break down with injury after three weeks. Sadly Hull have already gone against me on that front as they look to bring in George Boateng. On the plus side the signing of Geovanni from Manchester City is definitely a step in the right direction and I applaud them as I do West Brom after they brought in Gianni Zuiverloon. Over the coming weeks it will be interesting to see who the promoted sides place their faith in, whether they go with experience or youth I fear that Hull and Stoke are doomed.

Arsenal first started training today at their training ground.

Walcott, the new no.14 and Clichy doing the drills

Ramsey was all ears to some wise words from Wenger!!!

Aston Villa finally launched their new kit with the acorns logo. Hats off to them!!!

With the Euros over,time for some transfer news.

Manchester United - Ferguson has come out in the open and has said that he is looking for only one signing this season to strengthen his team. The position has not been specified but I presume it should be in the forward line given the injury prone Louis Saha might leave or get injured again. Lets not talk about Ronaldo and his impending transfer to Real Madrid. I feel United should just cash in as much as they can over him and pay off their debts. Will they go for Berbatov needs to be seen.

Chelsea - With Scolari coming in at Stamford Bridge,the playin style of the club is sure to change. And on his first day in office, he got Deco on board, something that Jose Mourinho could not do. Now this latest addition to the midfield means Lampard and Ballack are going to have competition for the second place. Does that mean Lampard will leave the club, again a debating point. Scolari is also strongly rumoured to get Robinho from Real as well. Now that should be interesting. Will Drogba be their come the start of the season, remains to be seen. Arshavin is the latest one who is tipped to be heading to Stamford Bridge this season.

Liverpool - Rafa is not good at buying players and to make it worse his hands are tied this time around with the transfer funds. The Gareth Barry tussle with Aston Villa is really sad, infact it is worse than the continuing Ronaldo saga. Barry has been asked to train on his own and Martin O’Neil has made it clear to Liverpool that they should pay 18 million if they want to see Barry in a red jersey next season. Fair enough. Do they have the money to buy David Villa??? No I do not think so.

Arsenal - Nasri is in. I hope he plays better than his Euro performance in an Arsenal jersey. Hleb stories have become silent and Adebayor stories on the rise in the last few weeks. Ade’s salary demands if it is true is showing him in a poor light. It is strange how one good season can make a player think so highly about himself. If he had made this demand at the end of next season after scoring 20 goals, it would have looked better.

The official jerseys are on sale from today. Here is the home jersey

And here is the rumoured to be away jersey

Also the 2008-09 Arsenal first team squad numbers have been finalised few weeks back. Notable ones;

12 Carlos Vela

14 Theo Walcott - ya he gets Henry’s number. Now only if he could play like him

16 Aaron Ramsey

After 44 years and many forgetful tournaments, Spain held the nerve to win an important tournament and erase the underachievers tag. Thanks to a goal from Fernando Torres, the Spaniards gained the upper hand in a match they dominated for shots on goal and chances created. They won a tournament for scoring the most number of goals, conceding the least number of goals, attempting the most number of shots on goal, making the least number of saves and completing the most number of passes. Reasons good enough to win any tournament.

The Germans were completely shut out and they did not even have a proper shot on goal. For me the player of the tournament should have been Casillas for the sterling display throughout the tournament and the confidence he gives the defence when he takes guard under the bar. It would have taken something spectacular to beat him last night. The Spanish midfield did not create too many melodies (like Platini put it) but created enough to trouble Lehmann. If not for a tough chance gone begging to Senna towards the end of the match, the score would have been 2-0.

The Germans were toothless in front of the opposition goal. Klose had a very harmless game and had to be replaces by Kurnayi who added some much needed tempo to the German attack, but all that came to nothing as Spain held on to win the match. All those Euro and World junior praise has finally landed in a senior trophy for the first time for a country starving for some glory. And in my lifetime I have seen Spain win something. All this while the European domination in football has come from Germany, Italy and France, ever since I have started seeing football. And now there is one more country, Spain.

Xavi was adjudged the player of the tournament

David Villa won the golden boot

and Spain dominated the team of tournament

UEFA EURO 2008™ Team of the Tournament
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Iker Casillas (Spain), Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands).

Defenders: Bosingwa (Portugal), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Carlos Marchena (Spain), Pepe (Portugal), Carles Puyol (Spain), Yuri Zhirkov (Russia).

Midfielders: Hamit Altıntop (Turkey), Luka Modrić (Croatia), Marcos Senna (Spain), Xavi Hernández (Spain), Konstantin Zyryanov (Russia), Michael Ballack (Germany), Cesc Fàbregas (Spain), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Lukas Podolski (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands).

Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (Russia), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia), Fernando Torres (Spain), David Villa (Spain).

Nihat in the forward line instead of Torres would have been welcome. Nice to see some Russian names in the list too. Anyways more reviews on the Euro in a few days…

This is a final which all the sponsors and the neutral fans would have wanted. A fitting finale to end what has been a wonderful tournament. Two favourites from the start of the tournament, Germany and Spain. I am not saying that many would have complained if it was Turkey vs Russia also, because such has been the quality of play throughout the tournament, say a few matches.

Gary Linekar has famously said,”Football is a simple game;22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win”. This is very true of the German determination and spirit that however they have to play, they come out trumps in crunch matches in big tournaments(read World Cups and Euros). So once again they find themselves in a final playing some good matches and playing second fiddle to Turkey in the semifinal and still coming up trumps 3-2. That match showed the resilience of the Germans in crunch matches.

The Spanish have been the form team of the tournament. They have not lost a match in this tournament and have played some good football, beating the form team of the tournament Russia twice. Their midfield has been one of the strongest and creative midfields in this edition. The defence has not been tested too much this time around but in Casillas they have one of the best Goalkeepers in the world.

Villa will miss the tournament due to the injury he sustained in taking a free kick against the Russians. Michael Ballack is also a suspect for the final as he has a calf injury from training on Friday. So the teams go well balanced into the finals. The Spanish did not miss Villa that much as they controlled the midfield with Fabregas’ introduction in the semifinal. The Germans are yet to play without Ballack and it needs to be seen how they play without their talismanic captain.

As an Arsenal player, the only thing I am looking forward to is some good football and whether Fabregas become the player of tournament? He can if he can put in a performance like in the semi and setting up some goals for his teams. Anything is possible.

The semifinals of Euro 2008 were a case of contrasting results. Of the four teams Germany were always regarded as the big tournament favourites as they always managed to get through to the semi and finals someway or the other, Spain was the under-achievers of Europe though they had brilliant players for the last so many years, Russia were scintillating in the last 2 matches, knocking out the brilliant Dutch and were the team in form and lastly the unpredictable Turks, who were without 9 of their starting XI, who were giving a new meaning to last gasp finishes.

The first semifinal between Germany and Turkey was supposed to be a easy match for th Germans as the Turkey team were missing 9 players!!! That is like you are playing with your second team in the semifinal. But what a shock the Germans were in for. The Turks showed that it doesn’t matter if you first team is out injured and you don’t have names to fill in the team sheet if you have the heart to play these big games. They took the fight to the Germans and were the better side. A goal in each half meant their at the Germans had their task cut out for the second half. They scored first in the second half through Klose. You would not write off the Turks in situations like this as they have come back from behind in so many matches in this Euro. And they justified it by doing exactly that through Semih Senturk. This meant that the last few minutes of the match would either be spent looking for a winning goal or playing out for th Extra time. And then came the move from Lahm, who had a match to forget till then, expect for the cross to Klose for the second goal, who slotted in the goal for a very cool finish.

The power cuts meant that the match was not viewed in full flow except for the viewers at the stadium I presume. The goal meant that it opened up the match for high drama. Would Turkey come up with a dramatic equaliser? It was not meant to be in the end and they ended up on the losing side. For once they were on the receiving end of their own treatment. Germans did a Turkey to them. But this Turkey team and their coach, Terim can bow out of the tournament with their head held high. What an achievement for this team.

The second semifinal which was billed as the better semi as it featured two teams who had a passion for passing and attacking play. The semi was a washout as the Russians never looked like a team that had destroyed the Dutch. Infact Spain had their number as they put 3 goals past them. So the Russians started the campaign with a 4-1 defeat to the Spanish and ended their campaign also losing to them. In other words, the Russians conceded 2 goals against Greece, Sweden and Holland conceded 7 against Spain.

Arshavin was a marked man and Puyol was never going to give him any space in the Spanish half. It was a shadow of the side who had beaten the Dutch so convincingly. Hiddink looked helpless but he and his team should be credited to come so far in this tournament and making some stars out of Arshavin, Zhirkov, Pavlyuchenko etc take centre stage in Europe. Hats off to the Red Brigade.

But contrastingly, the Spanish came to the fore when the situation demanded it. When Villa got injured, there were doubts on what formation Aragones will make for the 1 hour of play left in the match. He got Fabregas to play behind the striker and let his midfield advance a bit more once they had control of play. Senna was a class act again and if not for his age would have been a sure signing for Arsenal in the holding midfield role. But it was the number 10 of Spain who shone through the match. Fabregas who has always been accused of not replicating his club form for Arsenal in the national side, did just that. His delicately weighted flick for Guiza to score the second and then the low cross from the left for David Silva to score the third has underlined his inclusion in the starting XI for the final.

Anyways, the four teams in the semis were there deservedly and the final will be a fitting one or this edition of the Euros.

The Independent has listed the 10 most sought after Euro 2008 players.

They are

1 Andrei Arshavin (Russia) Striker, 27

2 David Villa (Spain) Striker, 26

3 Arda Turan (Turkey) Left-winger, 21

4 Roman Pavlyuchenko (Russia) Striker, 26

5 Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Netherlands) Striker, 24

6 Karim Benzema (France) Striker, 20

7 Miguel Veloso (Portugal) Midfielder, 22

8 Yuri Zhirkov (Russia) Left-back, 24

9 Ivan Rakitic (Croatia) Winger, 20

10 Valon Behrami, (Switzerland) Right-sided midfield, 22

I would add to this list the following 5 names

11. David Silva, Spain, left-sided midfield, 22

12. Marcos Senna, Spain, central midfield, 32

13. Igor Akinfeev, Russia, Goal Keeper, 22

14. Ibrahim Affelay, Netherlands, Midfield, 22

15. Denis Kolodin, Russia, Central Defender, 26

The Russians, once again led my the supreme playmaker Arshavin made mince meat of the Dutch. He controlled the pace of the game and beat the Dutch in their own game, the fast counter attacks. Holland had a match to forget as the passing and movement looked suspect right from the start. The Russians on the other hand looked lively even in the second half of Extra time. If they had converted atleast half their chances and Van Der Saar did not make a few outstanding saves, the scoreline could have been 6-1 or something, such was the dominance of the Russians.

It would be fair to say that Guus Hiddink can transform any half-decent team into world beaters. The Dutch after beating Italy and France quite convincingly were all set for the finals before they confronted the Russians. Ever organised, committed and with a sense of adventure, hallmark of every Hiddink team the Russians went about methodically breaking down the Dutch. It was won tactically as well as with flair by the Russian think tank. If Pavyluchenko can convert some of the decent chances that he gets, the Russians will win more comfortably. He does do all the hard work and score off some real difficult chances. In Zhirkov, they have a full back who stays in the opposition half and box most of the time, delivering some wonderfull crosses and passes.

But their Talisman is the one and only Andrei Arshavin. What a revelation he has been. You would wonder what this talented player was doing till last year. I first noticed him after my friend Vicky, asked me to check him out in the UEFA cup final for Zenit. He created one and scored another in the final. He missed the first two matches due to suspension but has been the most outstanding player in the last two matches for in any jersey in Russia’s last two matches. He plays behind the striker, his movement is impeccable, wriggles out of tight situation in ease, has the vision to give those defence-splitting passes, can orchestrate attacking move after move, can score some awesome goals and is a constant pain for the opposition defence. He has been the best player on display in this Euro so far though he has played only 2 matches.

This match should have been a semifinal because the Dutch played some wonderful football in their group stages and it is a shame that they are out in the quarters. If they had played any other team, they might have made it to the semis. Anyways, now I will support the Russians to win the championship and hopefully, it should be a final against the Germans.

Germany clinically finished off Portugal in the first quarter final last night. The way Podolski, Schweinsteiger, Ballack and Lahm kept the attack going one after the other was absorbing stuff. Portugal were completely outplayed in the first half with superb work from Podolski and clinical finishing from Bastian. The second goal was a set-piece which Klose headed in with the entire Portugal defence looking on helpless. Cristiano Ronaldo had a match to forget and I wonder if he or Bastian are being heralded as the best in world football. Ronaldo once again did not shine in a big match.

Felipe Scolari in his last assignment with Portugal would have loved to get into the semifinal atleast but was left complaining to the referee about Ballack pushing Paulo Ferreira before heading in the third goal for the Germans. The Germans yet again look Champion-stuff in the final run-in. They will play the winner of Croatia-Turkey in the semifinal.

The Croatia-Turkey match proves to be a match between equals. Though Turkey are without a few key players due to injury and suspension, their attitude will be up there amongst the best. Croatia on the other hand are brimming in confidence and have a fantastic team spirit which will drive them forward. I predict the Croatians to advance and meet the Germans in the semifinal.

The third quarterfinal will prove to be possibly the best match in this stage. Two teams that drive forward and are also good in counter-attacks will play each other. The Dutch have so far been the team of the tournament with their attacking flair and very quick counter-attacks. The Russians on the other hand are the fittest of the lot under Guus Hiddink’s able eyes. He has moulded a very young team into one of the best attacking teams of Europe and in Andrei Arshavin they have one of the most skillful playmakers in this edition of Euro 2008. I just wish they were not playing so early in the knockout stage. I would not want to predict who would win this one.

The last quarterfinal will see the World champions Italy and the underachievers Spain playing for a semifinal spot. Spain is a team in form but a team like Italy can gather enough momentum to go to the very end of this tournament. This match I hope will live upto the expectations. I would want Spain to win this one.

Out with Domenech…what was he thinking right from picking the squad to selecting the final XI and his substitutions in the last match. And he proved how stupid he was by saying that his future plan was to get married to his television presenter girlfriend when the question posed to him was with respect to the French team…Please throw him out for screwing up a very talented national side. If only France had a better manager , with these 23 players, the team would have reached the quarters and with a few changes in the 23, they would have probably won this Championship.

- Why was Sagna, Clichy, Flamini, Ben Arfa, Trezeguet not included in the 23…there are some other names like Frey, Mexes (centre back with Roma) who shuould also have been included

- Why was Sagnol,Abidal, Thuram, Makelele, Viera(who was injured and did not touch the ball), Malouda, Anelka in the 23. I am tempted to include Henry also in that list because Trezeguet has a better record for France

- And when you have to replace a centre back why would you ask a left back to fill in that role. Abidal has been a liability for this squad.

- When your most creative player is injured, you bring in another creative midfielder. Point taken. But when you are reduced to 10 men, you do not replace the creative player. What is the logic?

It is quite sad to see a talented side like France not qualifying for the Quarters…Wish they get a better coach for this awesomely talented side.