Алекс Сонг считает, что благоприятное выступление "Лиона" в Лиге Чемпионов поднимает уровень игры французских клубов на протяжение нескольких лет, также полузащитник "Арсенала" и сборной Камеруна поделился своим мнением об "Эмирейтс Кап".

Французский клуб, напомним, в минувшем розыгрыше Лиги Чемпионов одержал победы над такими грандами мирового футбола, как "Ливерпуль" и "Реал", и камерунец считает, что эти успехи подчеркивают прогресс Чемпионата Франции за последние несколько лет.

"В прошлом сезоне мы видели, как "Олимпик Лион" дошел до столь высокой стадии, как полуфинал Лиги Чемпионов и это очень хорошее достижение для всего французского футбола", - сказал Сонг.

"Это, насколько я помню, было лучшее выступление французской команды в этом турнире и оно показывает прогресс Лиги 1".

"Хотя и "Арсенал" не сыграет против "Лиона" в рамках скорого розыгрыша "Эмирейтс Кап", мы всегда рады видеть их на нашем стадионе".

"Олимпик" сейчас - один из лучших клубов во Франции и они это доказали своими великолепными выступлениями в Лиге Чемпионов в течение прошлого сезона. Я надеюсь посмотреть матчи французского клуба против "Милана" и Селтика" на "Эмирейтс Стэдиум".

"Конечно же, мы надеемся выиграть матчи против "Милана" и "Селтика", в рамках "Эмирейтс Кап". Все знают, что Милан - очень грозный клуб с большой историей, "Селтик", думаю,  - тоже непростая штучка, которая доставит нам немало проблем", - сказал камерунец.

Полузащитник считает, что в этом году на "Эмирейтс Кап" собрались лучшие клубы за столь недолгую историю турнира, также отметив важность данного соревнования в преддверии нового сезона.

"Эмирейтс Кап" всегда - очень важный турнир. Команды, приехавшие к нам на турнир различны по стилю игры: "Милан", "Селтик", "Лион" - все они отличные команды и сложно предугадать исход каждого из матчей".

"Когда ты играешь на "Эмирейтс Кап", ты хочешь победить на этом турнире, только лишь из-за того, что ты на домашнем стадионе и твой клуб поддерживают тысячи фанатов. Думаю, это - лучший способ начать новый сезон", - сказал Алекс Сонг.

"Арсенал" желает заключить контракт с защитником сборной Англии и ливерпульского "Эвертона" Филом Джагиелкой, сообщает Daily Mail.

Лондонский клуб уже предлагал за 27-летнего игрока 10 миллионов фунтов, но предложение было отклонено руководством "ирисок".

Главный тренер "Эвертона" Дэвид Мойес уже множество раз заявлял, что Джагелка не продается, но "канониры" не теряют надежду и продолжают попытки заполучить англичанина.

Теперь же, по некоторым сведениям, "Арсенал" готовит новое предложение, более выгодное для аппетитов "Эвертона", в размере 15 миллионов фунтов.

Главный тренер "Арсенала" уже заключил контракт с одним центральным защитником, которым стал Лоран Косьелни. Но "канонирам" по-прежнему нужен еще один защитник такого же плана.

"Арсенал" вернется со своих предсезонных сборов в Австрии во вторник вечером, ожидается, что переговоры по поводу Джагелки именно тогда и возобновятся.

Напомним, что в стан "ирисок" англичанин прибыл из "Шеффилд Юнайтед" за 4 миллиона фунтов.

The Russian international goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev thinks he is ready for a move to the Premiership, and after talking to his mate Andrei Arshavin, he is especially keen on moving to Arsenal and London, with Man Utd being his second choice.

The CSKA Moscow star believes that if a good offer came in for him the Russian giants would be happy to let him leave, despite still having two years left on his contract.

Akinfeev said: “Arsenal and Manchester United are two of the very best clubs in the world.

“If both of them are going to be looking for keepers this summer – or even the next summer – then of course I am interested.

“I have spoken with Arshavin about Arsenal and London life.

“He has only had good things to say about the club and the city.

“He said some very nice things about me going on to be the best goalkeeper in the world – and that he would like me to reach that goal at Arsenal with him.

“They are a great club with a great manager. Of course there is every chance this will be the last season for Edwin Van der Sar.

“To be the No.1 for Manchester United would be a great honour too.

“They are the biggest football club in the world and, to be their No.1 for a length of time, you know you will have success.

“Juventus have also expressed an interest in me – but Arshavin has sold England to me very well.

“My contract doesn’t expire until 2013 but I have a great relationship with my president.

“If the right offer, both for me and the club came in, I don’t think anybody would stand in my way.

“I have been in Russia for a lot of years now and feel ready for a new challenge.”

He is a great keeper, but is Wenger likely to pick up the phone……….

Both Arsenal and Manchester United have been linked with moves for Akinfeev, who was one of the star performers for his club in the Champions League last season.

Akinfeev may favour a move to Arsenal, where he could expect to be immediately installed as the club's number one 'keeper, and Arshavin is doing all he can to persuade his international colleague that North London is the place to be.

Akinfeev, 24, told the Daily Star Sunday: "Arsenal and Manchester United are two of the very best clubs in the world. If both of them are going to be looking for keepers this summer - or even the next summer - then of course I am interested.

"I have spoken with Arshavin about Arsenal and London life. He has only had good things to say about the club and the city. He said some very nice things about me going on to be the best goalkeeper in the world - and that he would like me to reach that goal at Arsenal with him."

Of the link to United, who awarded 39-year-old stopper Edwin van der Sar with a new deal for the 2010-11 campaign, he added: "They are a great club with a great manager. Of course there is every chance this will be the last season for Edwin Van der Sar. To be the number one for Manchester United would be a great honour too.

"They are the biggest football club in the world and, to be their number one for a length of time, you know you will have success. Juventus have also expressed an interest in me but Arshavin has sold England to me very well. My contract doesn't expire until 2013 but I have a great relationship with my president.

"If the right offer, both for me and the club came in, I don't think anybody would stand in my way. I have been in Russia for a lot of years now and feel ready for a new challenge."

But Van der Sar is in no hurry to retire even though he will be 40 in October. He said: "I have been hearing these questions for the last three or four years. Sometimes you surprise yourself also. It is a great club to be at. You play in the Premier League, the Champions League, you have a chance of winning titles and trophies and competing against the best players in the league.

"It is something that is too good not to do it any more. I still very much enjoy it. Even my age it is still a pleasure to put in all the hard work so you are in the starting XI on a Saturday and a Tuesday night.''

New signing Laurent Koscielny is relishing the prospect of playing at the Emirates Stadium, and his next available opportunity will be at the inaugural Emirates Cup.

This year's opposition will see the likes of AC Milan, Celtic and FC Lyon, of whom Koscielny is familiar with, having played against them in the French league during his time with FC Lorient.

Koscielny said: "We play against two very big clubs in AC Milan and Celtic, and I can't wait to wear the Arsenal shirt at the Emirates Stadium.

"Lyon were champions for a long time in France and dominated the country's football for a long period.

"For the past two seasons they haven't won the French league title but they still have plenty of very good international players like Lisandro Lopez, Michel Bastos and Jimmy Briand.

"Lyon are the biggest team in France, they have a very good defence with powerful players like Cris and Sissoko.

"They have very strong individual players and as we all know, they did very well in last season's Champions League. Along with Marseille, in my opinion they are the number one team in France.

"They are a very good team to watch and the whole Emirates Cup will be a great experience for all the supporters."

The supporters’ rebellion at Manchester United this summer was supposed to involve season ticket holders not renewing until the last minute.

But the trouble with rebellions is that they can sometimes get a bit out of control.  I am not sure that the middle class members of the 3rd Estate in France in 1789 quite wanted their reforms to end up with the Terror of 1791, any more than those who campaigned for the end of the maximum wage for footballers quite wanted wages so high that the players would be in part responsible for the bankruptcy of clubs.  (Not that there is any link between football wages and the Terror, you understand).

But there is trouble afoot in both Man IOU and Liverpool territory, just as the Anti-Arsenal blogs that pretend to be Arsenal blogs (one might call them Anti-Arsenal Arsenal) are getting more and more worked up with their tales of impending doom, and I am just starting to wonder how far it is going to go.

As we know Liverpool teetered on the brink throughout last season and are now run by the banks who have installed a Chelsea season ticket holder as the chairman of the club.  Oh what must the kop enders be thinking.  20 years without winning the league, utterly bankrupt and supported only by a bank that wants its money back and run by a Chelsea man.  No wonder the manager is rather worried about playing in the double extra pre-preliminary extra round of the Dopey Cup this week against Bloghurstein Village Juniors.  It is going to be a tough one.

But back to Man IOU. The great revolution involving wearing scarves of different colours from the team (while still wearing a shirt of the team) has always looked a little odd to me, but we were promised a much more vibrant campaign when the season ticket holders held off renewing until the last minute.

And those season ticket holders have done just that. In fact their watches must have stopped as they were looking for that last minute because Man IOU are now anxiously trying to flog 4000 regular season tickets.

Of course 4000 season tickets probably only represents around 8% or so of the total volume of season tickets on offer at Very Old Trafford (100 years old this year – see “Making the Arsenal” for details of its birth).  But there are two facts to note.
One is that these are regular season tickets – not club class or anything like that.
Two is that there is no waiting list at Man IOU for season tickets.

Now this summer there was a very real attempt by some of the anti-Arsenal Arsenal (AAA) blogs to try and suggest that the Arsenal season ticket waiting list had gone and that something like 80% of season ticket holders were walking away.  Apart from this being a thoroughly bizarre statement given the fact that every game sells out, all the evidence is that this is not true, and indeed it is hard to find many people who have given up their season tickets this year.  Likewise the waiting list seems as strong as ever.  But more on Arsenal and the AAA in a moment.

First, what’s to be learned from the downturn in demand at Manchester IOU?

Clearly it can’t be the lack of success on the pitch.  No, it is something else – the feeling about the club.  Some people just don’t want to be a part of the Glazer machine any more.  They don’t want to feel that the money they pay for their tickets goes into the Glazer created interest account used to pay the banks and others for their borrowings.

Of course we have no way of knowing if this decline in interest will continue any further.  Searching back through old messages on the Man U supporters sites http://community.manutd.com/forums/t/14459.aspx for example it is clear that in 2008 there was a waiting list and that many people who were on it were not getting season tickets that year.

Back in July 2007 Man U were reported by Channel 4 to be saying that they had  56,000 season tickets and 40,000 on a waiting list.

All these figures are hard to validate, and many don’t believe them.  Arsenal FC constnatly state that there are 40,000 on the Arsenal waiting list now, but many of the anti-ArsenalArsenal  blogs reject this figure – largely it seems based on having a number of mates coming along and offering to do illegal deals over season tickets with AAA site owners.

But let’s ignore the constant, endless attempt by the AAA blogs to destroy our club and its support, and look at what seems to be a real decline in the Man U situation.  From 40,000 on the waiting list to 4000 unsold and no waiting list in 3 seasons, two of which included winning the league.

Certainly if this continues then either this year or by next year there will be gaps on the Man U seats, and we will truly have seen a wholesale revolt of supporters against owners.  In three more years Very Old Trafford will be half full.

So could we see that too at Arsenal – with the AAA orchestrating a campaign that gets Wenger out?

It seems unlikely simply because Wenger has a massive level of support – you only have to go to the games to hear the pro-Wengerian chants.  At Man U you can’t find a single person who supports the Glazers.  Apart from the board.

The fact is that nothing can redeem the situation at Man U, whereas Wenger’s continuing success in keeping our club profitable and in the top four, with an astonishing array of talent coming through, gives hope to many who think about Arsenal in the broadest sense.

While the AAA shout and scream that we have only bought two players this summer, the real supporters know that we have in fact also got a bunch of teenagers of amazing ability coming through – Wilshere, Frimpong, JET… all of whom will be featuring for us this year.

That’s really the point – there is a solid and clear reason to support Wenger and there are tens of thousands of people without tickets who would love tickets, who do support Wenger.  Thus the waiting list stays solid.  At Man U, no one likes the Glazers, and people are simply walking away.

Interestingly, because the AAA’s campaign to destroy our club is not making much ground they are trying new tactics – you may have spotted one of the most amusing creeping into Untold with comments suggesting that I am a Tottenham supporter in disguise, and that Untold itself is anti-Arsenal because it talks so much about money in football.  There was another one yesterday, saying that I really ought to learn something about football before I tried to run a blog.

Fair enough – each to his/her own opinion.  There’s no problem with these comments, because unlike some of the AAA sites Untold doesn’t change people’s comments once they have been posted.  If they are copied from other sites, or if we find people writing in using different names to try and make it look like they are several people rather than one, yes I do take action.  But otherwise, its an open forum.

Perversely I quite like the attacks on Untold and  these wild stories about 80% of season ticket holders giving up, because when the ground is once again full for games next season, and we see yet another brilliant team produced by nurturing young talent, it really is very funny.

Having watched the couple of games so far, I am getting a really strong buzz about this year.  I think we might not only be able to beat the other clubs, but also deal with the injury jinx.  At last we might have just enough bodies to survive the onslaught of the anti-football clubs.