Adebayor to stay at Arsenal during ACN

The 2008 African Cup of Nations will last from January 20 until February 10, calling up African players from all over the Premiership. Arsenal looked set to lose Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure, and Emmanuel Adebayor for that period of time, and there were some concerns that we would be light both up front and in central defense.

However, the effects of the ACN have been dampened by the fact that Togo has failed to qualify. This means that prolific Arsenal striker Adebayor will be staying with his club. It comes as a blow to Togo (and to Adebayor who I'm sure was looking forward to representing his country in the ACN) but Togo's pain is Arsenal's pleasure, and Adebayor staying is a major lift.

We will still struggle in the center of defense without Kolo Toure, though. The Ivorian defender has been incredibly solid at center back, whether partnered with Philippe Senderos or William Gallas. Even with the return of Johann Djourou, Arsenal will be in some serious trouble if Gallas gets injured (as he has managed to do quite often since his transfer from Chelsea) so I hope that the Micah Richards rumors are true.

We will be playing Newcastle, Manchester City, and Blackburn while the African Cup of Nations is going on, and if we can weather the storm, we have a great chance of winning the title.

Arsenal Internationals: Who's Playing Where

Gael Clichy, Abou Diaby, Mathieu Flamini, William Gallas, Bacary Sagna - Five Arsenal players have been selected to play for France in important qualifying fixtures against the Faroe Islands on October 13th and Lithuania on October 17th. Flamini received his first call-up to the national side, thanks in large part to his impressive club form of late. This is also Clichy's first call-up to the senior national team, but the young left-back is unlikely to feature. Gallas and Sagna both missed the last round of internationals due to injury, but Sagna has been playing for the club recently and Gallas has also returned to club training, making it likely that both will play during the international break.

Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure - Arsenal center-back Kolo Toure and right-back Emmanuel Eboue have both been called up to play in the Ivory Coast's October 17th friendly against Austria.

Emmanuel Adebayor - Prolific striker Emmanuel Adebayor will travel to play with Togo against Mali on October 12th. Togo's hopes may rest on the head of Adebayor, who is currently the Premier League's top scorer.

Nicklas Bendtner - The 19 year-old Dane has been selected to represent his country against teammate Cesc Fabregas' Spain on the 13th and Latvia on the 17th.

Eduardo - The Brazilian-born Croat has been selected to play for Croatia against Israel and Slovakia on the 13th and 16th respectively. However, he is unlikely to feature due to a groin strain. He is, though, likely to be back in time for Arsenal's Premier League match against Bolton Wanderers next weekend.

Cesc Fabregas - Arsenal's in-form midfield maestro will take on teammate Nicklas Bendtner in Spain's match against Denmark on October 13, after which he will travel to Finland to take on the Finnish national team.

Gilberto - Arsenal's out-of-favor holding midfielder was still called up to Dunga's Brazil team for their matches against Colombia and Ecuador on the 14th and 17th of this month. The Brazil captain is likely to start for his home country, despite the fact that he has been sitting on the bench lately at the club.

Alex Hleb - Balarussian midfielder Alex Hleb will feature for his country against Luxembourg and Israel on the 13th and 17th, and will hope that his recent scoring touch with Arsenal will break through into his national game.

Jens Lehmann - Under pressure goalkeeper Jens Lehmann will make his return from injury for Germany against the Republic of Ireland on October 13th, before facing Tomas Rosicky's Czech side on the 17th. The goalie will be hoping for two impressive performances to keep Manuel Almunia out of the Arsenal goal.

Tomas Rosicky - Tomas Rosicky will do his best to prevent Jens Lehmann from registering a clean sheet as he plays for the Czech Republic against Germany on the 17th.

Phillipe Senderos - The Swiss defender, who has been standing in for the injured William Gallas at Arsenal lately, has been called up to face Austria and the USA in two friendlies on the 13th and 17th of October.

Robin van Persie - Robin van Persie is set to return to Romania and play against Slovenia as the Netherlands attempt to qualify for the 2008 European Championships. The Dutchman, who has been forming a great partnership with Emmanuel Adebayor will hope to aid his country in the qualification process.

Theo Walcott - Arsenal's only British player was called up to represent the England U21's, who are set to face Montenegro and the Republic of Ireland on October 12 and 16 respectively.

Arsenal Rumors: Bendtner On His Way Out

Arsenal's young Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner could be on his way out of the club. The 6 ft. 4 in. front man performed admirably in Arsenal's preseason fixtures after returning from a season long loan to Birmingham.

The few games that he played during the Summer prompted me to write an article comparing the talents of Bendtner and the prodigal Englishman Theo Walcott. In that article, I stated that Bendtner could be an even more prolific striker than Walcott has been slated to become. Bendtner is good in the air, towering over most defenders; but he also has strength and skill on the ball.

With his great size comes a great amount of strength, and his dribbling in the preseason fixture against PSG was what really caught my eye. As he is one of our greatest talents, I would be heartbroken to see him playing for any other team.

However, the incredible form of Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie has kept him out of any first team action so far this season. Due to this lack of first team chances, he has stated that he may seek to play for another club.

"It's obvious that I don't want to sit on the bench for two years.

"There might be problems with my form in a few months, but I might also get more playing time.

"I will stay at Arsenal to fight for my chance and in case it doesn't work, I will join a different club permanently."

Let's hope that he is given some chances, so he stays at Arsenal. Let's also hope that Arsene Wenger was right when he said that Bendtner would not be leaving the club.

Arsenal Rumors: Micah Richards

Micah Richards has stated that he would join Arsenal if he were given the chance. The 19 year-old Manchester City defender says that he was an Arsenal supporter when he was younger and that he wouldn't mind joining the ranks of brilliant young gunners.

"I was a big Ian Wright fan when I was younger, so I supported Arsenal," Richards said. "Wright and Patrick Vieira were my idols so yeah, if the opportunity came to play for them one day I'd take it.

"But right now I'm concentrating on trying to keep City in the top half, and we've got the players to do it."

Center back is one of the few positions in which I feel Arsenal need improvement, and Micah Richards would be the perfect candidate to shore up our defense.

At the tender age of 19 Micah Richards has already played fifty games for City, and has seven England caps. He is a strong, versatile defender, and his team spirit is evidenced by the fact that he has already captained the Manchester City side in the absence of Richard Dunne.

Richards would cost a fine sum to bring to Arsenal, but he would be a great replacement for Kolo Toure when the Ivorian leaves for the African Cup of Nations. Without Richards, we would be stuck with only William Gallas, Philippe Senderos, and Johann Djourou at center back. Of these Gallas is the only player deserving of a starting spot, and Richards would therefore be a great addition. Richards would make a great partner for any of our central defenders, thanks to his strength and spirit.

The Manchester City defender has the talent to become one of the best in the world. I say that with Arsenal being the second richest club in the world, and Arsene Wenger's reportedly huge warchest, we would do well to pick up Micah Richards in January no matter his price.

Almunia vs. Lehmann: Round Two

In a previous article I argued that Jens Lehmann should be Arsenal's first choice goalkeeper. Other than his early blunders this season Lehmann has always been a sound 'keeper for Arsenal, and two errors are not enough to forget about a man who has spent four years with our club. When I polled the readers of this blog, however, the results differed from my beliefs - 58% of readers claimed that Manuel Almunia was the better keeper.

Nonetheless, with Lehmann on the verge of a return from injury, I maintain that the German hothead should be Arsene Wenger's number one. Almunia is a great backup, and he has produced some good performances in Lehmanns absence, even holding clean sheets for 5 consecutive games prior to last Sunday's clash with newly promoted Sunderland.

However, a clean sheet does not verify the skills of a goalkeeper. Our defending has been very solid this season, and many of the teams we played against were admittedly wasteful with their chances. The truth of the matter is, Almunia has not been forced to make many saves - and he has not made any saves of the caliber of a world-class keeper like Crazy Jens.

In fact, Sunderland's second goal was very stoppable, and in my match review I even mentioned that I thought Lehmann would have made the save. Our defense was partially at fault for letting up the pressure on Kenwyne Jones, but I still feel that Almunia should have at least gotten fingers to Jones' header.

Not only does Jens have the better reactions, but the German is also more experienced and is better at dealing with crosses and long balls. While he may be a bit volatile, Lehmann is by far the oldest and most experienced player on a young Arsenal team which needs a backbone. Also, whereas Almunia is often seen completely missing punches, Arsenal fans could always feel assured when Lehmann went up for a ball in the box.

As the best of Arsenal's keepers, Jens Lehmann deserves the starting berth against Bolton after the international break. At the very least, doubters should watch to see how he plays for Germany over the weekend before shastily tossing him out in favor of Almunia.

Whomever is chosen to play against Bolton, they better play well, as rumors state that Arsene Wenger is looking into buying Robert Green or Almenning Jarsteina in January.

Arsenal vs. Sunderland: Match Review

Match Preview

Arsenal went back on top of the Premier League table, beating Sunderland 3-0 to make it 10 straight wins. A Robin van Persie double inspired the hosts to a late victory over Roy Keane's stubborn Sunderland side.

Lineups:
Arsenal: Manuel Almunia; Bacary Sagna, Kolo Toure, Philippe Senderos, Gael Clichy; Alex Hleb, Cesc Fabregas, Mathieu Flamini, Abou Diaby; Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie

Sunderland: Craig Gordon; Danny Higginbotham, Paul McShane, Nyron Nosworthy, Danny Collins; Grant Leadbitter, Liam Miller, Ross Wallace, Michael Chopra, Dwight Yorke; Kenwyne Jones

The hosts started the game brightly, with Robin van Persie feeding Emmanuel Adebayor through in the first minute. The Togolese striker, who is the top scorer in the Premier League with 6 goals, shot over the bar in what was a warning of the Arsenal onslaught to come.

In the 7th minute, Cesc Fabregas was taken down just outside the 18 yard box, and Abou Diaby's strike (the first of 5 Arsenal balls to hit the back of the Sunderland net) was ruled out because the referee had already blown his whistle. Amends were made though when van Persie powered the resulting free kick into Craig Gordon's goal. It was a true Robin van Persie strike, a powerful left-footed shot, which couldn't be kept out of the net.

Only 7 minutes later, Arsenal added a second after a badly cleared corner kick fell to Philippe Senderos, who made no mistake from close range. Roy Keane was (rightly) furious with his team's defending, but his fury wouldn't last too long.

In the 20th minute, Arsenal looked to have added a third when Abou Diaby shot into the roof of the net, but the referee's assistant flagged for a dubious offsides call.

Five minutes later Sunderland got a break from the previously tight Arsenal defense. A long ball to Kenwyne Jones who outpowered Gael Clichy and got off a shot. Almunia saved well, but the rebound fell to Ross Wallace who calmly slotted home.

Arsenal had two great chances to go two goals up again before the halftime whistle, but a good save from Robin van Persie's 25 yard screamer kept the margin to one. Philippe Senderos had the last clear chance of the game, as he headed wide from three or four yards out after losing his marker.

It was Sunderland who made the best of their chances after the break though. Liam Miller crossed the ball to Kenwyne Jones, who headed it past Manuel Almunia. The keeper did not react well, and I would have thought that Jens Lehmann would have saved the shot. I can't wait for Crazy Jens to get back.

Arsenal nearly took the lead after an incredibly powerful 30 yard shot from Kolo Toure came off of Gordon's goalpost.

Theo Walcott, who had come on for Diaby in the 57th minute, then missed his kick from 4 yards after a cut back from Alex Hleb. He did better in the 80th minute though, as he played in van Persie who controlled the ball well and slotted home with his second touch, granting Arsenal the full 3 points.

Paul McShane was shown a straight red card just before stoppage time for a nasty tackle on Alex Hleb, and the man advantage showed immediately.

Theo Walcott once again did well with an angled drive, but his shot hit Gordon's post in injury time. It didn't matter though, as Arsene Wenger's young side had already claimed their 10th straight victory.

Although they didn't look as assured in this match, I am proud of our side. They are showing the spirit of champions, and if they continue to play like this on their bad days, Arsenal will surely win the title.

Does Eboue Have A Place At Arsenal?

Emmanuel Eboue played 35 games for Arsenal last season, taking the first-choice right-back position from Lauren (who transferred to Portsmouth due to his lack of first-team play). The Ivorian was criticized for his defending, but put in some brilliant crosses, prompting some to propose playing him on the right wing.

During the Summer transfer window, Arsene Wenger brought in the fabulous Frenchman Bacary Sagna. Sagna has been a rock at right-back, defending and attacking well. Along with Gael Clichy he provided width in an otherwise narrow Arsenal side, and his defending has been as good as any right-back at Arsenal.

Having lost his place at right-back, Arsene Wenger (and many Arsenal fans) thought that now was a good time to test him out in the midfield. He played a few pre-season games at right-mid, and failed to have much influence. Following an injury, he came back to play against Newcastle in our 2-0 Carling Cup victory over Big Sam's side. He featured again in the 1-0 victory over West Ham after Alex Hleb was taken off, and then started in the 1-0 defeat of Steaua Bucharest. However, he once again failed to have much impact in any of these games, making it unlikely for him to start tomorrow against Sunderland.

If he is second choice to Hleb and Diaby in the midfield, and to Sagna in the defense, do we really need him at the club? We have another capable right-back in 22 year-old Justin Hoyte, which means that Eboue will have limited chances in any competition other than the Carling Cup. Will he even want to stay under these conditions?

Of all of our players, Emmanuel Eboue is the only one that I would not mind selling in the January transfer window. He is surplus to Arsenal's requirements, and would likely command a fair sum of cash. Let's not hang on to him for too long.