Fabregas ruled out for two to three weeks

Right club, wrong incident. But you get the idea.

Fabregas ruled out for two to three weeks | News Archive | News | Arsenal.com

Arsenal Football Club have confirmed that Cesc Fabregas will be out for two to three weeks.

The Spanish midfielder gave the visitors an early lead at Sunderland on Saturday but then picked up a hamstring injury. He was substituted just before the half-hour. The extent of the injury was discovered after a scan on Monday afternoon.

Fabregas didn't even give us enough time to get used to his being back before getting injured again. Thankfully for Arsenal, they've got Nasri back, though that didn't work out TOO well earlier in the season. My $0.02 is that with ChamWow the focus of the attack, Arsenal have to work on playing the ball in from wide areas. That mean Clichy and Sagna have to play much better than they have so far this season. That means Eboue, if picked, needs to not drift infield and Arshavin, playing off ChamWow, needs to look to drop deep, get the ball centrally and move it wide. Look how effective Scholes has been for Manchester United simply by hitting accurate passes out to Nani on the wing. It's simple and effective, if difficult, and it will get behind any defence - something Arsenal haven't been able to do regularly since Henry lost a bit of pace.

The Week Ahead - Week 4 Edition

I was preparing myself to fill the space generally reserved for ranting about whatever is on my mind with news about the various injuries sustained by key players - Defoe, Dawson, Walcott, et al - over the international break but since Jeremy already covered that here and here there isn't much sense in being repetitive.  Just click and see his fine work.

Honestly, with 4 fantasy (gridiron) football teams getting ready to kickoff the new NFL season this evening and two weeks where there was very little news other than injuries, I have to say that I'm a little bit at a loss as to what to write about leading up to my weekly analysis.  I will go on record with a few NFL predictions that probably none of you outside of the US care about but I'd like to get them on record somewhere so I can take credit for them later in the year.  Plus, we're all about fantasy sports here so there is at least some relevance.

• Kevin Kolb may or may not get the Eagles to the playoffs but he's going to be an excellent fantasy quarterback.  Under Andy Reid (the exceedingly plump coach, not the slightly overweight Sunderland midfielder) the Eagles have always thrown for a lot of yards no matter who the QB has been.
• The New England Patriots aren't going to be very good this year.  Randy Moss bitching about his contract, best O-lineman holding out, best D-lineman out for the year, best CB out for the year, no quality running backs.  I am all for giving Brady/Belicheck their due but at some point there has to be some talent and I just don't see it.  No playoffs in New England.
• Arian Foster will be a top 10 fantasy running back.  Great offense and he fits their style to a T.
• Malcolm Floyd will be the Arian Foster of wide receivers.
• San Francisco will look great until the playoffs when they have to start playing much better teams.  SF players will be great for fantasy but will not deliver in the end when it matters - but maybe next year.
• Dallas will be a playoff team but not the best team in the NFC.
• Kansas City and Oakland will battle down to the wire for a playoff spot and both will be much better than expected on offense - I think Oakland will win out because they were already pretty solid on D.
• Green Bay and Baltimore (who should get healthier on defense as the year goes on) will play in the Super Bowl.
• Green Bay will win it all.

OK, I feel better having that out of the way.  For those of you who don't care, I apologize, back to the Premier League and EPL fantasy now.

A Nickname is Born

It's only one week into the season and I'm already tired of trying to remember if new Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh is spelled "kh" or "hk". I need a shortcut, so he needs a nickname.

In the spirit of "Who is K2" I am pleased to introduce, ChamWow!



The pitchman even has the same haircut!

Season Preview: Arsenal

I'm sure readers familiar with the blog will assume I'm being biased here in going with Arsenal first given my personal bias toward them but as it turns out, that is also how the alphabet works so rather than trying to figure out a different scheme for ordering the previews, the Gunners are first up.  (NOTE: for the purposes of this preview I am assuming the following... Cesc will be staying and Arsenal will land at least one more CB and a new goalkeeper. I'll update the preview if one or more of these things turns out to be untrue.] 

Overall Outlook - Arsenal were good enough to challenge for the title last season and should be at least slightly improved this season with the addition of Chamakh and Koscielny (and the presumed additional CB and GK).  They should continue to be a high scoring team with the hope that they can tighten up the defence with better health at the fullback spots and improved talent/attitude at the keeper and CB spots.  The most important change this season will be the addition of Chamakh to the attack which SHOULD allow Wenger to insert Chamakh as the target striker in his 4-3-3 flanked by Arshavin and RvP.  Assuming Cesc is pulling the strings and Song is back-stopping midfield there will be plenty of options for Wenger to choose from - Walcott, Nasri, Denilson, Diaby, Rosicky, Wilshere, etc - for the final midfield spot in his preferred XI.

The One Where Jeremy Picks a Team

Jeremy Spitzberg: have you put together a "real" team yet?
Jeremy Spitzberg: guess there's no hurry
Neal Thurman: check your text messages
Neal Thurman: :-)
Neal Thurman: EvdS, Boateng, Koscielny, [space for Korolev], MPet, Eth, JCole, DSilva, Chamack, new LIV striker, Roonaldo
Jeremy Spitzberg: why don't you just TELL me what movie you want to see
Neal Thurman: ?
Jeremy Spitzberg: never mind
Jeremy Spitzberg: jcole super cheap?
Jeremy Spitzberg: or you have expectations?
Neal Thurman: 7.06
Neal Thurman: cheap
Jeremy Spitzberg: too bad jovanovic is a striker
Neal Thurman: Riera already out the door, rumors that Maxi will follow - seems like they're making room for JCole - even if his stats are "Yossi-like" that's not terrible at 7
Jeremy Spitzberg: true
Jeremy Spitzberg: we'll see
Jeremy Spitzberg: emerton a middie
Jeremy Spitzberg: starting from the last page and working fwd
Jeremy Spitzberg: in case any bargains jump out at me

Gunners clinch Chamakh deal

Gunners clinch Chamakh deal

Arsenal have confirmed the signing of Morocco international striker Marouane Chamakh on a long-term contract from Bordeaux.

Chamakh has long been expected to join the Gunners and will arrive at Emirates Stadium on a free transfer at the end of his Bordeaux deal.

The 26-year-old has been a consistent scorer for the 2009 French champions and will bolster Arsene Wenger's attacking options for next season.

+10?

Analysis: K2 to Citeh

Football365.com - The Morning Guvnor Gossip - Transfer Gossip - Football365 News

CHAMAKH NEXT FOR ARSENAL
Arsenal are widely expected to pursue Bordeaux's Marouane Chamakh if and when Emmanuel Adebayor completes his move to Manchester City.

I have to say I don't know too much about Chamakh but here's a few thoughts on the potential move of K2 to Citeh from both sides of the equation.

Arsenal take... I guess it depends on which K2 you believe he is.  The one from two seasons ago was a game-changer and someone you would think Gooners the world over would be crying over the loss of.  More proof that Arsenal aren't a "big club" and will always lose their best players to clubs with deeper pockets and more ambition.  The guy who "showed up" last season? You'd have to be THRILLED to get £25M for him because he was mediocre when he played and a gigantic pain in the ass the entire season.  Seemed like he was already out the door so why not cash in at the earliest opportunity.  Even better that it's to a club that is likely to be so dysfunctional that he won't make much of a difference in the overall scheme of things.

Overall, if you're an Arsenal supporter you just have to hope that the money will be split between a replacement striker (Chamakh or Huntelaar or someone) and that illusive holding midfielder.  Heck, if there's another centre back on the way as well, that wouldn't be so bad.  In fact, I'd prioritize the signings as holding mid first, centre back second, and replacement "target" striker third (despite being a bit of an arrogant ass, Bendtner isn't bad and still has plenty of room to improve at his age).

Citeh take... What's going on in Manchester these days? Have the managers there developed some sort of striker-related blinders where the only players they see on the market they could possibly buy are strikers? Between United and Citeh, there has been an incredible focus up front while ignoring each squad's real need (for United the midfield and Citeh the defence).  Have they really just made RSC obsolete/second choice before he has even played his first pre-season match?  How much did they spend on him again?  Even at the height of their foolish spending earlier in the decade Chelsea didn't spend this poorly.

I know, I know they're going after John Terry too but in the wake of signing Barry, RSC and Tevez to go with Robinho, Bellamy, Caidedo, SWP, MPet, Ireland, and the rest you'd think that all focus would be on defenders - central and wide.  But hey, that's just me.

More as the transfer market progresses.