No more excuses Robin van Persie

Arsenal fans have seen Robin van Persie find himself recieving treatment too often during his careers. The Dutch international striker has yet to register a goal this season. (Courtesy Platform3/Ed W)

By Joe Meloni

He wasn’t entirely invisible on Monday night. He dressed for the game, and I’m pretty sure he touched the ball once or twice. He must have – he played 76 minutes.

If you missed Robin van Persie in Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Chelsea, don’t worry about it. You weren’t the only one.

In the day-old afterglow of Arsenal’s improbable three points, Arsenal fans refuse to discuss anything even remotely negative. They’re not wrong to savor the Kool-aid as long as they can. Big wins haven’t come easy for Arsenal in recent years – especially those against Chelsea and Manchester United. No one really cares which player scored the clinching goal or made the decisive defensive play. Arsenal has three more points than it did when the game started. Moving on.

Still, one of Arsenal’s talismans, van Persie, faded into the background, while the new guys, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, led the Arsenal offense.

For years, Arsenal fans and their beloved boss, Arsene Wenger, spoke of van Persie’s health like a mythical creature. No one’s ever seen it for any extended period of time, and we go years without sightings. When we see it, though, it’s pretty amazing.

What The Soccer Guys Are Reading– Sept. 21, 2010

The Guardian — Tom Hicks fails in latest attempt to secure Liverpool private equity — by Owen Gibson

Liverpool fans have been begging and pleading for the club’s American owners to finally move on and sell the club that they bought in 2007 with so much promise. Tom Hicks and his partner George Gillett have struggled to pay off the enormous loans they took on when buying the club in 2007. Now, the debt has become too much for the American owners to keep delaying the big payoff and wait for a new buyer. The Royal Bank of Scotland has already started the process to take over the club and sell it if Hicks and Gillett can’t. Hicks was hoping to seal a new loan deal to buyout Gillett and try and find a suitable buyer. Doesn’t look like its happening.

The Independent – Messi was ‘hunted’ by Atletico says Pique

It looked like a break when the replay was shown, but Barcelona got some good news when the team found out that Lionel Messis injury wasn’t as bad as first thought. Messi was carted off the field after an ugly challenge from Tomas Ujfalusi left the player wilted on the field. Ujfalusi received a two match ban after the review board of La Liga looked over the tackle by the Atletico Madrid player.

Sky Sports — Cesc out for three weeks

Arsenal blew a goal lead to Sunderland on Saturday. And the team lost a lot more than three points, the team lost its captain Cesc Fabregas for three weeks. Fabregas injured his hamstring while scoring Arsenal’s goal on Saturday. Arsenal’s captain  joins Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner on the shelf. Arsene Wenger, Arsenal’s captain, could be seeing his English Premier League title hopes fading as his team suffers one injury after another.

What The Soccer Guys Are Reading — Sept. 8, 2010

Theo Walcott becomes the latest Gunner toadd himself to the injury list. Arsene Wenger is surely tired of international breaks during the Premier League season. Courtesy khanh_coltech

The Telegraph — Parents of prostitute linked to Wayne Rooney apologise to Coleen

It’s not the apology that Wayne Rooney’s wife, Colleen is waiting for, but it’s a start. In the last week the rumors of Rooney’s affairs have pooped up all over the Internet and in ink across England, but the England striker has yet to acknowledge them and his wife has been left reeling. The high-school sweethearts have been the darlings of the English press because they were different than the rest of the soccer players and the WAGS, guess somethings never change. How does it compare to some of his England teammates affairs?

New York Times — FIFA Begins Tour of Sites in U.S. Bid — by Jeff Z. Klein

Americans bought more tickets to the World Cup this year than any other country, and the single largest television contract for this year’s World Cup in South Africa was in the United States. Impressive stats from a country not known for its love of the beautiful game. With those stats the U.S. hopes to win a bid to host either the 2018 or 2022 World Cup in the states. The U.S. has the infrastructure to hold the games, but does the country show the desire that say England, the Netherlands or Australia and Japan have? The officials in charge are trying their best to show FIFA the U.S. has soccer fever and deserves one of the two bids.

What The Soccer Guys Are Reading – August 24, 2010

Arsenal forward Theo Walcott scored three goals against Blackpool om Saturday, which led to comparisons to Arsenal great Thierry Henry by manager Arsene Wenger.

ESPN Soccer – Hat trick draws Henry comparisons for Theo

After scoring three goals in Arsenal’s 6-0 thrashing of everyone’s second-favorite Premier League team Blackpool, Theo Walcott has drawn perhaps the ultimate compliment from manager Arsene Wenger. While Wenger praised his future as a striker, he also compared the 21-year-old Englishman to former Arsenal legend and current New York Red Bulls striker Thierry Henry. Walcott has struggled to find regular playing time since joining Arsenal, but with his manager’s backing 2010-11 could be a huge season for the youngster.

The Guardian – Liverpool reject €15m bid from Barcelona for Javier Mascherano – James Callow

Despite his refusal to play on Monday in a 3-0 loss to Manchester City, Liverpool is still holding strong on its financial demands for midfielder Javier Mascherano. The Argentine has already agreed to terms with La Liga side Barcelona, as part of his family’s goal to get the hell out of Liverpool. While Liverpool respects his wish to leave Merseyside, it will not agree to any contract that does not provide any financial benefit. Roy Hodgson will need a lot of motivation to start Lucas 36 more times.

Capello Finalizes England's Squad

By Cameron Dickinson of The National Game

All the speculation finally ended at 3 p.m. yesterday when Fabio Capello put the nation out of its misery by naming the 2010 World Cup squad.

Gone were the shock call-ups of the past (Theo Walcott in 2006 anyone?) as the manager appears to be placing his faith in those that have experience at the international level, rather than those with fewer caps.

Already some are willing to write off the tournament as they do not agree with some of the choices made by the Italian, but then this would be the case no matter who was in the final 23. At least the questions can stop for now, and we can now look forward to the greatest event in the world — which kicks off in just nine days.

Capello Still Has Decisions To Make

By Mark Duckworth of The National Game

So the dust has settled on another Premier League campaign, and the attention will turn to South Africa and England as they look for glory. But before we get to June 11,  Fabio Capello has some choices to make and with the announcement of Capello’s 30 man squad today, Mark Duckworth takes a look at some of the old and new faces trying to get a seat on the plane to South Africa.

Robinho Moves Home (For Now)

By Kevin Koczwara

The English Premier League’s most expensive signing ever is heading home to Brazil for six months on loan, but is that to say that Robinho will never play in England again? or wear the Manchester City jersey again?

I believe Robinho will return to Manchester City next year, for the first part of the year at the least. But he needs time to think about his life, his future and his place in the world.

And to do that, he needs to go back to Brazil and express himself on the pitch.

Fantasy League Horrors

By Kevin Koczwara

Week 7 looks to be the first promising one in a while after I had to make some major changes and wait out some difficult stretches. It would help if I could get past what teams players play for and how the approach the game. I would have a lot more points if I chose a Drogba or a Wayne Rooney, but I refuse.

Is anyone else being hurt in their fantasy league because their major players are being injured? I am being destroyed by injuries. I started with Theo Walcott and Robinho on my starting 11, and both got hurt. Robinho at least made it onto the pitch for a game or two, but I was sure he was a shoe in this year for major points in fantasy and high flying scoring numbers. Manchester City have so many weapons around him — Roque Santa Cruz is hurt, but when he returns he will be there 4 or 5 striker, he can start on any team in the Premier League right now.  But it was only a matter of time before Robinho got hurt before he could make a huge impact on my fantasy team.