PODOLSKI SCORES AFTER 6 SECONDS!

Prince Poldi put Germany 1 nil up against Ecuador in todays friendly in Boca Raton, Florida. The fastest goal in the German National teams history.

The Gooner was quick to dispossess defender Gabriel Achilier after Ecuador hastily retreated from the kick-off. Podolski mugged-off the timid defender and was left to half-volley the bobbling ball low past the keeper from the corner of the 18.

The weak German squad managed to go 4 - 0 up against the South American side who are currently ranked #10 by FIFA.

The goals didn't stop there. Lukas bagged an early brace as did Lars Bender before a slight resurgence from Ecuador in the second half.

The game finished 4 - 2 and Podolski's double strike will do wonders for his confidence and hopefully fill that gap between Olivier Bierhoff's chin and nose for a little while.
The German squads General Manager had this week stated that Podolski had had a "unsatisfactory performance over the last season." And questioned his inclusion in the national team.

Shut your pie-hole! There's only room for one 'Hoff' in Deutschland!

Ok - so he may have a slight point here. I agree that Lukas should have shone a tad brighter than he did given his obvious quality.
I just get a bit defensive when I hear non-Gooner's talk shit about our good players.

Podolski responded with: "If it seems that way to Mr Bierhoff, then that's his opinion. You don't have to discuss it. I do not care, I know what I have in me."

Although, Podolski's infrequent inclusion by Wenger gives a strong debate for Lukas's dip in form, only the Frenchman seems to know why Podolski was kept on the sideline so much during a seemingly injury-free debut season...

Anyways, hats off to Prince Poldi and may there be many more!

Check out the goal here...

http://deadspin.com/lukas-podolski-scores-goal-six-seconds-into-match-again-510366169

ASHLEY WILLIAM'S - ALMOST A DONE DEAL?

So it looks like Swansea center back Ashley Williams is set to be a Gooner!

Do we need another CB you ask?

Well if the reports that Thomas Vermaelen is on his way out then yes he's an awesome third choice (granted Le Prof doesn't break up the 'Mertercielny').

Then again, if it was up to me - we'd keep the 'out of favor' Belgian as he's obviously still a World class talent suffering a slight career slump.
In regards to our poor luck with injury's, it would make sense to have these four to rely on. Koscielny, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Williams sounds pretty good doesn't it!
But if The Verminator does vie for first team football - then now is probably the most lucrative time for his departure.

The word on the street is that an agreement of around £10 million has been accepted after Arsenal started the bid at £8 mil. The Pre-contract negotiations are said to be be for three years at around £60 grand a week for the 28 year-old which us a significant jump from his reported £10 grand a week income.

Williams leads Europe (top 5 leagues) for total blocked shots for last season at a total of 53, the Welsh International will become an instant fan-favorite at Arsenal for one other reason than his impressive stats.

Here's why...



Oops!

PIC ('S) OF THE DAY...

A number of the Arsenal squad are tweeting this picture taken in the locker room after todays 1 - 0 win over Newcastle.

Here are some more beauties...

Happy Trolling!

1 - 0 TO THE ARSENAL! EUROPA LEAGUE FOR THE SCUM!

Now we can all relax...

Let out a deep sigh of relief and then laugh uncontrollably at the expense of 'Tottenham Not-So-Hot-Spur'.

After all that Adebayor sh!t-talking, Villas-Boas's attempted mind games, Gareth Bale's sickeningly good performances and pretty much the entire EPL fan-base hating on us Gooners.

ARSENAL FC ARE IN THE CHAMPION$ LEAGUE FOR THE 16th YEAR RUNNING!

Take it!

"How does it feel!?!"

"Now f*#k off to Madrid!"

Laurent Koscielny (probably the EPL's best performing defender) scored the only but vital goal in the 52nd after a pretty dire first half at the Sports Direct Arena.

It was a weird goal - the ball crossed in by Walcott from a wide free kick. The ball skims off Podolski's head, Laurent Koscielny instinctively rolls Fabricio Coloccini and gains an inch to re-direct the ball. The French defender's high kick pinged off the keepers head and in to the far corner. That's all it takes.

At first glance it could have looked in inch offside (which it wasn't), and garnered almost a muted reception from the traveling fans who were a little surprised it was in the back of the net.

Meanwhile at White Hart Lane, Gareth Bale was booked for a dive in the box in the first half against Sunderland. And then a little later 'monkey-boy' hits the post with a low and long drive before scoring an absolute belter from over 25 yards out in the 90th minute to make it 1 - 0.

Fingers were being chewed down to the bone in dying seconds, in the 91st a Walcott break ended in the Newcastle post being rattled as Theo's clever toe-poke deceives the keeper.

Newcastle threatened to do Spurs a favor as the clock rounded up to 94 mins of extra time but we held out with the ball in possession for the final whistle.

Chelsea's 2 - 1 victory over Everton leaves the final standing looking like:

All we need now is for Arsene to spend all that cash!

Watch this space...

AFC BEAT WIGAN DESPITE MIKE DEAN'S BIAS

He looks like Jasper Carrott and he's from Wirral, Merseyside which is right next to Wigan (29.9 miles).
Just saying...

My heart dropped when I saw that Dean would be reffing this crunch match. We win and we go one point above Spurs. Wigan loose and they're relegated just after sealing the FA Cup against Man City.

So when Dean blew for a weak foul after after Malony leans in to Arteta you could feel it wasn't good.
25 yards out and Malony rockets a curling and dipping ball in to the far corner. Szczesny's hand on the ball was no deterrent to the power and placement of the ball.

Podolski's first half header and Arsenal's early domination were cancelled out by the incompetent ref.

Going in to the second half it didn't look good. End to end stuff and with a disallowed offside effort saw Szczesny picking the ball out f the net for the second time.

But 3 goals in 8 minutes all on swift counter attacks added Walcott, Podolski (2nd) and Aaron Ramsay to the score sheet. 4-1 to the Arsenal!

All in all a very tense, hard-fought much needed win.

In fairness to Wigan the scoreline didn't reflect their effort. Arsenal definitely deserved to win this but it's a shame it's at Wigan's expense as the Northern club head down in to the English Championship.

Take that Spurs!

DON'T BELIEVE 'HIGUAN' YOU READ

Thank you to 'Here Is The City.com's' Dan Coombs for breaking down some transfer bullshiz which is extremely refreshing to read: HITC.com...

Sometimes I feel I don't post enough AFC news here on TalkingoutmyArsenal.com. The main restriction being my full time job and family to consider, but also because on a day to day basis there's so much absolute desperate tripe written out there - mostly transfer tripe on 'done deals' and 'release clause triggering!'.

Ironically, most of the misleading headlines and fact-less body's of work are spawned by the established -or should I say infamous- tabloid sports blogs.

Rule of thumb - If it ain't confirmed on Arsenal.com it ain't confirmed. I get so tired of reading the same misleading trash.

I don't care what the Daily Mail or Caught Offside choose to report. It will be a different story tomorrow with a calculated re-visit a fortnight later in an attempt to validate.
The red-tab newspaper's have been using this contriving format for years. Sometimes it works out, the 'said information' has to come from somewhere right? I mean if the story isn't at least feasible you'd have no readers to start with.

For most of these 'sports writers' it's a win-win situation. The sheer volume of top-class footballing talent either coming to the end of their contract or looking for potential suiters are plentiful, then you throw in one of 20+ top-flight teams of media interest, throw in some figures and you've got yourself a feasible story.

I'm not saying Gonzalo Higuan to Arsenal for £19 million isn't true, nor am I saying that I wouldn't welcome him to North London with open arms, but really...

It's almost a full time job rummaging through the trash to find the true sources (if any) to many fabrications out there.

Again - Higuan may not be a fabrication but I'm definitely taking it with a pinch of salt.

NEWCASTLE ARE SAFE - PARDEW MAY BE A GOONER...

What does Newcastle's 2-1 victory over QPR mean?

Well it means unfortunately they won't be relegated this season. They did come close though. - Oh how I would relish in Alan Pardew's excuses for failure. I love to see that impudent bitch squirm.

Never been fond of the magpies, I'm not gonna lie. They're a dirty, cheating, tactic-less team; even with Joey Barton gone I worry we'll either get a retaliation-red or end up with a player injured.
Enough of my rant.

For us, Newcastle staying up is actually a massive plus in relation to the last game of the season.

Alan Pardew was obviously delighted after today's result telling reporters:

AP - "We got an important result today. I don’t really care if Arsenal win 4-0 if I’m honest – I’m sure Spurs will – but I only care that our fans enjoy themselves."

So hopefully he'll either field the Newcastle B-team or rest his prized assets next week?

We shouldn't have too much trouble, even though St James Park can be a torrid place to go despite Newcastle's lackluster performances.
I do however believe that they'll be especially relaxed coming in, and hopefully we'll be intensely hungry.

COYG!