Swansea City Away and Rumours of the Day

It looks as though the Chamakh to West Ham talk has materialised as a six month loan deal with a view to buy at the end of the season. Clearly he doesn't feature in Le Boss's plans anymore so if we can get him off our books then that's great. All the best to you Marouane. Thank you and good luck.    

Moving on, it's the third round of the FA Cup this weekend and we travel to The Liberty Stadium to face Swansea City for the second time this season. I don't think it's neccessary that I remind you how we faired against them about a month ago at the Emirates. For me, that game was undoubtedly the second lowest point of the season so far, just beaten by Le Boss's zip breaking live on TV. If we can't manage our wardrobe, how are we supposed to manage a football club. Frankly it is an embarrasment I would like to put behind Arsenal Football Club and move on.

I suggest that an excellent way to do this, will be by beating Swansea tomorrow and moving into the fourth round of the FA Cup. Swansea just so happen to have a Captial One Cup semi-final with Chelsea to worry about on the following wednesday so don't be too surprised (and delighted) if we face up against a weakened team on Sunday afternoon should they prioritise one cup over another. Expect to see the impressive Michu sit this one out as he has just recently returned from injury. Unlike Swansea, we are coming out of the tail end of a fixture list about as squashed as our title hopes, meaning our following game is a week away. So expect a full team (not that you wouldn't have anyway).

Having said that, we should be confident that our team is more than capable of outplaying Swansea, weakened team or not. Do not get me wrong, I have been just as impressed with Swansea this season (and last) as everyone else has, and rightly so. They are a team that is very confident on the ball who aim to play football in a style that is attractive and entertaining and as a gooner, I certainly respect that. Having said that, Arsenal should be aiming to win this match on their own merits and not on conditions which force Swansea to rest players etc.

Pictures by Ronnie Macdonald

There is alot of discussion about how seriously Arsenal should be taking the FA Cup in light of the fact that we haven't won it, or anything else, in quite a few years. I think four or five years ago Le Boss was a bit more coy in his selections at this stage of the competition, still fielding some of the young guns, but in recent years I think he has accepted the situation and recognises that this is perhaps our best chance of some decent silverware. Though it was the league cup, I still rue the day we slipped up against Birmingham City in Wembly. I honestly think just winning any cup would do wonders for the mentality of the squad. No cup should be balked at, no matter the size of it. Just look how mental everyone goes over the Ashes.

Right, now if you would kindly follow me into the rumour mill. Twitter has EXPLODED with David Villa rumours. I say exploded, really there was just some tweet in french about it but the french definately seems to lend it a sense of authority so I'm sold. All kidding aside there are some Villa rumours going around from somewhat reliable sources stating a €15M fee has been offered. What makes it slightly believable is that €15M is a pretty classic Arsene Wenger offer. It's very much his 'go to' offer.

If we assume for a minute that this offer is real and the rumours are true, what then do people think of David Villa joining the club? You hear the name and your immidiate reaction is ''brilliant''. You hear the age and recent injury trouble and you still react with "brilliant''. Honestly, if he breaks in a couple years but did well until then, and his record for club and country suggests he likely would, he would be worth the €15M, especially considering the sum of money we received for Van Persie. But hey, this is just another rumour for now so I wouldn't give it much credence until he conforms to his Arsenal DNA and signs da ting (I've already ordered my Villa Jersey).

Enjoy your weekend, goonpa loompas.

The Goonatic