^^^looks like a different player compared to last year. Bendtner also is proving his worth, with an assist or a goal everytime he plays.

^^^Recently, yes. But back in the day Alex Ferguson used to call it the Mickey Mouse Cup but he's definitly going for it now.

^^I agree, Richards is a very good defender and has the potentil to be an excellent player. I say player because this guy can play in many positions and according to his old youth coaches at City, he plays best as a defensive midfielder. To be so young and yet to be a full international and play week in week out for your club shows this guy has what it takes. Carragher is also a good defender, he might not have the same amount of pace or skill but he makes up for it with his reading of the game and the inspiration that he can provide for a team. But there's no doubt that I would prefer Richards over him.

his name is Kolo Abib Toure, he mentioned that when he was on bbc mastermind.

^^Well thats the beauty of football, you obviously believe this will be a Man Utd title winning season. Now I'm no way saying that we are going to win the title and that its already done and dusted. But here's the thing, everytime Arsenal are written off, the produce something. For example the 05/06 season, the year we had to do without Vieira. Everyone said, Arsenal are finished they just sold their captain but we managed to reach final of the CL, which Arsenalhave never done. About the Chelsea game on sunday, 1-0 wasnt a bad score because at the end of the day a win is a win. I would have liked to increase our goal difference but it wasnt to be and 3 points in the bag from chelsea after our defeat agianst boro is a very positive sign. It means the team can overcome defeats which something a lot of ppl have been saying about Arsenal this season is whether or not they can overcome their first defeat. In terms of this season, I would be delighted to win either the CL or the PL, but at the same time, if the youngsters win the Carling Cup and the full team win the FA cup and thats all we won then I wouldnt be unhappy.

Celtic v Barcelona Lyon v Manchester United Schalke v Porto Liverpool v Inter Milan Roma v Real Madrid Arsenal v AC Milan Olympiakos v Chelsea Fenerbahce v Sevilla Opinions?

Thierry, Chelsea will win vs Arsenal. Eat your words Northener. As usual Arsenal are thought of as a mediocre team in this forum and I like it that way, keep it going lads!

^^Typical? elaborate! Villa shoulda, but we did and thats all that matters in football. Last season we shoulda got a lot of points that we missed but we didn't, it shows the change that has happened in the Arsenal team.

^^^Seems like Gerrard has a point to prove.

the Invisibles Its not the Invisibles, they were called the Invincibles. You were very close though, keep trying!

^^^LOL, I'll help you!!

^^I disagree, Arsenal's midfield is excellent at the moment with Fabregas and hleb running the show. Liverpool tried to lock both of them by deploying Mascherano and Alonso in def mid and it didnt work. I dont think Hargreaves will do much against them on his own. The game will not depend on Adebayor but on Fabregas and how well Man Utd mark him tomorrow. Like you said a draw is expected, but this is football, anything can happen

^^ Hleb will torment that boy!

That game should have been won 3-1 by Arsenal, I woulda prefered a win but I'll take the point. Norf, making excuses already? When you have your full side we'll be at the emirates next, and thrash you 3-0 again, your best chance to beat us this season was on sunday and you guys blew it in a liverpool fashion. About the diving, Eboue does exagerate, but make no mistake carragher, the love of liverpool, is a cheat, he pulled it off against lescott in the derby last week and was all over everyone yesterday.

QL, reading the previous posts, its all kinda funny now, how Arsenal are supposed to be relegated by now, I wonder where those boys are hiding now?

^^Lol, are you nervous or always that defensive? Its all great for The Arsenal, Spurs are in freefall, they just signed a new manager that was already hammered by Arsenal this season, he must have liked the experience so he now fancies that to happen to him twice every season. What better news can come that Liverpool can't beat lowly besiktas 3 days before we play them. Not being too optimistic though because anything can happen and Liverpool are known to be a tough side at Anfield especially whne it's the big games coming to Anfield. My prediction, same as the FA cup win there last season, 2-1 to the arsenal.

^^Is Torres back for that game on sunday?

^^^exactly.....May the Guns keep blasting!!

Feeling a bit threatened? No seriously, richest club stats change every year. What they are talking about is the income it generates not profit, no club in the world could make £200 million profit. Its not profit that is counted, its the club's income for the past financial year. So for now that is how it stands until the end of this financial year. The richest clubs of the world list will soon be populated after every team anounces it's financial stats.

^^ You better do so quick Northener, your missing all the action!! If your interested I can provide you with a website that streams almost every game, from CL to Carling Cup, if your interested that is.

^^It was a joke padre.... Whereas Chelsea, I'm beginning to think that this situation could actually work in their favour seen as people are writing them off already. Premier League maybe or maybe not, but maybe the CL or other Cup competition.

^^^At least you're not a chelsea fan, it could be worse.

...the real football team!!

...and a shrewd manager who just happens to have a masters in economics. 200m can't be exagerated, this report is transparent and they can't lie about it. It puts us just a few mill behind Real in 2nd place of the world richest clubs. Bob, fans are the reasons why they're making all this money with ridiculous ticket prices in the EPL. But fans still turn out every game, even the Carling Cup game V Newcastle is sold out whilst Chelsea can't even get 20,000 to turn up for their CL games.

Landmark times at Arsenal Arsenal have become the first English football club to break the £200m income barrier. Their results for last season, the first in their new Emirates Stadium, sees income rise to £200.8m, a jump of £63m compared to the last year at Highbury. The improvement brings Arsenal into the big league of European earners. Manchester United will have to show an increase of £32m for last season to match the Gunners, while Chelsea will have to improve their income by nearly £50m, Liverpool by nearly £80m and Tottenham by £127m. The reason for this good news, say Arsenal, is the Emirates effect. More importantly, they argue that the results are proof that there is no need for a takeover to inject money into the north London club. Arsenal now get an income of £3.1m per every home game while total match-day income for the season has doubled to £90.6m. With Arsenal now able to seat 60,355 per home match, the number of people coming through the turnstiles rose to 1,615,591, up 54% from the previous year. And whereas the club sold 400,000 programmes when they were at Highbury, they now sell almost a million. Privately, Arsenal accept that there are transportation problems on match day, caused by station closures and restrictions. But that is beyond their control and demand for season tickets remains strong. The waiting list is 41,000. Despite the fact that Arsenal earned £10m less from television - they did poorly from that great television cash cow, the Champions League - they made a record operating profit of £51.2m, an increase of 274% on the last season at Highbury. This was before player sales and depreciation were taken into account. Arsenal's total income from football is now £177m, 51% of it from match-day revenue and 25% from broadcasting revenue. The club also hope to make money from property. Next year, they will get £30m from Ashburton Grove and £60m from Highbury Square in 2009. The good figures are also reflected in the bank balance. At the end of last season, the club had £73.9m tucked away. So does this mean there is more money for Arsene Wenger to spend? Arsenal insist there has never been a problem for Wenger if he wants to go into the transfer market. The point is he does not often spend all the money he is given. As managing director Keith Edelman told me: "We gave the manager a budget and he did not spend it." Indeed, Gunners chairman Peter Hill-Wood relayed an interesting story to me from a dinner he had with Wenger not long ago. Also present was Danny Fiszman, the club's largest shareholder who speaks impeccable French. "We told Arsene: ‘If we give you £100m to spend on players what would you do?’," said Hill-Wood. "Arsene replied: ‘I would give it back.’ "The manager has money. If he wants to buy, it is up to him. We do not need foreign investment for Arsene to buy players.” The financial resources Wenger has at his disposal is a crucial argument as talk of an Arsenal takeover hots up. The ousted vice-chairman, David Dein, is now chairman of Red and White, a company owned by the Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov. Usmanov now owns 21% of Arsenal and Dein believes the club needs foreign investment if it is to compete with the likes of Chelsea and other clubs. The Arsenal board vehemently disagree and view today’s figures as proof that their Emirates strategy is working. This is all the more interesting given that Dein, when in power, opposed the idea of Arsenal borrowing heavily in order to build a new stadium and wanted to share the new Wembley instead. Wenger not only limits his spending, he is also a shrewd seller in the transfer market. So in the season just gone, Arsenal made a profit on player sales of £18.5m. Not quite as much as they made the previous year, but then the latest figure does not take into account the sale of Thierry Henry to Barcelona, reportedly for £16m. That transfer will be part of next year’s figures. Arsenal are also proud that their salary structure, once considered very tight, is comparable with their rivals. Last season, they paid out £89.7m in wages. This works out to just over 50% of turnover which most prudent accountants consider a good figure. We shall have to wait to see what Chelsea paid out. Despite borrowing heavily to build the stadium - their total debt stands at £346m - Arsenal say the Emirates effect will continue to produce vast sums of money for years. The message here for Tottenham and other clubs with big ambitions but small venues is unmistakable. So where does all this good news for Arsenal leave David Dein and his ambitions to return? Publicly, Arsenal, who have not yet settled terms over his departure, will not comment on Dein. As far as they are concerned, he is history. One well-placed Emirates source told me: "David always sees himself as number one. He wants to be chairman. The Arsenal board put Arsenal first. The board see themselves as the custodians of the club. That is the difference." Source PS:This article was written by a spurs fan!