Arsenal's Possible Third Shirt For 2011/12.

I saw the shirt below on Twitter yesterday, and it was first posted by The Goon Blog who's Twitter user name is @thegoonblog , and he's well worth checking out.

 
If the rumours are to believed it will be Arsenal's third shirt for next season. It's very difficult to tell at this stage whether it's right or not, but I hope it's a fake, because I really don't like the pinstripes. They are on Arsenal's current second shirt, and I had hoped they would be gone in the new ones next season. If I was asked for my honest opinion, I would say that it's a fake, but stranger things have happened.

Many Arsenal fans may wonder why Arsenal will be bringing out new shirts for next season, as they also had new ones for this season. The current club policy is that a new shirt will only be brought out every second season, but of course exceptional circumstances can always change that policy. 

It just so happens that 2011 marks the 125th anniversary of the founding of Arsenal, and the new shirts will be to commemorate that event. The last commemorative shirt was a one off for the final season at Highbury, and after awhile the redcurrant shirt became a real favourite of mine. There's bound to be loads of speculation about the perspective shirts, and I'm sure this is the first of many such photos.

If Andrey Arshavin is to believed the new Arsenal shirt will be similar to a jockey's one, but I also find that hard to believe. It's hard to imagine Arsenal lining up, looking like they might be about to start the 3.30 at Cheltenham. 

Other Arsenal News :

Arsenal director Danny Fszman died yesterday aged 66, after a long battle with cancer. He was Arsenal through and through, and he was the driving force behind the building of Arsenal's fantastic new stadium.  The club issued a statement on him last night, and it's obvious how highly he was regarded by everyone involved with Arsenal. He sold his stake in the club to Stan Kroenke on Monday, and I'm sure he thought it was the best thing to do with his 16.11% of the club. I'm also sure a fitting tribute will be paid to him before Arsenal's home game against Liverpool on Sunday. RIP Danny Fiszman.

Injury News:
 
If reports are to be believed both Wojciech Szczesny and Johan Djourou will be available to play for Arsenal against Liverpool on Sunday. Djourou will be a very welcome returnee to the team if he can take his place in the centre of defence. He suffered his injury in the FA Cup defeat away to "Manure" on April 12th, and according to the early reports his season was as good as over. He has been a revelation in Arsenal's defence this season, and the absence of Thomas Vermaelen has not been as severe as it might have been thanks to Djourou. As it stands the Arsenal defence is second only to Chelsea's in terms of the least Premier League goals conceded this season.

Szczesny has also been in excellent form since he made his way into the team, thanks to the injuries to both Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski. At the start of the season he wasn't happy to have the two of them ahead of him, and he made his feelings known. When the chance to play for Arsenal came his way, he took it with both hands, and he looks like he will be Arsenal's first choice goalkeeper for years to come. His opinion on his own ability would seem to have been proved right, and in my opinion it's good to have a goalkeeper who has that belief in himself, as long as he can back it up with performances. 

Jens Lehmann performed admirably against Blackpool last Sunday when he filled in at the last minute for the "injured" Almunia. I would have been happy enough to have seen Lehmann play on Sunday, but if Szczesny is fit to play I will be even happier to see him in the team.  It will be interesting to see which goalkeeper will sit on the bench, if Almunia recovers from the injury he picked up before last week's game. I have a feeling that Almunia's injury will keep him out for the rest of the season, for his good and Arsenal's good too.

Unfortunately the good injury news for Arsenal is usually tempered by some bad injury news. It's no different on this occasion, as it appears that Alex Song might not play again this season thanks to the knee injury he picked up a while back. Abu Diaby had an excellent game in his position last Sunday, but Liverpool, the Spuds and "Manure" are different propositions to Blackpool. If Diaby can manage to stay injury free for the rest of the season, I hope he will be up to the task, but I seriously doubt his ability to play all seven of Arsenal's remaining games without picking up a knock.

The other alternative is the much maligned Denilson, but he is currently out with a toe injury. I can only hope that the story about Song, which I also read on The Goon Blog is wrong. In my opinion his inclusion in the Arsenal team for as many games as possible, for the rest of the season is vitally important. I'm sure Arsene Wenger will give everybody an update on his injury in his press conference on Thursday or Friday.

That's it for today.

Here's a little bit of Szczesny in action.

See You Tomorrow.