Charlie Nicholas previews the derby - GUNNERS v SPURS

[Karl]

http://www1.skysports.com/watch/vide...h-london-derby

[Karl]

Arsenal

ARSENAL


How they fared last season

Premier League: Fourth
FA Cup: Fifth round
Capital One Cup: Quarter-final
Champions League: Last 16




Players in: Yaya Sanogo (Auxerre) Free.

Players out: Chuks Aneke (Crewe) Loan, Martin Angha (Nuremberg) Free, Andrey Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg) Free, Samir Bihmoutine (Released), Joel Campbell (Olympiakos) Loan, Marouane Chamakh (Crystal Palace) Undisclosed, Reice Charles-Cook (Bury) Free, Francis Coquelin (Freiburg) Loan, Denilson (Sao Paulo) Free, Johan Djourou (Hamburg) Loan, Craig Eastmond (Colchester) Free, Kyle Ebecilio (Twente) Free, Gervinho (Roma) £8m, Sead Hajrovic (Released), Conor Henderson (Released), Vito Mannone (Sunderland) Undisclosed, Jernade Meade (Swansea) Free, Ignasi Miquel (Leicester) Loan, Elton Monteiro (Club Brugge) Undisclosed, Nigel Neita (Released), Joshua Rees (Released), Philip Roberts (Falkirk) Free, Andre Santos (Flamengo) Undisclosed, James Shea (Released), Sebastien Squillaci (Bastia) Free, Sanchez Watt (Colchester) Free, Jordan Wynter (Bristol City) Free.

Summer so far:

• Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis says the club are ready to "escalate" their spending this summer.
• They are linked to strikers Gonzalo Higuain, who eventually joins Napoli for £34.5m, Wayne Rooney and Luis Suarez, for whom they have a bid of over £40m rejected, but at the time of writing have not made a major signing.
• The Gunners are drawn against Fenerbahce in the play-off round of the Champions League - although the Turkish side could yet be banned from the competition.
• Sir Chips Keswick becomes Arsenal chairman, as Peter Hill-Wood steps down for health reasons.

Key fixtures:

• The Gunners face north London and top-four rivals Tottenham in the third game of the season, at the Emirates on 1 September. The reverse fixture is on 15 March.

Full Arsenal fixture list

EXPERT'S VIEW: BBC London 94.9's Ankur Desai: "The only player to come in is Yaya Sanogo, someone with an unproven track record but who already has a proven injury record.

"A season of mediocrity and lack of silverware will have the natives raising their voices and calling for Arsene Wenger to step aside, as unthinkable as it may seem."

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger: "Our base of young players can have a special bond and they are on the way upwards - they are not over the hill.

"They will be better this year and that is why I am confident we will be stronger this season."

For all the latest Arsenal news throughout the season, check out our Gunners club page.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22905732

[Twan]

Here we go again. Another season, another crisis at Arsenal, and another north London derby which will prove rivals Tottenham are finally better than us.

That’s what we’re told, although we’ve been hearing that from our pals down the Seven Sisters Road for some time now and it hasn’t quite materialised yet, has it?

Spurs fans don’t need to know that the last time they finished ahead of us in the league, Robson and Jerome were topping the charts with Unchained Melody while John Major was occupying Downing Street.

It was supposed to happen last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, but it hasn’t. Yet there is real fear at the Emirates that this could finally be it. This could finally be the season when the tide turns in north London.

While Andre Villas-Boas is going wild in the aisles, dear old Arsene appears to have lost the key to his war chest. Bless him. He is getting on a bit.

Paulinho, Etienne Capoue and Roberto Soldado have all arrived at White Hart Lane. At the Emirates however, little-known Yaya Sanogo and Mathieu Flaimini – who ditched us to double his wages at AC Milan in 2008 – have signed on a free transfer while Nicklas Bendtner appears set for a comeback. Hardly Jesus Christ is it? If I don’t laugh, I’ll cry.

Yet three games, three victories and eight goals suggest we might be OK come Sunday.

Fenerbahce might be one of the worst outfits I’ve seen at the Emirates since Wenger last donned that farcical coat, and Fulham are hardly Barcelona, but wins breed confidence.

Spurs fans are giddy at the moment, but will they be smiling in May? That’s when it really matters.

Phil Duncan (lifelong Arsenal fan and former ballboy)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz2dUfdxlPL
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[Twan]

Spurs fan's view - I'm excited... and worried!

The first thing to say is that this is very, very exciting. I have never known such an amazing transfer window for Spurs, as we have turned the loss of our best player in Gareth Bale into a positive.
In the words of former Spurs player Garth Crooks — we have sold Elvis but have signed the Beatles!

The word this summer was that Bale was staying and that Joe Lewis, the owner we don’t see much of, had sanctioned a spending spree of £50million to give us a real crack at breaking into the top three, let alone four.

Bale moved the goalposts on the tour of Hong Kong when he told Spurs he wanted to go to Real Madrid but Daniel Levy, a chairman who has at times frustrated me, has recovered from that blow to recruit a cohesive collection of top signings that gives us what looks like our strongest squad in years.

While Arsenal, with the carrot of Champions League football to dangle in front of potential signings, have stumbled into one botched move after another we have brought in players of real calibre in Roberto Soldado, Paulinho and the one who could turn out to be the best in Etienne Capoue, who looks like the new Patrick Vieira. And more are on their way, headed by Erik Lamela.

But there is a snag. The down side to this sensational spree is that there does not seem to be much room for anyone from Britain. Tom Huddlestone, Steven Caulker, Scott Parker and Jake Livermore have gone while I am concerned about the opportunities which will be afforded to Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon, Tom Carroll and even Andros Townsend despite his England call-up.

Only Kyle Walker, Michael Dawson and Danny Rose look like being English regulars.

The big risk in this is how what is virtually a new team of outsiders, with a strong South American feel, will gel and adapt to the Premier League, not to mention the lack of a homegrown identity that once used to be the domain of that lot from Woolwich.

If that is the price we must pay to challenge the perennial top four then I guess we must accept it.
Forgive me for getting carried away, but I think we are going to be title challengers either this year or next. And who would have thought that when it became clear Bale was going?

Paul Newman (Tottenham season-ticket holder and fan of more than 40 years)

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...#ixzz2dUfxFAx9
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[Dunny]

I can guarantee a whipping for Tottenham on Sunday, that is all i have to say about that. I shall be there as a witness!!