Footballbits and pieces

Q: Why don’t Arsenal score from corners A: Because Van Persie takes them! Q: What’s the most popular item in the Arsenal club shop? A: The Van Persie tea tray, because it carries 10 mugs! Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera… Unless you’re of a distinctly Arsenal persuasion, you’re probably sick to the back teeth of these stats [...]

Injuries are an occupational hazard of football. A slight muscle pull, an awkward landing on the pitch, or a crunching can all be sources of a spell in the sidelines. However, there are surprisingly are a wide variety of different ways a football player can end up on the treatment table, as Swansea City defender [...]

All of UEFA’s perspex balls of destiny have been drawn from their respective goldfish bowls of fate and, as a result, the groups for the 2011/12 Champions League look like this… Group A: Bayern Munich, Villarreal, Manchester City, Napoli Group B: Inter Milan, CSKA Moscow, Lille, Trabzonspor Group C: Manchester United, Benfica, Basel, Otelul Galati [...]

Aston Villa have confirmed that former Arsenal midfielder Robert Pires will join the club this week. French Bob, currently a free agent following his release by Villarreal in the summer, has been in talks with Villa. He has also been training with the Gunners to help maintain his fitness (see photo above). Villa assistant manager [...]

Jack Wilshere has been compared to Liam Brady, Dennis Bergkamp and Andres Iniesta Wilshere, 18, has secured a prominent role in the Arsenal starting line-up and also became the tenth youngest player to represent England when appearing as a substitute in a friendly win over Hungary in August. The midfielder is the youngest player to [...]