Martin O'Neill at least knows now what he's signed up for.
English Premier League Arsenal signed teenage winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain Monday as they bid to strengthen their squad ahead of the new campaign which starts at the weekend.
Tactical observations from Champions League action this week:
Arsenal and Manchester City are both through to the quarterfinals of the FA Cup after comfortable fifth round wins over Leyton Orient and Aston Villa respectively on Wednesday.
Recent signing Edin Dzeko scored his first goal for Manchester City as the English Premier League big spenders survived a major shock to earn a 1-1 FA Cup fourth round draw at Notts County on Sunday.
A three-goal blitz in 17 minutes preserved Manchester United's unbeaten record in the English Premier League and saved them from an embarrassing defeat at Blackpool.
Premier League giants Arsenal are through to the fourth round of the FA Cup after a hard-fought 3-1 replay win at Championship side Leeds United.
The timing couldn't have been worse. On Saturday morning, the newspapers were full of the story that Arsenal had posted a record profit of 56 million pounds ($89 million) for the year ending May 31. By Saturday evening, everybody was wondering why the club hadn't spent any of it on a goalkeeper. Even worse, the same afternoon as Manuel Almunia was enduring his nightmare against West Bromwich Albion, 10 miles to the southwest, Mark Schwarzer was producing a string of fine saves to help Fulham to a 0-0 draw against Everton.
What can preseason friendlies really tell us? Anybody watching Arsenal in the Emirates Cup over the weekend would have concluded that it holds the ball well, tends to overcomplicate attacks instead of fully exploiting possession and has a mystifying weakness at the back that can transform a game it is controlling into something senselessly nervous. But we knew that already.
Veteran Spanish striker Raul has completed his move to German club Schalke after ending his record-breaking stay at Real Madrid.
The Netherlands made a winning start to their World Cup campaign as a moment of defensive madness cost Denmark dearly in Johannesburg, while Japan defeated a disappointing Cameroon 1-0 in Monday's other Group E match.
Arsenal's hopes of winning the English Premier League title appear over after a damaging 2-1 defeat at bitter north London rivals Tottenham, who keep alive their hopes of claiming the fourth Champions League place.
Cesc Fabregas's late equalizer at the Emirates last week set up a scintillating Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Barcelona at he Nou Camp on Tuesday. Barcelona will be massive favourites, even without two-goal Zlatan Ibrahimovic (out with a calf injury), especially since Arsenal lost the influential Fabregas and Andrei Arshavin to injury in that first tie. Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott are pegged as the key men going forward for Arsenal, who just need to grab a goal and then defend like hell. No mean feat, and one that might be made slightly more difficult a task by the absence of central defender William Gallas, also injured last week.
Lionel Messi produced a performance of stunning brilliance, scoring all four goals as holders Barcelona beat Arsenal 4-1 to reach the semifinals of the Champions League 6-3 on aggregate on Tuesday.
Hats off to Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, who surprised everyone -- perhaps even Didier Drogba himself -- by leaving his leading goal scorer on the bench against Manchester United and fielding the same starting 11 that had demolished Aston Villa the week before.
There comes a point in each Premier League season where talk previously disregarded as wild speculation accumulates enough gravitas to be worth considering. And that time is about now.
Nicklas Bendtner scored a hat-trick as a rampant Arsenal side thrashed Porto 5-0 at The Emirates to reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Everton dealt a blow to Manchester United's English Premier League title defense with second-half goals from Dan Gosling and Jack Rodwell sealing a 3-1 win.
Striker Carlos Vela has signed a new long-term contract with Arsenal, the English Premier League club have announced on their official Web site.
Manchester United slumped to their second successive Premier League defeat to throw the English title race wide open on Saturday.
Didier Drogba fired rejuvenated Chelsea to within four points of quintuple-chasing Premier League leaders Manchester United with the only goal at Portsmouth on Tuesday.
Croatian striker Eduardo celebrated his Arsenal comeback with an FA Cup double in a 4-0 replay rout of Cardiff to earn his north London club a home fifth round tie against Burnley.
Aston Villa continued their impressive run of recent form, although they were far from their best in defeating midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion 2-1 to move above Manchester United and up to third place in the Premier League table.
A late Nicklas Bendtner goal proved enough for Arsenal to get back to winning ways with a 1-0 Champions League Group G victory over Dynamo Kiev, a result that ensured their qualification into the group stages.
Arsenal's next generation of youngsters produced a superb display of attacking football as Mexican striker Carlos Vela netted a hat-trick in a 6-0 win over Sheffield United in the Carling Cup third round.
Denmark scored three goals in the last eight minutes to upset Portugal 3-2 in Lisbon on Wednesday and hand home coach Carlos Queiroz his first defeat since taking charge.
Ukraine beat Sweden 1-0 in a lackluster final Euro 2008 warm-up match in Stockholm, with the home side being booed off after a disappointing display.
Denmark held the Netherlands to a 1-1 friendly draw in Eindhoven on Thursday, Marco van Basten's side's penultimate warm-up match for Euro 2008.
Manchester United is running rampant. Last Saturday, the Red Devils demolished eighth-place Aston Villa 4-0 at Old Trafford and remain five points clear of Chelsea in the English Premier League race. The standard of United's soccer was so sublime, the score line actually flattered the losers.
Nicklas Bendtner kept Arsenal on top of the English Premier League when he snatched a last minute equalizer to give the Gunners a 1-1 draw at home to Aston Villa.
Arsenal returned to the top of the English Premier League with a 3-0 home victory on Tuesday night which left Kevin Keegan still seeking his first win since returning to Newcastle as manager for the second time.
Arsenal striker Emmanuel Adebayor has escaped punishment for his alleged headbutt on team-mate Nicklas Bendtner, the English Football Association have announced.
English FA officials have requested television footage of a clash between Arsenal team-mates Emmamuel Adebayor and Nicklas Bendtner during the 5-1 Carling Cup semifinal defeat at Tottenham on Tuesday.
Tottenham ended more than eight years of failure against bitter rivals Arsenal in some style with a resounding 5-1 victory at White Hart Lane to book a trip to Wembley in the League Cup final -- where they will play either Chelsea or Everton.
Arsenal returned to the top of the English Premier League with a 4-1 victory away to Everton in Saturday's late match as both sides finished the game with 10 men.
Manchester United strolled to a 4-0 away win over struggling Sunderland to return to the top of the English Premier League on Boxing Day.
Substitute Nicklas Bendtner headed home the winner with his first touch as Arsenal beat north London rivals Tottenham 2-1 to move four points clear at the top of the English Premier League.
Arsenal defeated Steaua Bucharest 2-1 in the final Champions League Group H match, but it was not enough to finish top as Sevilla won 3-0 at Slavia Prague to go into the knockout stage as group winners.
Arsenal moved three points clear at the top of the English Premier League after closest rivals Manchester United suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Bolton on Saturday.
Ronaldinho scored twice as Barcelona wrapped up their Scottish pre-season tour with a convincing 3-1 win over Hearts before a record 57,857 home crowd on Saturday.
Fredrik Ljungberg will miss Sweden's European Championship qualifier at Iceland on Wednesday after injuring his calf during the 2-0 win against Spain on Saturday.
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