England vs. Belgium
1215 PM EDT
TV: Fox Soccer Channel

Arsenal players Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Thomas Vermaelen will face off in England's last friendly before Euro 2012. It starts in 20 mins. Feel free to comment on all the action below. Remember: use a subject line, picture heights of 300 max, no links to illicit streams, and be kind.

Yann M'Vila, the Stade Rennais defensive midfielder whom Arsenal supposedly had wrapped up a transfer with earlier this month only for it to not actually be true, except sort-of-kind-of-Arsenal-are-probably-still-way-into-it-maybe, limped off in France's friendly against Serbia earlier today with an ankle injury. Initial reports did not sound good: the player was in tears at the prospect of missing Euro 2012, where he is expected to be a breakout star.

There have been no ankle scans yet, so everything must be taken as provisional at this point. Nonetheless, two tweets have come through from highly reputable sources following France coach Laurent Blanc's post-match press conference:

M'Vila: first tests 'reassuring', but seems unlikely he'll be ready for England on 11 June, despite what Blanc said.

— Philippe Auclair (@PhilippeAuclair) May 31, 2012

This, of course, does not mean he won't be ready for a team in August or September. Jamie Sanderson added to this, although it must be noted that M'Vila was NOT stretchered off the field:

Yann M'Vila stretchered off for France tonight. Laurent Blanc hopeful he'll be fine. Not as bad as expected. Won't affect transfer.

— Jamie Sanderson (@YoungGunsBlog) May 31, 2012

"Won't affect transfer" here, presumably, means that M'Vila could still move, that the injury won't force Rennes to wait until the January window to offer him to clubs as injury-free. It does NOT mean the following: 1) any potential fee will not go up due to participation in the Euros, which is still possible, 2) Arsenal will get him, 3) any transfer will have to wait until late in the summer.

Today we continue our Arsenal season reviews with defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin. Stay tuned tomorrow for Mikel Arteta!

Francis Coquelin made 17 total appearances for Arsenal this year, primarily at right and left back as well as in the holding midfield role. He assisted once for a Robin van Persie goal in the 7-1 smashing of Blackburn, he played in the 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford, and he was man of the match in the 2-1 loss to Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. Before he tore his hamstring during the Great Arsenal Fullback Crisis of 2011-12 when Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet to take down his Arsenal foes one by one in his personal bid for the heart of Death, Coquelin was looking more and more like a wonderful utility player. Come with us after the jump for more!

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Eden Hazard has claimed that he's moving to Chelsea on his own twitter account this evening:

chose promise chose due... je vais rejoindre le champion d europe.

— Eden hazard (@hazardeden10) May 28, 2012

It had been widely reported that the Lille attacking troll midfielder had chosen one of the two Manchester clubs earlier, which we covered here, but in the end, the offer (which Graham says is somewhere in the non-Arsenal range of 30 million pounds / 100k per week) was simply too good from Roman Abramovich. That kind of sum, if true, is just never going to be on the cards for Arsenal until the current sponsorship deals go away and are replaced by something much larger.

Chelsea are gathering themselves and regrouping at a somewhat alarming rate, though, if this deal goes through. Arsene Wenger will have to make do with finding players basically as good as the top-shelf guys for half the price until then, which is fine by me.

Today, we continue our series of Arsenal Player reviews with everyone's favorite/frustrating Cameroonian midfielder, Alex Song.

Alex Song continued his ever-present play in Arsenal's new-look midfield this year, slotting in alongside newcomer Mikel Arteta in a double-pivot, making 46 total appearances, 34 in the league, with a goal and sixteen (!!) assists in those 46. He missed three matches at the start of the year after being banned for stomping on Joey Barton. Follow us after the jump for how we all felt about him this year!

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Kieran Gibbs had another sort of half-year for Arsenal, playing 22 matches in total, 16 in the league. He scored twice, once in the Carling Cup and once in the league. 22 is actually the most total performances the young English left back has been able to put in for a season, and one wonders what he might be like at this point if injuries didn't keep him on the sidelines. Anyway, come with us below the jump for more!

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Next up in our season reviews is Swiss defender Johan Djourou.

Djourou made 23 appearances for the club at center and right back this year. He was fourth choice behind Laurent Koscielny, Thomas Vermaelen, and Per Mertesacker at center half, and only filled in at right back due to long-term injuries to Arsenal's regulars there.

More after the jump:

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Carl Jenkinson is 20 years old, a lifelong Arsenal supporter, and a Finnish youth international. He put in 14 appearances for Arsenal a season after playing for League One side Charlton. Four of these were in Europe, including a crucial qualifier against Udinese. Until he developed a stress fracture in his back, Jenkinson was filling in on both sides of defense for Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs.

Carl Jenkinson is 20 years old. He had 22 professional appearances at ANY level prior to debuting for Arsenal.

More after the jump:

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2012 UEFA Champions League Final
Bayern Munich vs. Chelsea
Allianz Arena, Munich, Bavaria, Earth
Kickoff: 2:45 PM EDT
TV: Fox

For Chelsea perspective, visit We Ain't Got No History.

For Bayern perspective, visit Bavarian Football Works.

So it comes down to this. Bayern Munich, four-time winners and four-time runners-up in this competition, take on Chelsea, who are one-time runners-up. The match takes place in Bayern's stadium, so.

Both teams are pretty gutted by suspension and injury: Chelsea have fitness doubts over their non-suspended center halves David Luiz and Gary Cahill, while Ramires, John Terry, Raul Meireles, and Branislav Ivanovic will miss the match due to suspension. Bayern men Luis Gustavo, Holger Badstuber, and David Alaba will miss the match due to suspension. Ryan Bertrand, Chelsea youngster, may have a start in the biggest match of his life coming.

If Bayern win, Tottenham will be in next year's qualifying round for the Champions League. If Chelsea win, they will be in next year's Champions League, and Tottenham will be in the Europa League. If everyone turns into ice cream sandwiches, I will run to Munich and eat them all. I promise.

Please feel free to comment on all the action below. Remember: be kind, no illegal streams (it's on Fox, you sillies), picture height max 300, and always use a subject line.

Enjoy the match, folks.

Today, we continue our reviews with a look at Bacary Sagna's 2011-12 season at right back for Arsenal. Sagna's season was limited to 20 League appearances and 28 appearances overall after his leg broke in a challenge from Benoit Assou-Ekotto on October 2nd, an injury that kept him out of the squad until January 29th against Aston Villa (and which also signaled the start of the Great Arsenal Fullback Crisis of 2011-12). From then on, Sagna was more or less a constant fixture on the right until May 5th, when he again suffered a broken leg against Norwich, and injury that will see him miss Euro 2012. In between those injuries, on February 26th, he scored what is almost universally hailed as the goal that turned Arsenal's season around, the goal that pulled Arsenal back to 2-1 at home against Tottenham, the first of five unanswered tallies against Spurs.

Come fly with us after the jump to see how we feel about the be-braided French defender:

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The first player under review for the 2011-12 season is goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.

Szczesny was a bit of an Iron Man this season, starting all 38 Premier League matches, 1 FA Cup match, and 9 Champions League matches. In these 48 starts, he had 18 clean sheets, which isn't spectacular, but in truth, Arsenal's defending as a team was often subpar, and Mr. Szczesny was often stranded. Szczesny is 22 years old, and played the last few matches of the season with a shoulder injury which curtailed his training and necessitated medicinal injections to allow him to play matches. What follows are each of our thoughts on Szczesny.

Come with us after the jump!

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Arsenal wingers Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott have both been named in England's Euro 2012 squad. Assuming both players avoid injury, they will be traveling to Poland and Ukraine; Walcott will probably be starting, but Oxlade-Chamberlain could be an impact substitute.

And they're not the only ones selected for their nations' squads--Laurent Blanc included Laurent Koscielny in France's squad, and there are seven other Arsenal players as well. Robin van Persie will be in Holland's squad (I wonder if he'll make the final cut?), Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski are in Germany's preliminary squad, the two Poles in the Goal will be Poles in the Goal for Poland, Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski, Tomas Rosicky has a chance to make the Czech Republic squad, and Andrei Arshavin has a chance to make the Russia squad for the tournament where, four years ago, he burst into the football world's consciousness.

Congratulations to all the players, and hopefully they all make the final cut!

The BBC is reporting that Robin van Persie will meet with Arsene Wenger and club CEO Ivan Gazidis tomorrow at 10 AM London time at Mr. Wenger's home to talk:

Striker Robin van Persie will open talks to determine his Arsenal future at a meeting with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger and chief executive Ivan Gazidis on Wednesday.

Discussions are scheduled to take place at Wenger's house at 10:30 BST.

Now, this probably isn't news to anyone, because all season long, van Persie has been saying that he will wait until the end of the campaign to think about his contract situation at Arsenal (one year remaining, as of right now). He said he would meet, and now he's meeting. A bit more after the jump:

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According to the official France Football website, Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny is a member of the nation's preliminary 26-man squad for Euro 2012. This is clearly awesome for the central defender, who came on leaps and bounds this year in his 33 league, and 42 total, appearances for the club.

More after the jump.

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So Lille wunderkind Eden Hazard, long a name floating around the Arsenal blogosphere (and every other decent Premier League team's sphere), won't be popping up on the Thames any time soon:

Hazard confirms he's going to Manchester - but doesn't say which club. "To Manchester, I've already said. The decision will be made soon."

— Tom Williams (@tomwfootball) May 14, 2012

More after the jump:

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It's hard to believe that the Premier League season is over. Indeed, club football is just about done for the season in general, with the domestic leagues around Europe winding up and the Champions League final between Bayern Munich and Chelsea and the Championship playoff final between Blackpool and West Ham all that remains to be decided. After the initial burst of relieved, cackling, breathless joy at the final whistle yesterday, I suddenly felt a good deal of what might be loosely termed post-partem depression--the season and all its stresses were done. There was no more football (except for the 5-2 win against Spurs I have DVR'd) until the start of Euro 2012 in four weeks or so.

However, that does not mean the end of the work here at The Short Fuse; oh, no, sirs and madams, it does not. A very rough schedule of things you can anticipate here will include, but is by no means limited to, the following:

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0 - 1 Yossi Benayoun 4'
1 - 1 Shane Long 12'
2 - 1 Graeme Dorrans 15'
2 - 2 Andre Santos 30'
2 - 3 Laurent Koscielny 55'

Arsene Wenger elected to start Carl Jenkinson at right back and Francis Coquelin in midfield alongside Alex Song. Aaron Ramsey started on the bench (was this a reaction to last week's concessions?) and Andre Santos started a left back. Theo Walcott would start on the bench.

The match would start out in utter disaster for West Brom's keeper, Martin Fulop. The ball rolled back to him, and under pressure from Yossi Benayoun, he couldn't decided whether to pick it up or kick it away, and in the end, he did neither, the ball rolling away from his foot for Benayoun to tap into the empty net.

0-1, Arsenal, 4'.

It would be important for the Gunners to keep pressing and make sure that they remained solid, but this is Arsenal, and West Brom immediately won a corner which eventually was cleared.

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Arsenal vs. West Bromwich Albion
The 44th And Final Pat Rice Cup
Sunday, May 13, 3PM BT/10AM ET/7AMPT
The Hawthorns, Birmingham Road, West Bromwich, B71 4LF
Form: Out the window, it's the last day of the season
WBA's SBN Internet Dealio: What an adorable puppy!
Televisual Coverings: Fox Soccer 2 Go and Fox Sports Net

This is it. West Brom welcome Arsenal to their house. Should Arsenal win, they will lock up third. Should they not, they will need help from Everton and Fulham, who are playing against Newcastle and Tottenham Hotspur.

That's all there is to it. Just win, baby.

The lineups are out, and they are very interesting. Arsene Wenger has elected to start Carl Jenkinson at right back and Francis Coquelin in midfield alongside Alex Song. Aaron Ramsey is on the bench--is this a reaction to last week's explicitly-called-out mistakes which led to Norwich goals? Also, Andre Santos starts at left back, which is just weird, but okay. Theo Walcott is fit enough to make the bench.

WBA: Fulop; Jones, McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Cox, Morrison, Mulumbu, Dorrans; Fortune, Long.

Arsenal: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Santos, Rosicky, Song, Coquelin, Benayoun, Gervinho, Van Persie.

Subs: Fabianski, Djourou, Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Ramsey, Chamakh.

Feel free to comment on all the action below. Remember: no links to illegal streams, picture height maximum of 300 (but pictures highly encouraged!), be kind to one another at all times, and always, always use the subject line. Thanks!

It's official: Steve Bould will step in as Arsenal's new Assistant Manager starting this summer. The official site confirms it thusly:

Arsène Wenger has hailed Steve Bould’s quality after promoting him to his backroom staff in place of the retiring Pat Rice.

The 49-year-old has been a major success as manager of Arsenal’s Under-18s, earning plaudits from both inside and outside the Club.

Unless there are some serious grammatical shenanigans going on there, it's all set. Don't worry: there will be a Pat Rice Appresh Thread coming soon to a Short Fuse near you, but for now, it's congratulations to Mr. Bould, who first joined Arsenal from Stoke City in 1988, and has been at the club more or less since then, save for a short stint at Sunderland. Arsene Wenger summed up his choice:

"His qualities are that he has experience of the top-level game, he has managed here, he knows our football philosophy and therefore there will be a continuity," he said.

"He has also chosen after his playing career to coach here at the Club and we always want to give an advantage to people who know how we work, how we want to coach.

"A very good coach is the most important thing, no matter where you played."

Bould has had success as coach of the youth setup at Arsenal, winning the Premier Academy League two years in a row from 2008-10 and the FA Youth Cup in 2009.

According to a John Cross article in the Daily Mirror, Arsenal youth coach Steve Bould is waiting in the wings to step in as Arsène Wenger's assistant manager at the start of next season:

Steve Bould will be Arsenal's new assistant manager after Pat Rice retires at the end of the season.

In a major shake-up of manager Arsene Wenger's staff, well-regarded reserves coach Neil Banfield will be promoted to first team duties to work alongside Wenger, who has had Rice as his No.2 since taking charge in 1996.

More after the jump:

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Arsenal have revealed their new home kit for the 2012-13 season in a video which can be watched at the official site. It is the one that most people suspected might be coming after photos leaked a couple of months ago of a display, and now it's here. The video itself is pretty fun to watch (Theo's free kick towards the end is pretty gnarly...also, why is Jack running around?); it's always enjoyable to see the guys doing their thing and having a good time. Too often our experience of athletes is an emotionally charged one as we watch them strain in an almost un-human way, so it's always good to see them goofing off and generally acting like you or I would (if we had the skills of a professional athlete).

The kit itself is perhaps a throwback to the 1992-94 home kit, the last Adidas made, and the last to feature navy blue quite so prominently in a home kit. This would continue the recent tradition of the kits being 20-year recall, which seems to be the way these things are done.

You know me: I think every kit should be red with white sleeves and red cuffs, no trim, collar, and no exceptions, but nobody cares what I think. What do YOU think of the new kit?