5 ways for Arsenal fans to enjoy the summer break + Farewell!

Hello, hello. A very happy Friday to you all.

As you probably know it’s my final blog post for a little while. I’m taking a break from the Arsenal madness to give my brain a rest and put some time towards tweaking the blog and working on some new football blogging ideas. I thought that with the transfer madness (*cough* Vermaelen *cough*) and a long summer of no football upon us, it would be fun to look at a few things you can do to make sure you to can enjoy the break. Here goes nothing…

1. Stay away from NewsNow

Don’t get me wrong, I love NewsNow. Without it this blog wouldn’t have half the readers it does now and neither would a number of other football blogs. But when it comes to transfer news, NewsNow is nothing but a whirlpool of pain. Dodgy sites like Tribal Football, Sport.co.uk and The Sun regularly post unsubstantiated articles about how Arsenal have signed this player or that and give false hope to unsuspecting fans. My advice? Stick to the blogs you know and trust (like this one!), sites with authority like Soccernet and Arsenal.com and do some research of your own into whether it’s actually happened or not. That way you’ll avoid a summer of unavoidable pain that we didn’t sign Kaka when some useless website said we did.

2. Start following another sport

I can say without any doubt that football is the greatest sport in the world. But that’s not to say there aren’t other options out there to keep you busy while the Arsenal boys take a break. Being a full-blooded Aussie I’ll be getting involved in the Brisbane Lions plight to make the AFL finals, but why not watch the IPL cricket or the NBA Finals? It’s certainly better than a kick in the teeth.

3. Plan a trip to the 2010 World Cup

The World Cup in South Africa kicks off in just over a year, meaning you’ve got a fair amount of time to plan a trip to the tournament. Three months of no Arsenal is more than enough time to get a savings plan together and turn the dream of going to South Africa to support your nation into a reality. Think of the magic, the colour, the Brazilian girls…

4. Play a lot of FIFA

FIFA09 is pretty much the greatest football game ever. Bring in the signings you want (I’ve got Naldo and Momo Sissoko) and do what Arsene Wenger and Arsenal couldn’t do this season by winning a trophy. And if you’ve got time, challenge your Spurs-supporting mate and hand his arse back to him on a plate.

5. Read the Arsenal FC Blog’s end of season wrap-up

I know, I know. A bit of cheeky self-promotion here. But if you pine for some decent Arsenal reading throughout the transfer madness check out this blog’s end of season wrap-up, containing multiple review articles and the Season Review edition the Arsenal FC Weekly podcast. Check it out here.

* * *

So that is it. I’ll be posting infrequently until the Emirates Cup kicks off on August 1, although I can assure you I will be commenting on any substantial transfer news or anything else of note.

For those that are into it, you can keep in touch with my over the break either via Twitter or on Facebook. Just click on the links and add me as a follower/friend to contact me. 

 Just before I go I want to say a very warm thank-you to everyone who has read and commented on the blog this season. It’s been brilliant hearing your opinions and discussing the Arsenal this season and it should be even better next year – particularly if Wenger makes a couple of signings.

Cheers and speak to you soon!

Have your say on the summer break by leaving a comment.

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Comments

  1. Definitely agree on the matter of checking your sources for decent information on transfers.

    We’ll be working in Uganda (hopefully) and heading to the World Cup, all things going well.

  2. Plan a trip to the 2006 World Cup

    That would take some serious planning for the obvious reason 🙂

  3. Splendid advice. Tribal Football and Fancast are absolutely appalling sites that exemplify all that is wrong with the Internet. Have a good holiday and best wishes to all Gooners. It’s gonna be a painful summer boys!

  4. Playing a lot of fifa definitely helps !!!
    And for an alternate sport, guyz there is a suggestion… T20 cricket world cup is starting … it will be exciting !

  5. Great advice SF.
    I already have plans for the break. The T-20 cricket world cup starts today and i have a few tickets for the confed cup (Brazil vs Italy, SA vs Spain and the final) so ill be ok without Arsenal this summer.

  6. I’ll miss the blog Spanish, kudos for all the hard work you put in. However I do imagine something will happen in the next two months that’s worth talking about!

    I’ve been reading some stuff about Eboue moving on to somewhere like Athletico, and Gallas going back to France. What’s your opinion on this? Also it seems that Ade might stay, with Milan saying they haven’t made a bid. I’d like to see him stay, as he is so good when he wants to be…

  7. I had my flights and tour booked for Germany ’06. Only problem? Didn’t get tickets. Left a very sour taste I can tell you. But I got all my money back, cannot talk up Australian Sports Tours (AST) enough, they were so good to me.

    Not sure if South Africa tickles my fancy but it will be great to watch the Aussies again on the grandest stage of all. As an aside my mate married a girl from Oehringen in Germany last year – if you remember it was the small town that was the socceroos base-camp. The people were awesome, they were so friendly to us and got so excited. Even those with no English would call out “Go Socceroo!”. Priceless.

  8. Twenty Twenty Cricket? Give me a break! It’s dumbed down rubbish designed for people with the attention span of a goldfish. This afternoon’s opener is England V The Netherlands a match to really set the adrenalin flowing Lol.

    Much more interesting is to read about Liverpool’s ever increasing financial meltdown. (telegraph.co.uk/sport). They could be insolvent by 24th July!

    SF,

    Thanks for the blog, it’s always interesting and it’s good to get the perspective from the Colonies.

    Seriously though you are doing a great job.

  9. All good apart from one thing……FIFA 09???!!!??? Pro Evo is the only game lol….

  10. @SF happy holidays.
    I will keep an eye open for future updates. I for one am looking forward to the 20:20 cricket unfortunately it isn’t shown here in Turkey, there are also two WCQ games first tomorrow and then on Wednesday, there is also the U21’s where Theo and Kierran will be involved. There is the Rugby, and the Ashes coming up, sport does not end because the footie season finishes. I also play 6 aside every week, that is if my body can take it and not get injured.
    @Terence that was a very insisive piece of writing. It was a very interesting read and one that I very much agree with.
    To finish with my computer is not up to playing these video hungry games but I have been playing the Arsenal Edition of Football Manager 2009. This last season I won the league, the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Champions League. Not bad but I must admit I bought Richards in defence, Palermo in DMC I got Henry back and pinched Rooney from manure. The game is good fun and you can take over a club and get them to buy your drosh for stupid amounts of money and you can get them to sell their best players to you for nothing, it maybe called cheating in some areas but oh well. It is also good fun to play their players out of position i.e. put Drogba in goal and see how many goals your team can score.

  11. @ Dally – I know you’ve referenced Terence’s comment but unfortunately I’ve had to remove it. As usual with comments of that length, it was taken from another blog and due to copyright infringement I am required to remove them from my blog.

    I hope you understand.

    Happy holiday all! I’ll probably speak to you very soon though…

  12. I can vouch for the Brazilian girls…well worth the money spent on WC tickets and flights….i can assure you….although to get full value you may wish to wait another 4 yrs as the WC is coming here!! to Brazil..which means sun, samba, cachaça and lots of scantily clad women….oh and something about football!!

  13. @ SF, and all you regular posters- have a good summer lads. I for one will be glad of the break.
    See you guys in August!

  14. mr wenger nice advice.but a surgestion check out Bocundji ca from fc nantes in ligue,uche,aguero,saivet henri,lulinha in barca,antonio mirante,Adrian marcia,Ever banega.plz check out this guys.

  15. Thanks Spanish for the good work on the blog. I only recently joined but became an instant fan of your insightful, balanced and sometimes humorous analysis of our beloved team. Happy holidays!! Hope we get good signings next season that will boost our performances all round.

    I’ll be following the Lakers/ Magic NBA finals and then wait for the confederations cup.

  16. Im playing around 30 games per day of Fifa09 on Live.

    Stupid vacations!

    – – –

    And hey taiwo olumayowa: Arsene dont read this blog!!! lol

  17. Good job Spanish and have fun on your vacation. You earned it! I have been scouring for some balanced and reasonable blog for years and I felt this was the best so far.

    Well, I’m not only just Arsenal’s fan, but football in general. So, there are a few tournaments coming up soon. The Confederation cup, U-21 etc… during the break, and of course playing local pickup football(Soccer)here in the US.

    Have a great summer everyone!

  18. @ GetGunMN – Thanks mate! That’s so nice to hear.

    With all the Zapata speculation I’ll probably be back here on Monday though!

  19. Take care PPL hope too see u all back in august. And to SF THANKS mate for the gr8 read but now I have nothing to look forward to after work will be a very BOARIN 2 MONTHS take it easy SF and PEACE 😉
    KURUPT!!

  20. Iam an arsenal fun in Uganga suggesting that adebayor shuld live arsenal and Arsen Wenger shuld go in 4 klaas jan Huntler in real madrid and i was slso suggesting that he shuld bring us agud midfielder forexample Yahaya Toure in barcelona

  21. All wnted was sumone 2 care 4me.All l wnted was sum1 who’d b dere 4me.All l evr wnted was sum1 who’d b true.All evr wnted was sum 1 like u.

  22. FIFA09? Though I haven’t played it, surely it can’t be no pro evolution soccer?

  23. WE REALLY MISS YOU IN THE SUMMER.
    WE CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXT SEASON.
    ARSENAL=FOREVER

  24. Pro Evo has been taking its time getting ready for the next gen consoles so the games havent been up to par with the old one. IMO they are still more realistic then FIFA by a mile. Next year’s PES is supposed to be the one we have been waiting for- Information is already being released…

  25. Tbh I still play PES 4 (aka Winning Eleven 8). Game is perfection in my opinion. I think next years game will be back to the realism and away from the arcade style. This was just a fill in while this proper game was being developed… To each his own I guess but there’s no comparison for me

  26. I prefer Fifa, and I just want to say Congrats SF, Australia in World Cup 2010

  27. Good one Spanish. Terrific result for the Socceroos by qualifying easily this time. I’ve heard getting hotel accommodation will be difficult in SA so I’d get onto that pretty sharpish if I were you. Don’t forget there’s also the Maroons and Broncos to keep us Queenslanders entertained during the Premier League off season.

  28. The coach need to sign for at list three players so that the club can move forword. it pains me this time when we id not get at list a cup. but if three players are sign yes some thing will happen

  29. The coach need to sign for at list three players so that the club can move forword. it pains me this time when we id not get at list a cup. but if three players are sign yes some thing will happen.

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