2010 FIFA Worl d Cup: Which Arsenal Players Will Star at the World Cup?

Good morning to everybody on a morning where the Arsenal news is at a minimum yet again.

At times like this I almost long for the onset of the World Cup because at least there will be some football to watch and we can keep an eye on the Arsenal players in the tournament.

Of the 12 players listed on the club site as being possible participants at the World Cup, only 10 of them will probably be Arsenal players when the tournament is over.

At this stage, I would be shocked if either Gallas or Senderos are at the club next season and if Walcott fails to travel as well, it will leave us with effectively nine players representing the club. 

If I had to choose the players among them to shine at the World Cup, I suppose that I would look at Cesc and RVP firstly and after that it's difficult to see who might make a huge impression.

There's a possibility that Bendtner, Vela, and Song could have a good tournament if their countries can progress but they won't be appearing in the final.

Sagna should start at right back for France, but I can't see them making any impression at all with that idiot Domenech in charge. 

That leaves Eboue playing for Ivory Coast, who again have a chance, like Denmark, Mexico and Cameroon, of making the last eight but I can't see him setting the tournament alight either.

Besides him, there are Clichy and Diaby for France who are reserves in all honesty and probably won't see too much action at all.

As I said above Walcott is not even assured of traveling and if he does he will probably be behind Lennon in England's pecking order too.

All of that could lead to a fairly boring tournament from an Arsenal perspective and now that I have run through all of the players I'm looking forward to it even less than I was beforehand.

If only we could jump forward in time to next August and the return of real football that really matters.

There is more tedious talk from Barcelona's president Laporta today about how they will play a patient game in their attempts to get Cesc. If they have made an offer and we have refused it, then that should be the end of it, but for him to state that they are after a player who is under contract is an open defiance of the current rules and he should be held responsible by UEFA.

However, we all know that no such thing will happen, and with Mourinho now in charge at Real Madrid, we can expect more of the same from him and his president with regard to any player they want to sign.

I've stayed in my parents' apartment in Spain and had dealings with the president of the building and it was a nightmare to be honest.

What is it with the desire for presidents in Spanish life, and how come so many of them become tin pot dictators who think that the rules or laws don't apply to them just because they have a little bit of power?

In transfer news, things are very quiet today with no new names in the media. The two players being linked at the moment are Gourcuff and Joe Cole and I don't really expect us to sign either of them to be honest.

That may change if Cesc leaves, but at the moment the club are doing all they can to ensure that doesn't happen.

All I can hope for transfer wise is that the boss is working furiously in the background to secure a goalkeeper and a centre back to give us fans some hope of having a solid defence next season.

That's the lot for today, except to say before I go that my World Cup Fantasy football is up and running and at the moment there are 23 teams representing 10 different countries in it.

Feel free to join and it might give the World Cup that extra bit of spice as you cheer your players on.

The game can be found here and the code to join the league is 221858-52981. If you're not sure about it, feel free to ask me any questions.

Here's a little bit of how our two African players played this season.

See You Tomorrow.