Robin Van Persie Is Arsenal's New No. 10 And Eduardo Is Almost Gone

Good morning from Dublin and I've managed an early start today, as I know I'm going to be very busy later.

The business of pre-season continues this evening with a game against Sturm Graz in Austria. I would imagine that the players that were used on Saturday against Barnet will all be used again, as the boss will look to see how the whole squad fares.

The players who returned from World Cup duty will probably sit things out until our next match next week. There are plenty of pictures on the club site of the training camp in Austria and the players looking to be working very hard as well as having a bit of fun.

It emerged yesterday that the No. 10 shirt will be worn by RVP this season with Vela taking the No. 11. It's good to have an attacking player like RVP in the number 10 shirt as it always looked strange to me to see a centre back wearing it.

RVP loves Arsenal as we all know and he deserves to wear the shirt that his hero, Denis Bergkamp, wore when he was at the club.

Let's just hope that he can stay injury-free this season and live up to the hype that accompanies that shirt.

The fact that Vela has been given the No. 11 shirt would seem to indicate that he may have a bigger part to play this season, too, but that remains to be seen.

There's still no official confirmation on the club site about Eduardo's possible transfer to Shaktar Donetsk, but with his national team manager, Slaven Bilic, confirming that the deal is about to happen. I think it's a certainty as long as he passes the medical.

It's been over two years since Martin Taylor cut his leg in two with a disgusting challenge, and despite his best attempts, Eduardo has never been the same player since then.

When he came back at first, things seemed to be going his way, but after scoring a few goals towards the end of the 2008/09 season, he needed another operation last summer to correct a minor problem in his leg.

I don't think that he has been right since that operation, and the chances are that it is a mental thing rather than a physical one.

The pace of the English game is very fast, and the standard of tackles that players can get away with must be frightening to a player who has suffered so badly from such a tackle in the past.

The furor over the penalty he won against Celtic last season was ridiculous, as he became Public Enemy No. 1 for doing what is described as "clever" when either Gerrard or "Shrek" do it.

By the time UEFA had banned him and then backed down, it was another blow to his confidence, I'm sure.

In my opinion, the injury that Ramsey suffered against Stoke can't have helped him, either, as it was so similar to his, and again the so called experts back Shawcross to the hilt.

Eduardo must have considered that things won't change in the England game, despite the fact those same experts condemned the tactics used by the Dutch at the World Cup.

If the boss has decided to sell him, it means that he considers him surplus to requirements, as he too must realise that there will be no return to his former goalscoring abilities as long as he stays in the English game.

I suppose he hasn't been helped by the change in our formation over the last year, either, as the lone striker role is not suited to him and he's not a wide player, either.

I know he was only just starting to make his way in the team when he suffered that injury against Birmingham, but the ease at which he put his chances away suggested that we had a real goalscorer of the highest calibre in our team.

Sadly, we never got to see him fulfill that potential at Arsenal, but hopefully he can rebuild his career and go on to score bucket loads of goals for Shaktar.

I've seen them play a few times, and they have a big Brazilian influence in the team, and they like to play the game the right way, so it should suit Eduardo.

When I heard he might be joining Shaktar, I hoped that we might get to meet them in Europe this season so that the fans at Ashburton Grove can give him the send off he deserves.

The "Arsenalisation" of Ashburton Grove continued yesterday as the club reverted to using the traditional names from Highbury for the four sides of the stadium.

We will see the North Bank, the Clock End, the East Stand and the West Stand next season instead of those dreadful coloured quadrants that they were called before.

The new clock will obviously be at the Clock End and it will be there for all to see at the Emirates Cup in less than two weeks' time.

There will be an official welcoming for the clock before our first home league match against Blackpool on Saturday, Aug. 21.

The club has also decided that vuvuzelas will be banned from the stadium for health and safety reasons.

I'm not sure if it's the health of the spectators due to the noise or the threat of the people blowing them having them shoved down their throat but I can understand why they are banned.

I have just managed to get the hang of the one my daughter brought back from Oxegen, which I was hoping to bring with me when I get to see Arsenal this season, but I'll have to leave it at home now. 

An Arsenal 11 played Crawley Town last night and managed a 2-2 draw thanks to two goals from Rhys Murphy early on. It was made of youngsters and players who didn't make the trip to Austria for pre-season training.

Notable inclusions in the team were Hoyte, Randall, Barazite, and Simpson, and it would seem that their chances will be very limited this season.

Tonight's game is live on Arsenal TV online and I'm sure LadyArse will be running her very enjoyable live blog again too.

The live blog can be found here and if you're one of the people on it, say hello from me as I will be playing football and/or travelling from work at the time and I won't be able to make it. 

Finally for today there's the small matter of my Fantasy league and the fact that it now has over 100 teams in it, which means that there will be a trophy for the winner.

If you want to sign up, the link is here and the code to join my league is 33954-12064 after you have set up a team. 

If you do sign up please take the time to join Captain Arsenal's league too as he has been a great help to me in promoting my blog on Twitter.

The code to join his league is 13028-5211 and he would be delighted to welcome you to his league.

Here are a few goals from Jon Sammels.

See You Tomorrow.