march 21st
11.24 – This morning I had what is commonly known as a ‘lie-in’. If you look back through the weekday posts, you’ll see I’m normally up and about with early birds, and together we go catching worms. Last night though I was just fucked and I went to bed without setting the alarm and I slept till 10.30. Hurrah.
In the wake of Wednesday’s Champions League exit, Patrick Vieira states firmly and clearly “We weren’t good enough. We have to improve. We need something extra, something that will make the difference for us.” The reasonably good news is that Chairman Peter Hill-Wood has said there will be money to spend on new players, despite the new stadium etc.
Arsenal were clearly not good enough defensively, and without labouring the point, this is where most of the money should be spent. Ananova has us linked with Chelsea’s John Terry, saying the fact he hasn’t signed a new contract at Stamford Bridge leaves the door open for Arsenal to sign him. Can Papa Smurf refuse a bid of £10m? I don’t think so, if he was willing to accept £7m from Barcelona for JFH, then he’ll do business for Terry.
While it’s hard to really criticise Sylvain Wiltord, he has been little more than a passenger in recent months. With Freddie not back to full fitness, and Ray Parlour further down the pecking order each week, why not give Jermaine Pennant a run? Of course, you never get Freddie match fit if he’s on the bench. Quite the catch-22.
Thierry Henry wants Arsenal to show their mettle for the rest of the season. He says “…life goes on and we have to recover. Last season that’s what we did when we didn’t make the quarter-finals – we went on to win the Double. We have to show we can recover from the disappointment. It’s something we know we can do.”
On the injury front for the Everton game, Seaman, Keown, Cole and Campbell are definitely out, and there’s a big worry over Patrick Vieira. So any constipated Gunners just need to hear the words Cygan and Stepanovs over the tannoy on Sunday afternoon to be instantly cured. We just have to hope that our makeshift defence plays out of its skin, and that our forwards are on fire.
