february 24th
Ahead of tonight’s Champions League game against Celta Vigo came the revelations…*yawn*…from Barcelona’s big mouthed president Joan Laporta that if he was Thierry Henry he’d sign for the Catalan club. The only problem I see in this scenario is that Laporta is a talkalot chancing spoofer of a lawyer club President and not the best striker in the world. I think we should nick another top youngster off them and let them keep Gio for another season, just to teach them a lesson.
The news brought a suitably droll response from Arsene Wenger who said “I feel, as many people do, bored by all this. I want to buy Buckingham Palace but I can’t do it.”
The boss has also backed Gerard Houllier’s increasingly precarious position as manager of Liverpool. Good stuff, Arsene. The longer he stays there the better for us.
Team news for tonight is that Ashley Cole and Gilberto miss out through injury, although Patrick Vieira is fit. Expect the line-up to be: Lehmann, Lauren, Kolo, Sol, Clichy, Ljungberg, Vieira, Edu, Pires, Reyes, Henry. Spanish youngster Cesc Fabregas is in the squad and is the only central midfield cover we really have at the moment.
José Reyes is looking forward to his return to Spain, saying “This will be a special game for the club and, especially, for me to return to Spain with a club from abroad. But the most important thing is not returning to this country or my aspirations for the national team but the performance of Arsenal. I expect Arsenal to give a competitive and beautiful display.”
Some Ashburton Grove related links for you – and the news that Arsene Wenger is prepared to extend his contract and manage the team in the new stadium made yesterday a prettty fine day all round for Arsenal fans.
So can Arsenal put their pain in Spain behind them this evening? Will José Reyes the roof? I hope so. More later.
