september 14th
Thanks to all of you who emailed me about the pitch thingy. The bottom line is that Arsenal’s pitch is too small according to UEFA requirements but the pitch at Ashburton Grove will be like Baby Bear’s porridge. So there you have it.
It’s PSV tonight as the Champions League gets underway and Arsenal have injury worries over Freddie Ljungberg. He picked up a back injury against Fulham and may not be fit to play. Still, we’ve got plenty of options if he’s not. There’s Pennant, Pires could play out there with José on the left and we’ve seen Gilberto out there before which would mean Cesc or Edu in the middle with Vieira.
I’m sure what’s more worrying for Arsene Wenger is the fact that the referee for tonight’s game is the Italian Domenico Messina. You might remember him from such refereeing shambles as Wales v Northern Ireland last week when he managed to send off 3 players for nothing much in the first half. He did make Robbie Savage cry but he’s quite clearly the worst referee in the world (unless you’re a Fulham fan) so who knows what will happen in our game.
The boss also hopes José Antonio Reyes will be the piece of the puzzle that lets the team progress further than in previous seasons. He says “He gives us a different offensive option as he’s now used to the way we play the game, so he can be an addition. The talent is there to be very influential.”
And JA himself reckons this could be the season when we do ourselves justice in Europe. He says “I certainly think we have the team capable of winning. Arsenal will play the same in Europe as we play in the Premiership. We will not temper our style and be more defensive. I believe Arsenal are more galactic than Real Madrid.”
I’m not sure if I’ll get to see the game as it clashes with Celtic v Barcelona which is going to be a very popular game here. What domestic channel is it on in the UK? Anyway, considering I didn’t sleep well at all last night because of the most defeaning thunderstorm I’ve ever heard I might just get an early night and wake up to news of our impressive victory.
mr sup on ale
