february 24th
So the dust has settled after our Munich adventure and there’s not much more to add to what was said yesterday. There were all kinds of people putting their spoke in but the problems are there for all to see. Arsene Wenger was concerned for Kolo Toure, worrying that his confidence is at a low ebb, saying “He has lost a little bit of his confidence and we have to pump him up again.”
I suppose we have to bear in mind that he’s been almost ever-present since August 2003 and maybe there’s a certain amount of fatigue involved. Remember this is a guy who would, and has, run through brick walls for Arsenal so maybe a bit of a rest will do him some good. He can recharge his batteries and get his head together. In the meantime we can see Philippe Senderos come into the side and maybe get the run of games he needs to begin to establish himself and with Sol Campbell likely to be out for some time yet then we need to expand our central defensive horizons a bit.
The award for stating the obvious goes to Patrick Vieira who was quick to talk the talk after the game, saying “We concede too many goals and we need work on that as a team. We do not blame anybody but as a team we need to defend better before we go forward.” I have nothing really to add to that apart from to categorise it alongside the ‘We’ve learned a lot from previous defeats’ sort of comments that have come back to haunt him again and again. Anyway, after our depressing European result it was nice to see Roy Carroll, that most wide-mouthed of cunts, fuck up to hand AC Milan a 1-0 win at Old Trafford while Chelsea and manager José Mourinho showed they’re full of bon mots when things go their way but after never losing twice in succession he showed what a good sport he is by filing a complaint against Barcelona and refusing to speak to the press after their 2-1 defeat. As bad as things are for us it’s nice to take some comfort in the misery of others.
In other more depressing news Dennis Bergkamp’s appeal against his red card was rejected so he has an automatic three match ban to serve. That means he misses this weekend’s game against Southampton, the FA Cup replay against Sheffield United and the next league game against Portsmouth. We should find out today if José is getting a ban – if so then we’ll only have Thierry and Robin van Persie as recognised strikers. Not exactly strength in depth. Speaking of strikers though Jeremie Aliadiere marked his return from the cruciate knee injury he picked up in the Charity Shield with a goal during Arsenal reserves 5-1 defeat to Fulham. We’re linked again with Belgian keeper Silvio Prototype.
Leopold has been in touch and he reckons Arsenal need a valium over on the real ANR.
Finally for today my old chums from harderthansatan.com have given me a t-shirt to give away. He might be banned for three games but Dennis Bergkamp features on this fine shirt which you can win by answering the following question: In the 97-98 season Dennis was banned for three games for elbowing which ginger Northern Irish West Ham player in the gob? Answers to: [email protected]. Winners announced on Monday.
What an action packed edition of Arseblog that was. I need to lie down again.
