march 14th
After the FA Cup game against Bolton José Antonio Reyes flew back to Spain having been given some time off by the club. He’ll return to Arsenal on Thursday. To fly to Seville he had to stop off in Madrid and change plane. At Madrid airport a Marca journalist pressed him for a few words about Real Madrid’s interest in him. At first he politely refused with Marca speculating that he was under instruction from Arsene Wenger. Eventually though José said something. This is what Marca reports that he said “Of course, it would be an honour if Real Madrid were interested in me. Anyone would want to play for a club as big as that – but for that to happen the directors must speak. They are the people who must agree. Madrid have to speak to Arsenal.”
Perhaps we’ll get another denial from José tomorrow but it’s clear to almost everyone that he really is struggling to adapt to life in England. It’s made more difficult that his parents, with whom he’s staying, are also finding it very difficult to live in England and make no secret of their desire to return to Spain. I realise very well that Marca is the mouthpiece of Real Madrid but I think we might be pissing in the wind a bit with José. It’s a shame because he’s a very likeable young man who plays with a smile and when he’s on form he can be quite dazzling but it’s been some time since we’ve seen that side of his game. With the pressure at home is he ever going to feel relaxed and comfortable enough to recapture his form fully? Can he do something about the pressure and sort his parents out with a nice house in Seville while he continues to play for Arsenal? I doubt it, somehow. As much as I’d like him to stay and become a great Arsenal player I think we have to seriously consider his future at the club this summer.
Ashley Cole is set to give evidence today to the enquiry into the Colegate affair from which nobody looks set to come out whiter than white (sorry). José Mourinho could also be appearing to give his side of the story. Arsene Wenger continues to slam Chelsea and possibly Cole and Barnett for their behaviour saying “Why did they not do it in the middle of a roundabout on the M25, then everyone would have known about it? When the story first came out, I couldn’t believe it was true. How can people be so arrogant and naive?”
Alan Smith writes a nice piece about Philippe Senderos who has had a particularly good last seven days. The boss reckons the Bolton game will have done him good, saying “There is no better education for Phillipe Senderos than to come to Bolton and get that kind of game.” Quite why Smith then suggests a swap deal for Jonathan Woodgate involving José is quite beyond me. He might be a fine defender when he’s fit but he’s never fit. He’s hardly played in the last 12 months and in his entire career he’s never played more than 7 consecutive games. If Real Madrid offered us Woodgate for £9.99 I’d still tell them to shove it.
The draw for the semi-finals of the FA Cup takes place this afternoon at 1.30pm GMT.
And that’s quite enough this early on a Monday morning. Things to do. Places to go. People to see. Sort of. How was your weekend then?
