March 4th
A quick round-up ahead of our game against Fulham today.
Ashley Cole will be fit for the World Cup according to Arsene Wenger, which is precisely fuck all use to us. Sol Campbell will be fit for the World Cup as well. Good for him. He’s about a week or two away from challenging for a first team place as well. Thierry Henry says he hasn’t had a heart to heart with Sol but puts his bad form down to injuries, which is farily diplomatic of him.
The captain is also hopeful we can turn things around between now and the end of the season, saying “I am ready for the criticism at the end of this season. Yet I really hope we can still do something this year, although I know it will be tough. The spirit and heart at Arsenal is as strong as ever. We must try and improve our league position and even if we beat Real Madrid in the Champions League there will still be a hell of a long way to go.”
Excellent stuff, but then it’s capped with a rather paranoid sentence. He says “As has always been the case, I know people on the outside will try and blame me if it goes wrong. At major clubs, not just Arsenal, people always like to single out one or two players.”
Given the fact he’s our leading scorer and has been for years I don’t think he is to blame for our woes this year. What we have lacked from him is leadership, some fight like we used to see from him, and as long as his contract is unsigned it creates an air of uncertainty and makes it difficult not to mention him when things go wrong. But he’s not the only one. Often you can say a team’s failings are down the team itself, this season our problems have been because certain players have not performed and not contributed to the group. Anyway, if Thierry’s fired up and willing to run those extra yards then that is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. Let’s just see the words transformed into performances as this is old ground we’re treading on now.
Arsene Wenger has backed Ashley Cole’s decision to sue the News of the World and The Sun for implying he was one of the players involved in the ‘gay premiership footballers’ story. In his 23rd lawsuit of the year Cole and his lawyer brand the stories ‘disgraceful‘, saying “There is no truth whatever in these allegations. Ashley Cole will not tolerate this kind of cowardly journalism or let it go unchallenged. These proceedings will be vigorously and actively pursued.”
And if there’s no truth to the stories then he’s probably right to sue them. The boss isn’t worried that Cole seems to have spent more time in his lawyer’s office than on the pitch this season though, saying “I feel he is focused on his job and focused on doing well and recovering quickly.”
Robert Pires reveals he’s been offered a one year deal by the club. The ‘Dennis Bergkamp formula’ he calls it and he says “We have a new generation with a huge potential. If I can act as a guide it will be with pleasure,” but he’s still considering his options, saying “I am lucky to have other propositions, not in England. Some time ago I had a lot of worry with my contract extension at Arsenal. Today if I have to try something abroad, I will try it.”
Pires doesn’t play today as he has the bird flu and Manuel Almunia is also out with a hand injury. Bergkamp and Ljungberg are back in as revealed yesterday but there’s still no debut for Theo Walcott. The manager says “We will certainly see him before the end of the season because he is moving quickly forward, but this week we have such a big game that we need all our experience, I feel.”
Maybe some fresh blood is exactly what we needed but there you go. Alexander Hleb has criticised the boss for not playing him and playing him out of position. Maybe he should pass the ball to his own team more, then he might get more games. Fingers crossed we can shake our away day nightmare and pick up three very badly needed points against a Fulham team that are strong at Craven Cottage. Here’s hoping.
My team plays today. We’re third taking on the second place team which should be a good battle. Enjoy your weekend and come on the lads! Not literally, of course. Ashley Cole might sue.
