March 21st
Feeling a bit better than yesterday morning I’m sure you’re happy to hear. A normal blog today full of interesting news, snippets and wotsits.
Having been offered a one year deal, as is the Arsene way, Robert Pires is mulling over his options. He wants a three year deal but the manager is standing firm, saying “I’ve always said that I want Robert to stay for at least another year and I hope that he will make that decision sooner rather than later. He will always be part of my plans but we must stick to our policy.”
His agent denied he had been in talks with Rangers and now it’s up to the player. Personally I think the one year policy is a good idea. In the twilight of one’s career I suppose it can get a bit more difficult to motivate yourself and find that extra hunger which can win things so if you know you’re relying on your performances to win you a new deal then consciously or not there’s something that will drive you on and provide the motivation. I think Robert Pires signing a one year deal would be good for the club. Robert Pires signing a three year deal would not.
Meanwhile Thierry Henry is enjoying playing with Emmanuel Adebayor even if the Tongolian was the brunt of some frustration on Saturday. He says “Manu is the type of striker who is really nice to play with because he shows the ball well and he does the bad [hard] work. That is always a plus for me because then I am more free up front.”
What he does give us is something different to Robin van Persie in that he holds the ball up more and allows the midfielders to get ahead of the play and something different to Dennis Bergkamp in that he scores goals. It will be good to have RvP and Adebayor competing and knowing that each of them can bring something different to a game when we need it. It’s still early days but he looks promising.
The captain explains, very well in my opinion, his criticism of the team after the 3-0 win against Charlton – “The reason I was critical of the team as a unit is that it is better to do it when you have won. When you have lost a game, it is too late. It has taken us a long time to get where we are again and it is easier to lose it again — rather than build it back up.”
Arsene Wenger has admitted he might have got things a bit wrong this season and that the poor league form is down to him. He says “I have been living with the anxiety that perhaps I made some wrong choices when you look at our league form this season. So now my job is to steady the ship.”
I think the one thing we’d all agree on is that we should have replaced Vieira. Not buying somebody to add steel or competition for midfield places was a mistake but the manager deserves our support no matter where we end up this season. I think we can all see the potential of the young players now and why he had such faith in them to begin with.
A pretty strong reserve side beat Charlton reserves 2-0 last night. Sol Campbell played the 90 minutes with no ill effects or tantrums, Robin van Persie also featured and set up a goal for Theo Walcott while Abou Diaby also came back from injury to get some match practice. Nicklas Bendtner scored the other goal.
And that’s it. A little later than usual but there you go. Till tomorrow.
