So Porto tonight at the Grove and three points would put us well on the way to qualifying for the knock-out stages. Nobody is underestimating the Portuguese team though. They have some real quality and they won the tournament under Mourinho a couple of years ago.
Certainly the boss is expecting a tricky tie while Cesc is worried that they’ll come and play negatively. I’d be more worried about the gamesmanship but perhaps Porto have improved since Mourinho left. Under him they were without doubt the biggest bunch of divers, timewasters and spoofers I think I’ve ever seen.
Arsene spoke yesterday about how the defeat in the final in Paris is still something they think about and when you come that close I suppose that’s normal. It’s a measure of the man though that he says he would still want more if he won it three times running. Here’s hoping this season is the first then!
Kolo Toure believes there’s a strong team ethic at the club and that will help us be successful. He says:
We are a team which wants to go forwards as a team and all try to help each other on the pitch and off it as well. We have shown we have good spirit in the team, are doing very well and so we need to keep that going.
In the absence of what you might call a typical leader on the pitch the team ethic is vital but while he might not be the most vocal of players Kolo certainly sets the right example to everyone else. He reminds me of Cannavaro with his unwillingness to be beaten to any header, any tackle, whether we’re 3-0 up or 2-0 down. I’m not sure how anyone could fail to give 100% when playing alongside someone who gives everything in every game.
Julio Baptista could figure tonight and Arsene Wenger reckons once he gets going he’s going to be hard to stop. Some people have suggested he might be a bit overweight but the manager says otherwise:
He is massive and he looks like a boxer. When you see his body, he does not have fat at all. He is muscular and is in the gym every day. It is more adaptation to the pace of the game and the movement here – intelligence wise he has no problem, quality wise he is a big player. Once he is running with the ball, you just feel this guy cannot be stopped.
He’s like the Jonah Lomu of football. And even though he’s being blooded slowly he doesn’t mind, saying:
Nothing in my contract says I have to be in the team. When I am on the bench I’m ready and prepared to give everything on the pitch as soon as I get the order.
Good man, Julio. I fancy him to get a goal tonight.
The Times reports that there’s been some mysterious movement of Arsenal shares over the last week with some people who nobody knows buying up chunks of shares large enough to be noticed but small enough to keep themselves under the radar. I have to come clean, it was me. I’m plotting a coup but don’t tell anyone. I’m going to buy David Dein like Iranians buy Argentinian players and set him to work in the concession stands just like the Iranians make Argentinian players play for a club they don’t want to be at.
Viva la revolución!
Until tomorrow when I shall be sporting a post-birthday hangover. Probably.
