There was no TV coverage of last night’s game so there’s very little I can tell you that you can’t read yourself elsewhere. A 2-0 win, both goals from Jeremie Aliadiere and it seemed comfortable enough for the lads. As expected Philippe Senderos returned from injury for his first start of the season, Denilson made his first start for the club and Gael Clichy took another step on the road to full fitness as he played left back.
You can see the goals here (thanks to Archie). Afterwards the boss was happy with the win saying we’d now have a chance to see how good a player Aliadiere is as he’s free from injury. He also revealed his plan to play Theo Walcott on the wing as part of his education, saying:
When you have a player like Theo, it is important to let him develop on the wing. He has to learn how to dribble and gain confidence in attacking people in one-on-one situations. Then, in a year or two he can move into the middle and use those abilities to do a better job.
He also spoke about the team in general, saying:
Denilson was superb for an 18 year old and Aliadiere’s movement and mobility was first class. To bring so many young players through gives me great satisfaction. It is a wonderful feeling to see them show such great spirit
The only blemish on the night was the groin injury picked up by Adebayor which will keep him out for a while. No doubt we’ll get more info on that soon. All in all a job well done, praise from the opposition boss, and onto the next round.
We had some more good news yesterday when it was revealed that Kolo Toure has signed a new ‘long term’ contract with the club. Given that he is represented by the same company that represents Cuntley Cunt I know some people were worried but not even Jonathan Barnett would dare fuck with the Kolo. Kolo says:
I can see myself staying here for the rest of my career. Why would I want to leave? I love my football here, my family is settled here and the club is ambitious. It is fantastic.
Brilliant news and for a guy who was essentially a utility player when he first joined to have taken the opportunity given to him so well is really fantastic. Eyebrows were raised when he first started at centre-half but now he’s one of the first names on the team sheet every week. He’s a brilliant example to younger players, his enthusiasm, energy and commitment is second to none. Even when we were 4-0 up against Reading he was bombing up the field in the last few minutes to try and get another.
I love Kolo.
I just hope we see one of those rocket free kicks go in soon and Kolo is one of the things I’ll be chatting to East Lower about during this week’s arsecast. Thanks to all of you for the questions you’ve sent in, I’ll try and get through as many of those as possible. Do keep them coming though!
Don’t forget the competition to win two executive box tickets to see Everton with thanks to Blue Square. Just go to www.bluesq.com, open an account if you don’t have one already, place a bet of £5 or more, then email your username and daytime phone number to [email protected]. They’ll call the winner on Friday afternoon so you have to be able to get to the ground on Saturday morning to meet them and get your tickets.
And that’s about that. More, as usual, tomorrow.
