Yawn, I say, yawn. At last the real football returns as we take on Liverpool at Anfield tomorrow morning. Back from suspension and injury come Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Eboue and Emmanuel Adebayor and the boss is glad to have the big striker back, saying:
With the number of strikers we have out, his presence, physical ability and penetration power means it is good to have him back.
Indeed, I hope to see the big man penetrate the Liverpool defence on a number of occasions. He’ll certainly add something to the team after the toiling of Baptista and Aliadiere although Helen Keller’s child, born without senses, limbs of any kind and with bones so brittle they shatter every time he goes to the toilet, would add something to that pair. With the news that Robin van Persie won’t play again this season the big man has got a bit of responsibility now as the main striker. Let’s see what he’s made of.
As well as that we have most of our midfield fit so it’s four from Cesc, Gilberto, Diaby, Rosicky, Freddie, Hleb, Denilson and Flamini. At least we have options in that department. Hopefully we’ll see Gilberto back in midfield and that business of him playing centre-half is over and done with. A more detailed preview tomorrow. Possibly.
In a round-up of the other stories Jens Lehmann says Arsenal have only got themselves to blame for the poor season. Well, I blame global warming too, but I can see where he’s coming from. He also says he can play till he’s 40 and has hinted that the 2010 World Cup could be his swansong! Crazy keepers, they never know when to stop, eh? And speaking of keepers it’s reported that Arsene Wenger has been checking out Jurgen Macho, former Sunderland and Chelsea keeper. Yer man over at Gunnerblog reckons he’s fantastic but I can’t possibly say one way or the other. All I know is that his name reminds me of that song by Sinitta all those years ago and that is not good.
Keith Edelman, the man with the heart of iron and other grimy metals, spoke yesterday and after he announced ticket prices would be frozen for next season (as I did NOT exclusively reveal 24 days ago) he downplayed the threat of a takeover saying the current board were committed to the club. However, the Stan Krankie stories won’t go away and he, yesterday, issued a denial of his denial that he was interested in ITV’s 9.9%.
However, Nigel Phillips of the Arsenal Supporters Trust has advised me that apparently you can’t deny a takeover bid as company law then precludes you from making a bid for 6 months. So, he’s said that his spokesman was wrong and blamed him. It would seem that he’s going to try and buy at least the ITV shareholding. Possibly more. Hmmmm.
Anyway, let us move on and allow me to perform aurally for you. I said AURALLY you sick bastards.
This week’s Arsecast, sponsored as always by Savile-Rogue.com, features a chat with the Mug Smasher about the Liverpool game, Arsene Wenger Hawkins, the Man in the Bar and a great new feature. In this week’s Arsecast we teach you how to speak Catalan with Cesc Fabregas! Make sure to check it out.
There’s the winner of the Savile Rogue scarf – singular, because contributions this week were down due to the internationals. Remember, if you want to email or leave a voicemail for the show you can find all the contact info here.
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Right so, happy listening. More tomorrow.
