A happy Monday to you all. The sun is shining this morning for a change. Hurrah.
Let’s begin with William Gallas who has been speaking to his own website about the season ahead. This is what he had to say:
What is sure, it is that several players are questioning club’s future. Around us, all the teams are recruiting but what is planned to compensate for the departure of Henry?
I will have a discussion with Arsène Wenger and board members to know the objectives of the club this season and what they wish to set up to build an even more competitive team.
Now, let me first say that I believe the club needs to sign more players. We need to improve, we need to bring in fresh faces and fresh legs in order to be competitive in the league again. There’s absolutely no question about it in my mind or indee, I would imagine, in your mind either. We’ve lost Henry, brought in Eduardo but that still doesn’t address the issues we had last season nor does it do enough to make us real challengers for the league. Yet.
However, comments by someone like Gallas saying that players are questioning the club’s future are unnecessary, damaging and are of no benefit to anyone whatsoever. They serve only to further the agenda of William Gallas. Now, I quite understand the fact he wants to play in a team which is going to challenge for silverware but at the end of the day he’s being paid a lot of money by Arsenal Football Club, he’s a senior player (based on his age and experience) and with that comes a certain amount of responsibility.
There are things that do not need to be said in public, especially as, by his own admission, he still hasn’t spoken to Arsene Wenger (and I can’t imagine Gallas rounding up the rest of the board so they have to listen him) about his plans for the season ahead. If this is the kind of ‘uncontested leadership’ he’s capable of then he needs to think again. Comments like these make nice headlines but don’t do much else but cause problems.
If we’d gotten to August 31st without signing anyone else, without making ourselves better and stronger then I would have no complaints whatsoever if Gallas, or any other player, wanted to have a bit of a moan about the state of the squad. There wouldn’t be a fan out there who would disagree with them, I don’t think. Once again though it’s just another round of Gallas’ patented bleating and it is tremendously tiresome, in my opinion. I really, really wish he’d just shut up.
In other news Liverpool are closing in on Ryan Babel, a long rumoured target for us, while Chelsea appear to have won the race to sign Florent Malouda. Can’t say I’m particularly bothered either way, especially about Malouda who’s never done it for me and definitely not at that kind of price.
For those of you waiting for confirmation of the live TV games for the season ahead there’s a list here which covers the start of the season until the end of November. We’re not on TV until September 2nd when we play Portsmouth at home.
I did like the way that Arsenal’s decision not to assign the number 14 jersey to anyone this season was picked up on by a couple of websites as if we were going to retire the number. I think it’s simply a matter of not giving the pressure of following in Henry’s footsteps to anyone and it will be used in the future the same way that 5 and 6 and 10 have been.
Our first pre-season game takes place this Saturday against Barnet so we shoul start getting back into the swing of things then and hopefully we’ll hear from Arsene this week as well.
Right then, breakfast time. More tomorrow.
