*boilk*
Right so, there was good news in terms of injuries yesterday when Arsene revealed that the signs were good for Flamini, Cesc and Hleb ahead of tomorrow’s game against Chelsea.
There are still decisions to be made though because it can be risky playing with three guys, perhaps four if you include Robin van Persie, who have just come back from injury. Still, even if one or two of them are on the bench it gives us a much stronger and much more creative 16 on the day than we would have had. Ideally though they’ll all start and play brilliantly. And score three goals each. In seriousness though you can’t really underestimate how important they have been to our success so far this season. Hleb is the creative spark who can hold the ball high up the pitch, Cesc has been firing in the goals left, right and centre and Flamini’s prodigious workrate and energy means the previous two can do all that stuff safe in the knowledge they’re being protected.
The only injury problem is Theo Walcott’s knee but he’s not expected to be out too long. He should be back by the end of March then.
Speaking about the possible return of Ashley Cole Arsene Wenger said he wanted the fans to focus on the team and not on Cuntley. He said:
I want our fans to be behind our team and not to especially have resentment with Ashley Cole. He did well for the Club for as long as he was here and ideally you want everybody who has played for you to be respected. What is over is over and you have to take a distance with that. He has been educated here, he has done well for us and overall we want him to get a fair reception.
Which is what any sensible manager would say. He certainly can’t say anything which would incite the situation but I think he’s realistic to know what’s going to happen. He can talk about it being ‘over’ and there being ‘distance’ but the fact is Cuntley hasn’t played against us at our place since he left. He or Mourinho bottled the last game and when we played Chelsea in the Carling Cup final Cuntley was only too quick to be provocative to Arsenal fans that day, kissing the Chelsea badge and such.
I know the manager wants fans to focus on supporting the team but when you have 60,000 who have yet to properly let Cuntley know what they think of the way he behaved when he was supposed to be one of us then it’s going to make the atmosphere red-hot. Of course time has passed but at the end of the day nobody carries grudges quite like football fans and it would be wrong to not give him the stick he merits. I would nearly swerve off the road if he wasn’t abused every time he touched the ball or one of our players. And you know what? People might say it’s juvenile, people might say as adults we should know better but fuck it.
Football fans do two emotions very well. Love, and on the other knuckle, hate. That’s it. We love our team, we love our players, we’ll forgive them misdeeds we castigate others from different teams for, but when they take the love and abuse it like an orphan in a Christian Brothers school then that love turns to hate. So it is with Cuntley.
He could have been a real Arsenal legend. He was halfway there but greed, bad advice, avarice, a plethora of lies and downright mercenariness tainted him forever with Arsenal fans. His subsequent biography in which he complained that he wasn’t applauded the same way Thierry was on the last day at Highbury proved he was living in a fucking dream world. To me he sums up everything that’s wrong about the modern footballer, disloyal, dishonest and absolutely unwilling to accept any responsibility for his own actions. Whatever stick he gets tomorrow will be well and truly deserved, the poxy little cunt. I also hope Sagna tears him a new arsehole during the game too.
Right, let’s have a look at the other stories doing the rounds this morning. Cesc says English players are in a ‘comfort zone’ and won’t move abroad to play football. I think the main reason English players won’t move abroad is because the money isn’t as good in Spain or Italy. I guarantee you an average player playing for an average Premier League team earns more than his counterpart in Spain. And not enough of them have the ambition to try and further their careers for the costs of a few quid. Shame, they could follow in the illustrious footsteps of Vinny Samways. Read more of Cesc in the Times.
Gael Clichy talks to the Guardian.
Birmingham want an answer about Johann Djourou. I suppose with a new manager in charge he’s got to know whether or not he can count on him for the rest of the season or if he needs to buy in January. I suspect he’ll come back, what with Kolo off to the ACN and all.
Tomas Rosicky is looking forward to playing Chelsea while Manuel Almunia talks again about his lack of relationship with Jens Lehmann. If you could remake a sitcom with any two footballers it’d have to be Manuel and Jens in The Odd Couple.
Finally, Arsenal’s players are donating their wages for the Chelsea game to the Treehouse charity. The Sun has a rather amusing video and if you felt like donating the cause you can do so here.
Right, time for breakfast. A big, dirty fried breakfast at that. See ya’ll tomorrow.
