It’s semi-final time tonight against the old enemy and so much of the talk in the last few days is about our record against them in recent years. There’s the law of averages and the ‘it has to happen sometime’ kind of thing going on. Which is all true but when you think about it it’s just 50-50, isn’t it? It either will or it won’t and nothing that’s happened previously even comes into it.
While Sp*rs will put out a pretty strong side, I’d imagine, we’ll be playing the kids with a couple of experienced heads thrown in. We’ll get the full squad at some stage this morning but the surprising news was that Robin van Persie is likely to be included. Whether he starts or not remains to be seen but it’s a good way for him to get some match fitness under his belt after being out for so long. Theo is back, we’ll have the two Swiss in the centre of defence and Lukasz Fabianski will play in goal again. He’s looking forward to it, saying:
It is a big, big game for me, the fans and for everybody who is a Gunner. It will be another chance to show my ability and how I am looking. I am ready for that and cannot wait. For the Arsenal fans, it is a big thing to win against Tottenham.
I suppose with Jens having one foot out the door this is a good chance for Fabianski to show he can step up to the plate when required. With the club having handed young Italian Vito Mannone a 5 year deal before Christmas the thinking is that Fabianski will deputise for Almunia with Mannone as third choice, no matter how many veteran keepers we keep being linked with.
Who exactly plays in midfield will be interesting. Lassana Diarra is the obvious choice to partner Denilson but there was no sign of him on Sunday, raising speculation about his departure from the club. Newcastle, Portsmouth and Lyon are all said to be interested. You’d have to think if he doesn’t figure tonight his Arsenal career is probably over and then when you read his history and the fact he’s had trouble at nearly every club he’s been at it’s no real surprise.
As has been mooted elsewhere it might be a good idea to loan him out until the end of the season with doubts still remaining over Flamini’s future and the long term usefulness of Gilberto. We shall see. Clubcall (not the most reliable of sources, I know) claims he’s been left out of the squad for tonight’s game. The Mirror says we want £6m for him which is holding up any move.
Update: There’s no Diarra in the 16 man squad for tonight. Cheerio, fella.
Eduardo is likely to play up top tonight and Arsene seems to have been spot on when he said he’d be our ‘secret weapon’ in the second half of the season. Not so secret but certainly a weapon. Eduardo is not so much a blunderbuss or a cannon. He’s kind of like Zorro, one moment your upper garments are fine, the next there’s a great big fucking Z slashed into them and you’re wondering how the hell he did it. The boss says:
He had an outstanding December. If you look at the numbers, he has 14 starts, 11 goals. That is top, top numbers for any striker anywhere…exceptional. What struck me on Sunday at Burnley is not the goal he did score, but the one he didn’t score. That shows you how big an improvement he has made in our minds because every time he is in front of the keeper you expect him to score.
I think that was a very common feeling after the game against Burnley and it is a real measure of how much he’s improved. With a bit more work on his all-round play and when he gets even more used to the physical side of the game in England he could be even better and that’s a frightening thought. Not for us. For us it’s a sexy thought but for other teams it’s as frightening as Phil Collins becoming your step-dad and singing you lullabies to get to sleep every night but instead of ‘hush little baby’ it’s ‘Su-su-sudio’.
Another striker showing us what he can do this season is Nicklas Bendtner. There’s always a feeling he could do more in games but then you look at Jeremie Aliadiere who chased and harried and ran about the place and couldn’t score into a 50 foot goal while Bendtner’s more relaxed approach brings goals. As long as he’s scoring I don’t suppose we can complain too much. He talks about how awesome he is and how awesome the boss is here.
Alan Smith (ex-Gunner, not fucking evil blue-lipped Yorkshire pig) writes about the academy, Steve Bould and the young English players being produced. Interesting article, well worth a read.
Away from domestic matters Roma’s Francesco Totti is full of praise for Arsenal at the moment. Which is nice.
And back to domestic matters after a brief Italian sojourn. Tonight’s game should be fun, there’s no reason the young players should have anything to fear. To be fair, a team of wheelchair bound skeletons should fancy their chances against any team that consistently plays Michael Dawson in the centre of defence. These boys showed they could do it last season, they’ve got a big opportunity tonight and even though Sp*rs will have their first team out I think we can get a result.
Fingers crossed, more tomorrow.
