Idyllic sun-kissed hideaways. The calm oasis. Peace, tranquility and serene surroundings, untouched by man, machine or beast. A gentle place in which to enjoy unflustered repose.
These are the things that a footballer these days seeks. The modern player cares not for larger wage packets, to suggest such a thing is impertinent in the extreme. No, the main issue for the troubled playmakers of today is to ensure they have a peaceful haven in which to live their day to day lives. And so it is with Alexander Hleb.
The poor chap is really struggling at the moment, God bless his quick little feet. Barely able to speak himself, so put upon is he, so bombarded with things like traffic and people and possibly clouds that come a little bit too close to him, it’s his agent that has generously taken the time to let us know how much his client is suffering. He says:
Alexander is just tired of the noisy and chaotic life in the British capital and feels like living in calmer surroundings.
While Hleb himself, from underneath his bed, scrawled a little note which said:
I am not a big city man, I need my retreat – that is why I am often in Germany. Stuttgart is my second home, my friends are there and it is where I feel most comfortable.
Poor Alex. How could Arsenal have been so insensitive to his needs? And what duplicity we showed. It’s quite obvious that nobody told Hleb that London was a big city before he came. We lured him with promises of restful villages where ladies with lutes played simple folk music and the players took a carriage to the stadium to play their games. Is it any wonder now that the man feels disillusioned?
With a move to the tiny hamlet of Milan on the cards for little Alex his life is sure to improve – and there, underneath the gaze of the Italian press who attend training sessions and where almost every aspect of a player’s life is considered public property, he can once again find that inner-Hleb, where he is peaceful and fully at home. The fucking poxy excuse making cuntmuppet. Fuck me, did you ever hear such a load of shit in all your life? Pathetic. Fuck off, Hleb and take your wankhammer of an agent with you.
Patrick Vieira talks Arsenal here and says we need to splash the cash to keep the young players at the club. I see where he’s coming from but Vieira is around the game long enough to know the circumstances regarding Flamini’s move were not exactly normal. He says Flamini was a great player for two years, which isn’t exactly true, and he says we should try and keep Hleb which makes me think Paddy is one smart fucker. He says he’s been watching Arsenal a lot this season, so he knows how much difference Hleb would make to his Inter Milan side. Fuck all. Telling Arsenal to keep him just because he doesn’t want him. We know your game, Vieira!
Still, on transfers he says:
I don’t believe Wenger should buy big stars because I believe the Arsenal team at the moment is fantastic. But they need one or two key players with experience to help them through the big games.
And I don’t think anyone can argue with that.
The manager has called Robin van Persie ‘world class, top, top class’ and he’s hoping the striker can get through next season without serious injury. I do like Robin, and I really rate him as a player, but that makes Arsene the lead singer of Go West.
The Independent reports that Stan Kroenke will be offered a place on the Arsenal board and repeats the stuff about Hatem Ben Affleck that’s been floating around for the last few days.
Le Mans forward Gervinho says he’s flattered to be linked with Arsenal. Which is understandable. Player nobody’s heard of + linked with Arsenal (probably by his agent) = increased profile so he gets a move to Sunderland instead of Derby County next season. Next.
Yaya Toure (whose name always makes me laugh because Yaya is used as ‘Granny’ in Spain) says he’s heard about interest from the Premier League and says playing alongside his brother would be fantastic. With Arsenal in need of a midfielder to replace Flamini, Granny Toure has been one of the names put forward but it remains to be seen if Barcelona would sell and, indeed, if Arsene actually wants him having turned down the chance to sign him more than once.
Some bizarre stuff from Arsene on the official site – frankly comparing Eboue with Ray Parlour is insulting to one of Arsenal’s greatest competitors. To bracket him with the milksop that is Eboue is so wrong I don’t even know where to start.
Sky Sports are running a poll for their goal of the season. Don’t let Ronaldo’s fluke of a free kick beat Adebayor’s goal against Sp*rs. Vote now.
And that’s it. Direct from a tiny cottage at the foothills of the Dublin mountains, where I’m selling bottled solitude direct to hassled footballers, this is Arseblogger signing off for today.
More tomorrow.
