The thing about this time of the year is that there is little time between matches, meaning we could all feel a bit better come Wednesday morning. The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about really.
Ahead of the game against Kiev Arsene has hinted that Gallas could return to to the squad and perhaps the team. There are those who would say that despite his enormous big mouth Gallas is the best defender we have and for the sake of results should play. I would suggest that even if he is the best defender we have he has played his part in some of the poorest games of the season so to bring him back is no assurance of a good result.
I suppose a lot depends on the fitness of Kolo Toure. If he’s available then it’s easier to leave Gallas out. If Sagna was fit then it’s easier to leave Gallas out. Personally I wouldn’t have him near the team again, I’d sell him in January and go spending for a new centre-half, or two. But Wenger is very forgiving to his favourites sometimes and to me it looks like Gallas is one of those.
I can understand the manager’s predicament. He’ll see Champions League qualification as more important than principle. He’ll consider next weekend’s game against Chelsea as more important than principle. In the very short term there’s nothing more important than the next game but longer term you’ve got to show that actions have consequences and giving Gallas what boils down to a day off for what he’s said is hardly an example to anyone else whose behaviour is poor.
We’ll see what happens and there is a mandatory UEFA press conference which takes place the day before every Champions League game. What he’s asked and what he chooses to answer at that today could be very interesting.
What’s also interesting is who will captain the side tomorrow. I’m with Amy Lawrence on this one, the next captain of Arsenal has to be Cesc Fabregas. Yes, it’s a lot to ask of the young man – to take over as captain when the team is going through one of the worst periods on the pitch for a long time. But Cesc is not somebody who feels that kind of pressure. You don’t come into a team like Arsenal at just 17 and play that way if you let pressure get to you. Wenger can talk all he wants about how he wants 11 leaders on the pitch but every team needs a figurehead. Every group of players needs somebody that will lead them, that they respect, that they will go that extra mile for.
Cesc is that player. He might be just 21 but he is vastly experienced, extremely popular within the squad (whereas Gallas has always been a bit of an outsider and loner) and for me, most importantly, he has a real and deep connection with Arsenal football club, something I think is really important. Gallas never had that, he would never have it. That’s hardly his fault, it’s just a fact. Cesc understands what’s special about the Arsenal. He has grown up at our football club, he learned from players like Vieira, Henry, Pires and Keown about what it means to be an Arsenal player.
He has the spirit and the ability to lead and solidify this group of players. Yes, he is struggling with his form this season but every player struggles with form from time to time. He is a world class player with great standing within the game already. Giving him the captaincy is not simply a way of fending off the inevitable advances from Spain either. It’s a way of rejuvenating this Arsenal team until we can bring in reinforcements in January. It’s like turning over on to a fresh blank page in a book, ready to write the next chapter.
The team needs a lift, the fans need a lift, some kind of spark to get things going again and making Cesc captain would do just that. It’s a decisive moment for Arsene Wenger. Giving the captaincy to Almunia makes no sense whatsoever. Age is no reason to dictate the captaincy. He can’t give it to Kolo Toure if Kolo Toure can’t get into the team, and if it were to have been Kolo then it would have happened before now. If he gets this one wrong, and I think giving it to anyone but Cesc would be wrong, then it’s a decision he may well regret.
So, another week begins and it’s a big one. Victory tomorrow night against Kiev assures us of qualification for the knock-out stages of the Champions League and that would be a boost for all concerned. Then next Sunday we travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea. So it’s a massive 6 days for the club.
Fingers crossed we find ourselves in better form next Monday than this.
