Well, there’s only one thing to talk about this morning and that’s the injury sustained by Cesc.
We had feared it might be a matter of three weeks, it turns out it’s three months and that is a monstrous blow to our season. He stands head and shoulders above the rest of the central midfielders at the club, he is the captain and as difficult as our season has been it’s going to be even more so now.
Make no mistake, his absence from the team is going to be sorely felt, particularly as the potential replacements aren’t exactly setting the world on fire at the moment. He is a truly world class player and even a team with proper depth to its squad would miss him. How we’re going to cope without him is truly worrying. Yes, he’s just one player but he’s by far the best midfielder we have.
It makes the manager’s job in January even more difficult. I think we all accepted that he needed to buy a midfielder to play alongside Cesc but now he’s got to think about buying somebody to replace his creativity and craft. Let’s be realistic, Diaby is not up to the task, Denilson, as the manager has been telling us all season, is being groomed as the new Gilberto, Alex Song is a defensive midfielder with not much in the way of passing ability, leaving only 17 year old Aaron Ramsey.
So instead of one midfield player we now need two and we do need them. No doubt about it. We need to bring in that player who would have played alongside Cesc anyway and we need someone who can do what Cesc does. So a proper partner + 1 and the thing is it’s so difficult to see Wenger doing that. I can understand it in a way, he’ll think that he’s buying somebody but then in 3 months Cesc is back and what does he do with that player.
But those 3 months are vital for this football club. We’re in a massive scrap for 4th place at the moment, never mind the title, and if we sit on our hands and hope for the best then we could find ourselves in real trouble.
Finishing outside the top 4 is a green light for other clubs to come and cherry pick what’s left of the talent at Arsenal. Champions League football next season is the absolute minimum and if that means the manager has a selection headache in March, when Cesc comes back, then so be it. That’s a much better problem to deal with than the one that sees you slip down the league table because you don’t have enough quality in your team.
It speaks volumes about that very issue though that one player being injured, even one as good as Cesc, is so utterly devastating. In the past if someone like Vieira had been injured he’d have been a big loss but we had good, experienced players to fill the gap. Now we have guys who are still developing and are a long way from being the finished article – and that’s leaving aside the issue as to whether that finished article is even good enough.
It’s a huge worry and this is something the manager has to deal with in the transfer market. I don’t see how he can do it effectively otherwise. In the meantime all we can do is wish Cesc a successful recovery and a speedy one too. I was out with mates last night and even he said ‘With Arsenal’s medical team he could be out until 2011!’.
Fingers crossed it all goes well for him, being on the sidelines like that is so frustrating and this is his first real injury. He’s had his niggles along the way but nothing like this – the temptation is to get back as quickly as possible but he’s just got to make sure he’s as close to 100% as possible when he does come back. Anyway, it’s depressing news for Christmas week. I may just stay drunk.
In other news Kolo Toure is being linked with a move to Manchester City. He’s obviously struggling with form and fitness. His bout of malaria seems to have knocked the stuffing out of him but he cannot be allowed to leave. I suspect this is just paper talk without anything substantial behind it.
Zenit St Petersburg are hoping Arsenal will make a £20m move for Andrei Arshavin. Yeah, and I’m hoping Santa brings me a Ferrari. And a mansion. And my own island. And a lightsaber.
Alisher Usmanov says concern over Arsenal’s boardroom affairs means he won’t be trying to take over the club, however he did say:
We have never concealed that we would like to acquire a blocking stake of up to 29.9 per cent and nothing prevents us doing that. That’s what interests us and, little by little, without hurrying, we are buying up shares from the market.
Yes, how positive, a blocking stake. That’s obviously to work in the best interests of the club. And with Nina Bracewell-Smith’s shares up for grabs that’s certainly a distinct possibility. However, there are many who will raise their eyebrows at the fat Uzbeki’s apparent concern at the way things have been happening at board level as certain events appear to have had Fat & Orange fingerprints all over them.
He might pledge unwavering support for Arsene Wenger and his team but he’s only saying that because he thinks that’s what he should be saying. Usmanov would be bad for Arsenal. I’ve said it before. No matter how much we’re struggling on the pitch he does not become a more attractive option. He can go and fuck himself, the ugly fat cunt.
Right, that’s about it. I’ve got to finish off my Christmas shopping today so it’s off into the thronging crowds I go. I wonder do they have midfielders on special offer anywhere.
