So a fairly routine win over Plymouth sees us into the 4th round of the FA Cup.
A goalless first half wasn’t much to look at – it was brightened up a bit watching a stream with commentary from a lunatic Spaniard who sounded like a serial killer crossed with a kiddie fiddler crossed with Gollum. Still, we had some chances, the best of which fell to Eboue after a great run by Aaron Ramsey.
There were other saves too, some shots wide but it was 0-0 at half-time. The second half began with a flurry of goals. Firstly Robin van Persie, captain for the day, headed home a Nasri corner, then nice play in and around the box saw van Persie’s cross put into his own net by David Gray who deserved it for that fucking Babylon song. Amazingly Nicklas Bendtner wheeled away trying to claim the goal, heh, cheeky.
But Arsenal are nothing if not generous at the back this season and when some Plymouth bloke pulled back a nice cross the defence was static, Fabianski was nowhere and the onrushing Duguid got ahead of van Persie to poke it home.
To be fair they didn’t really threaten any further. We brought on Carlos Vela on the left and this allowed Nasri a bit more freedom. The Frenchman had a fine last 30 minutes and was at the heart of all our good play. It was his lobbed ball over the top that brought about the third. Robin’s first attempt was saved by the keeper but he made no mistake with the follow up, smashing it home off the bar with his chocolate leg.
So overall a decent win. The performance wasn’t much to write home about but credit to Plymouth who made life very difficult for us. Afterwards Arsene Wenger said:
We have done the job in a serious way. If we weren’t completely focussed and up for it we would not have gone through today. I give credit to my team for doing the job seriously with good focus and I give credit to Plymouth who had a great game as well.
As usual the cup brought about some unexpected and somewhat hilarious results. Big spending Man City are out having been beaten 3-0 at home by Nottingham Forest while Chelsea were held 1-1 by Southend. It really is a measure of how very poor our form and performance was against City in the league though – they took us apart that day and they’re poo. Anyway, I’m sure Kolo will be looking at results like that and thinking life is probably better at Arsenal, despite what might be on offer in terms of money.
Elsewhere there’s all kinds of misery and doom going on. The Daily Mail is reporting that there’s a rift between the board and the manager over the signing of Andrei Arshavin. The spectre of Wenger going to Real Madrid looms over the whole situation apparently, despite the fact that Wenger himself categorically denied it during the week.
Meanwhile the News of the World reports that Theo Walcott is growing restless, having not yet been offered a new deal by the club. He could leave on a free next summer so it’s strange that nothing is stirring. They quote the ubiquitous ‘source close to ….’ as saying:
There is no doubt Theo is frustrated at the lack of action over a new deal. The club said talks would start in October because they wanted to see how Theo started the season. The fact is, he feels as if he’s being taken for granted at the moment, as if people simply expect him to sign a contract.
Given the current structure of the club you would expect Arsene Wenger to be closely involved in the whole contract situation. Surely he’s the one who decides who he wants to keep, who should be offered what, etc. Perhaps the arrival of Gazidis on the scene will mean all these things are sorted out but Theo is someone I’d like to see sign a new deal with the club. We’ve invested too much in him to see him walk away out of contract.
Anyway, they throw up the whole Real Madrid thing as well which, as we know, is bollocks. They also say Robin van Persie is awaiting news on a new deal for him but I don’t think it’s unfair, after his injury record, to wait for him to complete an untroubled season before offering a new contract.
Also in the News of the World is the story that our top transfer target is Man City’s Steven Ireland. That’s because Arshavin is no longer our top target. Or Inler. Or Arteta. Or … you get the picture. He’s a very good player, fits the bill in terms of what we need, but he’s also as mad as box of banshees. Still, no doubt he’d add something to our team if this story wasn’t complete and utter fiction.
The Sunday Mirror reports that we could do a deal with West Ham which would see Matthew Upson return to Arsenal and Nicklas Bendnter go the other way. It’d be an interesting swap, you have to say. Upson would certainly bring something to the defence while Bendtner’s form this season has been very, very poor. He’s been unable to build on a decent showing last season and just doesn’t seem to be improving at all. It would leave us a striker short, of course, but with Eduardo coming back, Vela itching to play, and a possible wide player coming in to allow Theo play up front on his return maybe it wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world.
Speculation in Italy links us with Torino’s Alessandro Rosina. I don’t know much about him to be honest. He’s a versatile player apparently which probably gives a little more credibility to the rumour. He can play wide midfield or behind the strikers so no doubt AW sees him as the man to shore up our defence.
And there you go. Plenty to mull over this freezing cold Sunday. I’ve still got my stupid cold that the stupid Blogette brought home and gave to everyone in the house. Even the Arseblog basset hound has it. He’s downstairs drinking hot whiskey as we speak.
Till tomorrow, Arsers.
