Happy Saturday to you,
shall we start, as we seem to have done for the last 875 weeks, with news of Andrei Arshavin? We shall. There’s all kinds of talk about Alisher Usmanov being involved in the deal now as his company Gazprominvestholding is the international arm of Zenit’s owners Gazprom. I’m not sure how much Usmanov is involved in this, if at all, but it does seem as if something’s stirring. A Zenit spokesman said:
Zenit have invited Arsenal officials to St Petersburg next Tuesday. This is to show that Zenit do want to find an option which will be acceptable for everyone.
It’s thought Ivan Gazidis will travel to take part in/complete the negotiations so we should know more then. If it doesn’t work out the boss has said that there are other options but it does seem as if the focus is 100% on Arshavin at the moment.
Ahead of today’s game against Hull Arsene Wenger says:
We feel we are on a good run and want to quiet and focus. I am confident we look solid and have a team who can make results away from home.
And referring to the defeat at home against Hull in September he said:
We want to continue our progress, it is not about revenge at all.
Obviously nobody told Abou Diaby:
Three points are vital, of course, for me there’s definitely some revenge to be had and when even Gabriel Agbonlahor is trying to play mind games we should be right up for this one. As I said yesterday Hull’s form is not great at the moment but they won’t be a soft touch by any means. Kick off is 5.15 and it’s live on Setanta.
Some goals for Emmanuel Adebayor would be a good thing. He’s not found the same kind of form in front of goal as he did last season, just 7 in the league so far, but he does have the second best assist record in the Premier League this season – only Berbatov and Malbranque have more (they’re on 8, Adebayor on 7). Of his form the boss says:
At the moment, he is working very hard to come back to good form and is on a good way. What is important is that he works hard and contributes to the team – if he opens the way for other players, for me it is the same.
Perhaps a touch of complacency has crept into his game but now with van Persie firing on all cylinders, Vela beginning to come through and Eduardo on his way back to fitness maybe the competition for his place might help his form improve.
Last week Cesc spoke about how it wasn’t normal for a player of his age to have played as much football as he has. Which is entirely true. AW responds, saying he protects his players from burn-out as much as possible, although I suspect he might look at Cesc and think he’s overburdened him slightly.
Aaron Ramsey talks about rugby and the decision he made to join Arsenal.
And that’s about that. Time for some Saturday breakfast and some pacing about the house until the game kicks-off.
Here’s to three more points and if we could possibly combine the three points with a (semi) decent performance then all the better. I’d still take a ricochet off the ref’s arse though.
Till tomorrow.
