Morning all, hope we find you well. I’m as tired as Galwayman’s goat. I don’t know really how tired the goats of Galway men get but it just sounds good to my ear this morning.
We’ll start with Eduardo around whom there has been some confusion in the last 24 hours. When asked about the options to replace the injured Samir Nasri Arsene Wenger said:
The options are Tomas Rosicky who is back. And in those two months Eduardo will be back as well.
Now, at first it seemed as if Eduardo would be out injured for another two months. We even speculated if he meant Nasri rather than Eduardo, his ‘Thomas Bendtner’ from the other day fresh in everyone’s mind, but it seems as if he meant that during the two months of Nasri’s absence we’ll have Eduardo.
Arsenal Analysis, who seem to have a good record of finding stuff about Eduardo before anyone else, even have some quotes from the player himself. Speaking to the Croatian press he said:
I am completely ready physically. I was told that I will play between 20 and 30 minutes on the 27th July when we play against Szombatelya. Two days later against Hannover 96 I will play a half.
This tallies with stuff he was saying a couple of weeks back. When talking about his recuperation from the surgeries he had at the end of last season he said his first games in pre-season would be in Austria so it seems as if everything is on track. Which is good news.
I’m really hopeful about Eduardo this season. I think if he stays free of injury for the most part he’s going to get a lot of goals for us. People talk about replacing Adebayor and suggest we don’t have a striker who can get 25-30 goals, and that may be true. My feeling is that the manager would rather have three or four players who can get 15-20 than one guy on whom much relies. Eduardo is certainly capable of at least 20 in all competitions provided he remains fit – and that’s where the big question mark is. It’s not about his ability. Anyway, it’s good to know he’s on schedule so fingers crossed.
There was also good news regarding Samir Nasri. Arsene says his break is ‘not complicated’ and he could be back in six weeks. I know our diagnosis of an injury and estimated time out for a player can often be somewhat … erm … completely and utterly wrong but let’s hope this is not one of those times.
Andrei Arshavin has been a breath of fresh air since he arrived at the club. His ability and professionalism are fantastic. He’s added experience and a bit of intelligence to the side and he’s really looking forward to the new campaign. What’s most refreshing about him though is his willingness to not talk shite like many other footballers. On the season ahead he says:
We all believe that there will be trophies, and that the new season will be full of joy for the players and the fans. But we have to finish speaking about how young we are. We need to play like we are a big and strong team.
Amen to that. Nobody is interested in how young our players are anymore. In some quarters it has been used as an excuse but going into this season there aren’t really any novices. Sure, we’ll see Gibbs play some more games and maybe the introduction of Jack Wilshere as the season progresses but despite the relatively young age of some of the players there’s no lack of experience in this squad.
The fans know about the potential of the team, of the players, we’ve been hearing it for quite some time now, but the Russian is right. It’s time to stop talking about that and it’s time for this group of players to deliver. I think they know that and I think the manager knows that. And once everyone is singing from the same hymn sheet I think it’s all quite positive.
The boss has also spoken about the future of Philippe Senderos, saying it’s ‘open’. The player has offers from elsewhere but has yet to make up his mind about what to do. Regular readers will know I’m a fan of Phil and I’d like to see him to stay. He’s heading towards the right age for a centre-half, he got reasonable experience last season at Milan (even if he didn’t play as much as he might have liked) and I just can’t understand why Sylvester appears more likely to stay at the club than Senderos.
We’ll have to wait and see what happens but generally when the manager is leaving it up to the player to make a decision it means he’s happy enough to let him go. I can’t help feel he’s one we might regret if he does.
Bordeaux manager Larry White says he’s willing to let Marouane Chamakh go but only to a club that ‘merits him’. Which apparently rules out Sunderland, Blackburn, Fulham and, of course, Sp*rs.
Not much else happening. I did notice our former left-back, now best known for being the husband a TV/Pop star, having a little dig about Man City finishing above us, but I really don’t have anything to say about that. It’d be like getting upset when Phil Collins wrote a shit song or allowing yourself to get riled up by Sky Sports coverage. One must simply take the higher ground, realise that the person speaking cannot possibly open their mouth without being a leviathan sized cuntmuppet and simply ignore it.
So there. Till tomorrow.
