Morning all, and we’ll start with Cesc.
In an interview during the Members Day the captain set out the goals for the season ahead, saying:
We will never start the season thinking we are going to finish fourth. Every big club goes through difficult moments and we are in one at Arsenal. But we have to be stronger than ever and stick together and I’m sure we will be fine. The quality is here and I believe we can do it.
Quality, check. Belief, check. Acceptance we’re in a ‘difficult moment’, check. But he touched on something that worries a lot of fans, saying:
For the last three seasons we have been unlucky with injuries so hopefully this year we can all stay fit.
No question that would make a big difference but we do have a couple of fairly injury prone players, not least of which is Tomas Rosicky. There are all kinds of rumours that he’s going to be out for six weeks with a hamstring problem. This emerged from Ian Wright’s radio show on Talksport yesterday.
At the moment though that’s all it is – rumour. I don’t think there’s any point in commenting until we actually have some facts, except to say it would be bad news for the club and the player if it were true. There’s talk of a press conference today at which the extent of the injury will be revealed but if there is a press conference it’s surely something to do with the Valencia game and not specifically about the player. Let’s wait and see.
If it is true the best thing I can say is that the injury comes in an area of the pitch where we’re relatively strong. There are more rumours emanating from France (L’Equipe) that we’re going to up our bid for Marouane Chamakh today so if there’s any truth to the Rosicky stuff then it might have a bearing on how quickly we want to do that business.
Also speaking about Cesc was chairman PHW who dismissed talk of a Milan bid, saying:
There is absolutely no chance of us selling Cesc. All this talk is just fabrication. Cesc is happy at Arsenal as far as I am aware.
He went on to talk about the possibility of bringing in new players:
Arsene is talking about adding one or two to the squad and there is a certain amount of money he has to spend. If Arsene wanted to buy a decent player he could, as long as the figure was not ridiculous.
And I suppose by that he means £30m for a player who would cost £12m last year or anything above £7.99 for Darren Bent. Positive noises I suppose but the proof will be when AW actually spends some not ridiculous money on a player.
This morning’s AS in Spain suggests that Atletico Madrid are set to make a move for Emmanuel Eboue. Apparently he’s their ‘dream signing’, their number one priority, the only slight drawback they have at the moment is the fact they don’t really have any money. Considering we rejected Fiorentina’s bid, bearing in mind they were cash rich having sold Melo to Juventus, it would be unlikely that Atletico’s attempts to sign him end successfully.
Maybe if they threw in Reyes as part of the deal we might … oh. Sorry.
Shocking non-story of the day, Jack Wilshere has not been selected for the England U21s. Tomorrow we reveal that Jack Wilshere was overlooked by Barack Obama for the mission to bring back two journalists from North Korea while we take an in-depth look at why Jack Wilshere’s failure to be appointed head of the European Central Bank brought about the global economic downturn.
Theo Walcott says he’s ready to face Valencia if selected. You have to think he needs to play some part at the weekend because the next game is the first league game of the season against Everton.
Woy Hodgson talks about Brede Hangeland and confirms what we all suspected – that there has been no enquiry whatsoever from Arsenal about the defender.
Tomorrow sees the draw for the Champions League qualifying round take place and the five teams we could face are (as far as I’m aware): Fiorentina – Atletico Madrid – Celtic – Anderlect – FC Timi?oara. I’ll stand to be corrected on those but obviously you’d hope to avoid the Italians and the Spaniards. Not that the others would be easy but slightly easier.
The ideal draw would be the Romanian side FC Timi?oara who haven’t won a game in Europe since 1990. I’m not sure what time the draw is at tomorrow but I imagine it will take place after about an hour of incessant UEFA waffle.
And that’ll be about that. Obviously we’ll hope for some good news re: Rosicky later on. Here’s hoping Ian’s Wrong.
Till tomorrow.
