Hullo there, happy Friday to you. This week appears to have gone by a bit quicker than I had thought it would. Or than I thought it was going when I stopped to think about it. Which is good.
A few bits and pieces around so we’ll crack on. England U21 boss Stuart Pearce has played down reports that Arsene Wenger and him had a massive falling out over Theo Walcott. He admits to a disagreement over Theo’s involvement in the U21 European Championships this summer but says Arsene was positively delighted to send Theo off this time around.
The fact that he’s barely played any football this season due to the back injury he picked up after not resting during the summer is the key, of course. Pearce also hinted that if he comes through that gameand there are any casualties from the senior squad Theo could find himself called up by Fabio Capello for England’s game in the Ukraine. But that’s just a maybe.
With 20 players away on international duty this Interlull I suspect it will be nothing short of a Fabregassian miracle if they all come back uninjured. I thought about the extra S there. I think it needs it. Not sure why. Aesthetics, I think. Anyway, fingers crossed we don’t get hammered with injuries and that those who need the playing time come back fitter, stronger, faster, harder, better and slightly more crunchy.
Thomas Vermaelen has been named captain of all Belgians, which is no less than he deserves. Given how successful he’s been since he joined us he must be close to being named King. He’s now the most awesome Belgian since Plastic Bertrand. I once knew a chap from Belgium. He was called Paul and he looked like Boris Becker and he smelled like old books. I don’t know where he is these days.
Check out Nicklas Bendtner during training for Denmark. Such skill, dexterity and athleticism has not been seen since the Arseblog 5-a-sides. Thanks to Thornfeldt for the link.
Cesc Fabregas has been talking about the new formation. He likes it. Oh yes, he does. He says:
When I started at Arsenal we were playing 4-4-2. Now my position is higher up on the pitch, sometimes I don’t touch the ball as often as I used to, so I have to be patient. But I know I’m in this part of the pitch where I can do dangerous things in terms of giving the final ball, and I have more time to go to dangerous positions to score a goal as well.
Four goals this season already, compared to three in the whole of last season, and I’ve lost count of his assists already so it augurs well.
Gavin Hoyte has joined Brighton on a month long loan. So there.
Not much else happening so shameless plug time. A little while back I was sent a DVD of a film called The Gooner Review 08-09 which is, as you might have gathered, a review of the 08-09 season. Now, at first I was a bit dubious, what with it being a season to forget, but it’s really very interesting. It features a raft of Arsenal fans talking about the stand-out moments of the season from Ebooooooue-gate to the signing of Andrei Arshavin, those CL semi-finals, Gallas’s captaincy and much more. It’s painful reliving some of those moments but it’s excellent viewing and looking back on some of those moments with a bit of hindsight is fascinating.
It’s presented by Paul Kaye and others involved include Bob Wilson, Perry Groves, Amy Lawrence, Nick Hornby, Tom Watt and regular match-going Arsenal fans.
Anyway, there’s a gala screening in the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley, at 9.00pm on Tuesday night. All proceeds going to the Willow Foundation and the Phoenix Cinema Centenary Restoration Project. If you’re interested in going, and rubbing shoulders with many of the aforementioned, you can find more details on the Gooner Review website.
Here’s a wee taster:
Right then, as it’s Interlull there’s no Arsecast this week so that will have be that for today.
More tomorrow.
