As big teams across Europe face Champions League showdowns this week, we’re in the rather comfortable position of just needing a point win from tonight’s game to top the group. Of course after Saturday we’d consider that a rather disappointing result. A good spanking of the opposition is required to get ourselves back on track and ready for Chelsea on Sunday.
The team news is that Kieran Gibbs returns and I expect he’ll go straight into the team. Other than that it’s a Lilliputian XI as our all our Gullivers remains out injured. We know about van Persie and Bendtner and Arsene announced yesterday that Abou Diaby had one of his patented little setbacks and will be out for the next three weeks.
I do wonder if he’s going to change things around much tonight. I’m not now convinced he’ll change anything at centre-half but I think Eboue will play at right back, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Denilson come into the midfield in place of Song while Theo Walcott will probably get a run on the right side of the attack. At the press conference Arsene was being asked about Theo and one of the journalists suggested it was a big year for him because of the World Cup. There might been an x-rated version but watching the press conference via the official site I didn’t see that. Arsene said:
The big season is with Arsenal, not at the World Cup. We do not pay players to go to the World Cup – we pay the players to do well for Arsenal. The first pride of a man is to do well for the guy who pays you in life, not to go to the World Cup.
And quite right too. You get the feeling the manager is still smarting a touch from Theo’s involvement with the U21s in the summer. The player wanted to go, the manager was opposed and while selection was out of both their hands Arsene won’t have been best pleased that injuries have disrupted his season in a big way.
Perhaps this is a little reminder to Theo about where his priorities should lie. Do well for Arsenal and you might make England’s World Cup squad. Let’s face it, he’s in there on reputation and I don’t think it’s unfair to expect him to start putting in some performances for us now. He needs to stay fit and show that he has progressed as a footballer for Arsenal. If he does that then he can be confident about the World Cup. Still, there’s confidence within the squad that he can do the business. Cesc says:
He is fit, back, and now he can help us. He looks really good in training and he’s very sharp. As soon as he starts getting games and minutes I’m sure he’ll play a big part in our season because he’s a really important guy for us.
Let’s see it Theo. Another young man who has to start making an impression is Carlos Vela. AW is talking about extending his contract, despite the fact he seems to spend most of his time injured or travelling to and from Mexico for internationals. Arsene has confidence in him though, revealing he is one of the reasons he allowed Adebayor to leave in the summer:
Vela is a fantastic talent and he is 20-years-old. We have invested a lot of time for him because we put him in Spain for two years, got him back and now we work with him every day.
I believe he is a Robbie Fowler-type. He needs very little time to make a decision in the box. He is relaxed when he finishes and he has very short backlift. He is aswell left-footed and he is a similar size.
At the moment though Vela seems like the post-Liverpool Robbie Fowler, not the amazing player he was at Anfield. It’s obvious he’s got talent, some of the goals he’s scored have been outrageously good. He’s got pace, tricks and he can finish, but we’ve only seen that in the relatively low-pressure environment of the Carling Cup. He needs to step up and start doing that in games that really matter because not only does it provide us with another attacking option but it provides competition for places which as we all know is healthy. At the moment I can’t imagine anyone is worried about losing their place to Vela.
I realise he’s only 20 but he’s been here now two years. He doesn’t need any more time to adapt. He’s part of a squad with big ambitions and everyone needs to play a part, let’s hope he can make the breakthrough.
Arsene wasn’t the only one to face the media yesterday. They also had Cesc Fabregas and amidst all the talk of football and Arsenal and things that are actually important the issue of Barcelona had to be brought up. Well, it didn’t have to be if you could think of something more interesting to talk about, like the life and times of Johnny Boring, who sat in a room staring at a blank wall for 90 years, but some of the journos are nothing if not hopelessly predictable. Cesc, as you would expect, dealt with such questions with aplomb, saying:
It does not affect me at all because it’s been going for years. To be honest I just don’t think about it, I don’t want to and I don’t think I should because I’m at a great club and in a great team. I’m very happy where I am and there is very long season in front of us. The last thing I want to do is get disconnected from what I have to do which is to play football for my team and for the Club that pays me. I’m really looking forward to a great season with Arsenal.
Top answer but it won’t stop the press wheeling out the Cesc to Barcelona stories the minute one of their players mentions his DNA but there’s not much we can do about that. It’s worth having a look at the press conference if you’ve got Arsenal TV Online to see just how comfortable he is dealing with the press gang, at 22 years of age it’s something else.
He’ll lead the team out tonight and hopefully we’ll see a better display than the one against Sunderland. It’d be nice to tie up the group tonight which means that we can think about resting some players for the trip out to Greece for the final game. I don’t expect anything less than a win, I think for the most part we’ve reacted well to disappointments this season and that should continue tonight.
Not much else happening really. Some reports, although none official, say that Alex Song has been handed a 2 year extension to his contract. It’s a measure of how important he’s become to the team, I suppose. This time last year he wouldn’t have convinced many that he was worth it but since the turn of the year he’s a different player. You might question whether or not his development might have been more beneficial to player and team at a slower pace but it’s impossible to argue with his form and performance this season.
Stan Kroenke has bought some more shares. I was sure there was an article on the official site about it but it appears to be gone now.
Finally, and without getting ahead of ourselves, I’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to Sunday’s game against Chelsea with thanks to Emirates Airline. See this post for competition details and details of discounts to flights for Arsenal members.
And that’ll have to do. Here’s to a good result tonight, more tomorrow.
