Morning, it’s fairly quiet this morning. There’s no pre-Burnley stuff going on yet and the smashing of the Mugsmashers is now a thing of the past. Still, some chatter from the players will keep us going.
First up, Cesc, who says Arsenal’s lack of size isn’t an issue and the absence of Robin van Persie is something we can cope with. He says:
Football is not all about size. We’ve seen successful teams in the past without any physical presence who could play great football.
What I’ve learned over the years is that a football team is not only about one player or two players, it’s about the team. There are 25 players in the squad and whoever comes in can do very well as we showed at Liverpool.
While he’s certainly right in what he says there’s no denying Arsenal would benefit from a bit more physical presence. It’s not just about playing good football, it’s about getting results. We’ve responded well enough to the Sunderland and Chelsea defeats, tomorrow night will be another big test and hopefully Wenger’s half-time words from Sunday will still be ringing in their ears.
Meanwhile, Andrei Arshavin says his one goal this season at Liverpool was more valuable than his four last. Which is fairly obvious. It must be sickening to go to somewhere like Anfield, score four fantastic goals, and still not win the game. The manager spoke afterwards about Arshavin carrying an injury to his right foot, something the player has confirmed:
The instep of my foot has been causing me pain for a long time, but I want and I will play in the next game. If you get out on the pitch, you just endure it and play.
Exactly! I’ve been suffering from advanced crapness for years now but I just get out there and my teammates have to endure. Seriously though, how refreshing to find a footballer who accepts that pain and a few bumps and bruises are part of the job, not an excuse for a few weeks in the treatment room. Also interesting to note he still rates Liverpool highly and backs them for a top 4 finish. I think we might have played them at just the right time. Confidence low, Torres and Steven Louganis just back from injury, Aquilani yet to find his way in the Premier League. It’d be no great surprise if they went on a fairly decent unbeaten run so to come back from there with all three points is very welcome.
Theo Walcott has hailed Arshavin’s goal and said that Arsenal can frighten defenders ‘at times’. Which is probably true but he neglects to mention that we probably put the shits up our own back four as often as we do the opposition.
Vague transfer speculation? Ok then. The Sun says we’ll have to wait to sign Steven Defour as his agent ruled out a January move and countless Star Wars based headline puns. And some chap called Gregory van der Wiel says Robin van Persie has told him lots of great stuff about Arsene Wenger and Arsenal and he’d welcome a move to the Premier League. Of course he would.
Johann Cruyff has selected Cesc in Catalunya’s squad for their game against Argentina. I can hear Arsene laughing from here.
Not much else going on so how about a competition? Rather a good one too, I have to say. I have, up for grabs now, three copies of Arsènal : The Making of a Modern Superclub by Kevin Witcher and Alex Fynn – each one of those copies is signed by Arsene Wenger himself.
Not only that, the winners of each copy will also get a copy of the The Pocket Book of Arsenal, also by Kevin Witcher. Not too shabby at all, eh?
To enter, all you have to do is answer the following question: Who scored the final goal in Arsenal’s invincible season?
Was it a) Patrick Vieira b) Thierry Henry c) Robert Pires
Answers, as always, to [email protected], the winners will be announced on Thursday. And just a reminder that if you wish the purchase the books via the publishers website, using the code ROCKY at check-out gets you 10% off.
So, there you go. No doubt we’ll get injury updates and what have you later today, more on the Burnley game tomorrow.
Till then.
