Morning all, time to drag your hungover and turkey filled carcass back to the table for a great big helping of Arsenal.
A massive game against Villa today. There’s still no more team news than there was so we’ll be keeping fingers crossed over Cesc. Yesterday’s results were kindly. Chelsea dropped points at Birmingham, Sp*rs dropped points at Fulham, so a win today becomes less crucial but certainly more valuable. It’d put us 4 points behind Chelsea with a game in hand, so the prize is there for all to see.
I don’t need to say a lot about the game itself. We know Villa are a good team. They’re pacy, attack well, work very hard all over the pitch and with players like Carew, Milner, Young and Agbonlahor they have goals in them as well. From our point of view we need to build on the very positive 45 minutes against Hull. The second half performance was good and while there’s not much comparison between the opposition then and today it’s the level we need to maintain.
In terms of the team it all hinges on Cesc. If he doesn’t make it I’d assume the same team that began against Hull but with Traore in at left back ahead of Sylvester. I think he’ll save Theo’s pace until the game opens up a little bit and look for Eduardo to start hitting the back of the net with more frequency. Speaking to the News of the World the Crozilian says he wants to starting more games, despite the manager’s insistence on gradually reintroducing him to the thick of things after his injury. He says:
I just want to play every game. I miss that feeling in my lungs, when I run up the pitch three times in a row and still feel I can do the same for the fourth time. But I can only get there with playing games. It’s impossible to reach that level just with training. I am glad that the coach trusts me.
I can say that I am very close to my best form. I only need more consistent playing time – like five games in a row.
As we’ve been saying there’s a weight of expectation on Eduardo now. With van Persie out for the season and Bendtner still some time away he’s the most experienced striker at the club. Hopefully last week’s goal will have done him the world of good. He was certainly much more involved against Hull than in previous games so I’m keeping fingers crossed he can start producing on a regular basis.
In other news Chairman PHW is not at all happy with Barcelona or Joan Laporta. Their constant pursuit by press of Cesc has him most vexed indeed. He says:
I am really pissed off with Barcelona and all that nonsense. You would think there would be some action you could take against them, but I suppose you cannot stop the man shooting his mouth off. It is not the first time they have done this and it is a most disrespectful and tiresome thing to do.
Bravo, sir. It’s all well and good us fans saying it but it’s nice to hear it come from the top. It is disrespectful – especially as Laporta seems to preface every single utterance about Cesc by talking about what a great relationship he has with ‘the Gunners’. I hope he faxes a transfer bid and I hope we fax him back a photocopy of someone’s arse – complete with turtle’s tail. Maybe he’d get the message then, the smarmy cunt.
As the transfer window is about to open the speculation increases. This is normal. Today sees a clump of players linked with us.
The News of the World has us in for Toulouse striker Andre Pierre Gignac as well as a goalkeeper that nobody’s ever heard of who has never played a game for Newcastle. We’re ‘battling it out’ with Sp*rs for his signature. The same story appears almost word for word in The Mirror.
Also in The Mirror a story saying Craig Bellamy is set for a ‘shock’ move to Arsenal after apparently handing in a transfer request at Man City. The Gladstone Small of football may be having a good season but I don’t know that there’s a lot of truth in this. Although, we have to remember that Arsene bought Sylvester. Nothing is impossible after that.
What is clear though is that the January silly season is about to begin. January can’t be a season though, can it? Mental Month? That’ll do.
Jack Wilshere says he’d love to go on loan to West Ham but will go wherever Arsene thinks best. It’d certainly be handier for him to get the bus from home to West Ham than up sticks and move to Burnley for a while. It’ll be all down to the boss and where he thinks Jack will get the most playing time, I suppose.
Update: Longer Jack feature in the Sunday Times.
Not much else happening so it’s time for the Sunday papers, then breakfast, then the Arsenal. A win today would be a most splendid belated Christmas present indeed.
COME ON YOU REDS.
