I am returned and I have discovered something quite amazing. The perfect hangover cure. And I don’t just mean for any hangover. I mean for post-wedding, post-Jaegermeister, post-whiskey, post-all day drinking mixing wine and beer and gin and everything else. The kind of hangover that makes you wish you could book yourself into a Dignitas clinic and just have yourself put out of your misery.
Being bashed around by 12 foot high waves in the Atlantic off the south-west tip of Ireland appears to be some kind of magical therapy. Words like ‘refreshing’ and ‘invigorating’ more or less describe the sensation but not fully. Being ragdolled about the place by the freezing cold sea sounds like a poor idea when your head feels like it’s made from 100% pain molecules but it’s most definitely worth it. I realise for many people this is a long way to go to get rid of a hangover but I cannot, with any great assurance, make the same claim for other seas, oceans or channels.
Thanks to Tom for holding the fort in my absence. I suspect that the waters off the Scottish coast would have a similarly curative effect but knowing Tom I doubt very much if wild horses could drag him to throw his carcass in. He just wakes up late then complains about it. And who am I to argue with that?
While away I have, of course, kept up with Arsenal via Tom powered Arseblog and there’s really little of note going on. Yer chappy Koscielny will sign at some point and that seems to be about the size of it. This morning’s Mail says Sporting Braga have offered us their goalkeeper, Eduardo, who was pretty decent in the World Cup. For some reason they’d rather he joined us than Genoa. We can only speculate as to why. Either they don’t like Genoa or they don’t like us. Either way they’re clearly bitter people and we should stay well away from them.
And no week would be complete without some Barcelona player talking about Cesc. This time it’s his beardy pal Pique who says:
The World Cup has not been a good thing for Arsenal. It has meant that he has been spending every day with myself, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Victor Valdes – and he has made his feelings very clear to us. I think already in his heart he is wearing a Barcelona shirt next season.
So while it’s tedious to have to listen to this, and if I were Cesc I’d be a touch aggravated that so many people continue to speak on my behalf, it’s not terribly encouraging from an Arsenal point of view. I don’t think you need to be a genius to realise he genuinely wants to join Barcelona this summer but I think he’s realistic enough to know a deal between the two clubs will be no easy thing.
I have to admit I’m rather torn by the whole thing. On one hand I’m loath to give in to Barcelona’s bullying tactics and to lose a player I rate as one of the best I’ve ever seen in an Arsenal shirt, on the other I’m realistic enough to know that keeping a player who doesn’t want to be at the club rarely works out for the best. Arsene’s got his work cut out for him with this one, he really does.
I did manage to catch bits and pieces of the World Cup. I missed Germany’s demolition of Argentina but was in the right place at the right time for all the penalty antics. The competition went mad for the spot kicks and the crazy missing and re-taking and hitting the bar. Marvelous fun.
As Argentina go out Lionel Messi talks up Theo Walcott and says England made a mistake not taking him. I think Theo got lucky there. He’s come out of the World Cup with his reputation enhanced. It’ll be a confidence boost hearing Messi talk like that about him ahead of the new season.
The semis are quite tasty too. Germany v Spain will be a fascinating contest and I think the Germans have got more than enough to trouble the Spanish. In the other game Robin van Persie will be fit to play against Uruguay and I think he’s got a goal or two coming. A Holland v Germany final would be my preference at this stage.
Anyway, as things wind down in South Africa hopefully they’ll pick up closer to home. The new season is just under 6 weeks away and you still feel there’s plenty of work to be done to ensure we’ve got a squad that’s able to compete again. Fingers crossed lots of that is going on behind the scenes right now.
Right, breakfast time. It’s nice to be back. Thanks again to Tom. More tomorrow.
