Good morning, it’s a bank holiday Monday here, hence the lateness and the soreness of head.
I only saw the first half of yesterday’s game against Celtic. Obviously I am a totem of good luck as we were quite good, didn’t concede any goals, scored two and Jack Wilshere hit the bar with an awesome shot. Far be it for me to draw unseemly comparisons but it was kinda Scholes-ish.
The scoring was opened by Carlos Vela who slid in to prod home Theo’s gone wrong shot and right at the end of the half Bacary Sagna smashed home a great left footed effort. It was only his second goal for the club, his celebration was enthusiastic and, I’m sure, somewhat cathartic given the circumstances of his only other goal.
Nasri got the third in the second half and then the tired legs kicked in and we conceded two just to give Celtic a bit of encouragement for their Champions League game in midweek. It’s that touch of class that sets Arsenal apart from other clubs, you know.
Afterwards Arsene said the performances of Wilshere and Frimpong have affected his transfer plans. He was thinking about buying a midfielder but won’t do that now. I don’t really have any great problem with this, to be honest. Wilshere provides another central option, as well as the ability to play in the forward three, and the more he plays the better he’ll be. He’s clearly got huge potential and I’m happy for him to develop it with us. He’s still raw, which is perfectly normal given his age and limited experience, but he’s exactly the kind of exciting young player we should be giving playing time to.
Frimpong looked like he was feeling the effects of two games in two days but he would provide some cover for Alex Song in the defensive midfield role, something we’ve been lacking. He patrols in front of the back four, is always available and looking for the ball, and has a tenacity and bite in the tackle that can’t be taught. Already there’s a bit of hype about the pair of them, talk of international call ups and what have you, but it’s the inevitable consequence of good performances for Arsenal and an England team that is as good as Bros.
At the other end Manuel Almunia played in goal and said afterwards:
I don’t need to convince anybody, I just do my job. I have a couple more years on my contract and that’s it, I’m an Arsenal player.
While Arsene said:
We have two more weeks to decide what I will do. Overall we will play the player who I think deserves to play. It is competition in pre-season and you have to live with that.
Arsene has a bit of a soft spot for Fabianski but it seems odd to me that Almunia is the Arsenal keeper most under threat. He’s easily the best option between the two and if he’d made the same kind of errors Fabianski had made his Arsenal career would be well and truly over by now. I hope Arsene is addressing the goalkeeping issue, I’ve said for ages that we need a change, but if we go into the new season with Fabianski ahead of Almunia I’ll be well and truly gobsmacked.
The boss also confirmed the search for a centre-half but refused to be drawn on the rumours surrounding Per Mertesacker:
I would not like to come out on names because it raises the price straight away by 50 per cent. Ideally we still want one or two players.
We still got the ‘not close to signing anyone’ thing but things can change very quickly. Let’s not forget one of our most successful signings in recent times came when we discovered the player was about to sign for another club. A quick phone call and we’d hijacked Sylvester’s move to Sunderland. With a full week to train and get ready for the game against Legia Warsaw there’s lots of time for Arsene and Ivan Gazidis to ensure that the squad is complete before the first game of the season. I know there’s almost a full month until the end of the transfer window but in an ideal world we’d have everything done before the trip to Anfield.
Beyond that not a great deal going on. Today is your last chance to enter the competition to win the classic Pal Lydersen shirt. Details can be found on this post and the winner will be announced in the morning.
And that’s about that. As it’s a bank holiday here I can laze about the place for the whole day without feeling guilty. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
Have a good one, more tomorrow.
