It is -9 in Dublin right now. I can’t tell you how much this displeases me.
I really, really fail to see the point of -9. Like war, and the county of Leitrim, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing. Good god. Oh yeah. And such. And not a bit of football to warm us up until next Monday. It’s like an enforced Interlull but without the bits where our players go away and come back all broken up in various pieces.
The game next Monday is Chelsea, of course, and Cesc has been talking about how we’re somewhat inhibited in these ‘big games’, saying:
Sometimes we seem scared of losing these big games – we don’t really go for it and we’re tempted to drop back and see what the opposition do.
I’m realising more and more that football is all about confidence and mentality. Sometimes you do the right thing but, if people tell you it’s not right, you start believing it, even though you were right at first.
I fully agree. It’s like when I built that machine that would wipe out Phil Collins and anyone even vaguely related to him. ‘You can’t do that’, people said, ‘it’s the unmerciful, unwarranted slaughter of thousands, most of whom are innocent’. So I destroyed the machine and yet here we are in a world where Phil Collins still lives and even if he carks it one of his baldy twat nephews could launch the ‘Phil Collins Experience’ and tour the world singing his interminable songs. I knew I was right. I shouldn’t have doubted myself.
As for us being scared of losing these big games, I think that’s spot on too. At this point it’s become something of a mental block and having lost against United getting some kind of result against Chelsea is crucial. I’ll go back to the point I’ve made recently about our defensive solidity, or lack of it. Perhaps the reason we don’t really go for it is that we’re not confident in our ability to defend well enough. If we get forward there’s the fear we’ll get caught on the break and the opposition will score.
I’m positive that if we improved the defensive side of our game we’d improve as an attacking force too. And while you can probably operate at 80% of your attacking potential against most teams, when it comes to games against the likes of Chelsea, United and … gulp … Barcelona, you need to be at your very best going forward to have a chance. This is why it frustrates to hear Arsene Wenger say he’s ok with Alex Song galloping forward like a coked-up Shergar wearing Billy’s Boots when we might be best served if he sat and added some protection to the back four.
Again, just to clarify, I’m not saying Song should never get forward because he has been effective at times, just that he needs to choose his moments better – and the manager needs to tell him that his main job is that of a defensive midfielder. Anyway, maybe it’s over-simplistic but I genuinely believe we’d be even more effective up front if we were better at the back.
Lots more talk about Denilson and an £11m move to Wolfsburg. On the one hand it’d be nigh on impossible to turn down that kind of money. On the other if he leaves, and we don’t buy (which would hardly be a surprise), you’re looking at a situation where a couple of injuries mean we have to play Craig Eastmond. With all due respect to the young man he’s simply not ready for the first team and really should be going out on loan to gain the experience he really needs quite badly.
I realise we have Diaby back in full training but he’s just a calf strain or an ankle knock away from weeks out and Aaron Ramsey should return from his loan spell, meaning we’ve got plenty of midfield options. It’s just that none of them are particularly defensive minded. Only Song is really a defensive midfielder, Ramsey, Cesc, Wilshere, Diaby, Rosicky etc are much more forward-minded players. I’m of the opinion Song needs at least some competition for his place so unless the £11m is going to be spent on a midfield reinforcement I’m not sure a mid-season sale is a good idea.
It does seem as if Forest want to extend Ramsey’s loan for another month but provided he gets a few games in the next couple of weeks I don’t see it happening. January is going to be a very busy month, we need our squad as full as possible.
Jack Wilshere says he wants to be Arsenal captain one day and also talks about tackling and how he needs to improve that side of his game:
Tackling is something that various well-decorated veterans, let alone a youngster at the beginning of his career, are yet to master – as well as being an art that, it sometimes seems, is dying a slow death.
Which is all well and good but did he really say it exactly like that? For me it sounds more like Brian Sewell than Jack Wilshere. Still, you really can’t fault his ambition and his attitude which is first rate.
Benik Afobe, on loan at Huddersfield, talks about how he’s benefitting from the move despite missing out on the telepathy at the Arsenal. Who knew that ESP was a requirement for the academy?
Finally for today, if you’re still looking for Christmas present ideas, Savile Rogue scarves are the perfect gift for cold necks. Use ‘arseblog‘ at check out and get 10% off.
Right, I’ve got to venture out into this ridiculous cold. The good news is that it’s now just -8. Hurrah, where’s my mankini? Till tomorrow.
