Something of a quickie for you this morning as I’m still befuddled by what actual day of the week it is.
There was a press conference yesterday in which the only piece of real team news we gleaned was that Danny Welbeck is a doubt with a thigh problem. Given that Olivier Giroud’s daft red card means he’s sitting on his hole until the Stoke game, that could be something of a problem.
Southampton look to have found their way again after a spell of bad form and come into this one with the confidence of a 1-1 draw with Diveski. It will probably mean playing Alexis as the centre-forward, a role he’s done well at times this season, but I thought Welbeck had a strong performance against West Ham and gave us a real outlet so his absence could be a blow.
It might be offset, however, by the potential return of Theo Walcott who, the manager says, is ‘ready to play’. We could move Oxlade-Chamberlain to the left or even give Lukas Podolski a game, and stick Theo on the right against his old club. As for the rest, there’s nobody back in midfield, I’m assuming Koscielny can manage this game then sit out the FA Cup, so it should be more or less the same as the team at Upton Park.
Speaking of Podolski, the manager reacted somewhat tetchily to reports that Inter Milan were set to take him on loan until the end of the season. He said:
Inter? That is a joke. Inter is not serious, they talk. There is only talks. Podolski is a player of Arsenal football club and I want him to stay.
Some have suggested the club are doing Podolski a disservice of some kind by not playing him, and I can understand the player’s frustration that he’s not got more minutes, but the reality is that the manager feels Alexis or Welbeck on the left suits the team better and as long as they’re fit and available they’re going to start.
What Podolski is, to my mind, is a great smash and grab option from the bench. We’ve complained bitterly for years about not having any kind of quality depth to our squad and right now he provides that. Good players don’t like not playing and that’s the issue here, but to suggest we should let him go because that’s what’s best for the player seems counter-intuitive to me.
I think it’s fair to say we’ve been guilty of that in the past, being just a bit too nice to certain players. It’s part of the way Arsene Wenger operates, he might detach himself from his squad on a personal level but he never loses sight of the human element. He’s intrinsically a decent man, sometimes too much for his own good, but if you asked me right now what the benefit to Arsenal is of loaning Podolski to Inter Milan or anywhere else the answer would be: none.
There’s a lot of football to play between now and May and he will get chances. When he gets those chances he’s got to take them. Yes, he scored against Anderlecht (smash and grab-tastic!) and against Galatasaray away, but let’s be honest, they’re about the worst team we’ve played this season. The start he got against Southampton in the Capital One Cup, up front no less, was not his best night.
I think it’s obvious the manager doesn’t view him as a first team regular, but that’s not to say he can’t make a contribution. We might need him and we should keep him until the summer, a much more cromulent time to arrange a parting of the ways.
Also, some interesting stuff from the manager about diving and how a post-game panel could judge and punish certain incidents. Speaking to the press yesterday, he said:
I’m against diving. We should punish after the game. The problem will be to decide when it was obvious diving or not. That’s a big issue and sometimes it’s not obvious. But the only way that the players will stop doing it, is if they feel they can get punished. Is it Arsenal, or Man United, or Liverpool or Chelsea, it is for everybody the same.
No doubt some people will bring up the names of Pires or Eduardo, two players rather unfairly stained by one incident while serial offenders like Gareth Bale, Wayne Rooney, Michael Owen and others are allowed get away with countless moments of deliberate cheating, but that’s entirely missing the point.
I’ve long said that the only way you can stop diving is retrospective punishment by people who can view the footage from various angles. Referees and linesmen have a split second to make a decision and given how bad some of the decisions we’re seeing from the officials are this season, you wouldn’t have much faith in them to get the difficult ones right when they’re getting the obvious ones wrong.
It won’t stop it completely. Players know that cameras are on them at all times and they can be punished for acts of off the ball violence, see Cisse this week for example, but it will surely put it in their minds enough to make a significant impact. I’m all for it.
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Right, that’s about that. As it’s December 31st, I’d just like to thank everyone for reading, listening, commenting, book buying, and all the support this year as the site continues to grow, and also wish you, your families and loved ones all the very best for 2015.
Peace and love, that’s what it’s all about folks. And trophies. And playing good football. And signing a centre-half and DM! But mostly peace and love.
Happy New Year.
