Interestingly, a number of people emailed me about yesterday’s blog. ‘I thought you were better than that’, said one of them, rather disappointedly, as he complained that my mocking of Chelsea and Jose Mourinho was unbecoming.
All I can say is that you don’t know me at all, sir. I am most certainly not better than that. In fact, I’m worse than that, but I’m wary of making it that obvious in public. It’s not as if I’m saying I want Mourinho to be so dismayed by his current situation that his mind snaps and he lives out the rest of his life with his meagre possessions in a battered shopping trolley, his fingernails grown to talons, and his lice infested beard grown to the point where it’s hard to know if there’s actually a man underneath it at all rather than some sort of underpass-yeti.
I’m not. I could. But I’m not. Nevertheless, I’m always unhappy when I disappoint a reader. I will take some time for introspection and to consider whether or not I could be a better person. And in the meantime, I hope Chelsea’s form continues on its current trajectory, providing me with a real chance to show that I’m a kinder, more compassionate man.
Which I will absolutely refuse to take, because this is one of the most hilarious things that has happened in years. But you can’t say I didn’t consider it.
Meanwhile, there’s bad news for Danny Welbeck after his comeback from a knee injury appears to have been delayed. Reports yesterday pushed back his return from January to February, and things are still quite vague when it comes to him, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it were longer than that again.
The other thing we have to consider is that when a guy hasn’t kicked a ball in anger for the best part of a year – his last appearance was on April 26th – it can take him some time to get back to the right level. There’s fitness, match-sharpness, confidence, touch; all the things that come naturally when you’re playing regularly have to be re-found. It might not be unfair to say that you’re looking at a few months for that to happen, and realistically it might well be the start of the new campaign, with a proper pre-season under his belt, before you see the best of him.
That’s going to be true of Jack Wilshere too, and Tomas Rosicky, so it makes me wonder if that will influence the January transfer window further. The current situation demands the arrival of a midfielder, I don’t think there’s any question about that, but I do wonder if the manager might be thinking of somebody who can add something in the final third.
I still feel like he would prefer an either/or with Walcott and Giroud competing for the position up front – and that presents him with a big decision for next Monday’s game against Man City. It’s something we can touch on later in the week, but right now I think he’s only using Walcott out wide because he has little choice.
Alexis is injured, the midfield situation means Aaron Ramsey is back in the middle where he prefers it, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s form since that cracking goal against Chelsea in the Community Shield has seen him struggle to make an impact. It’s not that he hasn’t had chances to do that, but it feels like he’s stuck in a bit of a rut at the moment. Even if Joel Campbell has been a nice surprise, and his contributions have been generally positive, it still feels as if this team could use an injection of something to really help our title challenge.
Hark back to January 2004 when an Arsenal team containing Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp in their pomp; supported by Kanu, Sylvain Wiltord; the best goalscoring wide player in the league in Robert Pires; and a then promising Jeremie Aliaidere, was bolstered by the January arrival of Jose Antonio Reyes for a then club record fee from Sevilla.
It wasn’t necessarily a signing that we needed, but one that had a big impact on the rest of that season. Reyes played his part in ensuring we won the title, and that we did it without losing a game. Was it away at Portsmouth where his equaliser helped maintain that unbeaten record on a night when it hung in a balance?
Of course it’s all dependent on finding the right player and that player being available etc etc, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if we made a signing in this area when the window opens. I realise I am probably setting myself up for disappointment here, but there you go.
Elsewhere, Santi Cazorla has spoken about his injury, saying he had no idea during the Norwich game that it was so bad:
Perhaps I should have asked to be subbed but I did not know I had such a serious injury, even the doctors tell me that they don’t understand how I could play so long with this injury. I got home, tried walking and playing with my son and thinking that maybe it wasn’t that bad. But at the same time … I felt the knee was unstable.
I went for the scan with the idea that could be something serious.
Damn you, adrenalin! He says he’s hoping to be back inside the four month schedule the doctors have put on his absence, and if there’s anyone in this Arsenal team who can use the power of positivity to get them through an injury like this it’s Santi. Hopefully though it’s not a case that he pushes it and does himself more damage, we’ve heard the word ‘setback’ rather too often in recent times.
I think we’re gonna hit that don’t-play-till-Monday midweek lull today, might be a quiet one around. No harm, get some Christmas shopping done. I’m going to buy a shopping trolley to donate to the needy.
Till tomorrow.
