august 7th
Where to start this morning?
With AW’s renewed talk of how he’s confident Patrick Vieira will stay and how he’d be making a mistake by leaving Arsenal? Does he really think Vieira will stay or is this just classic Wenger, making the player sweat and making it as difficult and awkward as possible for him to make the move he wants away from Arsenal? Why did we take two team photos yesterday – one with Vieira, one without? The headline in today’s edition of AS (Madrid friendly sports paper) is “ WENGER DECLARES WAR ” – using the same quotes you’ll find from yesterday’s press conference.
The boss said – “It’s my personal opinion that Patrick will stay here. The player is not unhappy here. He has shown that for the past eight years. Players who leave Arsenal do not always go on to have success.”
However, we know that Vieira has said his good-byes to his team mates and Ashley Cole is quoted as saying “I suppose, though, after eight good years here, maybe he feels that it’s time to move on.”
The boss also admitted his interest in Michael Carrick yesterday, saying “Michael has always been a player I love. If we sign him it could happen even if Patrick stays – but nothing has been done on that front.”
So it drags on and on and on and on.
Robin van Persie on Dennis Bergkamp: “I’ve bought a DVD of him at Ajax and also of his 100 goals at Arsenal. It was quite amazing. I was watching it with a friend of mine and every goal I was saying ‘Jesus’. It was unbelievable. I knew he was good but didn’t know he was that good.”
Let’s hope the little Dutchling makes the most of training and playing with Dennis and learns as much as possible from him.
Right, that’s it for today. More today if anything happens, but it’s the Charity Community Shield tomorrow and it looks likely that Cesc, who will wear number 15 this season, could start for Arsenal in midfield. Should be fun.
