march 10th
There had been some talk about the semi-final moving to the Millenium Stadium, but that proved to be unfounded as it was announced that Villa Park would be the venue. Good enough, I think. I’d rather play them there, and I’d rather the semi-final was not in the same place as the final. Kick off will be either 12noon or 12.15, not sure why there’s a problem with deciding on that now, but I’m sure it has something to do with TV coverage.
So, it’ll be a determined Man United we’ll face as they crashed out of the Champions League when Porto scored a last minute equaliser. Arsenal are entertaining Celta Vigo tonight, of course, with Dennis Bergkamp and Robert Pires set to return to the starting line-up. I suspect it’ll be the same as we saw against Portsmouth, but with Bergkamp instead of Reyes, Pires instead of Gilberto and Freddie back out on the right hand side. 3-2 is a nice lead to hold, and I just hope we can get an early goal to settle the nerves a bit. People are writing off Celta, especially when their current form is as sparkling as a glass of Spanish tap water, but football is funny. We can’t afford to even a little bit complacent, because you can get punished. I certainly don’t hold with the prescribed logic that we only need to turn up to go through, I’m not counting any chickens because this Champions League has given us a few kicks in the bollocks over the years.
9-0 to Arsenal it is then. Arsene Wenger though has insisted nobody is getting carried away with the media hyperbole, but has laid down the gauntlet a bit to his team by saying they won’t be considered a great team unless they win the Champions League, and do it with style. “’The great teams are the ones that won with style. Ajax really had perfect players everywhere but there’s still no comparison between us and them as we haven’t won anything yet.”
Reserves played Fulham last night and won 3-1. Two goals from Catalan youngster Cesc Fabregas would certainly have caught Arsene Wenger’s eye. Kanu sayshe’d sign ‘tomorrow’ if the club offered him a new deal. I can’t see the harm, to be honest. He’s an experienced player, and has shown some good form in the last two seasons. Giovanni van Bronckhorst wants to stay at Barcelona. Fair enough, not much of a future for him at Arsenal, but then this is old ground and we’ve covered this plenty of times before. The boss says it’s up to Sven to decide whether or not to play Sol Campbell in the ludicriously timed international friendly which is sandwiched between the two United games. Again this is old ground we’re covering, but to schedule these friendlies at this stage of the season is nothing short of Blattery, and that’s the worst swear word I can think of.
Right, that’s about the size of it. I’ve got to work until 9.45 tonight, which means I might get the last half hour of the game. Hurrah. More later.
