october 18th
Sparta Prague tonight and all of a sudden our squad doesn’t look so threadbare. There’s still no Sol Campbell but Robin van Persie and Gilberto are back. As is Thierry Henry. Ahead of schedule and maybe some people will think he’s being risked ahead of time but I’m sure he wouldn’t be rushed back for the sake of it when another injury setback would be disastrous when we could just wait if need be.
He’s unlikely to start though with the boss saying “I don’t think I will start him but if the game allows I will give him part of it. Ideally I’d like to play him for 30 minutes and then play him against Manchester City.”
Good to have him back though and hopefully we’ll be 17-0 up with a half an hour to go so he can have an easy run-out. Away from the match the boss hit back at claims by goalkeeper Graham Stack that Arsenal was full of cliques and the team spirit was not as good as it used to be. He said “I think it’s a very unfair and unjustified comment by someone who hasn’t been part of the first team squad at Arsenal for 24 months. He’s not one of my players, he’s left the club. I don’t give any credit to these comments.”
You can’t get much more caustic than that. However, it is a shame the way so many players who leave have a little pop at a club which has given them a fanstastic footballing education without which their chances of a career in the game would have been considerably less.
Stack’s comments were unnecessary and also refuted by Kolo Toure who said “There is a fantastic atmosphere between all the players. That is Arsenal. We all come together.”
Gotta love Kolo.
AW has also spoken about the league campaign. He says “At the moment, I look a bit lonely and in the minority of one but I have great belief we will turn things around. I’ve listened to what everyone has been saying about us – but I don’t agree with what they have to say” – and as for new players in January, he says “It depends on who is on the market in January. I will not buy just for numbers but only if the right quality is available.”
As much as we alll want new players in the squad he’s right though. Whoever he buys has got to be quality and often those players are not available in the January window and maybe less so in a World Cup year. And check out all the headlines this morning such as “Wenger I may have erred” in relation to the Patrick Vieira sale. When you read the quotes from him though he says “I don’t think it was a mistake.” A fantastic example of the press making the story they want rather than reporting the story that’s there. Wankers.
Anyway, let’s concentrate on tonight. Three points would go a long way to ensure qualification from the group and take some of the pressure off the players. We did well away in Amsterdam so hopefully our away day woes are only Premiership based at the moment. I fancy us, although I think it will be tight. 15-1 Arsenal. Oh yes.
