Good day to you. This fine Saturday begins with a most fulsome *boilk* and not being able to find flip-flops thus having to walk on the stones to retrieve the dog who from time to time thinks he produces enormous lumps of hot food from his arse. Not pleasant.
Still, it’s Saturday and this is a good thing. It’s also a Saturday after loads of internationals and thus far there have been no reports of maimings or leg-fally-offies or anything. In fact, Abou Diaby even went so far as to score a goal for France last night as they beat Finland 1-0. Belgium beat Wales 2-0 with both Ramsey and Vermaelen playing 90 minutes, and as far as I can make out Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain started for England in their 5-0 win, only to be replaced by Theo Walcott after about an hour.
Other than that I don’t know anything other than I turned on Ireland’s game against Kazakhstan with 3 minutes to and the home side leading 1-0. Three minutes later Ireland were 2-1 up. I saved myself 87 minutes of torture by simply not watching. I highly recommend this strategy for everyone who loves football, especially when it comes to Ireland. Sometimes less is more. And sometimes nothing at all is loads. Worth remembering.
In terms of Arsenal news it’s a bit quiet but Arsene Wenger has been at his hilarious best when discussing Nicklas Bendtner. Currently on loan at Juventus, the boss held the door open on his Arsenal career, saying he’s a fine player, that the club has belief in him and that he could return to us because he is, after all, TGSTEL. Which prompted one of the Italian journalists present to ask this rather pertinent question:
Excuse us, but if he is so good why have you not kept him?
A very fine question indeed. The boss’s answer:
I am convinced that at a team like Juventus, in a very difficult league like yours, especially for the attackers, he can make the final leap in quality. I believe this. We have not sold him, only loaned him, and next year we’ll bring him home.
Do not forget that he is a boy of 24 and therefore the right age to prove who he is. The talent is not missing; otherwise I would not have bought him from Copenhagen when he was just 16 years old.
Now, I think he’s got a point. Bendtner has 40 odd goals for Arsenal, which probably makes him the highest scoring player at the club even though he’s not at the club, if you get me, and I think he’s a better player than some people give him credit for. Of course he’s not as good as he thinks he is either, but I love the way at a time when we have two strikers adapting and coming to terms with the Premier League that we’re letting a player as good as this bugger off on loan to a club that quite publicly went ‘Meh, all right then. I suppose we’ll take him.’
I guess it’s down to the fact that Arsene never, ever criticises a player in public. Even the ones who act like absolute twat-baskets and leave the club in such a manner which will never be forgiven or forgotten by fans generally don’t produce anything more than a mild rebuke, if that at all. He must be the most forgiving man of all time. Or, having been in the game for so long, he realises most footballers have the ability to go from hero to zero in no time and thus accepts it and moves on. Maybe he’s the wise one.
Anyway, we can look forward to the return of the TGSTEL next summer when I’m sure he’ll decide he really wants to be with us and not spend months talking about how he’s got so much to choose from, ooooooh soooooo much to chooooooose from, before a panic stricken final day loan to a club which tried to sign van Persie and Llorente before settling for first best. That said, I think he could do quite well there provided he realises he’s got a football career to get back on track and doesn’t spend all winter in natty turtlenecks drinking Negronis.
Beyond that it’s as quiet as quiet can be and I suspect I may TGBTEL, where B is for bacon. Till tomorrow.
