Thierry: “The truth is I love this club and I have made up my mind to stay”
5 comments January 8th, 2006
Below is an exclusive picture of the Arsenal players’ reaction to this fantastic news:
On the subject of a new contract, he added, “My mind is to stay and we have to sort this out. There was a lot of ridiculous speculation. But the truth is this, I never spoke with or met with a single person from any other club at any time.” Reassurring words from a man who is, let’s not forget, the world’s best player. Losing him in the middle of what is almost a crisis period for this club would have plunged us into murky waters the likes of which we haven’t experienced in years. His pledge of alliegance could provide just the lift we need.
In return, however, Titi will expect the club to match his ambition by investing in the team. Arsene is more than aware of the situation: “The ball is in our court. But we will invest in the areas where we feel that we need someone. It’s always reassuring for big players to have other big players around them. But every big player did not have a big name before he was a big player.”
To me, this cryptic psuedo-intellectual bollocks suggests that there will be investment during this January transfer window, though not perhaps in household names. Instead, we may look at men like Vassiriki Diaby. The 19-year-old midfielder is said to be in the Vieira mould, and has attracted interest from both Arsenal, and, unsurprisingly, Chelsea. “Arsenal made an offer to Auxerre and are very keen to get him,” his agent, Roger Boli, told the News of the World. “But Chelsea want him as well.”
A couple of our own younger players, Johanne Djourou and Kerrea Gilbert, impressed in the FA Cup Third Round 2-1 win over Cardiff City. Despite a scrambled consolation from Cameron Jerome late on, we were always in control, and could’ve added to two marvellous team goals finished off by Robert Pires.
The FA Cup is a competition that’s always treated us well, and I’d love to see us go far again this year. The draw for the fourth round takes place tomorrow.
The win will boost morale even higher than Thierry’s announcement. Now what we need is a central midfielder, to top it all off. We may have been in a malaise, but as Thierry puts it, “Now we can move on”.
Oh, and laugh at this. Ha.