Porto Preview/Baptista to stay/Share secrets
53 comments September 26th, 2006
Tonight’s game against Porto has the potential to be an attacking display of flair, skill, and creativity. However, Cesc is probably closer to the mark when he suggests that Porto might look to “close up their defence and look fo counter-attacks”. Though Jose Mourinho is long gone, his tactical influence remains.
Hopefully we can show the patience and persistence that saw us win just reward against Sheffield United. 6 points from our first 2 games would be invaluable, and put us in an immensely strong qualifying position.
Ahead of the game, Arsene has been speaking about Brazilian midfielder-cum-striker, Julio Baptista, who is making plenty of headlines in spite of a minimal impact so far. Asked if the powerhouse was overweight, he replied:
“He is massive and he looks like a boxer. When you see his body, he does not have fat at all. He is muscular and is in the gym every day. He looks after himself and takes care of his body. It is more adaptation to the pace of the game and the movement here – intelligence wise he has no problem, quality wise he is a big player, Once he is running with the ball, you just feel this guy cannot be stopped: he is a killer once he is in front of goal.”
Strong praise indeed, so it is no surprise that the manager sees his long-term future with Arsenal:
“In my opinion, it (a permanent transfer) will be done. We have a delay before we have to make that decision. It is not only us, it is him as well. Whether he wants to stay in London or not.”
If he does stay, he’ll face yet more competition from young Dane Niklas Bendtner, whose been earning yet more praise from Steve Bruce. In my opinion, the ideal situation for Arsenal is that Birmingham are promoted and Bendtner remains on for one more season to get regular Premiership football before making the step up to Arsenal’s first-team. However, this is of course dependent on Birmingham being promoted, so it’s arguably not the most secure of plans.
Finally, The Times report that £3.5m-worth of Arsenal shares have been bought up by a mystery consortium. Earlier today, Arseblogger revealed that he is the faceless bidder. Well, I can only add to the revelation with the fact that he has a secret backer: me. I’ve bought him the shares: Happy Birthday blogger, and Vive la Revolución!
