When the ever resourceful Arsene Wenger is forced to admit, “I’m a little bit lost at the moment”, you know that all is not well at London Colney. Truth be told, Arsene’s Arsenal just aren’t used to this. It’s still March, and yet there’s no realistic chance of any silverware come the Summer. It’s hard to remember a time when that’s ever happened before.
Certainly that’s a testament to the man in charge, but it’s also an alarming wake-up call to just what has happened this season. We may be in transition, but at least last year we had the consolation of the Champions League Final. In order to stop our season from fading into disappointment, and Arsene from being found in a dark alley muttering “I’m a little bit lost at the moment”, we must go on a decent run and make a statement that we are capable of challenging for next season’s Premiership.
If we are to do that, we could do worse than listen to William Gallas:
“People say Arsenal produce beautiful football and that it’s a pleasure to watch us as we create lots of chances, but I look at the statistics. We don’t often score more than one goal in a game. If we can manage to fix that problem next season, we will be really strong. At present we don’t have enough of a killer instinct in front of goal.”
Tomorrow night, at Aston Villa, it will again fall to Jeremie Aliadiere and Julio Baptista to fix that problem. If they’re serious about being at Arsenal next season, they need to start producing the goods.
Finally, congratulations to arseblog – it’s been awarded the prize of Best Sports Blog at the Bloggies – a brilliant achievement.
What is it about Juventus and our midfielders? The giant moth of Italian football is looming over our North London flame once again, and after already nabbing Patrick Vieira, they’re now keen to take his Brazilian former partner, Gilberto Silva.
Brazil manager Dunga has seen fit to stick his oar in, saying:
“Gilberto Silva, for me, is a player who can do good things in the Italian League. He can play in a big club like Juve, he is very mature and doesn’t fear responsibility.”
Even for a fee as high as £7m, we should absolutely refuse to do business. Over the past two years, Gilberto has stepped out of Vieira’s shadow and shown that he is an excellent midfielder in his own right. He is now firmly established as our vice-captain, and is a leader by example on the pitch. Furthermore, he’s probably the only midfielder in our squad capable of putting the ball in the net, with nine goals already this season.
Yes, we have the likes of Denilson and Diaby coming through in the centre of the park, but these are both players whose natural game is more attacking than defensive. Gilberto is the master of interceptions, the king of the second ball, the don of defensive awareness. Without him we lack shape and stability, not to mention experience.
Gilberto must stay. I know Arsene Wenger is allergic to players of thirty or above, but every so often you get hold of one whose a keeper. Such is Gilberto’s intelligence on the pitch that he has many many years of top-class football in front of him. For the sake of our success, they must be at Arsenal.
So, it’s FA Cup weekend. There’s little to no Arsenal news about, and whilst I was able to enjoy an absolutely brilliant derbi, I also had to put up with seeing a certain Portugese winger nick an equaliser for Man U at Boro. In the light of that, I am delighted to announce the return of El Miraculo:
It’s still so funny.
If you want something a) new, or b) Arsenal related, you could read this.
Yesterday, I was pretty negative. Perhaps I was a little hasty: following my post, Emmanuel Adebayor was fined £7.5k and banned for a further game, whilst Thierry Henry was ruled out for the rest of the season. As if to top it all off, the word on the street (which street in particular I could not say), is that we’re unlikely to see Robin van Persie in action until August. So, ladies and gentlemen, prepare for the mother of all escapology acts, as I attempt to escape from these particularly dark doldrums to put a positive spin on all things crippled-Henry-esque:
First thing’s first: Henry will benefit from the break. I don’t believe he’s got one injury that will genuinely keep him out for three months. I reckon he’s struggling with several niggles, and has been for many months now. It’s clear that his Christmas lay-off didn’t shake those off, and this enforced break (coupled with a long, World Cup-free summer) could finally set Henry to rights. It’s clear all isn’t well between Thierry and Arsenal – he professes his love for the club, and I don’t doubt him, but love alone is not enough to conquer the mental and physical blocks that are keeping him from performing at his best. Sometimes, when a relationship isn’t working out, it takes both parties to take a break for them to understand where things are going wrong.
Another benefit of Henry’s injury is that it will take him off the transfer radar of most of the big Spanish clubs. I’ve said more than once that I thought there was a possibility of him leaving this Summer, but an injury-ravaged season, and this injury in particular, have knocked that idea square on the head.
Furthermore, it is in Henry’s absence that the team have produced some of their best performances this season: see the successful Carling Cup run, the win at Old Trafford, the draw at Chelsea and the 3-0 thrashing of Spurs. Once Emmanuel Adebayor returns from his suspension he can get back to building on an already impressive season – I personally am of the opinion that he seems to play better when he’s not in his pal’s shadow.
So there you have it. It’s not all bad after all. If I’ve made your day a little brighter, then stop reading now. If I haven’t, you might as well continue.
The Smallprint
We now face tough games against the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, and Spurs without our main striking duo
Theo Walcott is likely to have to postpone his shoulder surgery again, meaning he might miss the start of next season
The injuries will give Arsene and the team a nice excuse for any shortcomings
Should Thierry come back after this huge lay-off and still not get it right in an Arsenal shirt… well, erm… that doesn’t bear thinking about.
Just look at it. It’s so open. The chances of an all-English final are pretty high, and we’re not even in the running. My Chelsea supporting brother is on a jolly jaunt to Valencia, and all we have to look forward to is a trip to Birmingham to play Villa on Wednesday.
Excuse my bad mood. An old woman called me a “moron” on the tube today. I didn’t get out of her way, forcing her to move precisely one yard to her left and side-step me. I guess when you’re fat, old, and decrepit that’s quite annoying.
Due to the fact that we’re not really in any competitions anymore, there isn’t much news about. I’m fairly certain that Emmanuel Adebayor has his hearing today for flailing his arms about in the direction of some Chelsea players. I’m sure the FA will come out with a fair, appropriate punishment. Like “death”.
Finally, on this happiest of days, I have to echo Myles Palmer’s sentiments on the Thierry Henry issue. Here’s Arsene in the light of another Henry injury:
“My thinking was – as you could see – he was not ready to start the game because he got injured. Again now he is out for a few weeks.”
Eh? So, he was not fit enough to start yet fit enough to come on and get even more injured? I honestly have no idea why Henry was involved on Wednesday night. It’s as if Arsene is saying, “See, I told you this would happen”. He did have the option of saying “Henry is injured” beforehand, you know.
What is it about Juventus and our midfielders? The giant moth of Italian football is looming over our North London flame once again, and after already nabbing Patrick Vieira, they’re now keen to take his Brazilian former partner, 
