Arsenal’s Zombie Nation prepares for last hurrah
115 comments May 13th, 2007
Arsenal take on Portsmouth today in our final match of the season. If we get a better result than Liverpool do at home to the already relegated Charlton (which seems rather unlikely), we’ll take third spot. Pompey, however, are chasing an enticing UEFA Cup place, meaning the likes of Lauren and Kanu won’t go easy against their former club.
As today’s headline suggests, our team might have the distinctive feel of the walking dead, for it seems likely that quite a few of those who start today will not appear for the club again.
In goal, Manuel Almunia may seek pastures new after the signing of Woo-kash Fab-yan-ski.
With Gilberto suffering from chronic “niggles”, Mathieu Flamini could be given a final opportunity to display his astounding averageness in the centre of midfield.
Aleksandr Hleb and Freddie Ljungberg are both likely to start, and with the manager talking about ways of “creating money” (in ways that presumably don’t involve a colour photocopier), it wouldn’t surprise me if one of them was sold against their will this summer.
Upfront, Jeremie Aliadiere is probably still being kept in solitary confinement, but Julio Baptista will certainly start. Although his chances of staying might well have increased after Jose Reyes put in a storming performance for Real Madrid last night, he probably needs another performance like the one he put in at Anfield to give him a hope in even the most lenient of Hells.
I won’t be watching. Let me know what happens.
