Archive for November, 2007
November 11th, 2007
Emmanuel Adebayor is one of the hardest strikers to handle for any centre-back. Reading’s Ibrahima Sonko is no different:
“My cousin said to me, ‘Be careful, he is so quick! When he has the ball at his feet he can be really fast’. I think he is the complete player.”
He’s right to beware Adebayor’s pace – the Togolese is second to only Armand Traore in Arsene’s 40m sprint trials. So how will the Senegalese stopper deal with Ade? Will it be a high line with an organised offside trap? A deep defence with pressure applied from a holding midfielder? Or a man-to-man marking system to cancel Adebayor out of the game?
As it turns out, Sonko’s solution is none of the above:
“Apparently he doesn’t like being kicked. If I have to kick him I will do it. My cousin told me kicking him is the only way to stop him playing. If you do it early on it puts him off. When he starts smiling you know he is going to play well; I hope he won’t be smiling.”
Not the kind of noble sentiment you associate with a player whose nickname is supposedly “Superman”. Presumably then Sonko himself doesn’t mind being kicked at all. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing that put to the test tomorrow night.
I claimed yesterday that I might translate this interview with Cesc into English. However, seeing as The Sunday Times have done a nice big piece with the midfield maestro in our native language anyway, I’ll instead use the time to do something more productive, like play Pro Evolution Soccer.
I love Sundays.
November 10th, 2007
Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard has dropped the latest in a succession of hints that the Catalan outfit are trying to lure Cesc Fabregas back to the club where he began his career:
“He’s one player that stands out most in the football world because of his enormous talent. I do not go searching for any defects in people, but the truth is you do not encounter any [in Fabregas].”
During his week off, Cesc flew out to Barcelona to visit family and friends. But nothing more. And Arsene is unworried. Rightfully so, judging my quotes from this interview between Cesc and Guilleme Ballagué published in today’s AS:
“When one comes to England one always thinks about returning to Spain some day. But the truth is that all the time I’m feeling more comfortable – I love the city, the people, the club. Each day I get to know more people, I identify more with the spirit and the team. To tell the truth: all the time I have more to gain by staying here a long time – all my career.”
Nice reading on a Saturday morning, isn’t it. If I have time I may do a full translation of the interview tomorrow.
Steve Coppell has moved to criticise the fact that Arsenal do not bring through enough English players. Yet a glance at the England squad announced yesterday will show you two Arsenal youth team graduates: Ashley Cole and David Bentley. When you consider that we’ve also given the likes of Steve Sidwell, James Harper, Jermaine Pennant, Stuart Taylor, and of course Justin Hoyte and Theo Walcott significant Premier League exposure, you have to wonder just what Coppell is talking about.
Kolo Toure, Aleksandr Hleb, Cesc, and Tomas Rosicky will all be in the squad for Reading, whilst Philippe Senderos will not be available despite a return to full training. Beyond that, it’s only Robin van Persie whose missing. Arsene has suggested there could be ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.Â
The pea-brained Mark Lawrenson has predicted a draw. If ever there was an incentive to win a game, this is it.
November 8th, 2007
:Tumbleweed rolls across Gunnerblog’s front page as GS struggles to find something interesting to say about last night’s match:
In 1905, former Celtic player Johnny William Madden became manager of Slavia Prague.
:more Tumbleweed:
Whilst you may have thought Slavia’s fans were jumping up and down to cheer their team on during the game, they were in fact doing so to prevent their brains from freezing at the sheer mind-numbing awfulness of what was happening on the pitch.
:Tumbleweed has gone. It is not interested in this match report either:
Right. Well, we’re through. And Arsene’s pleased about it.
I’ll get me coat.
November 7th, 2007
Yesterday the squad for tonight’s match with Slavia Prague was announced, and Kolo Toure, Cesc Fabregas, Tomas Rosicky and Aleksandr Hleb were all missing. Whilst Hleb and Cesc are merely rested, Kolo and Rosicky are injured. One of those is rather surprising, the other absolutely not. However, poor Tom Rosicky is expected to be fit for next Monday’s clash with Reading.
With Toure and Senderos both injured, it seems Alex Song will be given a rare start at centre-half. Arsene has been quick to re-emphasise his faith in the youngster, saying:
“He will start and it will be a big test for him. The Fulham game affected him in the minds of people, yes. Afterwards people asked, ‘how can a player like Song come to Arsenal?’ Yes, on the night against Fulham, he was not good. But he was like the rest of the team. I never had any doubts about him. There are things that you cannot cheat when you see someone everyday in training.
He is more mature now. People forgot how old he is. He is 20 years-old and that loan spell at Charlton helped him to grow up. If you ask him, he prefers to play central midfield, but I feel that he just wants to play now. He is very strong one-against-one and reads the game well. He is calm. He is good on the ball and good in the air. That will be important for us tonight.”
I have to say, it would make more sense to me to play Gilberto at centre-half and bring Diarra into midfield, but nevertheless I wish Song good luck on a big night for him.
Could it be another big night for Theo Walcott? After his outstanding performance in the 7-0 demolition of Prague a couple of weeks back, he could be given another opportunity to impress tonight.
It seems unlikely that we’ll be able to get close to a scoreline like that tonight – Prague will be desperate to prove their worth and avoid further humiliation. In the light of that, any sort of win would be highly commendable.
Come on Arsenal.
November 6th, 2007
With Qualification for the knockout stage of the Champions League just one win away, and bodies tiring as the fixture list begins to take its toll, Arsene Wenger has hinted he may begin to rotate his squad. If anyone deserves to be a beneficiary of that, it’s new signing Lassana Diarra.
“What about Gilberto?”, I hear you cry. Well, for all the Brazilian’s undoubted quality, the performances he has made haven’t demanded the observer’s attention in the same way as Diarra. Although the diminutive midfielder has made only two starts for the club, both in the Carling Cup, he’s arguably emerged as the Man of the Match in both encounters. Even more impressively, he played the two games in different positions: holding midfield and right-back.
22 already, Diarra won’t wait forever for first team opportunities – indeed, he left Chelsea for those very reasons. If we’re to keep such a talented member of our squad happy, it’s vital we give him opportunities where possible in games like tomorrow. I’m sure either Mathieu Flamini, Cesc Fabregas, or Bacary Sagna wouldn’t mind a rest.
One player who could suffer from Diarra’s rise to prominence is Justin Hoyte, who has been linked with a move to Everton. I’m a big fan of Hoyte, although he does suffer somewhat from the Phil Neville problem of being Jack of All Trades and Master of None. Will he follow the Neviller’s path to Merseyside? We’ll find out in January, I suppose.
Have a good day.
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