Szombathelyi Haladas match was never going to be the main event
8 comments July 23rd, 2008
Arsene Wenger does not really regard the first few matches of Arsenal’s pre-season as competetive affairs. Indeed, not until the match against Stuttgart on the 30th July will a game be treated as anything other than a fitness-gaining runaround.
Nevertheless, some fans (myself included) are so starved of Arsenal action that they will sit through ninety minutes of tedium in order to gatch a glimpse of the red-and-white. For those who did tune in to the 1-1 draw, the highlights were seeing Carlos Vela make a solid debut upfront, and a sublime assist from Nicklas Bendtner to provide Theo Walcott with our solitary goal.
With these games such non-events, it is often the post match press-conferences which draw the most attention. Here are the highlights from yesterday’s:
- Adebayor is training like everybody else
- Arsene denied that he had spoken directly to Adebayor about his future
- He refused to confirm or deny whether or not any bids had been recieved for the striker
- There is no news on new signings
- The international players will play for the first time against Stuttgart
- Cesc is the only player not yet back at training
- Eduardo will be with the squad for the Emirates Cup, though not available to play
- Arsene also confirmed he needs one central midfielder
I have to say, I increasingly suspect that Gareth Barry might be Arsene’s Number 1 Target this Summer. The Villa midfielder surely can’t now stay in the midlands, but negotiations between his club and Liverpool seem to have broken down.
However, as others have pointed out, it would be very Arsene to spring a surprise on us all with someone entirely unexpected.
The final bit of news today is that Kolo Toure has reportedly contracted malaria. The illness can have a varying degree of severity, so it’s probably best to wait for some confirmation from the club before declaring it a ‘crisis’ of any description. Still, get well soon Kolo.