Archive for September, 2008
September 13th, 2008
Our last away game was an unmitigated disaster. With three tricky fixtures in the next seven days, it’s vital we put that behind us, starting with a win at Ewood Park.
It seems Samir Nasri will be fit to play, which is a big bonus: his silky link-up play has become fundamental to our attacking game already – a fact underlined by the fact that he’s been named Arsenal Player of the Month for August.
Theo Walcott is likely to start on the bench with Emmanuel Eboue given the nod, whilst I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nicklas Bendtner deployed upfront on account of his physical presence.
Today we’ll be up against Roque Santa Cruz – a player Arsene Wenger admitted he would have tried to sign had Adebayor departed in the Summer. Whether or not Arsene adds to the squad or not now will depend on the degree to which Makelele-style midfielder Mineiro impressed in his trial. We may, however, face competition from Chelsea, who are looking for a short-term replacement for Michael Essien.
The players have had very little time together after the International break, which is always a worry. Here’s hoping it doesn’t have the same repercussions as it did at Fulham.
September 12th, 2008
I know this is an Arsenal blog, but then Theo Walcott is an Arsenal player, and on Wednesday night in Croatia he almost single-handedly rekindled my interest in the England team.
Starting only his second International game, Walcott justified Fabio Capello’s decision to pick him ahead of David Beckham with a stunning hatrick.
Like every Arsenal fan watching, including Arsene Wenger, I hope he can reproduce that kind of form with Arsenal. The impact he made reaffirmed my belief that he is most potent making runs from deep, like a much much quicker Freddie Ljungberg.
Nevertheless, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Walcott on the bench at Blackburn tomorrow – having played twice in the past week I’d anticipate Emmanuel Eboue starting ahead of him. Mikael Silvestre and Samir Nasri are likely to miss out, but Abou Diaby could be back in contention.
33-year old Brazilian International Mineiro has been closely linked with the club, and according to arseblogger was on trial earlier this week. If you’re hoping for a Patrick Vieira-style figure, think again: Mineiro is just 5’6″ tall. I have to say, if we’re seriously looking at Mineiro, our lack of interest in Stephen Appiah baffles me.
The next seven days sees us travel away to Blackburn, Bolton and Kiev: a real slog. But first, a fantastic weekend of Premier League football beckons. Can’t wait.
September 10th, 2008
Paul Donovan has left his post as CEO Central Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Affiliates of Vodafone Group Plc, and is rumoured to be on the verge of being named as Arsenal’s new Chief Executive.
Although Donovan has been linked with the position before, only recently he was talking to friends about his long-term plans for Vodafone. However, yesterday a managerial reshuffle saw Donovan surprisingly end his time with the company. Speculation is now rife that he is doing so to take up a position with Arsenal.
The lifelong Arsenal fan has previously held posts with commercial giants like Mars, Coca Cola and Apple. Presumably it is felt his business expertise and passion for the club could help build Arsenal both as a club and a global brand.
More on this as and when we get it.
September 10th, 2008
International football. It’s awful, isn’t it. Days waiting for a game featuring a bunch of players you don’t really like representing a country you don’t even feel much alliegance for. And then, invariably, the games are impossibly dull and the team even worse. Maybe it’s different if you’re fans of teams other than England. I wouldn’t know.
Still, Theo Walcott is the talk of the nation – after impressing in his first start against Andorra, he could play from the top again against Croatia, which would represent a massive step forward for his International career.
Not much injury news to speak of, though Samir Nasri has picked up a knock with France that might make him doubtful for Saturday’s game at Blackburn. Robin van Persie played 45 minutes for Holland at the weekend, so it seems his ankle injury is not as bad as first feared.
David Dein has been kicked out of Red & White Holdings by Alisher Usmanov. Although his press people released a nice story about him stepping down, I doubt he was given much choice – with him in charge, relations with the current board would always have been extremely strained. Peter Hill-Wood has dropped a couple of hints recently about the potential sale of the club, but if that were ever to happen I suspect Usmanov would be some way behind Stan Kroenke in the queue.
Don’t worry. Only two more days without Premier League action.
September 5th, 2008
A couple of days without a post on the blog, and speculation on The Guns would have you believe that our lack of transfer window activity drove me to suicide. Well, considering the unlikelihood of me blogging from beyond the grave, I think we can put that rumour to rest.
I just haven’t quite worked out what to say about the lack of signings yet, and fortunately the International break gives me a little while to do so. In the mean-time, I think this piece by arseblogger should calm the most hysterical of fans.
Just to kill any false hopes that might be fluttering around the debris of our transfer dealings, I understand the Appiah rumour is entirely unsubstantiated, and that he is still expected to sign for managerless West Ham.
We are, however, close to appointing a new CEO, with the rumoured front-runners for the job being Vodafone’s Paul Donovan and Birmingham’s Karren Brady. Whoever comes in, hopefully they’ll display more tact and intelligence than Dennis Wise has done as he’s gone about destroying Newcastle United.
Good news for our young wide-men, Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott, who could both be set for International starts this weekend. Good for them, as long as they don’t get injured. That would very quickly become not good for us.
More soon.
Next Posts
Previous Posts
