Villa Park could see Arsene field his very own Four Horsemen
1 comment December 23rd, 2008
In The Book of Revelation, Four Horsemen are sent as harbingers of the apocalypse: Pestilence, War, Famine and Death. On Friday at Aston Villa, Arsene might field four men who are symbolic of the apocalyptic nature of our midfield options: Eboue, Diaby, Denilson, and Song. Those four aren’t in any particular order, so don’t look for any clever jokes that correspond to their biblical counterparts – I’m far too tired for that kind of wit.
It is going to be a tricky game, though. With Adebayor and Fabregas out, and Nicklas Bendtner also struggling with an injury, we may be forced to field the aforemention Diaby just off Van Persie, with the other three lamented players joining Nasri in midfield.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that we’re being linked with creative players, despite the more pressing need for destructive ones. Zenit St Petersburg seem to think, despite Arsene’s protestations to the contrary, that Arsenal will soon be making a bid for Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin. Zenit’s General Director, Maxim Mitrofanov, told Russian radio:
“The price tag for Arshavin is £20m, and we are hopeful that Arsenal will make such an offer soon.”
There is certainly one man on the board who has openly admitted he’d like to see Arshavin at Arsenal: Alisher Usmanov. The Russian has also been talking openly about the recent changes in the boardroom:
“What has happened in the last year poses questions. When in the space of a year four members of the board of directors are sacked, when the general director whom everybody had praised is changed, we consider that to be a huge matter — just to sack a major Âshareholder Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith without explanation. Mr Moshiri is now in London and is trying to find out the Âreasons for these sharp changes and according to what explanation we get, we will decide our strategy.”
His seeming ‘disapproval’ at the board’s actions implies an empathy with Bracewell-Smith, and it would be no surprise to see them jump into bed together (figuratively - please) sometime soon. Although Usmanov insists he has yet to speak to Lady Nina about acquiring her stake, he does not deny that he is keen to increase his shareholding in the future. He’s so very very slippery, this one. More to come, I’m sure.
Christmas creeps ever closer. I suppose it’s Christmas Eve Eve, today. I did 90% of my Christmas shopping on Amazon. Stock is no longer limited to CDs and DVDs – I bought all sorts, ranging from a diary to a hot water bottle cased in pink fur (the latter, admittedly, was just for me). As Arsene prepares for his own belated Christmas shopping spree, the question on everyone’s lips must surely be: can you get midfielders on Amazon?
