Man City, Walcott and Eduardo start to restore hope
Add comment March 6th, 2009
Well, as you are all well aware by now, on Wednesday night Manchester City did us a favour by beating Aston Villa 2-0, and extending their winless run to six games. The gap between fourth and fifth place is now down to just three points, whilst Everton’s failure to win made sure we remained four points clear of them in sixth. Suddenly, it all looks fairly promising once more.
I’m sure Villa’s relatively small squad will prove a factor in the run-in, though after crashing out of both the FA Cup and Europe in the space of a week, at least they can concentrate on the league. We’ll have to hope our returning players can help us to compete on the three remaining fronts.
The first back will be Theo Walcott and Eduardo, who are both expected to be in the squad for Sunday’s game at Burnley. Other injury news sees Kolo Toure and William Gallas both likely to be available for Tuesday’s clash in Rome, but Adebayor will remain unfit for that fixture.
The return of Walcott at this stage in the season is particularly welcome. It’s easy to forget the progress he was making at the start of this season off the back of that England hatrick, and his direct running and pace will doubtless prove a useful asset in the closing months of the season.
Arsene Wenger is insistent that neither he nor Cesc Fabregas will be going anywhere – till 2011 at least. When he points out that Cesc could be here until 2019, you start to realise just what a legend he could be at this club:
“I hope his future will last longer than mine because I think he can still be here in 10 years. He should be one of the bases of this club. I think the Club should be built around personalities like Cesc and that’s why I hope he will still be here. He was born in 1987 and he is 22 years old in 2009 and at 32 he will still play.”
It’s quite possible that Cesc could stay here that long – at 32, he’d still have plenty of takers back in his native Spain, where he one day desires to play. But if we want to have any chance of keeping him for that long, we need to remain competetive at the top level domestically and in Europe.
Congratulations to the Under-18s, who defeated Spurs 3-1 in the FA Youth Cup quarter-final, held at White Hart Lane. I didn’t see it myself, but will try and find the goals for your perusal/enjoyment.
Finally, a moment of karmic wonderment so beautiful it defies description. Till tomorrow.
