Written by Mean Lean on Thursday, 07 October 2010 12:40

I find myself in the middle of international limbo this morning. I am sat on my train beginning to jot down a few things to say for when I put this up this afternoon (now) but there is not a great deal to talk about. We still have a long way to go before the players jog onto the Emirates pitch against Birmingham City. In the mean time, I shall be sat with as many bodily parts crossed in the hope that our players return to the greatest club that ever lived in one piece.

Alexander Hleb returns to the Emirates in the away colours, possibly feeling a little sheepish but he has said that facing Arsenal will be special for him. I have pretty much forgiven him and hope he gets a decent reception but I wouldn't begrudge those who feel a little differently towards him for jumping the gun when we had a very balanced and efficient side who narrowly missed out on winning the Premier League in 2007/2008. The saying that the best team always wins the league is not stictly true in my personal book. I find it difficult to believe that any other team were better than us over that season. Ah well, let it go ML, let it go.

I hope we can produce the same effort and energy against Brum that we put in against Chelsea, if we do then Birmingham will come away with a beating and very tired legs from chasing so much. I want Hleb to look on enviously watching his mates Cesc and Rosicky combining like never before. He will have to leave the pith in tears but hey, I am jumping the gun somewhat. We have many of our squad players trying to impress for their countries and as I said earlier, we need to get that out of the way first before we can engage fully into domestic affairs.

Jack Wilshere is once again the focus of the day, he may have to think about strengthening his arm muscles as the tug of war continues between Wenger, Pearce and Capello.

Stuart Pearce insists that there are no problems between Wenger and himself regarding the very talented teenager. He also feels that experience with the under 21s will be beneficial to his development, a view that I would have to agree with.

Throwing Wilshere into the first team as a starter for the seniors is not something that I think should be rushed at the momenet, having said that bringing Wilshere off the bench to replace someone like Gerrard when the game is safe would be a good thing for Jack so I can understand the clamour to have Wilshere in both squads.

I hope he plays well in whatever squad he takes part in and most importantly, he comes back without any twists, breaks, knocks etc.

Vito Mannone is the forgotten goalkeeper of this Arsenal squad, he came in last season and preformed well even though he may not have been totally ready for first team duty. With Szecseny looking like he has leapfrogged the Italian in the pecking order, the route to the first team is looking rather blocked.

Mannone is the second Arsenal goalkeeper in recent times to express his disappointment about the lack of first team football after Szecseny's recent comments.

Mannone said:

"I don't get regular playing time at Arsenal. I would consider a six-month loan deal just to play. I am happy in London, I love the Premier League. Last year I played nine games and with me, Arsenal never lost.

"They brought Almunia back (to the starting XI) and then Fabianski started in the game at Chelsea (last weekend). I get annoyed when I don't play, it's not as if the other two do that well. But if I've signed a contract extension until 2014 it is because they must value me."

It is understandable that he should feel frustrated, he is at the age where he needs football, he must have enjoyed the taste of the high life, especially after his superb Fulham display but his comment about the other two not doing well is very surprising I must say, even if that was the case.

I find it strange that all four goalkeepers are still at the club when at least one should have gone on loan to gain experience and play first team football. Perhaps we will see some movement in January and according to Mark Schwarzer, it may well be in and out.

And finally congratulations to Jack Wilshere for becoming the official Arsenal player on the month, he collected a massive 42.2% of the votes, although Samir Nasri can count himself unlucky to have been pushed down to second place with 30% of the votes.

Back tomorrow.

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Comments (5)

• 07-Oct-2010 13:41 | | Bala
  

  Great for an Eighteen year old to collect player of the month award in a club of Arsenal's stature.Hopefully he keeps improving and proves that Cesc was right saying, he is the next Fabregas of Arsenal

• 07-Oct-2010 13:41 | | Iron Man
  

  Nice write up once again mate but be careful with that Manonne quote. It may have been lost in translation and someone trying to stir **** up. I've read it elsewhere as "It hurts to not play especially when the other two are not doing great," which is slightly less inflammatory than "I get annoyed when I don't play, it's not as if the other two do that well".
  
  As for Hleb, I'm completely indifferent to him. I don't think he ever reached his potential at Arsenal and for all his ability was one of the most frustrating footballers I've seen at the Emirates. I wish him well but I can't say I was too bothered when he left.

• 07-Oct-2010 22:08 | | mr h
  

  A bit off topic, but can't be bothered to write an article about it, maybe this weekend. Anyway, on BBC, there's a good article on FIFA members getting upset about dangerous tackles. There have also been comments from Danny Murphy about the same topic. Here's the link to the BBC article if anyones interested.
  
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/9071151.stm

• 07-Oct-2010 22:22 | | MeanLean
  

  At last! Progress.
  
  The FA should be ashamed of themselves for not dealing with this issue. They will not be able to hide for very long now that this is being made so public recently.

• 08-Oct-2010 12:19 | | Mr H
  

  Yet still, there are those out there saying the same old: 'they aren't that type of player' rubbish.Danny Murphy really laid into the Blackburn and Stoke style mentality. GOOD. It seems as if now that other teams are on the receiving end of bad tackles, something should be done. Call me paranoid, but I just don't think it's fashionable to support Arsenal, I'm goin to start supporting a team who spends millions on trash... just joking.

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