Written by Mean Lean on Monday, 18 October 2010 12:07
Hello Gooner world,
I trust you are in good spirits this Monday afternoon. I am feeling a little bit mixed with Arsenal emotions today I must say. Very pleased and relieved to have collected trois points after two defeats but the post match gibberish from those outside the club have been getting on my nerves ever so slightly, and perhaps even more.
Arsene Wenger got it in one when he claimed that Arsenal just cannot win and I cannot help but agree with that. We are told that we need to buy big British hulking players so we can deal with the rough and ready nature of the Premier League then when we commit a bad tackle it is then seen as pure and utter evil.
Wenger is told to stop going on about bad challenges which is transformed into Wenger wants to take tackling out of the game, then in the next breath we are told that Arsenal are hypocrites who are committing just the same bad tackles, the same tackles that we have been fed the 'it was a hard and fair tackle' line.
I suppose when agenda's have been set and the content can be flipped back and forth then there is just no point trying to fight it or in my case, get annoyed by people like Trevor Francis saying what is wrong with a central defender lashing out his arm in our strikers head.
The only way to respond is to dust ourselves down and not get involved in what is being said and written about us and just get on with our jobs. Our as in the players but having said that the supporters have their own role to play. Support is clearly limited to our own fans so we need to give the players all that they need.
Manchester United do not always need the help from their own support as all and sundry are just waiting to give them a helping hand and those in the media are more than ready to add a darker tint to their noses.
I felt a sense of confusion about the tackle though, you can bet that many who have condemned Arsenal were wishing it was by Johnny, if not him then perhaps someone like Emmanuel Eboue. But as Jack is now the golden boy of English football, they now have mixed interests.
Match of the day interestingly took a completely different stance. I was very surprised about their take on the Chamakh penalty. I was sat there open mouthed. There was contact so it was a penalty and then off they moved to another game? Was I asleep? I know I was very tired so it is hard to know.
Back to Wilshere though, we all know that he had a superb game, clearly the best player on the pitch. Before his silly lunge he made a wonderful sliding tackle on someone (perhaps Hleb) in the center of the pitch and I thought wow, what a player. We know how good he is on the ball, we know how gifted he is but his commitment without the ball is equally as exciting. It is hard to imagine that he is still only 18 years of age, that is frightening and in a good way. Gooners have all been trying to keep a lid on things regarding Wilshere's talent but now he is producing in arguably the most difficult league in the world then it is pretty hard not to say that he will become a great but he has a long way to go. Still very much in the honeymoon phase of his Arsenal career. He will experience bad form and then doubts from all around, especially as he is English and has to deal with the pressure of the national team.
Maybe in some ways being forced to take a back seat may well be a good thing for now especially as we have Cesc Fabregas back available. Cesc said via his twitter page that he had been working very hard in training to get back to full fitness. As good as Jack has been and was before his sending off, he is still some levels short of what Cesc has been in patches this season and for much of last season.
We missed Cesc's cutting edge and running into the penalty area against Birmingham. I am looking forward to the visit of Eduardo and his new club. We should have quite a fresh looking team if Wenger rings in the changes. Cesc, Denilson, Rosicky and Walcott should all start the game which is quite an amazing luxury to have. I think our squad strength is hugely underestimated and to think that we still have Ramsey and Van Persie to come back in the next few months, it is quite incredible really.
Chelsea looked pretty average without Drogba and Lampard against Aston Villa and were lucky to come away with a point.
Regardless of how much quality we have and what depth we have at our disposal, we need to turn that into results, it is now time for us to go on a long unbeaten run to cement our place in this seasons title race. If we can stay relatively healthy and click into gear then that unbeaten run is very much a possibility.
Money City at the Eastlands is going to be a difficult game, one that we could easily lose if we are not careful so having our best out there along with the right attitude will be important. Check me out.. getting way ahead of myself here. We have to play tomorrow first, so lets deal with that before we talk of City and their bunch of boring, overpriced side.
I read somewhere that Holland want to play Robin Van Persie in a friendly that is coming up. How infuriating. They better keep their grubby little mittens away from our brittle Dutchman.
We have had to deal with a broken Van Persie after a pointless international on more than one occasion so this time they should at least have the decency to allow him to play a few games for his club before they go whisking him away yet again. Surely they have their own version of Darren Bent that they can test out at National team level.
So what is this about Paddy Vieira returning to Arsenal in a coaching capacity? I am not sure how much truth there is behind this but if it were to happen then it could surely be seen as a good thing for the club and the players. Patrick Vieira is a winner, a leader and that would be great for the youngsters coming through.
I was going to write about the Rooney and Liverpool situation but I think I will pass for now. Save that in memory for another day or for when arguing against other supporters.
Going to get ready to listen to Arsene's press conference. Back tomorrow with some pre match stuff.
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