Written by Mean Lean on Tuesday, 04 January 2011 13:28

Happy Tuesday,

The Arsenal are around the corner again, Manchester City come to the Emirates tomorrow for yet another crucial match during this busy period. We have been presented with some potential good news before the game, David Silva will not take part due to a knee injury and that is very good news for us at this stage. Silva has impressed me on the few occasions that I have seen him play. The kind of player who was born to play for Arsene Wenger's Arsenal team. If anyone was going to pick a pass between our defensive lines for Tevez to run onto then it was going to be him, not that they haven't got anyone else to do it but he is very good at weaving past players and sliding runners in. Mario Balotelli is another offensive player who will not be making the trip. Unfortunately for Mario, he will have to wait until the next time we play before he can get the chance to find out who Jack Wilshere is.

Every bloody game is now a must win for all the title chasing sides and that obviously cannot happen. We will want to beat our rivals to show we are good enough and we should beat all the teams who have less quality than us, that is the pressure at the top but it is the same for all the chasing pack.

I am getting rather edgy about Manchester United's unbeaten record at the moment. I am losing a little bit of sleep over it and it is beginning to worry me. Not winning the league is one thing, Manchester United winning it once more is another but if they manage to repeat the first half of the season and remain unbeaten then I am afraid I may just have to end it all now. It wouldn't be very nice and if I didn't end it myself then the media arse kissing would send me over the edge. Luckily we still have to play them and they have some tough games left.

So Dennis Bergkamp has now been made coach of the Ajax youth team, which is good news for the great man. I remember him speaking of how he wanted to coach in England in the future and specifically with strikers. How cool would that be? With the amount of chances we waste I would certainly jump at the chance to bring him 'home'

In the meantime he will be gaining valuable experience and who knows what the future holds, well apart from Eboue. Good luck Dennis.

Aaron Ramsey played for Nottingham Forest last night and apparently did ok without looking back to his best, which is understandable. He will now be heading back to Arsenal to compete for a first team place due to the injury of Abou Diaby. It is such a shame that the weather has put paid to his fitness and sharpness. It would have been nice if he had 3 or 4 full games under his belt as we have many competitions to go for and we will need to use the full width of our squad.

Even without being fully fit, I wonder if he will take part in the weekend game against Leeds United, probably not but that would have been the perfect match to have brought him back whilst giving the likes of Cesc, Nasri and co a chance to put their feet up, perhaps on the substitutes bench. With so many games in recent weeks I do not imagine our main players being pushed into that one as well as everything else. I guess the likes of Szczesny, Eboue, Gibbs, Denilson etc will be turning out for that one.

I cross my fingers for Kieran Gibbs that he can steer clear of injury, the poor guy has had rotten luck of late. His mistake against the Mancs in the Champions League and then a collection of terrible injuries just as he begins to show what a talent he is. He comes across as a very down to earth and likeable guy. Strong in the challenge, very calm in possession and has an excellent cross and shot. I still do not believe that he is better than Clichy (many tend to disagree) but given his age I think it is only a matter of time.

Gael Clichy cannot play in every game in every competition so we have to hope that his injuries are behind him now and that he can go from strength to strength from now on.

Speaking of injury, I was thinking back to pre season and what an impact Jack Wilshere made from the very beginning. Samir Nasri was the pick of pre season and you can see how far they have both come at this point. Starting the season well is such a benefit and you often push on from there. Amongst them in the heart of midfield stood another consistent performer in those friendly games. Emmanuel Frimpong.

We are so involved in the season and all the drama that goes with it, that it is quite difficult to remember how impressive he was in those games. Physically imposing, a fantastic strong tackler and powerful engine. I have no doubt that had avoided injury and stayed at the club as apposed to being farmed out on loan, like Wenger hinted at, then he could have made quite an impact on the Carling Cup and FA Cup games at least. He could have turned into a very able deputy to Alex Song in the first team, especially alongside his buddy Jack Wilshere.

Arsene has recently said that he is doing well and I think I am right in saying that he is actually running now which is great.

It is yet another reason why I love the Arsenal so much. Not only do we have a first team, full of talent but we have players who have been at the club since the age of 9 and work their way up into the fringes of the first team. Whilst not all the players will make it at the club, it is still nice to see how they progress and develop.

I look forward to his comeback to next season's pre season, hopefully he can continue where he left off.

I have just seen the Bowyer three games ban, should have been double that but it doesn't surprise me whatsoever.

Back tomorrow.

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Comments (10)

• 04-Jan-2011 14:03 | | Anonymous
  

  

• 04-Jan-2011 14:11 | | bob smith  - bigadee boo
  

  Frimpong out on loan? HE IS INJURED WOOOW!!! I am surprised someone writing on an arsenal website could not know that, especially when he is in the title as well. I AM SHOCKED YOU SHOULD GIVE UP!! I have no doubt i would easily be a better writer on the website.

• 04-Jan-2011 14:18 | | Don Goon  - Frimpong
  

  Tidy article, but Frimpong is actually injured.
  He injured his anterior cruciate ligament this occured on our pre-season.
  Check Arsenal.com

• 04-Jan-2011 14:22 | | MeanLean
  

  Maybe I didn't explain myself correctly, I know he is injured, hence my point that he is running again. Before his injury there was talk of Frimpong going out on loan. What I was trying to say was that had he stayed fit and not farmed out on loan then he could have made an impact.
  
  I hope I'be made myself clear.

• 04-Jan-2011 14:26 | | richie  - It'll be a miracle
  

  If the Manu'er finish this season unbeaten playing as they have been, then it won't be a case of lucky. It will be nothing short of divine intervention. They have been crap and drawn. Played rubbish and won. Whats worrying is if they play like shit and notch up a cricket score. Everyone says you make your own luck but along with the dodgy decisions they always get its like someone else makes their luck for them. How taggert does it I don't know but something's fishy!

• 04-Jan-2011 14:28 | | MeanLean
  

  "Speaking of injury, I was thinking back to pre season and what an impact Jack Wilshere made from the very beginning......"
  
  "Arsene has recently said that he is doing well and I think I am right in saying that he is actually running now which is great...."
  
  That should have given it away but hey. I have edited it now anyway to make it a little clearer.

• 04-Jan-2011 14:55 | | MeanLean
  

  I will worry when Rooney decides to start scoring goals again. If they continue to play as they did at West Brom then they will suffer defeats and soon. What is the betting that Stoke roll over when the face them?

• 04-Jan-2011 16:10 | | Goonzilla
  

  ML, no need to lose sleep over the Manc's unbeaten run. Just as Chelsea started the season with smashing results, so did the Mancs (although not playing well) managed to get the points and stay unbeaten. The similarity between both Chelsea and the Mancs is that they had not played any of the top teams away from home or had failed to show too much against the top teams away from home (See Records below)
  
  Chelsea
  Man City A - 1-0 loss
  Arsenal A - 3-1 loss
  Birm A - 1-0 loss
  Villa H and A - 3-3 and 0-0 draws
  Liverpool A - 2-0 loss
  Newcastle A - 1-1 draw
  Sp*ds A - 1-1 draw
  
  Mancs
  Man City A - 0-0 draw
  Villa A - lucky 2-2 draw
  Everton A - 3-3 draw
  Birm A - 1-1 draw
  Chelsea H or A - ?
  Liverpool A - ?
  Arsenal A - ?
  Sp+ds A - I think this is where their unbeaten run will end (The weekend after the FA Cup)
  
  So from above you can see that the Mancs have just been managing to scrape through and with their current squad (which is far from the better Utd teams we have seen over the past few years), I dont see how they can manage to avoid defeat at all of the traditional top 5 sides.
  
  Just as they did when Chelsea were beating all the easy teams in their path, the pundits have failed to acknowledge the Manc's failure to win away from home at any of last season's Top 8.

• 04-Jan-2011 16:12 | | Goonzilla
  

  *****POINT OF CORRECTION*******
  I do not consider Birmingham, Everton or Newcastle as top teams but rather these are teams that are traditionally difficult to defeat at home for most of the big teams. Villa may be put in this bracket for this season.

• 05-Jan-2011 00:00 | | MeanLean
  

  Thank you GZ, you have made me feel much calmer!

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