John Evans
I am pleased we have been handed an interesting draw in the next round of the Champions League as it will be better to get knocked out by Barcelona than one of the lesser likes as I couldn’t really be confident about us beating any of the other three possible over two legs anyway.
Looking in greater detail at the possible two legged affair against Cesc’s love club I can foresee us getting closer to them than last season. We lost 6-3 but with 20 minutes gone in the second leg were actually winning the tie 3-2 and that was without many of our first team regulars. The games are not for another couple of months so who knows how we will be looking fitness wise by then but we can all rest assured that Mikael Silvestre will not be pulling on an Arsenal jersey at the Camp Nou.
I am not for one minute saying anything along the lines of being confident of victory but why fear playing the best in the second round when you will have to play them at some point anyway. If you manage to win the competition without playing the top teams in the continent than how can you really say you are the best team in Europe? It is way more exciting to take on the likes of Messi and co and see how good you really are, if you’re crap you’re crap but at least you know where you stand. Seeing as our captain will be plying his trade there next season should we not save a few quid on his fare and go for a single rather than a return for him in the second leg?
Good to see the news that Szczesny is likely to play again today as I wouldn’t like to see him displaced by Fabianski. One of the two keepers has potential to be the number one at the club and his name has got the most Z’s in it.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the game this afternoon proves to be a tough one. Stoke seem to be playing a little more football this season with two genuine wide men in Pennant and Ethrington supplying the likes of Jones and Fuller upfront. With big men at the back and the long throw artist in Delap we could come unstuck at set pieces all day long. Let’s hope we have a good day at the office and get back to the summit for one day at least!
In an earlier article I wrote that whilst we have players like Rosicky in our side I can’t see us winning the league title. I meant to include others from the current squad but didn’t have enough space on the computer screen. It wasn’t a personal attack on our midget from Top Gear lookalike - he was just the one that stood out in my mind after Monday’s game at Old Trafford as woefully out of his depth at the top table of the Premier League. He hasn’t hit the net since January and I cant remember more than one or two assists but I do hear he can take a bend at high speeds in an Audi so who knows he may have something to offer that I have missed.
It will be interesting to see how many of our home support of 60,000 make it to the Stoke game as a few inches of snow around will be too much of a daunting prospect for most of them I would have thought. Getting up and down the stairs with 10 minutes still to go before half time for a £6 hotdog and then again with ten minutes still to play will prove beyond many of our tourist fans these days. I predict a real time attendance of no more than 45,000 if the game gets the go ahead. Maybe the people who regularly do not turn up could be so kind to inform he club on the Thursday before the game of their reluctance to go and then the club could gift the tickets to nearby schoolchildren or people not fortunate enough to be able to attend on a regular basis. It really is no better than someone letting an M&S turkey go uneaten over Christmas only for someone else to be left munching on an Iceland spam sandwich.
As a final thought before the festive period, will the club bother with an open topped bus tour around the streets of N5 if we secure the League Cup trophy this season and also will a little white picture of the trophy spring up in the spaces around the ground with a 2011 next to it? What are the fans’ thoughts on this? Would you get up at 8am on a Sunday morning and make your way to Highbury & Islington station to see Denilson swigging on a bottle of Hooch with the League Cup lid stuck to his head drive by on a W8 bus? It could be the only parade in history where the players get pelted with tomatoes, or maybe in Denilson’s case launching a headless chicken at him would be more apt. Please be advised though if you are planning ahead and buying a headless chicken in anticipation of the event, remember to throw it at him sideways and not in a forward motion.
Merry Xmas to all fellow Gooners and a very happy New Year! I am guessing we are all after a win on the 27th as our most wanted present this year, surely Santa has to remember us all sometime soon?
