Hello there,
So, today Arsenal has cocluded their pre-season in style, beating Man City 3-1 in a friendly in Helsinki. I haven't seen the game (the TV company that decides, what to translate, chose France's Ligue 1 over Premier League this season. Useless bastards), but the result left me shaking my head in disbelief. I know, it's a friendly, but still. Both managers went for as strong line-ups as possible. You can look them up, if you like, but suffice to say, Man City started both Fernandinho ans Negredo, with Jovetic and Navas coming on as late substitutes. We opted to have Giroud and Cazorla in reserve, in case of emergency, with Podolski spearheading the attack. Walcott scored the early goal and, I guess, that set the tone for the game. Giroud and Ramsey added two more around the hour mark and it was game over for Man City. They did restore some dignity with a late Negredo goal, but that was it. After the game, the manager said:
The situation even got worse recently. Gervinho has left for good and Miquel went out on loan. Forget our shortage of striking options, don't concentrate on out goalkeeping situation, look at the defense instead. Right now we have 5, once again, 5 defenders up-and-running. We're one injury away from not being able to choose and two from being forced to improvise. Heavily. Wenger has vaguely mentioned us being a bit thin on numbers and it's the vagueness, that scares me. I've already expressed my reservations about the management telling tales on us. They say, there is a plan, but none can be seen. They say, we're working hard on signings, but only the bitey-saga is obvious. They talk about internal solutions, but several valuable players (Gervinho and Miguel, namely) has left us. Why are we waiting three months to sign somebody? Why are we rocking a profit in a summer, in which we've been boasting our financial muscle? All of this is beyond me. The only suggestion I con come up with at this point in time, is that Wenger is at a loss himself. He's never handled so much money and he doesn't know, what to do with it. The money he's prepared to pay for Suarez seems so far out of his comfort zone, that he'll most likely opt to stick to what he has.
And, speaking of Suarez, there's not much positive on that front, either. Their president, Henry, the same guy, who asked, what were we smoking at the Emirates, seems to have dug in. He sings from the same hymn-sheet that Rodgers does, saying once again, Suarez won't be sold, especially to a rival. It can turn out to be just mind games, with the mugmashers pushing us to pay more, or they, you know, can actually mean, what they say. Suarez wants to leave, that bit is obvious, Arsenal are interested in buying him, but Liverpool is one hell of a stumbling block. And the Uryguayan will go nowhere, unless Liverpool allows him to. And if they stick to what they say, who can blame them? They'll save some face, show, that no individual is higher, than the team and make the bitey racist keep to the contract, he so readily signed only last year. And we'll be running aroun the market in the last couple of days, trying to avoid another 8-2 spanking. Or we won't, which is an even worse alternative. Christ, what a mess.
Till tomorrow
So, today Arsenal has cocluded their pre-season in style, beating Man City 3-1 in a friendly in Helsinki. I haven't seen the game (the TV company that decides, what to translate, chose France's Ligue 1 over Premier League this season. Useless bastards), but the result left me shaking my head in disbelief. I know, it's a friendly, but still. Both managers went for as strong line-ups as possible. You can look them up, if you like, but suffice to say, Man City started both Fernandinho ans Negredo, with Jovetic and Navas coming on as late substitutes. We opted to have Giroud and Cazorla in reserve, in case of emergency, with Podolski spearheading the attack. Walcott scored the early goal and, I guess, that set the tone for the game. Giroud and Ramsey added two more around the hour mark and it was game over for Man City. They did restore some dignity with a late Negredo goal, but that was it. After the game, the manager said:
It was a game of good intensity with two teams who were really putting all the effort on. We had a good tactical discipline. I'm pleased with many aspects of our game, even if there are some points to work on. Overall it's positive tactically [and] attitude-wise. We scored goals, created chances and were always highly focused. That's good.That's definitely good, there's no denying that. However, there is another side to the proceedings. This win, which, I emphisize, was achieved in a friendly, may hide the fact we only have a core of fifteen-or-so players, that can go out and do the job. Beyond these players, there's nothing. You need to look no further, than today's bench to realise that. Fabianski, Jenkinson, Cazorla and Giroud are all tried-and-tested, of course, but Zelalem is too raw for first-team action, while the other two guys, well, I've seen their names for the first time. Rosicky and Sanogo were left out for some reason, while we also shouldn't forget the injured Vermaelen and Monreal, but that makes it only nineteen senior players (and I have my reservations about Sanogo), assuming everyone stays fit. And they are not at the time of speaking.
The situation even got worse recently. Gervinho has left for good and Miquel went out on loan. Forget our shortage of striking options, don't concentrate on out goalkeeping situation, look at the defense instead. Right now we have 5, once again, 5 defenders up-and-running. We're one injury away from not being able to choose and two from being forced to improvise. Heavily. Wenger has vaguely mentioned us being a bit thin on numbers and it's the vagueness, that scares me. I've already expressed my reservations about the management telling tales on us. They say, there is a plan, but none can be seen. They say, we're working hard on signings, but only the bitey-saga is obvious. They talk about internal solutions, but several valuable players (Gervinho and Miguel, namely) has left us. Why are we waiting three months to sign somebody? Why are we rocking a profit in a summer, in which we've been boasting our financial muscle? All of this is beyond me. The only suggestion I con come up with at this point in time, is that Wenger is at a loss himself. He's never handled so much money and he doesn't know, what to do with it. The money he's prepared to pay for Suarez seems so far out of his comfort zone, that he'll most likely opt to stick to what he has.
And, speaking of Suarez, there's not much positive on that front, either. Their president, Henry, the same guy, who asked, what were we smoking at the Emirates, seems to have dug in. He sings from the same hymn-sheet that Rodgers does, saying once again, Suarez won't be sold, especially to a rival. It can turn out to be just mind games, with the mugmashers pushing us to pay more, or they, you know, can actually mean, what they say. Suarez wants to leave, that bit is obvious, Arsenal are interested in buying him, but Liverpool is one hell of a stumbling block. And the Uryguayan will go nowhere, unless Liverpool allows him to. And if they stick to what they say, who can blame them? They'll save some face, show, that no individual is higher, than the team and make the bitey racist keep to the contract, he so readily signed only last year. And we'll be running aroun the market in the last couple of days, trying to avoid another 8-2 spanking. Or we won't, which is an even worse alternative. Christ, what a mess.
Till tomorrow
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