Evening everyone.
Well, I guess the tried and true saying of people learning from mistakes just got a bit more tried and true. Though I maintain hardly anyone learns from mistakes of the others and the line separating clever people from dumb lies in the fact that the former learn from their mistakes, while the latter don't learn at all, it's not the point.
As you may have guessed, I'm talking about yesterday's friendly against Boreham Wood. I enthusiastically promised to watch it, thinking we might be in for a spectacle, but I was wrong. Having missed all friendlies last year because I was away, I really wanted to catch up this time, but there was nothing to catch up with. The game was what I should have known from the beginning it would be: a training drill, a workout.
Five minutes into the game I realized my mistake and turned it off. I hardly had anything interesting to do, but I immediately came up with a bunch of stuff that was much more thrilling than this game. Like watching a bunch of Big Bang Theory's episodes. Or playing FIFA. Or going out for a walk. Hell, even re-reading Harry Potter series for the umpteenth time seemed more thrilling.
I'm not discouraging you from watching friendlies, mind you. I think the Emirates Cup will be much more entertaining, as we'll get a glimpse of Sanchez and Debuchy and maybe some other newcomers (in the plural!). Bottom line, the squad will definitely be stronger with all the regulars in there (bar, maybe, our German trio) and the teams we'll play against will also be up to scratch. I even think our friendly against New York Red Bulls is going to provide better value for your money, as we'll see Thierry Henry and a tad more Wilshere and Co. But yesterday's game was a waste of time. If you had the sense not to watch it, good for you. Whatever you did during that sunlit evening was better than this match.
In the end, Arsenal have won 2-0 and I really liked Rosicky's pass to set up Olsson for the opener. With just one swift move of his foot, the Czech sliced apart Boreham's defence and we were 1-0 up. Afobe then finished the job from the spot in the 86th minute, after a brilliant run from Akpom (think it was him, I'm not entirely sure though).
However, the quotes from Arsene during his post-match press conference were a lot more interesting than the match itself. Here are some of them:
On Arsenal's summer signings…
However, all the stories I've seen today only link us with Carvalho (William, not Ricardo. I'm not even sure Ricardo is still in business) and Balotelli. I'll start with the Italian.
If I'm to put my thoughts on this story in a mild and polite manner, I don't think Balotelli's arrival is likely to happen. Even from the financial point of view it seems a teeny-tiny bit far-fetched. We can pay Mario £160k per week, but we can't pay Khedira (who, I forgot to mention, won't be joining Arsenal. You may have heard his agent saying no one contacted Real to try and buy the German. It may be just a trick to wind up the interest in the player, but I tend to believe it) £150k? Hmm, I sense something wrong here.
Moreover, I don't think we need Balotelli as a player. Apart from the fact, that the Italian is not quite right in the head and has a nasty temper (I've talked about both here), we plainly have a packed front line, which will only get better once Walcott returns. Let's not forget we've bought Sanchez (You have already forgotten, haven't you? Eh? I know you have), who can play across the front three. Though he's more likely to play on the right for now (to cover up for Walcott), as soon as Theo gets back into the fray, we will have an interesting situation on our hands. I'd say we'll have two central strikers and I don't see a need for Balotelli, who is not much of an upgrade on Giroud and is definitely second fiddle to Sanchez.
The other major bit saw us linked with William Carvalho. The story states we have offered €30 million for the Portugese, while Sporting wants €45 million. Frankly, it's nuts to pay so much for a player so young (we aren't Manchester United after all. Leave this meaningless spending thing to them). I do realize Wenger wants to strengthen the centre of our park, but there are better (and cheaper) options. Like Schnedelin or Bender brothers. I've heard one of them even comes with Zoidberg. Could be handy.
Finally for today, you may have noticed I've changed the design a bit. You can now subscribe via email, view archive and such. Feel free to do it.
Right, that's it for today. I'll return as soon as something new pops up.
Until then
Well, I guess the tried and true saying of people learning from mistakes just got a bit more tried and true. Though I maintain hardly anyone learns from mistakes of the others and the line separating clever people from dumb lies in the fact that the former learn from their mistakes, while the latter don't learn at all, it's not the point.
As you may have guessed, I'm talking about yesterday's friendly against Boreham Wood. I enthusiastically promised to watch it, thinking we might be in for a spectacle, but I was wrong. Having missed all friendlies last year because I was away, I really wanted to catch up this time, but there was nothing to catch up with. The game was what I should have known from the beginning it would be: a training drill, a workout.
Five minutes into the game I realized my mistake and turned it off. I hardly had anything interesting to do, but I immediately came up with a bunch of stuff that was much more thrilling than this game. Like watching a bunch of Big Bang Theory's episodes. Or playing FIFA. Or going out for a walk. Hell, even re-reading Harry Potter series for the umpteenth time seemed more thrilling.
I'm not discouraging you from watching friendlies, mind you. I think the Emirates Cup will be much more entertaining, as we'll get a glimpse of Sanchez and Debuchy and maybe some other newcomers (in the plural!). Bottom line, the squad will definitely be stronger with all the regulars in there (bar, maybe, our German trio) and the teams we'll play against will also be up to scratch. I even think our friendly against New York Red Bulls is going to provide better value for your money, as we'll see Thierry Henry and a tad more Wilshere and Co. But yesterday's game was a waste of time. If you had the sense not to watch it, good for you. Whatever you did during that sunlit evening was better than this match.
In the end, Arsenal have won 2-0 and I really liked Rosicky's pass to set up Olsson for the opener. With just one swift move of his foot, the Czech sliced apart Boreham's defence and we were 1-0 up. Afobe then finished the job from the spot in the 86th minute, after a brilliant run from Akpom (think it was him, I'm not entirely sure though).
However, the quotes from Arsene during his post-match press conference were a lot more interesting than the match itself. Here are some of them:
On Arsenal's summer signings…
"I'm very happy with what I could do until now. It's not over - there's still a long way to go".Good, we still need to purchase at least a goalkeeper:
"I will bring in a goalkeeper for sure".Maybe strengthen other positions:
"I can't give you any names because you are never sure that you can do what you want. We are still out there to strengthen our squad".And, of course, a central defender:
"Should he (Vermaelen) go, I will bring another centre back in for sure".The last bit is the most intriguing. It seems Verminator really may go, which is understandable, given he doesn't exactly fit in in our starting-eleven right now, but this will leave us walking a thin line. Even if the Belgian stays, I still think we need another centre-back, but if he goes, our need won't be able to wait any longer. That's why I think we should purchase someone before Vermaelen leaves (if he does this, of course). Just to play it safe. We shouldn't forget Mert will be away for a while, leaving us with basically Kos and Verminator for the first games, so I'd consider buying a centre-back right now. Before the Community Shield definitely and maybe even before the Emirates Cup.
However, all the stories I've seen today only link us with Carvalho (William, not Ricardo. I'm not even sure Ricardo is still in business) and Balotelli. I'll start with the Italian.
If I'm to put my thoughts on this story in a mild and polite manner, I don't think Balotelli's arrival is likely to happen. Even from the financial point of view it seems a teeny-tiny bit far-fetched. We can pay Mario £160k per week, but we can't pay Khedira (who, I forgot to mention, won't be joining Arsenal. You may have heard his agent saying no one contacted Real to try and buy the German. It may be just a trick to wind up the interest in the player, but I tend to believe it) £150k? Hmm, I sense something wrong here.
Moreover, I don't think we need Balotelli as a player. Apart from the fact, that the Italian is not quite right in the head and has a nasty temper (I've talked about both here), we plainly have a packed front line, which will only get better once Walcott returns. Let's not forget we've bought Sanchez (You have already forgotten, haven't you? Eh? I know you have), who can play across the front three. Though he's more likely to play on the right for now (to cover up for Walcott), as soon as Theo gets back into the fray, we will have an interesting situation on our hands. I'd say we'll have two central strikers and I don't see a need for Balotelli, who is not much of an upgrade on Giroud and is definitely second fiddle to Sanchez.
The other major bit saw us linked with William Carvalho. The story states we have offered €30 million for the Portugese, while Sporting wants €45 million. Frankly, it's nuts to pay so much for a player so young (we aren't Manchester United after all. Leave this meaningless spending thing to them). I do realize Wenger wants to strengthen the centre of our park, but there are better (and cheaper) options. Like Schnedelin or Bender brothers. I've heard one of them even comes with Zoidberg. Could be handy.
Finally for today, you may have noticed I've changed the design a bit. You can now subscribe via email, view archive and such. Feel free to do it.
Right, that's it for today. I'll return as soon as something new pops up.
Until then