Good day to you.
The last bout of internationals took
place yesterday and we were in for some surprises, as Czech Republic
overpowered Holland and Wales was saved by a late free-kick from Bale. I
don't much care for the results, but I do care about the well-being of
our players.
In this particular case I'm talking about
Aaron Ramsey. The Welsh Jesus appeared to have twisted his ankle in the
dying seconds of the game and limped off. Although the national manager
later said, he thinks Aaron should be ready for Man City clash, I have my doubts.
See,
that's why I hate international breaks. Managers only need the players
for a couple games once in a while and so they don't much care for their
health. And we are left to pick up the pieces.
In a
positive turn of events, Gibbs, Arteta and Ozil will all be available
for the weekend. There were lingering doubts about the German's ankle,
but it seems he's alright, which is definitely good news. Arteta should
come in for Flamini (the Frenchman wasn't very convincing against
Leicester, as you can recall), but it'll be interesting to see whether
Arsene will drop Monreal and what shape our midfield will take. Should
Ramsey miss out (God forbid), we don't have a second anchoring
midfielder to play alongside Arteta, which makes me think Arsene will
once again play three central midfielders. It means Ozil on the flank.
With all due respect to AW, I don't think it's a good idea.
On
the other hand, it's not like a Flamteta axis is good enough, while
Wilshere may just not have enough discipline to track back the way
Ramsey does. And that brings us to the simple matter of squad depth. And
Cesc Fabregas.
I'm in two minds about the decision not to re-sign our former captain. I've written in the summer how we have Ozil and Cazorla, and didn't give much thought that Cesc
could be played in a deeper position. Which is exactly what he's doing
at Chelsea and seems to be doing it just fine. Taken into account our
net spend amounted to 50 million, we have approximately 50 more left in
the bank. Cesc would have cost around 25.
Then again, Cesc
has Matic doing the bulk of the defensive work and the Portuguese is
much better at it, than, say, Arteta. Another thing to be taken into
consideration is the manner in which Fabregas left Arsenal. He was
willing to pay part of the transfer sum and that's not not a
particularly good way to bade farewell to the Club you've spent 8 years
at.
Does that mean the Spaniard has to booed by the away
fans when Arsenal visits Stamford Bridge? He most likely will be, that's
why Cesc in full damage control mode right now.
The
question stands, however. I, for one, think he could have left Arsenal
in a nicer way. Also, he should have tried to choose a club outside BPL.
I don't for a second envisage a situation in which the Spaniard only
had one offer and it was from Chelsea. They have most likely offered him
the most. Did Cesc think about how Arsenal fans would treat the move? I
think he did and that's another point scored for his opposition. He
knew Arsenal fans wouldn't be happy, yet he chose to go to Chelsea
anyway. After that Cesc thinks it's enough to say he loves Arsenal and
everything will be alright? Though it's not up to me to decide how the
Gunners should treat Fabregas, cheering definitely wouldn't top my list.
Anyway,
enough for today. Not much else going on (apart from all the Welbeck
stuff). I'm already tired to read about Danny, but if you feel like it,
there are two good articles on the man I have found. First by Jeremy
Wilson for the Telegraph. Second was a guest post over on Arseblog. Both are really worth your time if you, unlike me, haven't had enough.
That's it for now. Arsene will hold a press-conference tomorrow and we'll know more then.
I'll be back here to discuss the conference and anything else of interest on Friday.
Until then
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)