You wouldn't like me when I'm angry...

...and other such threatening thoughts pass through my mind after reading this excerpt that I snagged from the Daily mail today;

"Flop Gunner! Eduardo was a big shot joining Arsenal...now he's their latest striking failure
By LEO SPALL

Eduardo da Silva joined Arsenal with a big reputation after heading Steve McClaren towards the sack as England manager. But four years on from his goal for Croatia in that Euro 2008 qualifier in Zagreb, he is leaving the Emirates like many before him: with his name almost as badly shattered as the bones in the ankle he infamously broke at Birmingham.
Eduardo, 27, has completed a £6million move to Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk in a four-year deal worth £50,000 a week that brings to an end three difficult seasons at Arsenal and extends the list of strikers who have failed to make their mark under Arsene Wenger. "

Firstly, I'd like to state that if someone broke my leg to the point that I nearly lost it alltogether, I might think twice about jumping in two footed for a challenge. Leo Spall, you're a sensationalist hack with no brains. To compare his name and reputation to a horrific football injury is at best daft and I think you've done yourself no credit with this article.

Secondly and perhaps more importantly, 22 goals in 67 games isnt a bad return. Its not great but for anyone with a memory worth keeping his 9 goals from 9 1-on-1 attempts (before his horrific injury-least I think it was 9...someone correct me!) were stunning, a great finisher and his Arsenal career was cut short well before time.

As I said yesterday, the change in the Arsenal formation was really the death knell for Dudu but I just wonder if he hadn't have got injured whether we would have won some silverware that season and Wenger would have stuck with a successful 4-4-2 formation? 4-2-3-1 was never going to work for a striker who is quite short, not overly quick and not very strong. Dudu's attributes are all designed for great work in and around the box, similar to Jermain Defoe. Stick Defoe up front by himself and watch him struggle for goals.

All-in-all, I'm pleased Eduardo's got a new club that will play him where he needs, sometimes its easy to forget that despite being paid high wages (not their fault, I don't blame anyone for asking for the money, its the clubs that choose to pay it) footballers are people too, just like you or me. Though its fair to say they are considerably richer than I.

Good luck Dudu, find those goals and prove people like Spall wrong (though he'll probably still call you an Arsenal failure, because he's an idiot).

WG