Read it. You know it makes sense.
Johan Djourou has said he'll be fit for Saturday in an interview for the BBC. This is absolutely awesome news. With the Verminator still coming back from injury and being wrapped in cotton wool and Squillaci suffering a bit of poor form and lack of confidence I find it difficult to express how critical how the in-form JD is to us right now.
I'm absolutely delighted, good job Arsenal Physio's!
WG
Far be it for me to show a weakness in understanding, I like to consider myself as someone open to views and opinions, however odd and strange they may be to me.
Johan Djourou is someone who doesn't seem to divide much opinion in the blogosphere at the moment, Arsenal fans seem to dislike him or mark him as a perma-crock and I don't get it. Professional sportsmen and women suffer injuries all the time. Every footballer has been injured at some time or another. If we take a step back and consider that an extremely fit body requires all of its composite parts to be in tip-tip condition to prevent injury then that consideration itself heralds an admission that injury is bound to happen and the recovery from serious injury is difficult and time-consuming.
Johan Djourou is 23 years old. According to his wiki, to date he's played 92 competitive games, with 79 of those being for Arsenal and 13 appearances for Birmingham on a 5 month loan. I don't really recall him having a bad game during those appearances, I really cant think of any that really stand out.
I know he's had a rough couple of seasons with injury, but it happens. It happens a lot. When he's playing regularly he's a good defender. He's fast, good in the air and reads the game well. It says something when Wenger said he'd not sign another defender after selling Kolo because he thought Djourou could make the step up. I'm not daft enough to suggest that the three centre-backs we have is enough, but to write off Djourou altogether as some are is a mistake. If he can stay fit then he is and will continue to be a good player for Arsenal.
Onto other more humourous matters .. 31 mins in... Young Boys Berne 3 : 0 Spuds. Foolish, innapropriate and slanderous rival fans suggest Wenger is a paedophile....One might suggest that certain members of the Spud fraternity be a little bit more forgiving as they've just been caught on TV being whipped by Young Boys...
Three times no less.
I cannot wait for the second leg.
The glorious return of the "Up for Grabs" podcast with Alan Davies returned on the 16th, another fine example of what we are all about as Arsenal fans and I continue to enjoy it. You can find it on Fbook here and I recommend you go and have a listen..it is hilarious.
Til the next post Gooners!
WG
Trepidation, Mark Schwarzer singing the fab Smiths classic, records et al.
I was asked last night by a friend if I was looking forward to the season starting. He was quite excited, there was a light in his eyes that showed hope, excitement and joy. Like me he loves his football.
Despite his enthusiasm, all I could do was look at him and say almost deadpan "Not if we don't sign another Centre-Back"..the words echoed in my head and in my eyes. I don't think I've ever felt so uninspired about a season, certainly not for the last fifteen years at least.
It would be wrong to say I don't think we have a chance, with a bit of luck on the injuries front (like that ever happens!) we could be challenging and thats good. We're a good team and we need to be fighting for the league. As previously mentioned, Chelsea are weaker this year, considerably so now they've just sold their best centre-back to Real Madrid. So I think we've got a shot at the top two.
I would like to see Nordveit given a shot at Centre-back in the Carling Cup as I think Wenger sees him as a backup player for that role. Given that he had a successful season in the Bundesliga last season (albeit in a defensive midfield role) perhaps Wenger is thinking he might be ready to take the next step? Perhaps he's thinking stick Nordveit in midfield and let Song play Centre-back..I'm not Arsene, its on his head if we become stuck for central defenders. We've had the opportunity to sign, but I guess its down to clubs wanting to sell and similar to our situation with Fab4, if he's a decent player and you don't have to sell, why would you?
On a lighter note, young Theo has equalled a 99yr old record for England, see below;
England can't stop winning with Theo Walcott in the team.
Arsenal's flying winger Theo Walcott, now 21, has now featured in 12 England matches…and England have won all 12.
He became his country's youngest player at 17 years 75 days when making his debut as a substitute for Michael Owen in an Old Trafford friendly against Hungary in 2006, a match that England won 3-1.
England's results in the eleven internationals in which Walcott has played since then have been: 3-0 v Trinidad & Tobago (away), 2-0 v Andorra (away), 4-1 v Croatia (away), 5-1 v Kazakhstan (home), 3-1 v Belarus (away), 4-0 v Kazakhstan (away), 6-0 v Andorra (home), 3-1 v Egypt (home), 3-1 v Mexico (home), 2-1 v Japan (in Austria) and 2-1 v Hungary (home).
Last night at Wembley he equalled a record that had stood for nearly a century. Derby County half-back Ben Warren won 12 consecutive matches with England between 1908 and 1911. England's results in a different age were even more spectacular: 6-1 v Austria, 11-1 v Austria, 7-0 v Hungary and 4-0 v Bohemia (all away), 4-0 v Ireland, 2-0 v Wales and 2-0 v Scotland (all at home), 4-2 v Hungary, 8-2 v England and 8-1 v Austria (all away), 2-1 v Ireland and 3-0 v Wales (both at home).
They weren't the first 12 appearances made by Warren, a player described as 'a touch slow but brave, splendid in ball control and crisp in tackling'. Certainly no-one would suggest that Walcott was 'a touch slow'...
Gawd bless Unlucky Theo!
In other news, Mark Schwarzer has issued a "Please, please, please let me get what I want" statement via the worlds media (I'm assuming he performed it in the unmistakable style of the Smiths) and let him transfer to Arsenal. To be honest I don't know if he is better than what we have, but he is an established international 'keeper and he's got a confident aura. He's not afraid of shouting at his defence and he's good at set pieces...something that I feel we've lacked.
As with all good blogs and some rubbish ones too, I'm feeling better about the season now I've worked it out in my head and in words...If we get Schwarzer and another Centre-back or even if we just have a good start to the season with Djourou or Kozza playing well I'm sure we'll be ok.
WG's Predo....Arsenal to win the league. You heard it here first.
I'm having a BBQ this weekend and will get rather drunk, so I'll hit you guys up Sunday night/Monday with a review of Arsenal/Liverpool.
Til then gooners - happy trails!!
WG
