Happy Friday y’all,
After a razzle-dazzle evening black tie dinner that finished at 1am, the last thing most people would want to be doing come 7am the next morning, is getting up and going to a business conference. The up-side is that I have a little bit of time whilst my train shunts it’s way through Greater West London to write a little blog. Apologies if some of my ramblings appear ever the more incoherent however – that’s what happens when nursing a half dozen glasses of Rioja.
Anyway, on to all things Arsenal, and I wanted to pick up on something that became a story yesterday, but I hope was just a bit of paper talk: Eden Hazard. Seriously, this guy has managed to build up so much PR around him it feels like a soap opera, and it’s one I hope Arsene Wenger doesn’t get home every night desperate to watch. We were linked with an outside chance of getting the Belgian yesterday and the day before through the press. I hope I’m right I’m saying this: if that transfer happens I’ll eat my hat. The guy seems so caught up in his own self importance he makes John Terry look like leader of the meek. Let’s hope those two don’t inherit the earth. He whores himself out verbally to who’ll ever listen and even does a YouTube video where he looks at cards with team names on (on the reverse that we can see is a professionally printed “where is Eden Hazard going next”) and goes through saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ until he finally gets to the final card with the name Lille on and says “at the moment I am with Lille”. What an ego. I hope he goes to Citeh, because he is trouble with a capital ‘C’ and that is something we don’t need at Arsenal. Imagine how you’d feel as a Lille fan seeing videos like that? If I was I’d want him out ASAP. He might turn out to be as good as Messi, but what I’m seeing from the guy suggests his head might get in the way.
I mentioned I was at a black tie do yesterday, but I was also at a conference during the day in which Matthew Syed, former British no.1 table-tennis player was speaking. He was talking about the ‘myth of talent’ and was effectively dispelling the notion that talent was natural evolution, but the result of hard work and determination to reach the top. The reason I mention this is my blog today is that he talked about young Premier League footballers and how many clubs have real problems with young players not making the grade. Not because they don’t have the requisite skills, but because they are put into an environment where there are external factors that effectively allow them to take their eye of the proverbial ball and fail to reach their true potential. Hazard strikes me as somebody that could be just like that. A Belgian David Bentley if you will. Now, add that image to the fact the kid (just about to turn 20 I think) is demanding mega wages, and you have a recipe for disaster in my view. I just hope Arsene doesn’t even give the lad the courtesy of a call or a bid.
Thankfully, it sounds like the player has already said its Chelski or the two Manchester clubs that are the choices. Coincidentally by far the three biggest wage bills in the country.
The next potential transfer we could be seeing is Saloman Kalou at Arsenal. Arseblogger captured the sentiment on him perfectly well in his blog yesterday, and I echo those sentiments, but I can’t help but think that the status ‘free transfer’ may come back to haunt us, and we may see Le Boss sniffing around him. The horrible thing is, because he’s a free transfer, we’d probably pay him an exorbitant amount in weekly wages for a player that we’re all in no doubt will NOT improve the first eleven.
There is also some stuff around a swap with Chamakh and Giroud, but to be quite honest i’m starting to become a little bit cynical and bored of everything transfer-related. I only write about it because there is very little to speak of. I might do a little something on Steve Bould at the weekend, but I’ll save that for now.
Have a good one and enjoy the sun.
