Morning all, hope you’re feeling splendidly splendid. I’m feeling ok. I mean, I’m good because we got a solid away victory at the weekend, but I’m a little bit ‘meh’ because I have to put up with International football for about 10 days. Oh, and I haven’t got a shed at the moment (renovation), so that’s adding a bit of insult to injury.
Speaking of injuries, or lack thereof so far, Jack, Bac and Frimpong are all continuing their recovery with another solid performance against Reading in the Under 21s competition. I’d imagine Sagna, at 29, feels a bit like one of those people that turns up at a nightclub only to realise some of the patrons aren’t even old enough to have been born during the first Gulf war, let alone remember it. Still, it would have been good for him to get his first proper run out and by the sounds of it all returning players were solid enough. From what I read last night of people that watched the game, Jack’s touches we’re better and he had a hand in both goals. This is all good stuff, but he’ll have a job forcing his way back into the team. By the time he’s probably even ready to make the bench Diaby will be back in the team (crossed fingers) and so JW might well be waiting his turn to get into the side. I think the same can obviously be said about Sagna. Jenkinson has been superb and when Sagna is fully fit, he will count himself a trifle unlucky to lose his place, which I think he inevitably will. We’re all waxing lyrical about Carl, no more so than me (he comes from my former home town don’t you know!), but some gooners with short memories need to remember just how awesome Sagna is. Hopefully, what Jenkinson has done is to see Sagna up his game just to stay in the side. That competition can only be a good thing for us.
One man who shouldn’t be too concerned about his place in the side is that Big German Mertesacker. He has been great this season and it is testimony for the player that so many Arsenal fans have flipped their opinion of him into positive territory. I have to admit, I only ever saw him as a number three centre back, albeit a great first reserve to have. But I never saw him as a first teamer nonetheless. He was speaking to the official site about the camaraderie of the players and the positivity of the dressing room at the moment. He also spoke of being ok with being dropped for the Chelski game, with Arsene telling all of the players he would rotate as the season wore on. For me, this is almost as juicy to hear as hearing about the good team spirit. If Wenger has told the players he will rotate during the season, and has already shown signs of this (albeit forced in some circumstances), it bodes really well for a multiple trophy assault. Just compare this to last season where there were some positions that Le Boss simply didn’t rotate, which made us very vulnerable to injury because of over reliance on one or two players. It is good to know the manager recognises the competition and also the strength in depth – something better articulated by Goonerdave66 over at 1 Nil Down 2 One Up. You can even see an example of this as recent as the Coventry game, where a second string side took to the field and all demonstrated their credentials for a first team spot amicably.
We’re in a good place at the moment, which is a good thing going into the desolation that is FIFA owned weekends, so let’s hope we can continue the momentum away to Norwich in just over a week and a half’s time.
Peace out.
