Tag Archives: Mikel Arteta

Searching where we need; Santiago the Spanish Prince

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So it appears as though the club are finally shifting gears in the transfer market, with Legia Warsaw publicly announcing that they have rejected a bid from us for their highly rated youngster Krystian Bielik, no doubt in an attempt to sound out other teams and engage in a bidding war. Whether or not that is enough to have Arsène and co. running for the hills remains to be seen, but it is perhaps positive that the club are looking to strengthen.

But perhaps most shockingly of all, he plays in a position in which we actually need cover for, as a defensive midfielder. Now, I’m not going to suggest that he’s a player that can saunter straight into the first team, as he would clearly be earmarked as a long-term successor to Arteta. But at least we’re going after defensive midfielders. You never know, we might even be able to muster enough courage to pick up a defender in this transfer window, rather than our usual tactic of buying players where we already have an abundance of talent (anybody for a Sissoko?). You there at the back, stop laughing…

So at least there’s been some early movement there. Now, let’s park the shitefest that is the transfer window, taking some time to admire a certain Santiago Cazorla, who I think has a first name that has been massively underused since his arrival to this country. It makes him sound like a Spanish Prince who will come and steal your wife with his good looks, tall and strapping physique and long, flowing hair. Thankfully, he has none of those physical attributes, but he is a remarkable footballer and has stepped up in a big way since we had The Great Arsenal Injury Crisis of 2014. Which was way worse than The Great Arsenal Injury Crisis of 2013. Or 2012. Or 2011. Or perhaps it wasn’t. Perhaps it should be renamed The Annual Great Arsenal Injury Crisis?

Anyway, I’m digressing my main point, which is to heal much of the praise I have for today onto our diminutive Spaniard, who has been a revelation over the last month to six weeks. He has relished his role as the ‘Playmaker-In-Chief’ and has been central to the good football we have seen (in patches) since the beginning of December. The way in which he has been able to find those killed balls in behind defences has been joyous to watch and on top of that, he’s also added more of a goal threat to his play, which has spread the burden away from Alexis and the other forwards.

With a host of players returning over the next few weeks, including a certain Turko-German number 10, it will be pleasing for Arsène to know that he has options and in-form players that mean that it won’t be easy for Mesut to win his place back.

It’s the same with Theo. The form of Alexis and the role that Giroud plays, effectively means that Walcott is fighting with The Ox, Welbeck and to a lesser extent Campbell, so whilst he gives us something that others do not – direct running in behind defenders with great pace – we’ve already seen that he’s not going to be fast-tracked into the first team and his inclusion from the start is far from a foregone conclusion. Arsène has already said post-Hull, that the fans should not expect too much from Walcott, having been out for so long. But perhaps it is a positive sign that I look at our forward options and I have less of a concern or pressing desperation to see Theo thrown in and banjaxed so quickly because we’ve had to rush him back.

Hey, perhaps this will show Arsène that when you have enough cover in certain positions, you don’t have to rush players back or run them into the ground because there are no other options? Nah, you’re right, probably not.

Anyway, that’ll do for one days incessant rambling, I think. See thee tomorrow.

Injuries abating, history fears not

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So, Le Boss hath spoken, decreeing that we have no new injury concerns ahead of this weekend’s massive game against United. In fact, the injury situation doesn’t seem as terrifying as it has been over the past month, as players are beginning to return. As usual with The Arsenal, players are returning in all of the positions that we are currently well stocked in but hey, beggars, choosers, etc.

It might have only been a brief update to the official site, but it was still welcome to get Arsène’s ‘all clear’ on some players. Arteta, for example, will be needed in the base of that midfield if Flamini’s recent performances are anything to go by. The tenacity and cardiness of our Gallic enforcer still seems to be there in his system, but Flamini seems to have lost positional sense and his ability to find another red (or yellow) shirt of late, so the metronomic movements of Tricky Micky will be welcome for our back four.

We may still see a duet of the Flamster and Arteta just in front of the back four, to provide extra cover against the obvious attacking threat United possess, but at least if a scenario like the one that led to the first Swansea goal two weeks ago happens, we know that Mikel is taking down an oncoming player closer to the centre spot.

The other good news is that Giroud will be back, which will certainly please Aaron Ramsey of all people, who thrived from his hold up play last season. It would be remiss of me to suggest that Rambo is not versatile enough to perform without the big Frenchman, but there’s no doubt he profits from Olivier’s place at the top of the field. It will probably be a few weeks before he’s ready to effectively challenge Welbeck for a starting spot, but just seeing him in the squad will be a welcome boost, not least because it will push poor old Sanogo further down the pecking list. I feel for the fella, but he’s not at Arsenal level yet and without games he never will be, so Arsène needs to January loan his ass to another club. Preferably in the Premier League. After all, he only needs to watch Match of the Day to do his scouting. Plus, we’ll save a few pounds on travel expenses if he stays in this country. No need for booking flights for any of Steve Rowley’s crew then, you see.

Anyway, back to the team and thankfully both Kos and Debuchy are out and about running. Arsène still thinks it’s three weeks but the fact that Kos is actually alive is pleasing to hear. We’ve had both Vermaelen and Rosicky in recent past disappear for injuries expected to be a couple of weeks, only to see them gone for an entire season, so I’m sure you’ll join me in breathing a huge sigh of relief there. The sooner we can get the first choice back four together, the better, as far as I’m concerned.

What was interesting about yesterday’s update, I thought, was that there was no mention of Welbeck. Perhaps that’s because there was no need to. After all, Woy said he was fine and if Arsène doesn’t even feel the need to mention it, surely it’s a non-story, right? RIGHT?? I hope so. But the trouble with supporting this club is that usually ‘surprises’ don’t fall into the ‘nice’ category. They usually fall into the ‘dropped your car keys into a poo-encrusted toilet so now you have to since when you dip your hand in there’ category. I’m trying to stay positive. Welbeck will be fit. If I have to avoid three-drained manhole covers all day between now and the game tomorrow evening I will. I’ll do it I tells ya!

So, finally, before I wrap up for the day I thought I’d give you a little ‘heads up’. I am terrified about tomorrow. I’m terrified because at home, against the poorest United side in my living memory, with the injuries they have, we’ve never had a better chance of picking up three points. Yet I’m terrified because we never seem to get the run of the green against that lot. I think back to 99, when we’ve dicked on United and gone down to a wonder goal after Bergkamp missed a penalty, or two when Owen Hargreaves (of all people! He could barely walk for most of his United career) scored that free kick after we’d outplayed them in their own back garden. Or when Almunia and Diaby’s 50p head caused a 2-1 defeat that I witnessed live in the flesh. Or when Sagna went for a meaningless challenge two seasons ago that cost us three points. Or even last season’s 0-0 bore draw. Every time we come up against United we rarely have the beating of them. We’ve had one win in 14 since 2009. I’ve been a season ticket holder for six years and I’ve never seen us beat United (I was away for the Ramsey goal that got us our only win in that time). That’s why I’m terrified. I’m terrified because of history. Because history is rarely kind to The Arsenal. History against United is the person that unscrews the salt pot so you spill all of your salt on your dinner and can’t enjoy it. That history is one in which I am haunted.

I fear another haunting. I fear us totally dominating and losing. Or drawing. Another draw. Don’t let it happen Arsenal. Please.

Anyway, more of my terror tomorrow. Adios for now.

Feeling overly sensitive, worrying about Saturday

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Yesterday I had a wee bit of a Twitter monologue as I commented on the Walcott ‘I’m a fan’ story that appeared on the official site yesterday. It wasn’t so much a rant as it was a musing, that the club hasn’t helped him out with the headline which specifically referenced the term ‘fan’ as if he himself had said it.

Before I elaborate, let me just say I have no issue with Walcott, his contract situation a couple of years back, or him as a person. He seems a perfectly amiable chap.

Instead, my thinking was more along the lines in of ‘the club don’t help the players our – PR wise – sometimes, do they?’, because in the subsequent article that I clicked on, not once did Walcott say ‘I’m a fan now’. He did talk about seeing the game differently, trying to remember the buzz fans get when a player does something special, etc, etc. all positive stuff and I have no issue with it. I just think the club could have chosen their article title a bit better.

Because he’s not a fan, is he? Not in the sense that you and I are a fan. Not in the same way, anyway, I don’t think. I don’t think there are many actual ‘fans’ that are professional footballers these days. I just don’t see it. They are not like us. They earn more money, they do it as a job and they see the changing of clubs like we see the changing of companies in our own working careers.

And hey, I don’t begrudge that, because I had had a number of ‘clubs’ in my working life. But much like I would say I hold an affection for each of the ‘clubs’ I’ve worked for, I have not been loyal enough to stay there since I left university.

Which is why I don’t think the use of the term ‘fan’ did Theo any favours, because my immediate response to seeing the headline was to dismiss the sentiment before I’d even read the article, which is wrong because what was said in the article didn’t reflect the title.

Are the official site looking for some extra clicks for advertising? Who knows. Maybe. After all, the Marketing Team might be tasked with bringing in £x,xxx before the end of the year and maybe a few extra clicks will help drive up the advertising revenues. But it’s not something we’re used to seeing on the official site (click whoring, I would call it), so it’s taken me by surprise somewhat.

Or maybe I’m just being a little too sensitive and should just learn to chill, Winston.

Perhaps I’m just a bit more tightly wound than usual because it feels like there’s more riding on this weekend’s game than there would have been a month ago. After all, we’ve played pretty average so far this season, never really getting into our full flowing rhythm and looking like we could end the season with 25 draws on the board come May. But this game on Saturday represents an opportunity. It’s a chance for us to drink in some much needed confidence if we can overcome United, who are still a very good side, one in which we have an appalling record with over the last five or so years.

It feels like a game like this weekend – should we win it – could be a catalyst for us to final break through the malaise that has been the opening third of the season. We need something. Some kind of NOS fuel injection or whatever similar metaphor you can think up in your head. Which is why I’m so tightly wound, because I fear the spiral of the team if we once again succumb to what is fast looking like a United team with more injuries than Ryan Shawcross could count to. Although admittedly that’s just double figures.

We need a win this weekend. And on home soil too, to give the fans a lift, so I’m naturally exceedingly nervous.

Anyway, enough of my own insecurities, because it’s not proving too therapeutic to re-read them on the blog. Just getting me more nervous. Shall we talk about Danny Welbeck? Hopefully he is fully fit, because he’ll be a very important player on Saturday. One suspects that of all the players looking to prove a point, he’d be front and centre when it comes to wanting to get one over on his former employers. Tricky Micky Arteta’s been kicking his heels at the training ground this week, and having very little to do, he thought he’d tell the official site how Welbeck is tailor made for The Arsenal.

Micky tells us that it is the technical element of Welbeck’s game that has surprised him and, whilst I have noticed the effervescent running and ‘chase-em down’ attitude of Welbeck as a positive, the technical ability of the lad must be something that is also important for a player to quickly adapt to life at The Arsenal. After all, the pace in which the game is played, the importance of quick interchange of possession, is all-important in Arsène’s world. So you can see why he’s found it easier to settle in.

He also looks stronger than I remember seeing him beind at United. He holds up the ball better and is better in the air than I thought. The fact he’s only 24, plus that he is still getting to know his teammates, all bodes well from my perspective. Let’s just hope he’s fit for Saturday. Otherwise it’s Sanogo time. We all saw how that worked out against Leicester, so let’s keep those fingers crossed for ‘Welbz’. We’ll find out soon enough, as Arsène is sure to give an update to the dotcom later this afternoon.

Anyway, enough of my jibber-jabber, I’ll leave you in peace. Have a good’un.

Ox in the box and Jack the quarterback

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If you go down to the Ems today,
You’re sure for a big surprise,
‘Cos Arsène’s worried and running out of his footballer guys,
They’re injured, battered, bruised and sick,
They can’t play very much so this is it,
If you go down to the Ems you’ll be an Arsenal player!

Little ditty there I thought up about ten minutes after I saw Welbeck hobbling off against Scotland last night, having spent the entire game steaming into challenges and scaring the bejeebus out of this here gooner. Honestly, I thought Jack would be the one that we’d have to close our eyes every time he went near a Scottish player, but it was our rampaging Manc-Gooner (‘Mancgoonian?’) up top that turned out to be the most worrisome for you and I, didn’t it?

Despite what Roy said afterwards about him being fine for the weekend, I think I’ll wait until Arsène has his day tomorrow with the ‘who’s fit?’ webpage on the official site. I fully expect Wenger to tell us all that Welbeck came back in a plastic bag and is currently trying to be reassembled by the Top Gear team using sellotape, string and ‘little bit elbow grease’.

With Giroud not fully fit, Walcott still not being afforded too much game time (we should probably be pleased with the sensible approach being adopted), Alexis only probably touching down from his trip to Mars to play a select Martian XI against Chile, we find ourselves unsurprisingly reliant on young mister Welbeck. So it would be good if Roy is right, but how he can make an effective diagnosis about ten minutes after a game is a little beyond me. If he’s going on what Welbeck has told him…well, we all know where that has got us with players like Jack in the past. Young guys just want to play football. They think about the here and now and not the potential to knock a year or two off the tail end of their career by playing through the pain.

Cross everything, will you? I certainly am.

The plus points of the evening have to be the performance of The Ox, who with more displays like that and a few more goals to his game, will probably run Theo very close when it comes to retaining his place in the side. He was one of the stand out performers yesterday and I’m sure it wouldn’t have escaped your attention that the first England goal was born straight out of London Colney. A wee knock from Welbeck to Wilshere, then a sumptuous diagonal pass from Wilshere to the ‘Ox in the box’, resulting in first blood to The Arsenal. Ahem, I mean, England.

When you watch it again you see just how good that goal is from the pass, to the run, to the flicked header in. Replicate that in the Premier League lads, and you’ll have us all purring, because that’s the sort of movement and vision that we’ve been painfully lacking at times this season.

It does make you think about Jack’s future role at The Arsenal though, doesn’t it? I mean, in the last four England games that I’ve seen, he’s been deployed in this sort of quarterback role for England, and he’s flourished. We all know he can travel with the ball and is good over five to 10 metres – Arsène has said so himself – but what I’ve seen whilst he’s been on international duty is a player who also has a fantastic ability to spot a pass. I don’t want to draw comparisons with a guy who now plays for the oil whores, but it was Fabregas who was the last player in an Arsenal shirt that I saw with the ability to spot a run like Jack did yesterday. The thing is, it wasn’t an isolated incident either, as he has found Rooney time and time again over the last four games. In Estonia he put the ball on a plate for the England captain more times than I can count. It’s just a shame Rooney couldn’t finish his dinner on that night.

I said it on Twitter last night and I’m more than happy to reiterate; surely Arsène now has to look at him as a deep lying midfielder? Surely we should be playing Wilshere and Arteta at the base of our midfield, with an all-action number 10 running the length of the pitch to get forward and back? How about we have Alexis as that guy, with Walcott and The Ox either side of Welbeck? Isn’t that just a little bit sexual as a prospect? I think so.

I will wait with eager anticipation on the starting line up on Saturday. We just need to find out who is actually available to play.

As for other factors in Saturday’s game, it probably hasn’t escaped your attention that Mike Dean will be refereeing our weekend game against the red Mancs. Nothing, and I mean literally nothing, is good about having that guy referee. He is a blister on the game as far as I’m concerned. As much as I’d love the idea of him being the pantomime villain in that ‘celebration’ that he made when the Spuds scored against us at The Emirates a couple of seasons ago, in my heart of hearts I know that it’s probably unlikely he was actually celebrating. That doesn’t stop him giving United absolutely everything on Saturday, to which I’ll probably cry foul come the end of the game, but for now I just have to contend with a disliking for a guy who probably isn’t a complete hater of Arsenal. Hopefully he can prove us all wrong by giving us 55-60% of decisions as the home team. That’s what you normally accept as a fan, whether your team is at home, or away.

Anyway, enough conspiracy theories for one day, let’s just sit quietly and wait patiently for Arsène to give us the good news. He’s holding open trials for spots in the team on Friday and everyone’s welcome.

Arteta’s importance; attack more important than defence

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I know there is a round of pointless friendlies today and tomorrow, but short of wanting our players just to come back in one piece, I’m back to caring little about what happens. Especially this evening. If there’s nothing else on I’ll more than likely flick the TV across to the home of the interminable Andy Townsend, but only for the Arsenal players on show, because he really is one of the worst commentators out there. When you add Adrian Chiles to the punditry team, you know times are hard and desperate.

So, with the lack of interest in international football thankfully returning to my mood, I’m already looking at Saturday’s game in which I think it has more significance than ever given our recent form. After five or six games in the season I looked at this match up as a bit of a ‘meh’ in comparison to other rival teams at the top of the division. But as our form has deteriorated and our injuries have exacerbated, I find myself becoming more and more concerned with the granular details of the match up.

For example: Mikel Arteta. Is he fit or isn’t he fit. I see to recall Arsène saying something about coming back after the international break. If he is available, we can only see his return as a welcome one. With him screening the back four we look a better outfit. I don’t want to put two and two together to make 968, but we cruised against Anderlecht until his withdrawal and, with Flamini venturing forward against Swansea, there was no Spanish Captain to top Barrow in his tracks further up the field.

As couple of years ago I wrote a blog about appreciating Arteta more, as after six months of him at the club, I begun to question his contribution. The blog was one in which I appreciated how he kept us ticking over. I’m not a very good stat man, but it feels like we have more control when in possession when he is in the team. That’s not to say we’re not prone to lapses with him in the side, but merely that I believe our probabilities greatly increase in favour of being more secure defensively when he plays.

So finding out that he is fit on Thursday when Arsène announces the squad situation will be a small win and confidence boost that I’m looking for on the eve of this big game.

The other thought that has been swirling around in my mind over the last 24 hours is the old ‘attack vs defence’ debate that will inevitably gather momentum as the week wears on. Namely, who’s is worse off defensively, or better off offensively. It’s a tough one, but with Arsenal tinted specs on your have to say we should be better in both departments, because our injury woes defensively don’t seem as bad (plenty of time for us to find out from Arsène that our players have burst into balls of flame whilst on international duty) as theirs and in attack, we have the in-form player of the moment in Alexis.

A question I posed on Twitter yesterday was whether it was more important for our attack to have a good game against United, or our defence. There’s no doubt that this makeshift defence is facing world class players for the first time since they came together, but I still can’t quite manoeuvre my thinking away from the attack, and how it is more important that our front line performs than our defence.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to see a playground five-a-side score against Man United, but I think if our front line is firing on all cylinders, we should be able to cope defensively. Believe it or not, I don’t think Monreal has been that bad at the heart of the back four. Chambers has been exposed for pace, but he’s had a good season, and the other three are first team regulars for us anyway. So defensively – assuming United have to field Valencia, Carrick, Smalling and Shaw, we should be seen to have a better back four than theirs. Which means it’s down to our attack and their attack and who will perform better. We have the ace in our pack in Alexis, but is the rest of our hand stronger than United’s? That is something I’m really not sure about. Which is why I think this game on Saturday is won off the strength of the attack rather than defence.

One final thing before I depart for the day: Yaya Sanogo. When are we going to get the guy who seems to tear apart teams for his under-21 side? The guy has a phenomenal record (when fit) at that level, yet looks so out of his depth at Arsenal sometimes that it’s painful to see. Please Arsène, get him out on loan for the rest of the season and let’s see if he can bang in goals in the Premier League. It’s helping nobody having him coming on for five minutes and having the Arsenal fans frustrated at his lack of quality, which could be just due to a lack of experience, if I’m trying to be kind.

See thee tomorrow. When the countdown to United can really begin.

Closing space is essential against Swansea

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Swansea away today will be a test, of that I’m sure, which is why I’m more than a little apprehensive of our back four.

It’s not just down to Nacho Monreal that our form and frequency of goals conceded has greatly increased from last season. Per Mertesacker has to step up too and, with Arteta injured today, he needs to demonstrate his leadership abilities by marshalling the defence and keeping the unit tighter together. Also, with Arteta out, it will be incumbent on Matthieu Flamini to drastically improve his form today if we want to stay resolute at the back. Defending is not the sole preserve of the back four; it has to be a team effort that starts from the forward players and works backwards. Thankfully in Welbeck and Alexis we have so players who will press higher up the pitch, but should Santi and Rambo start again in midfield, we need to see more from them from the defensive side as much as the offensive. On Tuesday night the warning signs were there in the first half. There were two or three breaks from Anderlecht players where massive areas of the middle of the park were left free for purple-shirted players to run in to. It simple wasn’t acceptable and I remember see Arteta have a bit of a shouty moment in that first half at his fellow midfielders for not closing the space.

Today we have to be able to be more compact as a team and use our fantastic pace to counter Swansea at lightning speed. We simply must ensure that the area of the park in front of our back four is looked after. In the absence of Arteta, that must mean Flamini, but I’m also looking in the direction of Rambo too. He has to get back to basics and do the simple things first. Win tackles, close down space, distribute the ball to a red shirt effectively. That’s what we need to see from our Welshman. Who knows, maybe the return to Wales and the inevitable booing of a Cardiff boy in Swansea, will give more motivation for Rambo to have a great game. I certainly hope so.

As for the other free spot in the team, I think Arsène will play The Ox again. He was decent enough against Anderlecht and his goal will give him plenty of confidence to take into this game. He’s also more of a willing runner when it comes to tracking back, so I think that will remain in his favour and Arsène will name an unchanged side from Tuesday. Personally, I’d be tempted to put Rosicky in, perhaps over Santi, but I don’t think Arsène is in that frame of mind, so expect to see a grumpy looking Tomas this afternoon on the subs bench.

As for Swansea, they’re two scary players are clearly Bony and Gylfi Sigurdsson. I would say Shelvey as well, but that’s less to do with his play and more to do with his overall appearance. And anyway, he’s suspended today. Sigurdsson is the real gem though. The Swansea team looks to be at its best when he is pulling the strings and he looks like he has a telepathic understanding with Bony. That’s why I think it will be essential that we close down space in front of our back four, because that is where Sigurdsson will look to operate and find those balls for Bony in front of our back four.

Nacho is going to need to be strong too, because Bony will look to play off him as much as possible I’d expect.

I don’t want to come across as too much of a neg this morning, but I simply don’t see us not conceding today, which is why the front three will have to get us at least two goals I think to win the game. My hope is that Swansea are as low on confidence as we are – having not won in six games – but the trouble you have with a big team is that sides like Swansea really get themselves up for games against the top three or four, so you know that they’ll look to come out the blocks quickly and try and stun us into silence.

It’s never been easy playing Swansea and they have a good record against us, but if we think that there’s even the tiniest slither of hope of challenging for the league, this is a game that must be won. Heck, even to get our Champions League aspirations on track, we still need to get a win. We’ve had too many draws already this season so I’m hoping we’ll not be treated to another one today.

Come on Arsenal!

Appreciating midweek distractions; the Alexis/Mesut comparison’s are unfair

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Huh, who’d have thunk that a pretty strong Moneychester City team would be dumped out to a Newcastle team that the whole world was saying wasn’t playing for the manager any more? Certainly not me that’s for sure.

I’d like to be a little bit Nelson Muntz and say ‘Ha-ha!’ for the result, but whilst Chelski and the Spuds still remain in the competition, it’s one less team likely to give them both a beating. Last year it was delicious to see Jose win the square root of naff all, but I fear that this season we might not be able to trade off of another ‘specialist in failure’ jibe, with all of the teams dropping out of the competition at the rate they are. Of course the most likely scenario – because you know that God hates us – is that Chelski and the Spuds will contest the final, but perhaps it’s too early in the season to be all doom and gloom.

It’s still a quiet time for us at the moment and we’re getting treated to the feeling it must be like to be a United fan at the moment. Large expanses of metaphorical non-footballing land separates one game from the next, with little to quench the thirst that only first-team professional football can provide. Sure, it helps with establishing long runs in the team like Liverpool did last season, but is it really worth it? Would you take one season finishing second if the subsequent season meant that you were out of European competition altogether in the next season? I’m not sure I would you know. Even the Europa League. We jest about ‘Spursdays’ and demean the competition whilst we remain in its elite brother the Champions League, but when all is said and done we all just want to watch our team as much as possible. Sure, playing half the season on a Sunday would be a right royal pain in the derriere, but at least we’d get a higher volume of what we all love.

All this is not to say that I’m preparing for a life with the Europa League because I don’t have faith in the current squad – I do – I’m just trying to point out that when you’re not competing in competitions as we haven’t been this week, it makes you appreciate what you’ve got when you’ve got it. Right now, we’ve got it, with the games soon to start up again and come thick and fast. Burnley first on Saturday at 3pm (another one of those! Some kind of minor miracle!) and then Anderlecht on Tuesday night. Then Swansea away, before we head into yet another international break before playing United. Lt’s hope for maximum points during this period. November has always been a bit of a sucky month for us, which is doubly sucky for me because I happen to have a birthday then, so the idea that we might actually be able to put together some kind of run together (*clasps hands together in praying motion*) is certainly one I’d like to entertain.

The Club has announced it’s October player of the month competition and, in what was probably the easiest poll ever conducted, it’s Alexis ‘Knife-tooth’ Sanchez who has scooped the gong. I honestly have no idea where Mikel got his description of Alexis when he talked about him having ‘knife-in-his-teeth’, but I suspect this is one of the scenarios where he’s mixed his metaphors a bit. Hey, happens to the best of us, but when the chips are falling on the loaded dice, you just need to pick them up like a house of cards. Or something.

I get the sentiment though. Alexis is a dog with a bone. He simply doesn’t stop and both offensively as well as defensively has already made a massive contribution to the team. In a way, he’s almost doing Ozil a bit of a disservice because of his effervescence, because people are naturally making comparisons with the two big money Arsenal stars. But that is an unrealistic comparison in my opinion. They both have very different roles in the team and both have attributes that make us tick better as a side when they are both fully fit and firing on all cylinders. Alexis is perhaps seen as more suited to the rough and tumble of the English Premier League, but that’s more because of the cultural differences that exist between us and the rest of the continent. Let’s not forget we operate in a division where a manager telling players to “faacking run araand a bit” is seen as motivational, so it doesn’t surprise me to see a player who embodies that ethos (whilst actually being very gifted too) is getting quite a few plaudits from the national media. They love what is familiar and Alexis’ style is familiar to majority of them so they naturally gravitate towards cutting him some slack. Perhaps we all naturally do too, to an extent? Perhaps we all see his effort and can therefore accept when he is running into a blind alley on the football pitch, where as our German playmaker would not be afforded the luxury. Who knows? I’m just a simple fan with a simple observation.

Anyway, that should probably do for the day. Have a good’un and remember, never eat yellow snow. Unless it’s it’s been dispensed from a Slushie machine and is called ‘Lemon and lime’. Out.