Howdy folks. It’s another Arsenaless Saturday in the Premier League which means more of the usual having to watch other teams play football before we get our chance. Sure, it means you can do other things with your Saturday, but it just doesn’t feel right not seeing that much Arsenal on the first of the two weekend’s.
Arsène probably doesn’t mind though. He’s getting used to Thursday nights out, an early get up on a Friday and a press conference about 12 hours after his team have played and yesterday was no different.
The team news was delivered and it looks like we have an issue or two with Koscielny and his Achilles, as well as Özil and his…something…We don’t exactly know but we do know that he is ‘not far’ according to Arsène. I think the Özil news is unfortunate and I’d prefer him available and playing, but it’s the Koscielny adbsence that I think we would feel more. Koscielny is a solid and stable part of our team and with the recent midweek games hardly showing that our back ups are amazing, the need for us to keep the current first team central defenders fit is obvious.
Who will come in if he’s not fit remains to be scene but personally I’d be looking more at Big Per than Holding. Mertesacker is the more experienced and in a back three with Slidey McSliderson and a converted left back in it, the experience of the BFG would be vital. But we can ponder that more tomorrow ahead of the ridiculous O’Clock kick off.
One player who probably won’t play, but might get on the bench, is Jacky Wilshere and he’s been talking up the possibility of staying at Arsenal. It’s kind of obvious that he loves the club and although we all know it, it’s still nice to hear, as well as the fact that should he find his fitness and a bit of form then the possibility remains of him staying beyond next summer. But I think in order for him and Arsenal to agree on a new deal, he needs to keep going with these positive midweek performances, then look to start establishing himself in the league from around the December/January time. That’s the only way I see him signing up for more years at Arsenal.
He’s going in the right direction though. Thursday night’s performance and assist for Theo’s first goal will have done him the world of good and if he can continue along the path he currently treads, I can see him getting some chances in the first team. Arsène loves him too much not to.
That’s most of the actual football-related stuff that came out of yesterday, because sadly the other speculation revolves around the absolute cancer that is Stan Kroenke. And I do not say those words lightly. He is completely, totally and utterly the worst thing that has ever happened to Arsenal football club and the news that he’s trying to tempt Alisher Usmanov to sell his shares to him should terrify every Arsenal fan across the globe.
Kroenke uses sports ‘franchises’ for profit. He has no intention across any of his ventures for them to be successful in anything other than monetary values. He is the anthesis of what an owner should be: ambitious, passionate about what he’s doing, etc. Yet Kroenke sees only the numbers on the balance sheet and should he take complete control of Arsenal football club, there is no way in which any of us will benefit as fans.
AGMs will be gone. Fan and club meetings will be a thing of the past. The approach towards the matchday going fan will be placed far far down the list of priorities. It will be about a rich American bleeding as much money out of us without having to invest anything whatsoever in the development of the club. He will delist us from the stock exchange. He will send us private and potentially move us – certainly from a business point of view – to some low tax haven like Delaware. He will look to monetise the sh*t out of every revenue area and the Arsenal team as we know it will turn in to a mediocre club within the Premier League. But he won’t care because every club in the Premier League will be worth a fortune and even with mediocrity he could still turn a tidy profit and be happy.
He isn’t committed to the future of Arsenal, he’s committed to the future of his bank balance and that my friends will be a tragedy to see.
It will also be the point in which I’ll probably start seriously thinking about my association with Arsenal Football Club. I love Arsenal, I always have and I always will, but if this goes in the direction that Stan Kroenke wants to take it, I am not sure I could take putting any money in to his pocket. So for me that means no more season ticket, no purchasing of any merchandise, probably no more blogging or certainly scaling back. It’s better to have less to do with something like that than just accept it. It’s this sort of thing that turns me away from modern day football. It makes me dislike modern day football more and more with every step. We didn’t see it all those years ago, but the arrival of Roman Abramovich could sendup being the worst thing to ever happy to English footballing culture, if this current trend of billionaire owners who just look at the pounds shillings and fences keeps going.
Right now all I have is hope that something puts a stop to that man. But it is hope more than expectation.
Catch you all tomorrow.
The only hope is that “syrup” is looking to maximise his investment at afc with a view to using afc as collateral to buy his beloved LA Rams & will eventually flog us off to the highest bidder north of £1.5 billion is what I’m hearing.if not as you say.we are shafted for at least the next decade.
Great post agree with everything except the bit about Abramovich. He’s just the type of owner we need. Put over a billion quid of his own money into Chelsea. They have had the most successful period in the club’s history since. Champions five times since we last won it and the rest. He is totally ruthless if things slip you are out and he actually goes to games. What is wrong with any of that?
Guess it’s not him, just what he did that opened up the age of the oligarch. Agree with you tho.