The Sunday’s are strangely quiet today. Not in the absence of Arsenal ‘news’, more that they display a complete lack of imagination. Surely they can’t be losing their touch? Or is it a case as Lili von Shtupp put it in Blazing Saddles, ‘I’m tired, tired of playing the game. Ain’t it a freakin’ shame. I’m so…let’s face it. Everything below the waist is ka-put‘?
The News Of The World informs us that the Carlos Tevez are the two English Clubs he will consider if he leaves West Ham. A ’source’ tells us that,
Arsenal are serious contenders. If Tevez stays in England, it’s between them and United
Woo and indeed, hoo. There has been speculation in some quarters that we stand no chance in any fight for a player when up against United. I do not subscribe to that view, for whilst United have the ‘glamour’, player for player, the Arsenal squad is equal to them in most cases, if not better. Still it would be better to wait for a bid before deciding that we’ve lost out on a player before he’s even signed for someone else. The same paper reports that we are ‘locked in a battle’ over Curtis Davies and that Real Madrid have made a cheeky £6m offer for Reyes and that they are negotiating to get the price lower. Curiously enough, that is the same bid that Barcelona made for Henry so if we can get another £10m out of Madrid then I won’t be complaining. However, a bid from Atletico should not be ruled out as they have money that is burning a hole in their pocket following the sale of Torres to Liverpool. A target we missed out on if you believe all that you read. Fat Sam believes Owen will stay on Tyneside this season which knocks another signing on the head apparently.
The Mail and The Telegraph meanwhile go for the ‘Club in turmoil off the pitch’ angle. The former asserts that Arsene has fallen out with Edelman and won’t sign a new Contract. That is something that he - and we - will have to get used to - if we weren’t already - until a new Contract is even offered and rejected / signed. The latter goes for the ‘Dein returns’ angle, claiming rather believably that DD has rejected five offers already but is waiting to see what happens at Arsenal. At least The Telegraph used an original description for their ’source’, calling him a ‘rival Club boss and good friend from the G-14′.
Darren Bent seems to be living in a dream world though with his observations that Henry went to Barcelona on the cheap at £16m. Well, that part is true. I think it’s the bit where he seems to think he is actually worth the £17m that Tottenham paid for him. £17m for a player who is not a regular England international? Hmmm, more a case of you were overpriced, young man.
All of which seems to be designed to titilate and destabilise. But does it and who is it aimed at? Surely the hacks realise we want more than a ’source’; we want the whole kit and kaboodle. We want names who say it. Screw ‘protecting your sources’, let’s have them out in the open so we can decide if it is worth looking at? If it is aimed at creating trouble with the players, their cyberspace sites show no indication of it. Even William Gallas who has a lot to say on everything makes no mention of Henry’s sale to Barcelona. It will be interesting to see the results of his poll on the website, asking the question about what you remember most about his first season at Arsenal. The options genuinely are:
- His uncontested leadership in the defense of the Gunners
- His absence because of a pulled thigh
- His successful integration into the team of Arsenal
- His magnificent 3 registered goals
- His season without a trophy
(Adopts Geordie accent) You decide…
Elsewhere, Alex Hleb says nothing other than he’s off on his holidays with teutonic efficiency whilst Tomas Rosicky tells us that he’s fit and raring to go in his slick little effort. The site that got most response was that of Phillipe Senderos which was a static one dimensional page (that brought forth the cruel jibe that it was like his performances on the pitch) telling us it opened for business today. I preferred his myspace page which listed Brazilian author Paulo Coelho as his first ‘friend’. Which is the area of cyberspace that the rest of the squad inhabit so if you want to know what they’ve been up to before pre-season training starts this week, just pop over to myspace and seek and ye shall find.
’til Tomorrow.
