I guess training will be interesting when everyone returns from their various sojourns into the international foray. No doubt Gael Clichy will be seeking out Tomas Rosicky for a tad of an explanation of his interview in this morning’s The Sun,

There were an awful lot of other similarly negative things happening. Everything began with Eduardo’s injury. Then came Gael’s error and that thing with William. You could say that was probably where the ground started to crumble beneath our feet

Rosicky did point out in Clichy’s defence,

The lads were winning 2-1 but then in the last minute Gael gave away a really stupid penalty. At the same time, he played brilliantly all season. He improved immensely and turned into a great defender as a result. But he messed up that day. I don’t think something similar would happen to him now, because he’s a lot more experienced

Rosicky does support Gallas’ appointment as Captain and launches a stout defence of the Frenchman, despite what the headline would have you believe,

It was William’s first season as captain and it’s not easy to wear the armband in a team like this. I think he will have learned. There were things he could have done better — but he knows that better than anyone else. He’s really immersed in everything and that was something he just got immersed in too deeply. But otherwise he’s a good leader in my opinion and he will continue to be captain even though there was speculation about that

There is a fine line between passion and emotion, one that Gallas struggled to bridge that day, hardly surprising in some respects given what had passed but on the other hand, that is a balance that he has to find. It should be remembered as well that he had done so very well prior to St. Andrew’s and no-one batted an eyelid about his leadership once the initial surprise had settled down. It is, of course, up to Gallas to get on with the job, so to speak, and prove everyone wrong. As important though is managing the team once a ‘lead’, such as the one at Liverpool with Adebayor’s equaliser, has been established. To me, that is perhaps more important; the exuberence of the team needs to be tempered with the ‘professionalism’ that would have seen Babbel brought down in the early stages of his run.

Gallas though is more than happy to remain captain. Whether he would if one of his predecessor’s has his dreams come true is another matter but more of that later. Emmanuel Adebayor’s reward for signing a new contract is to get the strength of Rosicky’s tongue about the fiasco he engineered with Bendtner at Birmingham. Overall, Rosicky is not saying anything that we have not already done so ourselves and there is truth in the words of the Czech international. He, perhaps deliberately, does not address another key issue; injuries. Given that he is an expert in this particular field at Arsenal, it is (hardly) surprising that he has not has his say on the matter. There will be some criticism of him for breaking ranks but in this media age, it is hardly surprising. However, I would say he is entitled to his opinion, especially as a large portion of the squad has already been vocal on this subject.

Tony Adams has indicated that he would like to manage the club one day. It will not be soon; his spell at Wycombe was a sharp learning curve, he admitted that he found it a struggle to deal with players less technically capable than he was used to. He was not contacted in the summer despite being at the end of his Portsmouth contract. I would have thought that the only role currently at Arsenal he could fill would be as defensive coach. Maybe he will be ‘The Gaffer’ in the future but as he admits, there is little indication that the current incumbent has any plans to move on.

On which note, Arsene has ‘defended’ his youth policy,

We are a young side and some more promising youngsters have come through for this season, but they have all got the quality which you need to have if you play for Arsenal. If you play at this club you must be ready to play at the very highest level

A number will not though as Barazite joining Derby, Nordtveit to Salamanca and Gibbs maybe to Reading, all on season long loan deals. It seems to me that Arsene’s policy on loans is shifting somewhat. In the past, it has been a sign that the player might be heading for the exit but in recent years, Bendtner, Randall, Gibbs, Merida and Gilbert have all been on loans for reasons other than passport control and still had their services retained by Arsenal. With the move to bringing younger players through, this is now going to be a more crucial phase for them to be ready for first team action.

Finally, Don Howe has lamented the quirk of genetics that made Cesc Fabregas a Spaniard, not English. Now, Don might be biased through association but it is a fair summary of the state of the English midfield.

’til Tomorrow.