Tell all the folks in Russia…

He might be off to Manchester today for a medical. Hold on, we have been here before, haven’t we. Stuff it, I’ll wait until the transfer is confirmed by Arsenal before passing any more comment. Anyway, Andrei Arshavin thinks He is a good player:

He is an excellent striker. Everybody knows him and he can score from nothing. But it is his decision whether he wants to stay or he wants to go.

Which is pretty much all there is to be said this morning on Him. The Pocket Dynamo (or should that be Dinamo?) was merely warming to the task:

We have Arsene. He knows everything. He knows if we need someone then he will buy.

You cannot really argue with that but Arshavin needs to whisper it when he says, “Arsene knows“, simply because it has become a dirty word. Or words. I guess phrase is more appropriate. But he was not finished there, oh no.

Of course he is a very strong coach. He gives me freedom on the pitch, which I like. He’s found a new position for me which I’ve never played, as a left midfielder!

A minor adjustment to one with Arshavin’s talent since playing across the forward line and supporting roles, ought to be a piece of cake when you consider his footballing intelligence. It is a big season for him. His short spell last season unquestionably highlighted the threat he will pose and to be honest when opponents look at van Persie, Arshavin, Cesc and Nasri, retreating even further into their shells is going to become even more de rigeur at The Emirates.

Don’t you know that it’s time to get on board, And let this train keep on riding, riding on through

If Arsene was blushing then Cesc will have gone a permanent shade of red at the praise heaped on him by his Russian colleague:

His vision is excellent, he plays every ball into a perfect position for our players. He is fantastic.

Now all they have to do is to learn to time their runs to meet the ball. Fabregas’ absence last season hurt the team but this time around, I believe that the squad is better equipped to deal with such an absence.

There are players who can stand in for him and whilst they may not be the same style as Fabregas, they can provide sufficient prompting for the absence to be minimised. Crucially, they now know how they will cope without him. The unbeaten run of 21 games was built whilst he was out and that should give them confidence to deal with anything the season has to throw in their direction.

People all over the world (Join in, ride this train)

Still that pales into insignificance compared to the praise heaped upon Tomas Rosicky by the Spaniard:

He can bring many, many things to the team. He’s a guy with a lot of experience, he has won things, he knows how to compete, he’s very humble and he works for the team.  Technically he is one of the best in the world and physically I am sure he will be really strong because he’s been working really hard. I am happy because soon he is going to be back and I can’t wait to see him playing again

And that feeling is echoed by every Arsenal supporter that I know. In terms of his comeback, Rosicky is fortunate in that it can be done reasonably gently in the first team. He is not required to jump straight in – at the moment – since there is a lot of competition for the attacking midfield spots.

The form he was in before the injury struck was quite possibly the best since he joined the club. In many respects, he reminds me of Vladimir Petrovic, thier style and vision of play is remarkably similar despite being separated by more than two decades in their time at the club. Petrovic only had the chance to show a glimpse but Rosicky has more time on his side than the Yugoslav ever achieved.

Barnet tomorrow and hopefully some football to distract everyone from the Hughes Brothers circus that is encircling the club.

’til Tomorrow.