Deadline Day Drama? Doubtful…

The KNVB has offered the opinion that Robin van Persie will be out for ‘at least a few weeks‘ having suffered a twisted ankle at Blackburn on Saturday. The timing is unsurprising; Euro2012 qualifiers take place this week and losing a player or two has become de rigeur for Arsenal in recent seasons.

With the transfer window closing today, there have been suggestions in some quarters that the Dutchman cannot be relied upon, that Wenger should turn his attention to a new striker to reinforce the squad. It does van Persie a disservice; only in two seasons has he failed to play less than thirty games for the club.

Key to this might be his scoring record, recent seasons have seen this lower from just over 1 in 3 games to close to 1 in 2. It apparently leaves Arsenal short in attack – figuratively and literally to some extent – the logic goes, with a reduced goal threat. Whilst the notion seems less than fanciful, it misses the point. The notional midfield – if you accept the split on the official site as positionally correct – contributes more goals per season than the forward line. Weight of numbers to some extent explains that but the emergence of Theo Walcott as a goal machine this summer may put that under strain.

With Bendtner absent for at least another month, is there any reason for Wenger to delve into the transfer market at this late stage? Not really is the answer. With the addition of Chamakh, van Persie is more likely to feature as a second striker than leading the line this time around. Wenger observed that playing that pairing would mean a reversion to a more orthodox 4-4-2 formation.

More to the point, is this desire for cover nothing more than a desire for a signing, any signing, in what has been a relatively moribund transfer market, suggesting that some nerves are frayed with the absence of strengthening elsewhere. The deadline of Premier League teams is 6pm this evening and little activity is suggested as taking place within the halls formerly made of marble.

Mark Schwarzer is prime favourite, as always, in the back pages. I cannot recall such intense speculation surrounding an average player. This summer has been low activity generally speaking and desperation is setting in for one of the top clubs to sign someone – anyone – with some curious linkage and the usual bartering for an improved contract being a key feature. Whether Wenger will sign anyone will be known by teatime today. Somehow, I doubt it.

’til Tomorrow.

Rovers Round-Up, Pulis Wants A Bundle, Wilshere Gets One

A great win at Blackburn, the players nullifying the physical threat offered by the hosts before imposing their passing game to take the three points. The Rovers goal was a poor one to concede, Koscielny found out the hard way that bluff does not always work, feinting to make a tackle is no substitute for a well-timed version of the real thing. That is a hard lesson to learn but in no way signals that he is not good enough. To cast aside an Arsenal career on the basis of one minute of action is a bizarre mentality.

Almunia provided an answer to his critics, confident under pressure and turning his ‘Mr Nice Guy‘ on its head in his confrontation with Diouf. It does not provide a permanent answer to the belief that Almunia is the solution to the goalkeeping conundrum; that will need a number of equally assertive performances. Even then, I suspect that the Spaniard to is too far down the road for that to happen.

Hopes of Shay Given joining have evaporated with City refusing to loan or sell him to a rival. Continental European teams have long held no qualms about selling to rivals, knowing that those clubs are the only domestic source of inflated transfer fees. English teams are reluctant to do so, that mentality showing no signs of abating with moves these days between top six clubs still the exception.

It means that Wenger is still heavily linked with Mark Schwarzer, ground covered by everyone in the past. The manager though offered some ‘comfort’ to Almunia that his days may not be as numbered as the media might like to think:

It is dead at the moment. But maybe not finished. At the moment I would say, as it is today, it is finished.

It must be uncomfortable for the manager sitting that much on the fence! Rare is it that the Frenchman says anything which indicates a new player is about to join, so that lack of commitment is not unexpected. That the door is left ajar is interesting; it suggests that Wenger is not as comfortable in his bed of laurels as his critics would have us believe.

With the bank holiday in England and Wales today, the window remains open until 5pm tomorrow and I wonder how close to the limit and move will be pushed with several right on the deadline – hints of subterfuge in some cases with paperwork confirmed well past cut-off in the past.

Talking of his detractors, Tony Pulis is upset over Wenger highlighting their roughhouse tactics – as are their intellectually challenged supporters – and is threatening to sue all and sundry over the slur. Quite why the tactical pygmy is getting bent out of shape is beyond me. Stoke are a dinosaur in footballing terms, their manager unable to develop the players beyond the dying art of ‘kick and rush’ with a touch of ‘thud and blunder’ thrown in. Only Blackburn still consistently employ the tactic to keep Stoke company in the top flight, Owen Coyle trying to move Bolton away from a reliance upon the ‘hoof’ to survive.

Away from the pitch, Jack Wilshere increased his England credentials with a first run-in with newshounds rather than sports reporters. It was an interesting tactic by Wilshere, to go clubbing close to a tabloid HQ and one that appeared to be working until a fight broke out. Wilshere is being cast in the role of peacemaker and apparently not facing charges. Welcome to Premier League football, young man. You must get your legal eagles working quicker though, chat to your three England colleagues who have taken out ‘super-injunctions’ for guidance on that one.

’til Tomorrow.

Manuel, Well, Well…

Blackburn 1 – 2 Arsenal

0 – 1 Walcott ’20
1 – 1 Mama Diouf ’27
1 – 2 Arshavin ’51

Arsenal’s sophisticated finishing gave them a cutting edge at a rain swept Ewood Park on Saturday afternoon. Perhaps more significant though was that the team out-fought, as well as out-classed a side supposed by many to intimidate Arsenal with their physical approach.

Particularly heartening was the resilience displayed in withstanding as thorough an aerial examination as Arsenal are likely to receive all season.

Talk of Allardyce holding a hex over Arsenal is hokum (an enchantment? A magic charm? Charm and enchantment are words not easily attributed to the vast man from Dudley); but the capitulation of last season’s walking wounded is fresh enough a memory to make Ewood Park a worrisome ground for us to visit.

Fat Sam’s direct, ‘no-nonsense’ football has proven very effective here – if unpopular (it’s a gruelling spectacle and the home fans were duly booing their own team when their limited scraps of possession were recycled yet again for Paul Robinson to thud up into the murky heavens). But effective it unarguably is. None of the ‘big 4’ managed to win here last season.

Arsenal pulled into town then, with it all to prove; and one amongst the squad had more to prove than most.

If Arsenal are Muhammed Ali (which in any good boxing analogy, we are… obviously) then for the newspapers, Manuel Almunia is the weakness in Ali’s guard, his inability to parry a well-aimed jab. (Sam Allardyce being Sam Allardyce, I’m tempted to extend that metaphor and compare Blackburn Rovers to George Foreman but that, of course, would be an unfair slight on Foreman). Pre-match commentators would have us believe that this game was as much about Almunia vs. Almunia as it was about Blackburn vs. Arsenal. Could the luckless, sleepy-looking Spaniard hold himself together under such a hostile bombardment – up North, no less? Few seemed to think so as Chris Foy stood in the rain and blew his whistle.

It quickly became apparent that perpetually irritating midfielder Morten Gamst Pederson had taken a leaf out of another exasperating footballer’s book and now had his very own team of unhappy looking little towel-bearers trudging up and down the touchline for him. And so it came to pass that a crowd of over 25,000 football fans were treated to four whole minutes of a Norwegian man drying a football with a towel.

Nevertheless, by hook or by crook, so came the barrage. And the Arsenal defence held true; and in goal Almunia was magnificent. He rose above Christopher Samba – the totemic captain of the lump-it lads – time and again, and the confidence and composure with which he did so warmed the very heart. He was vocal, brave and well-positioned throughout. For Arsenal fans, this truly was a sight for sore eyes.

Before too long and without ever really looking rattled Arsenal were able to get the ball down and start to impose themselves. Abou Diaby was very unlucky not to score from a corner and Theo Walcott had the ball in the net from a cool, chipped finish – only for it to be chalked off for offside.

In the 20^th minute Walcott was troubling the scorers again and this time there was nothing anybody could do to deny him. A fine passing move came to a head with Arshavin somehow buying a half a foot to get his hard pass away to Robin Van Persie who brought the ball under his control with a wonderful touch and – spotting the run of Walcott – sent him through on the turn with a lovely weighted pass with the outside of his left boot – bisecting Givet and Grella. Walcott collected with a single touch and let fly instantly with a low shot that zipped past Paul Robinson and hit the inside of the net at the base of the post so hard it ripped the netting. Fabio Capello sat bolt up right, startled in the stands.

Six minutes later and out of the blue it was Rovers who scored next. Christopher Samba was afforded far too much time to pick his pass and knock a ball over the top of Arsenal’s exposed right flank. The rest was a case of Diouf, the whole Diouf and nothing but Diouf (sorry). With Sagna stranded up-field and committed it was a straight, shoulder-to-shoulder race between Koscielny and the roundly disliked little journeyman El Hadj. Koscielny made his move, but his attempt to nick the ball away was easily rebutted and his missed tackle gave Diouf the extra yard he needed to power through to the touchline and pick out his namesake, Man Utd loanee Mame Biriam Diouf – who tucked away the leveller in front of Gael Clichy. All far too easy, and there was more bad news on the way.

Robin Van Persie, clattered twice from behind by Phil Jones, was down on his haunches with a suspected twisted ankle after half an hour. Thankfully it wasn’t ‘that ankle’ and the initial prognosis is just ten days out. Marouane Chamakh replaced him on the day.

Arsenal came out much the stronger side in the second half and soon retook the lead. The goal was made by Bacary Sagna knocking the ball down the line just as he did last Saturday. He sprinted into the space, looked up and delivered another perfect cut-back – this time it was tailor made for his skipper. Fabregas’ shot hit Walcott and fell to Arshavin who picked the path to goal between the legs of several flailing Blackburn defenders with a well placed shot. The little Russian magician’s finger went up to his lips in familiar fashion and the away end, as well as thousands upon thousands of Arsenal fans worldwide, all went bananas.

With moments of magic and moments of malaise about Arsenal’s attack, they were always going to need some steel reinforcement at the back, but for the most part their excellent passing and movement allowed them to control the game at a comfortable pace. It is worth noting that it was a well refereed and fairly contested game with the first and only yellow card coming in the 74^th minute – although there could easily have been another for the Original Diouf when he threw himself down on his belly like a fish in the hull of boat in an attempt to win a penalty in the closing minutes.

If the papers spent the week painting Ewood Park as a battlefield and the Lancashire outfit as a team of barbarians, then the fact that they have been left vanquished on their own barricade must surely be a psychological fillip for Arsenal; it is at very least an awkward hurdle happily cleared.

The North Londoners, written-off by so many before the league has even broken stride yet, and too often seen as a soft touch in fixtures like this, grafted out a performance which announced to the fans, and to the rest of the country, that this team has the defensive resolve as well as the audacious attacking talent to be genuine title contenders once again this season.   

Enjoy the Bank Holiday!

Blackburn Preview: Allardyce On The Back Foot, Let’s Keep Him There

The week ended with a flurry of activity, Sebastien Squillaci’s signing confirmed and the draw for the Champions League deciding that Arsenal had not travelled far enough in previous campaigns, send Wenger and the squad to the Ukraine in November. That draw could have been harder, no-one in the group is an obvious barrier to qualification and Arsenal’s history of failure in Ukraine, Portugal and Serbia should not be considered relevant either.

Crucially, the fixtures have worked well in conjunction with the Premier League. The trip to Donetsk precedes the away match at Newcastle, arguably the ‘easiest’ fixture of the six following Champions League group encounters. Belgrade is less than three hours flying time which should not be a factor before Stamford Bridge whilst Braga is immediately before Aston Villa. Nowhere near as bad as it could have been especially as the both visits to Manchester are preceded by home matches. The travel ought not to be a debilitating factor to the domestic title challenge.

Squillaci’s signing may be the last of the summer for Wenger although his prime goalkeeping target, Mark Schwarzer, has apparently told Fulham that he is going to leave next summer for nothing if they do not sell him now. Which is a big gamble on his part, the assumption being that a ‘big’ club will want a 38 year old goalkeeper in June 2011. The Australian says he emailed a transfer request to his employers, they deny all knowledge of it. Someone ought really to be forwarding Roy Hodgson’s emails to another employee to deal with; it’s just good business practice.

So to this lunchtime and a swift revisit to the scene of disaster last season. Arsene’s favoured line-up would no doubt be including morphine in goal, a back four of the codeine quadruplets, midfield will be the ibuprofen twins, partnered by paracetomol and his younger brother on the flanks, headed up by the aspirins.

The defeat at Blackburn was a bitter blow yet the team fielded today will be nowhere near as weakened. Indeed, it will be strengthened if as expected Cesc and van Persie both start. Despite his hat-trick last week, I would still expect Theo to drop to the bench, along with Andrey Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky. Although the Czech provided impetus at Anfield on the opening day and was at the centre of everything good last week against Blackpool, for the first hour at least I would expect Wenger to look to contain the ‘physical’ approach of the hosts. Ironically for such an attacking player, some statistics I saw earlier this week suggested 21% fewer goals were conceded with the Russian in the side (sorry, I can’t remember where that was from), a staggering reduction that cannot be down to him alone, as much as I would like to give him credit for it.

The defence knows what to expect. Allardyce bemoaned the lack of credit he is given as a coach and for the tactical nous his teams show. It is hardly surprising that he has one tactic and it is hard to believe that anyone would give him credit for that. Perhaps the FA are not as stupid as we all seem to think when they denied Allardyce the England job. It was bad enough in South Africa with an intelligent manager.

Koscielny returns to partner Vermaelen and it is key that he uses the judgement and bluff he mentioned in this month’s Arsenal magazine to good effect. I doubt he will have ever encountered anything as rudimentary as Blackburn’s attack.

Almunia needs to be confident in his area. There are lapses in judgement on his part but he needs to use his experience and not venture off his line, leaving the first phase defending to those in front of him, preparing to deal with the impact of that. Too often he has tried to claim the ball to end up ‘under’ it, rather than in control. If he gets that part of it right, his shotstopping is better than average.

The line-up I would expect Arsene to field is:

Almunia; Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Clichy; Eboue, Fabregas, Song, Diaby; van Persie, Chamakh

Which leaves Wenger with a formidable bench to call upon to exploit Rovers in the second half. Wenger recently noted that van Persie and Chamakh would be used in a more conventional 4-4-2 formation and that is the more robust approach he has demanded.

Wenger has played one more card, to the chagrin of Allardyce. Chris Foy was castigated last weekend for poor officiating at Stoke, criticism to which the referee will not have been immune. You can guarantee that today he will be looking for exactly the offences he missed last week, forcing Rovers manager to become defensive about how they play.

According to some suggestions this week, this is Arsenal’s first test this season, Anfield is presumably now a routine away fixture. It is one of the increasingly rare physical tests in the Premier League with only Stoke and Bolton regularly employing the same tactics on a weekly basis. Too much is made of the supposed weaknesses from last season, ignoring a back five of Fabianski, Eboue, Campbell, Silvestre and Traore, nowhere near the first choice. For an indication of what happens when a full strength team goes to Ewood Park, look to the seven wins and two draws out of Wenger’s eleven Premier League visits there.

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ’til Tomorrow.

Stone Cold Friday: Litmus Test Of Arsenal’s Resolve

He’s fat, he’s round, he bounces on the ground, no wait that was Sammy Lee. This is the infinitely more mobile Darius:

Even at this early juncture in the season, everybody is chipping in about Arsenal’s chances of grabbing some silverware.  From the self-proclaimed ‘special ones’ in the Iberian Peninsula to the landlord of the Britannia’s local public house; from smug pundits to the tea lady at White Hart Lane – the consensus seems to be that Arsenal still don’t have what it takes to shake off the ‘also-rans’ status hammered to our forehead.

It’s the age old cliché about the spine we don’t have. The spine made of steel, grit, height and filled with Neanderthals built like brick shithouses – I sometimes forget what it is exactly we need.  If you asked Professor Meerkat of the ‘Compare the football market’ legend, he would suggest that what isn’t in doubt is that Arsenal needs to score more goals and concede less – Simples!

In the grand scheme of things, last season’s league table suggests that we weren’t far off the mark.  The manner of our concession to the title challenge caused acrimony and disquiet within the Gooner nation.

While many would suggest that this unhappy state of affairs is universal, a significant proportion of Arsenal fans around the world remain disappointed but still recognise and acknowledge the virtues that the club continues to uphold and the steady progress we are making, on and off the field.

Nevertheless, Wenger and the players clearly recognise that they are walking a tightrope of expectations. There is an added urgency to bring the bacon home after the long haul of development, goodwill that has been handed to this young cohort of players over the last few years.

Even Government spooks at GCHQ looked at the Arsenal blogosphere as it went ballistic this summer. Imagine their surprise as a handful of rabble rousers were responsible for the noise, compared to the millions of moderate, well-rounded and positively expectant Arsenal supporters around the world.

New signings were demanded, but some are still underwhelmed by the signings that Wenger has made so far.  The only reason I can point to as an explanation – and I’m speculating here – is that for those who believe that enough is enough and something has to give, only the signing of established, YouTube profiled and media-recognised players who come with a hefty price tag and huge wage demands will do.

“We need an experienced and established centre back”, the cries came from far and wide, and to his credit, Wenger has done what he said he will do.  Sort out our defence.  There’s that age old burning issue of the Arsenal keeper, but that’s a story for another day.

On the defensive side, it’s time to park the ‘we need another CB’ conversation and get about the business of settling the new recruits in.  I don’t subscribe to the school of thought that we’re lacking for experience and quality in this area.  If we use United and Chelsea as a simplistic but practical comparison – our defensive personnel of Sagna/Eboue, Koscielny/Squillaci, Vermaelen/Djourou and Clichy/Gibbs – is better equipped and better resourced for the coming campaign than both United and Chelsea.

It’s time to knuckle down and get about the business of navigating the many challenges of the season.  Five more days until the transfer window is nailed shut and boarded up is five days too long pontificating about the PlayStation choices in personnel that the manager could, should and won’t make?  We are where we are as they say.

For me, passing our litmus test to judge whether the necessary improvements have been made depends on three areas of our game: our patience and maturity during the game; the decisions we make during the transitions when possession of the ball changes; and the mental fortitude to overcome the numerous obstacles that will be thrown our way.

The recent hammering of Blackpool and West Brom by Arsenal and Chelsea are a template of what can happen to teams who decide to play football against the top sides.  Let’s face it, not all clubs will come to play football, clearly content with throwing the virtues of the beautiful game out of the fourth floor window in a bid not to be given a good hiding and a cricket score to boot.

It’s for this reason that patience is a virtue as many teams will either stop us from playing by any legal means necessary, or park the coach in front of goal.  In addition, there are good teams that are content with letting us have the ball and hitting us on the counter, because it’s a strategy that has worked in the past.

In both these cases, we must be patient in controlling the game and waiting for our opportunity.  Arsenal has the players with the fitness and stamina to wear down such teams before licking them to submission.  Despite the suggestion that possession football without penetration leads to frustration and the anxiety of not making the three points, there are games that we most definitely need the patience and maturity to overcome the anti-football.

Closely linked is my second point that we need to be better during transitions.  If you analyse our games last season, especially the ones that we suffered devastating counter-attacks; the key issue is that we were caught in no-man’s land when we lost the ball.  It’s like the players got a mental block just trying to decide whether to attack the ball or fall back into defensive formation as opposed to chasing the opponent.

The system we play is significantly dependent on our ability to retain possession, and we arguably have the best ball carriers in the league.  The naivety we have occasionally shown is that we have been impatient and tried to force the issue, cheaply losing possession in some of these cases.  Compound this with not making the right decisions at the very moment of losing the ball and you have a chain of events that easily ends up with Almunia collecting the ball from the back of his net.

We are the best at turning transitions of defence to attack with devastating effect to the opposition.  We need to be better during the transitions where we lose the ball.  We need to be more consistent in defending as a unit starting with the players up front. They are crucial in buying time for us to get back in defensive shape or winning the ball outright.

Naturally, the application of what seems easier said than done in my first two hurdles of the litmus test can only come together by the team showing that they have the mental fortitude and discipline to go the whole nine yards.  With each new season, the expectation is that the team will start providing the returns for the emotional investment the fans have made in them over the last few years.  We know that the team has everything – stamina, technique, intelligence, panache, desire, belief and hunger.

The missing ingredient is the mental strength to bring all these attributes to fruition.  It’s the wiring that joins the different dots together to get this team through the last mile of this roller-coaster of a journey.

’til Tomorrow

Champions League Draw – Is This The Year?

The Champions League group draw takes place this evening and given the Premier League fixture list, there are a few teams that Wenger will be hoping to avoid. A long distance flight by football standards cannot be ruled out, especially with pot 4 containing clubs in Israel, Turkey, Russia and Romania.

All of the pots from which Arsenal’s opponents will be drawn have potential pitfalls; all have relatively straightforward opponents. None are teams that should be feared, respect will be the key to maximising progress to the knockout phase, a characteristic and outcome which has been shown in abundance before. Of course, there is the ‘preferable’ draw at the same time and influenced by the domestic requirements, the ideal draw is probably Marseille, Basel and FC Twente.

The absence of the Champions League from The Emirates trophy cabinet sticks is hard to take. Wenger has seen talented squads, efficient at disposing of domestic opponents, eliminated in ties that were within their grasp throughout his reign. The defeat at Anfield typified some of the earlier stumblings against Valencia, PSV, Chelsea and Bayern Munich.

It is at times baffling to work out why the failures have occurred, defeats and performances inexplicable with a mix of tactics and players to blame. Some have been as a result of injuries, the absences which cost so dear in the Premier League last season, have haunted some European campaigns. Yet this does not necessarily explain the capitulations such as those in Munich or conceding late aggregate leads in Valencia and elsewhere.

Does the absence of this trophy indicate why the Spanish – and previously Italian – clubs think that the best Arsenal players have, over the years, been ripe for cherry-picking? Arsenal is a club with a strong reputation at the moment but little past to trade upon in European football. Multiple titles throughout the decades mean little in knockout tournaments. The Fairs Cup and Cup Winners Cup are little to show for such an illustrious domestic history. Granted, the concept of continental competitions came with the decline of the club from the Golden Age of the pre- and post- war years. Picking up the Champions League would add muscle to a burgeoning reputation.

Recent seasons has seen Arsenal fall to heavy aggregate defeats, inexperience and injuries contributing as significantly as individual errors in Champions League exits. This time, the squad has grown in terms of the former and the latter needs to be controlled – as much as possible – for progress to be made. The balancing act of Premier League fixtures is tougher with squad restrictions in force by the time the Champions League commences, a test of Wenger’s squad especially with the matches being against perceived and real title contenders.

Yet the players are there for a serious tilt to be made for both competitions. Undoubtedly, they are talented and encouragingly, the first two Premier League fixtures have shown a defensive discipline with Arsenal denying shooting opportunities to their opponents, the lowest in the division. Carry these onto the continental fields and there is no reason why, with the obligatory smattering of luck, success can be achieved. Will these fields turn out to be Elysian? Time will tell.

The competition is one that Andrey Arshavin wants to win before he quits football. According to an ATVO interview to be shown on Friday, the Russian also observed:

I want to be remembered as a small Russian guy who did some magic things where people did not understand how he did it

I think there is a phrase missing at the end, “and who was part of the most successful Arsenal squad ever“? We’ll assume that it was ‘taken as read’ that this applies…

Elsewhere, the interminably dull and drawn out transfer sagas surrounding the club continue to be exactly that with prospective new goalkeepers and /or centre backs nowhere nearer joining Arsenal, publicly at least. Stan Kroenke seemed to edge further away from a full blown takeover of the club by investing substantial funds in his NFL franchise, at the same time divesting his interests in NHL / NBA clubs in Denver. OK, so he gave them to his son which is hardly selling up but it satisfied the NFL.

The window of opportunity – if there even is one – is shrinking for a change of ownership of Arsenal with Uefa’s financial regulations due to become ‘law’ in two years, even if there is a period of assimilation for clubs. Along with economic circumstances, this partly explains the lack of major transfer activity this summer as clubs look to balance their wage bills down to the required percentages. The exception to this is obviously Manchester City who are seemingly oblivious to these stipulations, perhaps an admission that they have much ground to make up to become regular participants in Uefa club competitions.

Having spent the equivalent of a small nation’s GDP on transfer fees in recent windows, the point must be upon them when they have to release some of their high earners. I was tempted to say “better players” but footballing ability has long been at odds with the economic rewards earned by players. Premier League squad rules are impacting upon their purchasing but the harsh reality of the club is that when they pay inflated fees, the wage expectations increase sometimes disproportionately. Gary Cook’s assertion that City will make operating losses for years to come highlights the problems that they face.

’til Tomorrow.

Capello Gets It Right With Wilshere & Does Wenger A Favour

The media heralded the inclusion of uncapped players in Fabio Capello’s last England squad as the start of a new era. Jack Wilshere‘s bit part in the win over Hungary and his subsequent performances for Arsenal have not been enough to convince the Italian that the midfielder is the solution – or at least part of it – to the enduring problem of the dearth of English talent.

Whislt Keiran Gibbs is presumed to have retained his place in the full squad, in allowing Stuart Pearce to call Wilshere into the Under-21s, where he will be accompanied by Henri Lansbury, Capello has done Arsene a huge favour. Two Premier League games have seen the performances of the youngster scrutinised and generally, well received in the back pages. To have included him in the full squad for next month’s double header of Euro2012 qualifiers would have allowed that momentum to have continued. As it is Wilshere will be stepping out of the limelight at the national level, easing the attention away from him as he descends to the Arsenal bench with the return of the captain and other first team players to full fitness.

It is not inconceivable that Wilshere could remain in the starting line-up for Arsenal but highly unlikely. Fabregas will return at Blackburn in all likelihood and with Song reverting to his defensive midfield role following the completion of Koscielny’s suspension, Wilshere is the obvious candidate to make way, probably with Rosicky in view of the expected physical nature of the fixture.

Wilshere needs to be allowed to develop at his own pace, deflecting the weight of expectation will be Wenger’s key task. English football is desperate for a new hero to emerge from the ashes of the burnt hopes of South Africa. There are precious few in the professional game playing in the Premier League who have not already been given, and blown, their chance. Arsenal’s midfield is probably the best technically for any player to learn the accuracy of passing and swiftness of movement needed for the national team to be successful.

Wilshere has a big season ahead of him and has already seen two of his peers succumb to injury for varying lengths of time. He will know that his time will come again for the first team with the Champions League group phase to commence, it will be soon as Arsene rotates the squad to keep players fit and adapt to the demands of the fixture list.

Sebastien Squillaci has still not been announced as an Arsenal player, despite Sevilla confirming the fee was agreed and the player telling the world that this is his destiny calling. Presumably the delay is due to the required paperwork not being received from the Spanish FA at the Premier League but no doubt it will arrive soon. Perhaps today is Wenger’s deadline for including the French international in the squad for the rough and tumble at Ewood Park?

Meanwhile the sale of Javier Mascherano seems to be filling the hole in the Liverpool bank balance for a week or two, making it unlikely that Pepe Reina will be moving to Arsenal this summer. Not that I expected him to anyway with Mark Schwarzer still the media darling on that score. Interestingly, the Australian is splitting the support: those who want a world-class goalkeeper – which Schwarzer is not -  or no-one, and those who want anyone but Fabianski and Almunia.

It is a curious state of affairs since the usual clamour is for Wenger to sign world-class players so why would people accept second best in a player who is well outside of the manager’s usual age range. The rationale behind signing the Fulham ‘keeper is sound in that he would allow Szczesny to progress to the first team and not in dispute but all summer the clamour has been for players who have shone at the World Cup so why now is there an acceptance for a player who is no better than that which we already have at the club? Change for change’s sake is not generally an answer to any problems.

’til Tomorrow.