Double Talking Dutch and More

Robin van Persie provided a glimpse of brightness in a matchless week with the view of his national team coach that he could be back by early April.

This is tempered of course, by the fact that the KNVB doctors recently opined that the striker could be fit to play in next week’s round of pointless internationals, sorry , important international matches, crucial in the respective nations preparation for the World Cup finals or sitting at home, twiddling their thumbs, regretting that missed open goal or defensive lapses which precluded their involvement in South Africa.

Coming back at that point could prove crucial if he hits the ground running, quickly rediscovering the form van Persie was showing prior to suffering his latest injury. At that point, Arsenal could be in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, closing ominously on the Premier League title or sitting wondering what might have been, such is the delicate balance upon which the remainder of the season rests.

Ahead of this weekend’s clash with Stoke, Eduardo believes he will be fit for the teatime kick-off:

I’ve not got a problem with the leg now but I do suffer muscle injuries because I was out for so long and now I’m working so hard to come back.

But I’m getting stronger physically, I’m stronger mentally, my confidence personally is growing and I believe I’m at a club where we can win titles and trophies because we are one of the top ten teams in the world.

Eduardo provides an excellent outlet in the forward line, being naturally left-footed, something sometimes missing and asking a lot of Clichy to break forward to provide the width. His goal ratio is not where it was before he broke his leg but his predatory instincts will correct that. Getting fully fit though, will be the highest priority.

Absolutely Arsenal are in that top ten although as I trawl this wide world thingy, I sometimes wonder if that is the case, such is the pervasive negativity.

A win at the Britannia might help, especially if Chelsea drop points this weekend although judging by Manchester City’s woeful performance last night, I would not hold out much hope of that happening. Those who desire Arsenal to fall into the clutches of a Sugar Daddy would do well to watch and learn from the travails of City, decent players unable to gel into a team, facing an almighty scramble to even get into European club competition next season.

It is a lesson which vindicates, to some extent, Wenger’s policy of not signing all and sundry. City have been in good positions before – albeit a lifetime ago – with money to spend, bought a good player and blown a league title, although it is harsh to blame Rodney Marsh for that in the same way that Faustino Asprilla should not be held at fault for Newcastle blowing a Premier League title in the final decade of the last century.

As Sol Campbell said in the programme for last weekend’s match, Arsenal has to play to their maximum, perhaps more expansive than the answers provided by Andrey Arshavin in his latest mind-numbing Q&A session. Inside the banality of the questions popped the odd interesting one, Arshavin reticent to provide an answer to the level of injuries – ‘it’s a difficult question‘ – which was surprising since he has an opinion on just about everything else.

’til Tomorrow.

Eduardo Ready To Step Into RvP’s Place

So RvP is going for the placenta and sweet potato mash, served with a nice Chianti to cure his ankle-aagh. Reports suggest that some colleagues at Feyenoord went to see the same quack and were cured in half the time that would have been required using conventional medicine.

It seems a bit Eileen Drewery to me but if it works, fair enough and my gast will be well and truly flabbered. It means that he can get the niggling strains that always seem to follow out of the way sooner, I guess.

Eduardo is looking forward to the coming weeks, one where he will seek to vindicate Arsene’s decision not to sign the myriad of strikers that the club was linked with during the summer.

This is the time where hacks will seek to capitalise on any failure by the Croat to score on a regular basis. The perceived frailties of the squad will once more be pushed forward as fact should Arsenal slip during van Persie’s absence. Eduardo though is ready for the moment where he can prove that Arsene was correct to sign him:

I’m feeling good. At the beginning of the season I had a few injury niggles but I am OK now and ready to help the team rise to the top of the table, as well as progress in the Champions League. We are doing very well at the moment and I hope we can produce a big surprise this year.

The boss knows our qualities and how they can fit into a formation. For me it is fine to play on the left or the right, no problem, the most important thing is to help the team and I feel good in those positions.

It is a formation that gives us more movement and more creativity through the middle, although it is not easy because we have to balance defence and attack and that can be difficult.

In the first instance, I should imagine that he is grateful to be playing at all due to the number of niggling injuries he has suffered since recovering from his broken leg. His willingness to play anywhere in the team, flexibility that all of the squad are having to show whether they like it or not.

That there is still a period of adjustment going on is reflected in his last observation. Whatever the solution is, the emphasis on attack will always render the defence exposed at some point in the game. The crucial element that the team has to continue to do is to put opponents under pressure the minute that they win possession.

This was a key feature of Barcelona’s success last season using the same formation. Equally, their defence suffered the same moments of pressure but it trophies were won because the midfield and attack helped to defend all over the pitch.

The footballing comedy moments are well and truly under way with reports this morning suggesting that both Real and Barcelona are to offer £60m for Cesc next summer. No doubt that will have dropped to £30m by the time the World Cup starts, rising as his performances confirm that he is the best central midfielder in the world game.

The same cannot be said for our former striker as he failed to produce the goods to take them to the World Cup finals. Utterly predictable is continued scorn felt by Emmanuel Adebayor. Hopefully at Christmas time the Manchester City players will have a Secret Santa. Might I suggest that whomever draws  his name out of the hat pays for a course of Therapy that helps him get over the lack of love from Arsenal supporters because it isn’t going to get any better.

’til Tomorrow

Early Blackburn News, Cesc & Win…

Hangovers no doubt abound at London Colney, the sugar rush from all the tizers with jelly and ice cream at Arsene’s birthday party wreaking havoc with the squad’s fitness for the Blackburn match on Sunday.

Definitely missing is Eduardo who has apparently aggravated his thigh-knack. Probably just as well with Fatboy Sam’s approach to Arsenal being generally on the wrong side of thuggishness, a trait already well-ingrained in the Blackburn players by Mark Hughes.

Nicklas Bendtner will no doubt be making a small offering ahead of the match as well. If the Dane was not a religious man before his crash, he is now. He is apparently fit for selection which will no doubt be happening with Eduardo’s absence. Theo Walcott will probably be back on the bench, the England international believing it will take him half a dozen matches to get back to full fitness. So just in time for England’s extremely pointless and hugely lucrative trip to Qatar to play Brazil in November whereupon he will no doubt suffer some sort of relapse.

Cesc has re-affirmed that he is committed to Arsenal, with headlines no doubt about to spun the other way in the hope of driving you all insane with rage. The truth is that he has said nothing different to anything previous. Indeed, some of the phrases are so standard you wonder if he has made a voice recording with full transcription and told hacks to take the parts that they want to use.

I am not sure why this is a big story anymore? Everyone knows that he would like to go back to Spain to play in La Liga at some point in the future because he has said that. It may mean next summer, it might not be for another five years. The most telling point made recently was that he did not want to be a pawn in the elections that are unfurling at the Camp Nou next summer, a shot across the bows for all of the candidates. Not that they will take any notice.

It seems that the Catalans have a list of key phrases to be repeated until it is accepted that they are true, Xavi repeating the DNA claim made not so long ago by Laporta. Who cares if Barcelona are in his blood? Until a deal is struck between the two clubs, there is absolutely nothing that they can do about it. The acid test is whether or not Cesc is prepared to make a transfer request and forgo all of the bonuses accrued under his contract or whether the Catalans are prepared to pay the hyper-inflated fee required for his services. Thus far, neither of those desires has been apparent and therefore Cesc is an Arsenal player, seemingly no less committed to the team than he has been in the past.

It seems that the most likely departure in coming times is to be Ken Friar who has apparently indicated that he wants to stand down from active involvement at Arsenal and have a well-deserved retirement. A part of Arsenal for 60 years, there is a hell of a book to be written by him that could quite possibly match Bob Wall’s Arsenal From The Heart and Bernard Joy’s Forward, Arsenal! as a history of the club.

Which is a nice little segue, and in no way to contrived, to point you in the direction of the excellent GCR Books who are running a competition to win one of the titles from the burgeoning library which will soon include Eddie Hapgood’s Football Ambassador. If you have not already purchased a copy of any of the titles there, you know that you really ought to do so.

’til Tomorrow

Justice For Eddy As The Authorities Bare Their Gums

Cheerier news for today or at least something other than the events of the weekend. Having been tarred, feathered, hung, drawn and quartered by the media and UEFA, Eduardo has been cleared of spurious charges brought about by the MacMafia’s attempt to deflect attention away from their pride and joy being dumped unceremoniously into the Europa League.

Media coverage of the incident has been bizarre. The rabid over-reaction immediately after the match signalled a watershed. At the time their colleagues went into overdrive, football reporters and columnists were also in Monaco at the behest of Michel Platini who was launching another ‘initiative’ aimed at improving the lot of the smaller clubs, disguised as caring about youth player transfers.

The reaction of those who were not at the game was bemusement when they saw the incident prior to the Premier League fixture at Old Trafford. Sky’s Sunday Supplement that weekend had, amongst others, Patrick Barclay as a guest. As you would expect he was eloquent in analysing the incident and UEFA’s response, firmly blaming those reporters for driving this fiasco. Were that it was so simple.

UEFA must now take a look at the words of Gordon Smith and that of the SFA. Bringing the game into disrepute does not sit solely with the players and coaches. Officials, chairmen, directors are also capable of doing so, frequently achieving such ignominy with impunity. They are the political power in the game and as such, protect their own interests ahead of those of the sport. Money is their motivation and that is easy to see. Smith’s motivation is much harder to deduce.

It is hard to see what he was trying to gain from the accusations made. The result was never going to be overturned nor were UEFA going to order the match to be replayed. Smith might have a genuine desire to see diving eradicated from the game, a noble cause but one that is doomed to fail.

The curio that emerged is that UEFA has only ever invoked this ruling when a Scottish team is involved, one for the national side and then for Celtic. That leads to a suspicion about the SFA motives. Surely they cannot be the only nation involved in such incidents?

A cynical view is that the national association is trying to cover up lower standards on the pitch by claiming opponents are cheating their way to victory, a politically expedient measure to hide their own inactivity in trying to raise standards.

The row is rumbling. Those who proclaimed his guilt are shouting loudest about the appeal being accepted. Rational observation is going to be in short supply. John Terry and Alex Ferguson both outrightly said he dived. Given their impeccable manners, we will no doubt see a full apology from them both, nothing less should be expected from England’s captain and the manager of the Premier League champions.

Bwaaahahahahaha! As if. This is one thing that is a bonus from the outcome, just the thought that those two numpties are hoist by their own words, shown for the lunatics that they are.

Eduardo himself was pretty much phelgmatic about the whole thing, confident of his innocence and now looking forward to taking it out on Standard Liege tomorrow night. The Croat international said:

I’m very pleased that we have finally arrived at the truth. All we needed to do was to prove what happened and we have managed to do that. This decision makes me feel a lot better. I certainly feel relieved now. I have had great support from my family, friends and of course everyone at the Club.

The Premier League has put into place the first stages of Platini and Blatter’s nationalisation of football. Clubs will have to name 25 players for the season of which 8 must be locally trained. Presumably there will be some sort of ‘A’ and ‘B’ list as exists in the Champions League.

There is no harm in this at all and it will not negatively impact upon Arsenal at this moment in time. It does however seem to be at odds with the desire to clamp down on youth players moving across borders at young ages, this sort of ruling would appear to increase that sort of player trading rather than diminish it.

If the governing bodies do get their way, they are merely localising an international problem. Having scoured the globe for the elite talent, clubs will now cherry pick national talent. Circumventing the FA rules about training players goes on all of the time as does outright poaching. Well, at least at Chelsea. There will be a flurry of cases being brought before the FA, UEFA and FIFA as time goes by before they no doubt decide that the rules are more trouble than they are worth, quietly dropping them.

Add into the mix the implementation of the licensing system that has existed for the best part of a decade and it seems that the PL are finally acting. A shame that the stable doors are swinging wildly in the wind with the horse long gone. Empowering the domestic authorities to add the financial element of control over their clubs is no bad thing yet habitually those in power ignore the real problem.

All the PL are looking for is servicing of debt. They are not looking at profitability, tieing wages to revenues for example. Nor are they assessing the overall financial health of the clubs – debts such as those from Abramovich to Chelsea are not treated the same as any due to a bank since the benefactor will normally give them as interest free for a period and with a payment holiday.

Until the authorities address these imbalances, the rules are fairly useless. The more they change things to try to take control, the less impact they can have. Football’s governing bodies have long been toothless; these do nothing to lessen the sound of gums slamming together.

’til Tomorrow.

Arshavin’s Out – FIFA Should Suspend Him From Two WCQ’s & More Injuries

At what point does playing 90 minutes become foolhardy? Normally when you put yourself at risk of a more substantial injury. So why do normally sane and rational footballers put themselves in that position when playing for their country is part of the equation. In the case of Andrei Arshavin, Guus Hiddink has now dropped down to my previously held levels of respect whereby his tenure at Stamford Bridge is a massive stain on his character. Arshavin, meanwhile, has left my brow furrowed quizzically. We all know footballers are overly optimistic when their fitness is questioned. “Sure Boss, I’m fit for the match. No, the crutches won’t be an impediment to my speed” is pretty much their mantra.

The responsibility therefore falls on the national coach and his medical staff. Unfortunately, they only care about the immediate requirements of their fixtures, not looking at any damage which may arise as a result of the player’s participation. In Arshavin’s case, the Russians were grossly derelict in playing him for the full 90 minutes, especially since (a) he had not been fit for the previous fixture and (b) they were pretty much in control of their fixture from 60 minutes into the game. Arshavin now misses the next three Arsenal games, returning just in time for the Russians next World Cup qualifier.

If a club does not provide a medical certificate to prove an injury preventing an international call-up, they are fined and the player suspended for two games. It is high time that the reverse applied: national teams must provide a certificate of fitness for any player called up with an injury, proving that the medical staff has thoroughly tested the player’s physical ability to perform. Any misadministration or falsification of the certificate should result in the player being banned for the next two international fixtures. Frankly, the Russians have full blame for the loss to Arsenal and he should be suspended for two games or perhaps even docking them the three points gained might focus national coaches minds more wonderfully.

Arsene will not be expecting another apology though, merely to be left stewing in his own juices. As he observed yesterday, the club does not know the full extent of injuries until the players return. With that in mind, some scepticism should be applied to Sky‘s assertion that both Cesc and Rosicky have niggles which may preclude their participation in the Manchester City game. More will be known as to the veracity of these claims today.

Meanwhile Wenger has altered his confrontational stance with UEFA over Eduardo. The manager observed that Eduardo was clever in his play whilst highlighting the flaw in the rule under which he was bounced into a suspension:

The relevant article [in Uefa’s regulations] relates to a guy who tries to win an advantage by trying to ‘deceive’ the referee, but you cannot prove intent from a guy who is touched. This article has been written by a lawyer, not a football person. If you extend this rule then you can apply it to every football situation because players will always try to do things and make sure the referee doesn’t see it by deceiving the referee.

Intent is the problem. Unless there is a confession from the player, how can anyone say beyond reasonable doubt that Eduardo had the sole intention of conning the referee. As Wenger says, the line between deception and being shrewd is indeed fine. Amazingly, an Englishman is the latter when on national duty or playing for Manchester United whilst a Croat born in Brazil, playing for Arsenal against plucky little Celtic is not. Hmmmmm. Perhaps a hack could enlighten us as to why that is the case. I won’t hold my breath for an answer though.

Wenger expects him to ride the storm in much the same way that Robert Pires did in times past. Mental strength can hardly be something that Eduardo lacks. Having come from Brazil to Zagreb, slept in cold changing rooms, moved to London and had a neanderthal thug from Birmingham break his leg for no other reason than Eduardo moved, a few boo’s from opposing fans will hardly trouble him. Or at least you hope that to be the case.

When UEFA reverse the decision – apparently they wanted a personal hearing to take place on Wednesday because, well, you know, the European Champions League is sooooooooooo much more important the World Cup – the attitudes towards Eduardo will not change. His character in the media and football supporters is stained; he will be remembered for this for probably the rest of the season and then everyone will move onto berating Terry for the own goal or Lampard the missed penalty that eliminates England from the World Cup.

’til Tomorrow.

Now If You Can All Just Return Home Injury-Free…

Football normality returns now that the internationals are over. Huge sighs of relief will be breathing out should all of those who were walking wounded before they departed return fit and raring to go. Personal triumphs has been the theme of these last two games for the most part with some collective reward

Probably the first to return will be Eduardo, the journey from the Croatian hotel being the shortest. In fact he should have been home last night. England qualified with ease as it turned out with a cracking performance for the most part in their 5 – 1 win.

Eduardo, I thought, did well, particularly in the face of constant barracking which is no doubt indicative of what he will face in the Premier League due to UEFA knees jerking as the media pulled their strings sharply. He had a decent game despite being starved of service, holding up the ball well against the physical presence of Terry.

Due reward was received when he scored the Croats consolation following two excellent saves by Robert Green, Eduardo’s predatory instinct a good sign that none of the sharpness he was displaying before he was kicked out of football for over a year.

Not that Eduardo was the only Arsenal player to score this past week. Bendtner got two in two, van Persie one at the weekend meaning all of the forward line has now broken their ducks for the season. If the latter duo can just replicate that for Arsenal on a regular basis we will be sitting very pretty indeed.

Returning without injury was not something that was expected. Having missed the match at Old Trafford, I half expected Cesc to be out for another week or so. Yet match time the Spaniard received and duly opened the scoring in Spain’s victory over Estonia last night. Speaking with Marca recently, Cesc has put Real Madrid in the dock over an illegal approach. The English media has not mentioned this at all, the likelihood being that they have spent their moral crusading energies on Eduardo. Cesc said:

Two or three years ago there was something

So, they tapped you up then? That is an admission of guilt that in the current climate, UEFA/FIFA should investigate. Aaah, there is the flaw. Despite the media complaints, very few clubs are actually doing so. Most of the bluster from various French and Italian sources is exactly that, PR to make the officials at those clubs look less culpable in the eyes of supporters when a decent player is sold for nothing or peanuts.

Andrei Arshavin too appears fully recovered, a dynamic performance from the bits I have seen and read with an assist to boot. Not that he was the only one, Aaron Ramsey’s corner was something that might get him into the first team at Arsenal if he can provide such delivery all of the time. Oh, and a goal against Italy for the Under-21s will have done his cause no harm either.

Most optimism will be reserved for Tomas Rosicky. Czech national coach, Pavel Hasek, revealed that he and Arsene had an agreement that Rosicky would play no more than an hour of the San Marino game which explains his absence from the weekend’s qualifier. Tomas duly got 56 minutes last night and reports of his performance are encouraging. Hasek observed:

I’m happy above all that Tomas could play, that he was ready for the game. I believe (Rosicky) will be ready to play the whole 90 minutes by [October]

Let’s not get too ambitious with Rosicky. It looked a month ago as if he would be playing 90 minutes by now before injury reared its ugly head once more. Having the player fit will be a bonus but coaches need to remember that he has been absent for twenty months and should not be rushed into returning.

With Theo Walcott apparently in contention for a place on the bench this weekend or perhaps in Liege, the squad is almost at full strength save for Nasri and Djourou. A scary thought for opponents but most welcome for Arsenal.

We shall see though as these interludes have a nasty habit of ending with a swift kick to the knackers. ’til Tomorrow.

Bendtner, Other Internationals & Is Djourou’s Injury Big Phil’s Last Chance?

Eduardo gets more support from Slaven Bilic in this morning’s News of the World, the Croatian coach highlighting the imbalance between the punishment the player received and that handed out to Martin Taylor. Mentally though, Bilic believes Eduardo to be unaffected.

With Wayne Rooney accused of ‘going down too easily‘ by Slovenia, it is hardly surprising that the jingoistic columnists such as Andy Dunne and Rob Shepherd sought to pour scorn on the Arsenal player. Rob Beasley this morning observed that Rooney did not deserve to be cast the same sort of cheat as Eduardo. Leaving aside the two incidents that resulted in penalties, the Croat did not try to injure Boruc unlike Rooney with his follow through on the Slovenian defender.

The irony of the stance taken by these NotW reporters is that the photo editors at the paper obviously don’t like any of them much since they placed a shot which shows Boruc’s hand around Eduardo’s foot. Despite a dubious angle, it is one to be sent to Arsenal, I think and round up their submission to 20 pages which is much nicer one less.

As a barometer of whether you are on the right track, Piers Morgan is about the best that there is. Generally speaking, whatever Tubbs is thinking, the opposite is sane, rational and above all else, not vested in self-interest at the expense of the club. So Morgan damning Eduardo is pretty conclusive that the Croat is innocent. Interestingly, The Mail has used a photo taken nanoseconds after the one used to discredit Shep and Dunny in their paper. Morgan’s editors presumably do not want to be blacklisted by any of his other employers, this photo appearing to provide conclusive evidence of a dive. How curious?

The internationals appear to have been quite good for those Arsenal players involved. Until that is any injuries become apparent. Not having seen the goals conceded Both Nicklas Bendtner and Robin van Persie broke their scoring ducks for the season. The Dane’s goal, just before half-time, was not enough for a victory which would have all but sealed their place in next summer’s World Cup finals as Portugal equalised late on.

However, it is a confidence booster for a player who has publicly declared that he wants to be the lead striker at The Emirates:

I am an attacker, not a winger. I have always seen myself as a striker and it is my goal to play as a striker all the time. It is important for me to play and when Arsene tells me to play in a position, I’ll do that. Last season I played a lot from the left side and this season it’s been on the right side but, like I said, I prefer to play up front.

There is a theme here for young Bendtner to follow. Playing wide left, wide right and centrally for Arsenal gives him a better education about the requirements of a striker. The ability of the best in the world to pull defenders all over the place, creating space for colleagues, is that which marks them out from the good players as much as their finishing. Arsene’s faith in him, trying to make him the outstanding striker deserves appreciation but when the subject is you, sometimes the bigger picture is harder to see.

Cameroon won in Gabon which from a club perspective is not a good result although on a personal level Alex Song may disagree. Defeat would have been a serious setback for the player and his country. Togo are in the group so perhaps Adebayor could take time from talking a good game to playing one at international level. Eboue will most likely be in Angola as Ivory Coast qualified yesterday for the ACN but for once, I will be hoping Adebayor does well.

Overshadowing everything is the news of Johan Djourou‘s surgery which will rule him out for six months. Whilst he has been injured, fortunately he has not been required in the squad due to the fitness and form of Vermaelen and Gallas. The length of his injury presents a problem for Wenger, reducing the cover at centre back to Senderos, Song and Silvestre, probably in that order as well.

For his Swiss compatriot, Djourou’s injury represents an opportunity for Senderos. In many ways, the situation parallels that of Flamini. Not expected to be involved because of Diaby, Flamini took his opportunity and buggered off at the first chance to Milan, having played one blinding season. Senderos could do the same although his chances are limited. It may happen come January if Cameroon recover their ACN campaign.

For Djourou, it is a tough spell. Fortunately for him, the club are well versed in handling lengthy injuries but this is the sort of scenario that managers dread. The transfer window is closed with no opportunity to rectify the situation until January. Were, God forbid, anything to happen to both of his regular first choice centre backs, Wenger would be left with a makeshift pairing for several months. In fact, makeshift is quite a generous word to use in that situation.

This is where the character of the players coming in becomes crucial. Senderos is notorious for being a confidence player, shaken when things do not go his way. Players always have a nemesis, no matter what position they are in. Ian Rush could not score for toffee against Manchester United for years and then overcame that. Senderos’ nightmare would be Drogba. If the Swiss international is to resurrect his career, this is a hurdle he would need to overcome. More importantly though, would be his desire to play for Arsenal.

He knows he is not particularly wanted at the club, evidenced by a season long loan to Milan which contained a buy-out clause and his flirtations with other clubs, most notably Everton, this summer. Has this negatively affected him and his view of Arsenal or Arsene? The flipside is that he would be given the opportunity to prove he is as good as he seemed to be in 2005/06. A series of consistent displays in what is effectively a shop window for the lad would do him the world of good, as well as meaning Arsenal would benefit from a solid defence for the coming campaign. The coming months will tell us more.

’til Tomorrow.