Theo Walcott has been talking up the impact of Gervinho and I would have to concur. He really gives us something different and as I have said a few times in the past. Even when he is off his game he still gives us that threat. He may have misplaced his last three passes but you want the ball back at his feet because he can burst past two defenders and completely open up the opposition. 5 assists in 8 Premier league games is very impressive for a player still adapting.
I had a weird dream last night, a rather strange one for me because it was about Arsenal. I never ever have dreams about Arsenal or our players which is quite strange considering the fact that I think about Arsenal more than I do most things.
I must have been in some sort of night club or bar and a guy walked in with long straight hair in a pony tail. A little like Samuel L Jackson in Jackie Brown. It was no other than Abou Diaby. Why his hair was long I couldn’t tell you but this just seemed to be normal in the dream.
I went up to him and told him about how good he was, about how he was better than he thought. I explained that fitness was his only obstacle, he could conquer the world if he managed to focus on getting over his injury hurdles. Apparently his injuries were his own doing.
Clearly my speech bettered Scott Parker’s against West Brom last season because this made Diaby burst into tears and hug me. The hug was lengthy enough to make me feel a little uncomfortable, after managing to slip out of his grasp he told me that he would listen to what I had to say and show everyone that he could do it.
If Diaby manages to break this injury hoodoo then I take all the plaudits. If he doesn’t.. well it will only be his own fault. Obviously.
It seems as if I am not the only one who has faith in Diaby. The French manager Laurent Blanc speaking to French radio has heaped praise on the talented midfielder.
Blanc Said:
“Diaby is an incredible player. I hope he will be fit soon, because i want to bring him to Euro next summer”
The praise is little surprise really. Whenever he has put on the French shirt, he has done himself proud. Diaby was one of the few that could look back at the last world cup with his head held high.
For me, there is not much more to say about Abou Diaby. It may be cliche but any talk of Diaby has to be done from him and only on the pitch. If his injury problems remain then his career will go downhill, if they improve then I have no doubt that he will prove many people wrong.
While we are on the injury front, it appears that Jack Wilshere is slowly on the mend. He tweeted earlier that he is now without crutches for the first time which is good. Perhaps not so much for Kieran Gibbs. Jack let the cat out of the bag on Twitter when he wished Gibbs good luck.
That could of course mean that Kieran is off to do some gardening at his neighbours house and the amount of growth means that he doesn’t know when he will be returning or he could possibly be having an operation of some sort.
Being the optimist that I am, I am going for the gardening. I hope he manages to get through the hedges and roots quickly because it may be a little much to rely on Santos for a whole season in his first season at the club. Although it would get him up to speed.
Kieran Gibbs has really had to suffer so far due to injury. I wouldn’t have bet against him being the first choice left back for England today if he remained fit all season. His form had fluctuated which is absolutely no surprise given the amount of times his momentum has been halted. It must be incredibly frustrating for him, having to watch his team mates perform, especially in a game like Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. As a player you want to be involved in all these games and it must be crushing for those who consistently find themselves sitting on the treatment table.
Robin van Persie has heaped praise on Arsene Wenger for making him the player he is today. Robin has always had the talent as a young kid but his craft has been honed by our manager. It is incredible to think that we bought a player of that ability for only £2.75m. I wonder how many players performing at such a level was bought for anything near that value.
It wasn’t very long ago that Arsene Wenger was criticised for moving van Persie into the lone striking role when Adebayor was sold. Those criticisms seem to have vanished and now van Persie is one of the best strikers in world football today .As Robin said, he is in the vibe. Everything is coming off, he only needs two chances to score.
Bergkamp had it in 98, Pires had it in 02 and Henry had it in 03/04.
It takes many factors to happen for a player to reach that zone. Confidence, momentum, experience and fitness. It doesn’t last forever so a player has to make the most of it. The reason why our 03/04 team was so good was mainly because we had so many players close to that zone or vibe as Robin calls it.
I believe it has been Wenger’s aim to collect talented kids, develop them until they reach that zone together and produce a team full of players who know each other’s game and have all reached their peak together. We have seen what a team like that can achieve when we see what Barcelona have produced.
Unfortunately for Arsene, his plan has been repeatedly damaged by players jumping ship before the team is ready, and he has had to rebuild the team over and over again. As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, Arsene has collected probably his best collection of young players to date and if they can be kept together then we really have a chance of creating one of the best team’s in Arsenal history. But that is only if they are not lured away into the evil clutches of Money City and Ch3l5ea.
Steve Bould has spoken about the quality of English kids at Arsenal but admits that the country are not producing enough.
That isn’t the case at Arsenal thanks to the great work done by people like Liam Brady, Steve Bould and Neil Bandfield amongst others. Given how much people like van Persie have improved since they were 19 to now and Alex Song from 17 to 23, imagine what a team of Wilshere, Ramsey, Chamberlain etc all in their mid twenties? Sorry I am going over old ground but it is just too exciting for words. Well for myself anyway.
Theo Walcott has been talking up the impact of Gervinho and I would have to concur. He really gives us something different and as I have said a few times in the past. Even when he is off his game he still gives us that threat. He may have misplaced his last three passes but you want the ball back at his feet because he can burst past two defenders and completely open up the opposition at any moment. 5 assists in 8 Premier league games is very impressive for a player still adapting to a new club and a new league. Long may his improvement continue.
I forgot to mention Joel Campbell’s goal for Costa Rica against Spain the other night. A lovely finish from a young guy who knows how to put the ball away. It will be interesting to follow his career for the short term at least. His first task is to break through into the Lorient first team. He is currently a substitute who makes an impact from the bench, once he can do that then we can get a better idea of how he copes with European football.
* It has been confirmed that Kieran Gibbs will undergo a hernia operation. Shame for the poor guy but at least he doesn’t have to do any gardening.
Back tomorrow.
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