The footballing gods have really got it in for me haven’t they? I have been rather excited like a little boy on Christmas day about the arrival of Wellington da Silva in January, once he is granted his work permit. You know, the one that they promised him. FIFA being FIFA decided against it and refused. It seems like our appeal for a special talent visa was also turned down, so we will not be seeing him in an Arsenal shirt for a number of years now as he will have to go out on loan to a Spanish team to become

How long is this flu stuff supposed to last for? I am still under the weather and feeling no better than I was last week. Getting rather bored of being at home now, haven’t seen daylight for god knows how long. At least I have this laptop and this internet thingy I guess.

Unfortunately along with the internet, I have come across even more ramblings from Patrice Evra. He has a habit of opening his mouth and attacking our club, maybe he could start his own Evra News Review on the side with so many of his stupid opinions.

I hope his words will be spoken about in the Arsenal dressing room and then served up as extra motivation on the pitch. Not that the Arsenal players should need any extra motivation when it comes to our old enemy, but surely that cannot hurt.

I am sure you have already seen the Evra quotes so I shall not be infecting this site with them. I just hope that whoever goes head to head with him, whether that be Nasri or Theo then they can ram his words back down his throat by leaving him on his arse on more than one occasion along with perhaps a couple of nutmegs. That would only be fair.

If anyone can, *all together now* Nasri can!

Monday’s game does mean that even with Cesc likely to be missing from the starting eleven, that an important attacking squad member will be left disappointed on the bench. Theo Walcott has expressed his frustration to be left out in midweek in Europe and will be itching for a start against the Mancs but the likelihood is that he will remain on the bench.

Andrey Arshavin was shocking on Wednesday but the fact that he plays on the left and has improved in recent weeks (Wednesday aside) means that he is likely to continue to keep his place. Wenger could accommodate all three if Nasri was moved into the middle in place of Van Persie/Chamakh or Rosicky but in his current form, I just do not see that happening. The whole, ‘if it is not broken…’ thing most certainly applies.

One player who will not be involved will be Manuel Almunia who is rumoured to be off come the opening of the January window. Apparently he does not want to sit on the Arsenal bench if he is not number one (I guess it would be difficult to be number one and sit on the bench at the same time) which isn’t really the right attitude to have but after an awful summer where he wasn’t really treated with a great deal of respect, it is perhaps understandable that he may want to look elsewhere.

There is no official word on this, as if we would hear anything but I think the long standing elbow injury pretty much says it all to be honest. I know he is not a fans favourite but I do feel somewhat sorry for him after he put in a good shift at the start of the season before the terrible team showing against West Brom at the Emirates.

It looks very much as if the future is now Lukasz Fabianski and Tech 9 (as his team mates call him) so if Almunia does move on then I wish him the best of luck, unless he comes up against us at any point in the rest of his career but maybe I am getting a little carried away with pure speculation. And it would be wise to wait and see before making concrete judgements as I have just done. Tut tut.

The footballing gods have really got it in for me haven’t they? I have been rather excited like a little boy on Christmas day about the arrival of Wellington da Silva in January, once he is granted his work permit. You know, the one that they promised him.

FIFA being FIFA decided against it and refused. It seems like our appeal for a special talent visa was also turned down, so we will not be seeing him in an Arsenal shirt for a number of years now as he will have to go out on loan to a Spanish team to become eligible to apply for Spanish citizenship.

3-5 years! That must be heart breaking for the lad who will probably miss his new mate Denilson. At least it gives him experience and hopefully he will be closer to a first team place at 21-23 rather than at 18.

If life was fair, then Patricia Evra would be the one farmed out on loan for five years and Wellington could join at the best club in England for development. The Arsenal.

And with that, I shall cry and cough myself to bed.

Back tomorrow.