So, it’s just a week on from my blog on how great it was to be back to
playing football again. As Olivier Giroud slotted home after six minutes and I
turned and looked at my mate with the old celebratory fist pump, little did I
realise I’d be heading home raging with anger over our current situation.
How did we let that happen? I had hoped my next blog would be a week
later but sadly it was within 48 hours. Sometimes it’s just good to open up the
laptop and frantically type away until your heart’s content, it does help.
The one good aspect of football is a week can be a very long time, so
thankfully we had a match on Wednesday night. Gary Neville once said on MNF
“In football, things are never as bad as they appear and they are never as
good as you think they are”, what a great statement and it certainly sums
up our last six days. Maybe last Saturday was a just a bad day at the office (I
don’t actually believe that) and maybe Wednesday had something to do with
Fenerbahce’s lack of invention but one thing seems to remain with Arsenal and
it has done for the last couple of seasons, we always seem to be one game away
from disaster. Is a defeat this weekend even worth contemplating? Surely not.
Can there be such a thing as a must win at this stage? Maybe.
It’s highly unlikely we’ll have any new players (well the ones you have
to pay for anyway) for our trip to Craven Cottage. So with that in mind, let’s
not hope there aren’t any heavy legs returning from Turkey. The victory should
see a bit of self belief return to the side. What I did particularly like about
our second half performance in Istanbul was the numbers we committed going
forward. There were several attacks where we had fours and fives in and around
the box and that can only breed good habits. We always lack numbers in attacks
and it isolates Giroud, which is never the best idea because his lack of pace
just gets magnified even further.
I know the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Wojciech Szczesny have rightly
taken a lot of credit for their efforts on Wednesday night but there was
another shining star – Santi Cazorla. His touch is simply orgasmic. Good
players control a ball well, world class players beat men with their first
touch. His magnificent ball to Theo Walcott led to the pen and he didn’t even
have to break stride. I just wish we’d settle on a left winger and allow
Cazorla to roam free in the middle of the park
Before I wrap up this week’s edition I can’t help but discuss transfers,
it just wouldn’t be fair. It’s still a shambles and the best part of Wednesday
was that the tie is all but sealed, which should allow the club to ‘flex their
financial muscle’ – ooh err. So my disappointment when I read that Mathieu Flamini
is set for a return.
In the last 24 hours we’ve been linked with Mesut Ozil, Karim Benzema, Angel
Di Maria, Yohan Cabaye and Asmir Begovic and several outlets stating that we
will spend in excess of £100m (on fees alone).
I cling to the hope that it’s true but if we were to spend £100m, then
that’s £10m a day for the rest of the window and basically a player every other
day from here on in (assuming we sign 4/5 players).
What I’d love to hear from you on, is who would you like to see in at
Arsenal and be realistic here? By realistic I mean don’t mention Luis Suarez.
Whoever they may be, they better exist and in 10 days time they better be
wearing an Arsenal shirt but for now the biggest task is Fulham on Saturday and
we have to win.
Michael Jeffares
I’m a 30 something year old Gateshead lad but thankfully my Dad is a cockney and he put me on the right path in life, taking me to my first Highbury game at the tender age of six.
Despite my obvious geographical disadvantage I am a season ticket holder and I attend quite a few away days as well.
I like to express my opinion which resulted in me starting a blog. I’m delighted to be part of the WTTGT team and you can read ’The Michael Jeffares Column’ every Friday without fail.
I think if we sign Begovic, Alderweireld, Flamini, Di Maria and a decent striker that would be decent business for now..
Alderweireld is an interesting choice, I’ve only seen him on a couple of occasions. I’m assuming you know more about him? I fear we won’t get this striker we seem to crave.
Hi Mike,
If i could handpick signings, i’d buy;
– Begovic 12-15m
– Sakho ?m
– Schneiderlin 8-12m
– Di Maria – 25-29m
– Rooney 30-35m
It would give us a very strong spine to the team and strength in depth
I do like those choices. I have questions marks against Di Maria, is he all that?