Howdy friend, how you holding up, on this most interlully of Saturday’s? You ok?
I’m ok. It’s a little annoying that just as Arsenal begin to build momentum in the Premier League, an international break comes along, but what can you do? We’ve had to deal with this for as long as I can remember and the football authorities are hardly going to change now. But if the new man at FIFA – in between lining his own pockets with shiny gold doubloons – decided to change it, I could help with a concept, which would surely ensure Arsenal could also win the league every season.
It’s simple: Play all of the international matches in November and February. It means we don’t have to worry about the dreaded month of November, the Arsenal players can use up all of their poor performances whilst on international duty, plus we get the opportunity to see a consistent run of games between the middle of August and November. Everyone’s a winner. If you’re a fan of The Arsenal.
Of course I’m being slightly tongue in cheek, but when there’s little actual Arsenal football going on, what else am I supposed to do? At least the official site now recognise our thirst for content, so have peppered the interlude with videos of:
- Mustafi talking about his breakthrough on to the German scene
- Carl Jenkinson talking about his return to training
- Mesut Ozil begging up the importance of Big Per
There’s just one thing that isn’t quite sitting well with me at the moment, I have to say, and that’s the fact that Ozil still isn’t doing his interviews in English. We all know he can speak it, he’s been at the club and in the country for three years, so why on earth wouldn’t you do your interviews in English? I mean come on, it’s hardly the most difficult language to learn, is it?
I love the guy, he’s a joy to watch on the pitch, but I’m pretty sure all of the questions he was asked in the interview above, he could have given decent responses in English.
I suppose it doesn’t really matter, as long as he continues to be Mesut Ozil that we love on the football field, but it’s just one of those little things about footballers that grates on me. Reyes was the same. It used to wind me up that he never bothered integrating himself into the English way of live. If you want to make a life in a country, I think you should at least attempt the language a little more. People know you’re not going to sound as eloquent as in your mother tongue, but who cares? I just want to see people try.Like when I go to Italy or Spain or Portugal on holiday, I sound like a right dope when I ruin their language by saying words wrong. But they know I’m at least trying. Come on Mes, give us a few interviews in English, lad.
I liked the Jenkinson interview. I’ve always rated him, and not just because he coms from the same town as me, but because I think he was shipped out a little too quickly. He says in the interview that he’ll get a reserve game in a few weeks, which means he’s got no chance in being back for Reading at the end of October I don’t think, which is a shame because it would have been perfect for his rehab. He’s a player who i’d rather have as back up to Bellerin than Debuchy if I’m honest. Not to sound too clinical on this, but Debuchy’s stock is low, he clearly has dwindling value and impact, but Jenkinson is still of an age where if he got a few good performances under his belt, he’d probably give Bellerin a decent bit of competition. I don’t think his curve is as steep as Bellerin’s is in terms of potential and ability, but to have a decent understudy like Jenkinson is no big problem in my opinion.
The only question will be whether Carl wants that himself. We all know he’s a goner, that he love the club, but if he feels that he could be at Arsenal for another five years and only play between 50 to 100 games over that time, then he might prefer to go somewhere else to get minutes.
It’s a difficult situation for him, but I guess right now he’s just focused on getting fit and being ready if he’s called in to action, so it’s very much a case of one step at a time.
Aside from that, there’s not really a lot else going on. The players are all away with their respective clubs. Koscielny played for France last night and nearly scored, whilst Mesut, Theo, Cech and Mustafi will all be in action tonight for their respective nations. I’m not sure if i’ll bother watching the England match. The only thing that will tempt me is if I tune in to see if Theo can replicate his club level form, whilst also doing his best not to get banjaxed, but that’s about it. I don’t really understand why Santi is no longer with the Spanish squad, because I’m pretty sure he’s better than Ander Herrera and is playing well for Arsenal at the moment, but hey, that country’s national team is a walking sideshow of politics, so I don’t bother mustering much effort to watch nor read in to what they do. On the plus side, it means he gets a well-earned rest, which hopefully means he’ll be ready and raring to start when we play Swansea next weekend. At least he’ll be joined by a few at the club. We’ll have Big Per, Nacho, Coquelin, Cazorla and Lucas all able to train, whilst Rambo and Giroud can keep them company after training due to their respective injuries. So it’ll not be a lonely place on the training ground. Isn’t that nice?
Anyway, best be off, I have things to do on a Saturday and chores to get out of the way. Catch you tomorrow.
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