Squillaci’s scary eyes and four top goalies
Not quite sure why, but it took some time to get pictures of Sebastien Squillaci onto the mother ship, but they are there now and I’m liking the look of the guy. He has a stare that would give Pierluigi Collina the shakes.
We can only hope it’s not an act and bodes well for when opponents try and get heavy with our defence or goalie. He and Kos are making all the right noises about enjoying the physical side of the game and liking challenges. Nice.
And speaking of goalies, Arsène says we have “four great keepers”. Now obviously he’s not going to say what we all really think, but he does seem to be bending the bounds of credibility to breaking point with that little gem. I suppose if we can’t get another club to sell us a suitable goalie then we’re just going to have to score a lot of goals this season.
No doubt with the goalkeeper in mind he said
“[It has been] incredibly difficult, I must say. It’s the first year I’ve felt [like this].
“The clubs who had players didn’t want to sell and therefore there was no movement. I don’t know if it’s the 25-player squad rule, is it the money situations? But there is just no movement. It’s dead.”
You only have to look at the small number of seriously big names moving this summer to figure that will trickle down through the less talented and create a vacuum in the market. Still not too late, if Arsene and Ivan have a Squillaci style stare, we may yet be able to get another club to blink first and sell. Much like Liverpool did with Barca. I’m not a huge fan of Mascherano, but he seems a tad under-priced for what they are getting. And Barca didn’t have to find any suitable DNA during their inevitable tapping up campaign. Wonder what Cesc makes of their corporate expressions of undying affection towards him now. Bit flighty, Barca.
Since we’re in the transfer state of mind, we can now give Al Citeh a massive TOLD YOU SO as Adewantmore starts agitating again. Looks to me like his already tenuous grip on reality has frayed a few more strands. What a contrast with Eduardo. He had nothing but nice things to say about Arsenal and was pleased to get the chance to return. Don’t know about you, but I’m betting that when he scores, as he surely will, he will not run the length of the pitch and knee slide at the Arsenal faithful. He’s class through and through and I’m still sad about what Taylor did to him, probably always will be.
So Fat Sam next. It would be really nice to get a comprehensive victory on Saturday, though we’ve not been great at early starts. It’s surely going to be no surprise when Blackburn use their height and size advantage, we are just going to have to move the ball a quick as we did last game and not give away any dead ball situations. Pretty simple really! Let’s hope they plan to play football rather than ‘getting in our faces’ aka ’breaking legs’. I can’t see us not conceding, but I can see us scoring a few if we play as well as we can. Confident? No, hopeful, yes.
I’m quite looking forward to seeing how a fit RvP and Chamakh play together, it’s not a natural looking partnership, but they are both intelligent and mobile to it bodes well. I also have a sneaky feeling L’il Andrey may pull something out of the hat. He’s overdue. With Cesc spraying balls all over the shop their midfield is going to have to be mobile and with Chamakh their defence will actually have to be careful at corners. All things being equal, goalie not withstanding, we are looking a much more balanced and capable side now. I am hopeful we can just pip the Spuds this year and hold back their inevitable rise to world domination for another season….. what are they like?
.jpg)
