I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that the Super Chickens are out of the African Cup of Nations’ equation but it’s more spicy to know that Arsenal’s return fixture against Manchester United will start when the tourney is about to kick off.
There’ll also be the Carling Cup semifinal second leg and the FA Cup fourth round as well as a trip to face Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. At that point last season, van Persie scored his first hattrick against Wigan which was followed by a convincing 3-0 win against Ipswich before Super Fab’ came to the rescue when Arsenal hosted Huddersfield Town.
The international break didn’t come in any better time and Arsene Wenger will definitely use this period to reflect on what might have been as well as to create ways to improve his team as the season goes on.
One player that still believes in Arsenal is the captain, Robin van Persie. The Flying Dutchman couldn’t repeat his four goal haul when Holland hosted Moldova but he put up a decent outing and all his bones were intact after the sound of the final whistle.
He has told the media Vultures that Arsenal will bounce back:
“I have every trust in the things we are doing within the club.”
“There is only a fine line between winning and losing. Just look at our last match against Spurs. We could have won that game with the chances we had. There is no need to panic for anyone.”
“I am not going to make any statements about my future. Not now, not for a while. I’ve been at Arsenal eight years and that is quite extraordinary these days. Which is why I treasure this. What my future will bring, nobody knows.”
“I can understand people are curious, but I am just dedicated to everything at Arsenal right now. Since November last year I’ve played lots of games, scored lots of goals and made assists. Twelve months’ non-stop football is doing me well. I feel that I am still growing in form. It is the first time in quite a few years that I can experience that.”
“My future is a private matter and when at some point there could be some news, people will hear it. And I do realize that we have to get things going at Arsenal, but I have full confidence that we are going to do okay.”
“Our start is not good. I would have felt better if we had won the derby. We didn’t and right now there is a negative feeling. But I assure you, it is not all that negative.”
“It is up to us, players and staff, to sort it out on the pitch.”
Van Persie’s words to the media Vultures has sent a clear message of his intentions for Arsenal but they still believe that he’s going to leave the club. They’ve also released reports that Manchester City is planning a massive offer to lure him away from the Emirates.
I won’t actually label Arsenal as a feeder club for Manchester City but that team has a knack for buying Wenger’s players and I’m pretty sure that Arsenal can be regarded as one of their best football business partners. Arsenal has sold all sorts of players to Manchester City, ranging from junkies, greedy African Rastafarians, retired French Bald pensioners, loose-nutted speedy Frenchies and greedy midfield maestros.
There’s another departed Gunner that has decided to open his pile hole again to whine about the reasons that made him leave the club. The self-proclaimed world’s best striker from Scandinavia has unveiled that his omission from the Carling Cup final played a major role in his decision to leave Arsenal:
“I can point to a precise moment I knew I had to leave. It was when I looked at the team sheet before the Carling Cup final and saw that I was not going to start.”
“It was my worst moment in football. I was sad, stunned and disappointed beyond measure.”
“I had played all our matches in the competition, scored goals and I was feeling really sharp. I felt things would never be good for me again at Arsenal after that.”
Prior to that match, Bendtner had scored two league goals, three Carling Cup goals and one FA Cup goal while RVP had scored two Champions League goals and 10 league goals. If you’re a manager of a club that had gone five years without a trophy and you were faced with a Carling Cup final, who would you have chosen?
When Le Bob Pires told everyone that he left Arsenal for Villarreal because of his contract issues (over 30) and the fact that he was sacrificed in the Champions League final when Arsenal played Barcelona after Mad Jens Lehmann’s red card, it was very understandable.
Wenger failed to give the Frenchman a two-year deal because he was above 30 but this same Wenger handed a two-year to a certain Mikael Silvestre who was well above 30. As for the case of the Champions League final in Paris, I can’t criticize Wenger’s decision to remove Pires because every other player on the pitch did extremely well.
Bendtner will be forced to watch from the stands when Arsenal hosts fellow strugglers Sunderland next weekend but he has predicted that the Black Cats will get away with all 3 points on the 15th of October. Last season, the contest ended in a boring 0-0 draw but Wojciech Szczesny made a top drawer save from a Danny Welbeck shot that would have granted Sunderland all 3 points.
The last time I wrote about Piers Morgan, he was involved in a Twitter row with Arsenal’s Emmanuel Frimpong. This was in the wake of Arsenal’s 2-0 reverse to Liverpool in a game that was marred by poor refereeing decisions and Frimpong’s red card.
The Twitfight between Morgan and Frimpong was very enthralling because I brought my popcorn and my 3-D glasses to witness the events as they unfolded and I wasn’t disappointed with the final outcome.
Piers Morgan has found a new footballer to engage in his personal duel. I would have been a lot better if he invited him to the Piers Morgan tonight show because it would have been a lot sweeter. The Arsenal fan engaged himself in a Twitter row with Manchester United’s Micheal Owen.
Owen was bemoaning the lack of Premier League football this weekend so he decided to lay his frustrations on Twitter:
“No Prem football is the killer. Looks like Racing and Darts for me.”
Out of the blue, Piers Morgan replied on the tweet:
“Usual Saturday for you then. Benchwarmer.”
In fairness to Morgan, Owen has started only 16 games for the Red Devils since his move in July 2009 but Morgan wasn’t through with him yet:
“I eat too much, drink too much…yet still get picked for my employer’s first team every night, Benchwarmer. #CNN”
That was a big punchline on the former Liverpool legend so he hit back on the TV presenter:
“Assuming that is the case, did you get your #moobs, 4 chins and belly from drinking too much, eating too much or both?”
Morgan wasn’t ready to let Micheal Owen have the last laugh:
“I go the gym 4 times a week, Benchwarmer. My pecs are bigger than your entire body.”
Owen decided to let sleeping dogs lie after that and I’m pretty sure that Morgan was somewhere basking in the new Twitfight he won with a series of technical knock outs. Morgan ended it all by suggesting a £1,000 bet – saying he’d last longer in his job than Owen would in his.
I wonder who Morgan will twitfight with next time.
Probably tweeps like @TWEETORACLE or @odinabarbie.
#justsaying though.
Sayonara.
