The international break is now behind us and all football loving fans can gear themselves one more time for another dose of Barclay’s Premier League football. To top it all off, more Heineken adverts will be back in midweek as Europe’s elite club football competition begins in earnest.
Unlike the first phase of international matches were many Gunners were firing all cylinders, the second phase offered a different outcome as no Arsenal player put his name on the score sheet while some had peripheral outings.
Errrr…for those that actually give two fledgling f*cks, Robin van Judas Iscariot did what he was renowned for in his first six seasons at Arsenal. The last time I checked, he injures when he wants as well.
With Theo Walcott pulling out of the England squad for being the fastest and most handsome lad among Woy Hodgson’s bunch, the Ox played for 68 minutes in the 1-1 draw against Ukraine. England actually had to leave it late as the Lampback of Notre Dame salvaged a draw for his nation with a well-taken spot kick.
Just like the way it was in the European Championships, Per Mertesacker was relegated back to the bench in Germany’s 2-1 win over Austria. Lukas Podolski was given a 15-minute run-out to strut his stuff for the German Machines.
My personal favorites, Les Bleus, hosted Belarus in a game they ran out as 3-1 winners. However, it was a game to forget for Olivier Giroud as he was booed by the French faithful when he was substituted after a somewhat below-par performance by his standards.
This shows how insatiable football fans are. When he was banging the goals in for Montpellier Herault SC, I’m pretty sure that he had a fan song. Lemme guess,
“Le Giroud, he takes pictures for gay magazines but he takes pictures after scoring as well”
Bleeeeeeeh.
Elsewhere, skipper Thomas Vermaelen played all 90 minutes in Belgium’s 1-1 draw with Croatia while Aaron Ramsey captained his Welsh side to a humiliating 6-1 defeat in the hands of Serbia. Johan Djourou and Santi Cazorla had pretty decent outings as well but the Swiss defender played for 90 minutes in the 1-0 victory over Albania while Cazorla came off the bench in Spain’s 1-0 win over Georgia.
Moving on to Arsenal news, it has been reported that the Arsenal hierarchy intends to extend the gaffer’s contract for the long-term, as Arsene Wenger has a contract that’s reaching its twilight zone.
Arsenal’s Chief Executive, Ivan the Terrible, had this to say,
“It’s not a sense of sentimentalism, not a reward for services, it’s a belief that we have an incredible manager who loves this club and is the best man to lead us forward”
As the CEO has rightly said, Wenger remains the best man for the job and in my heart of hearts, I strongly feel that the much-maligned trophy duck will be broken this season. A new deal and of course a trophy are no more than Wenger deserves and I hope that both feats will be achieved sooner or later.
Wenger has already spent 16 years with the club, who says that he can’t spend 16 more?
Finally, there are been some transfer whispers here and there despite the fact that the transfer window was slammed shut weeks ago. With Walcott still holding out on signing a new deal, reports have emerged linking the winger with a £10m move to Juventus.
Many fans have already written Walcott off this season but I’m keeping half an eye on the lad to see how he reacts to what’s going on with him as the season progresses. I know that he’ll get another chance to shine, but the question remains, if he’ll take it or not.
The transfer speculation making waves at the moment is the story of Shanghai Shennua’s Didier Drogba, the Scourge of Arsenal, linked with…Arsenal.
The aged Ivorian has started his new chapter in his career like a house on fire, as he has already slammed in four goals in his first six games for the Chinese outfit. However, he has become unsettled as the club is facing some financial constraints, and it has been reported that his future hangs on a thin thread.
He was initially linked with a move back to his former employers, Chelsea, and with Liverpool firing blanks, the media Vultures did their bit to link him there as well.
With his speculated destination being the Emirates Stadium, it has sparked mixed emotions among Arsenal fans.
On one corner, is a faction of the Arsenal faithful that remember Drogba for all the “atrocities” he committed against their dear club. The match winner of the 2005 Community Shield, the brace in the 2007 Carling Cup final, the match winner in the 2009 FA Cup semifinal, the home and away braces in the 2009/10 season…all 13 goals that condemned Arsenal to defeat, despair and utter disappointment. These guys have treated this news with a pinch of salt and they’ll go berserk if he joins the club.
On the other corner, there’s a faction of Arsenal fans that won’t mind a vastly experienced international like Drogba in the squad. A man that bagged 157 goals for Chelsea with a century of those goals in the Premier League alone. They feel that Drogba can be an impact sub to lift spirits up when the chips are down.
Ex-Chelsea assistant manager, Ray Wilkins, doesn’t believe that Drogba can fathom making a move to Chelsea’s rivals,
“How can he go to Arsenal after spending eight years at Chelsea? Didier, in his heart of hearts, would think that’s a step too far”
Reality check mate, football has gone beyond “loyalty”. Who knows whether the little boy inside Drogba will be screaming “Arsenal, Arsenal”.
That’s yer lot.
Sayonara
You can download the Gooner Daily BlackBerry App to receive notifications on your Smart Phone when a post is published.
You can follow Gooner Daily on Twitter @goonerdaily. I’ll follow back
Feel free to visit Gooner Daily’s Facebook page and click on the like button.
You can also join Gooner Daily’s Mailing List to get notifications of new posts by email by clicking on the Follow button
Leave a Reply