Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Whilst writing my blog yesterday afternoon, I felt an overwhelming desire to draw comparison between Jack Wilshere’s description of an Arsenal squad hungry for success and the thirst for blood the zombies of the Walking Dead exhibited on FX recently. Conscious that I might be overdoing my zombie analogies a bit, I stepped back from that bridge of temptation. However, today’s injury updates are just irresistible to me.
You may have gathered from that introductory paragraph that nobody’s favourite Spaniard is back, Yes, the king of the walkers himself, Manuel Almunia, is finally back in contention for a place in the team. Personally, I’d be tempted to stick with the guy we currently have in goal, you know an actual goalkeeper rather than someone who just flaps about and when he isn’t doing that, wears the look of someone still in shock at finding himself in goal for London’s foremost football team. Or maybe just someone thinks he might have left the gas on. But I wouldn’t be shocked to see him start on Sunday, appropriately that 12pm Sunday kick-off is a bit of a graveyard shift, isn’t it? Dragging his legs behind Almunia is Abou Diaby. He will, no doubt, flit about languidly for a few games, before sloping back off to the treatment table. Bless him. It’s not his fault that he can’t go a few games before breaking down like a cheap toy, but it does make him oh so frustrating. Sebastien Squillaci will also be welcomed back to the squad- I’m sure he will start, who he replaces in central defence will be an interesting call, especially with Everton due at the Grove on Tuesday night.
Further forward, Alex Song sat it out on Tuesday night, so it wouldn’t be a massive surprise to see him back, unless Arsène feels that Denilson is capable of holding back the Hudderfield tide- which he should be. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chamakh return up top and Bendtner given a chance to build on his goal in the week, but I don’t want to get too carried away with talking about the possible team 46 hours before the match. Especially if it means having to talk about Tomas Rosicky- he’s due a goal, isn’t he?
What I would like to talk about is something I’ve been thinking about for ages and not got around to writing. I suppose the news that Fabio Capello now considers that he made a mistake not taking Theo (not that anyone would have blamed him at the time, well, apart from Lady Arse that is) to the World Cup has given me cause to say something. As has the news that Capello is thinking about using Jack Wilshere’s prodigious passing ability to build England attacks from deep in their midfield. Now, I couldn’t care less about the England team, but that apathy has stemmed from the big egos/ small performances dichotomy at the heart of the utterly misnomered "Golden Generation". Yes, Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, Terry and Cole(s?), I’m looking at you.
There was a time when it mattered to me how many Arsenal players made the England squad- that David Seaman was the only Arsenal player at Italia ’90 (and only just an Arsenal player). The omission of Ian Wright from the Euro 92 squad after a season where he set the country on fire baffled me then as it still does now. There was also a time when I couldn’t comprehend how Alan Shearer was England captain instead of the only man to captain Championship winning sides in three different decades. But that incomprehension became indifference as Arsène’s foreign legions accumulated title after title, whilst our English contingent dwindled. An indifference utterly untroubled by my club’s five years without a trophy.
Now, we seem set for the next stage in our football’s club development, a stage that will sate the masses who cared when Arsène selected an all foreign 16 for the first time on Valentine’s Day 2005. It is the stage where we see the likes of Gibbs, Wilshere, Ramsey (yes, I know he’s Welsh, not to mention on loan at Cardiff) Walcott and whoever else might be lurking on the fringes step into the spotlight. This season has already seen both Wilshere and Walcott assume first team spots through the quality of their performances, both have improved from those late summer days that now seem so long ago. In Keiran Gibbs case, he still has some work to do, but despite the injuries, I don’t think that there are many that doubt he has the ability to get to the top of the game. What makes these guys such exciting prospects for their country is the fact that nothing they have done in the game so far has been handed to them on a plate. Or on Livia Soprano’s silver platter. Whatever you have to say about winning trophies, or not winning them, clearly getting into the Arsenal first team is no mean feat. Not for a young English lad. So, what these players have instilled in them, as well as immense technical ability, is a desire to work hard and improve their games, it’s a mile away from the arrogant complacency displayed by the so called you know whos. That has to be a good thing for the national team. And perhaps my apathy.
What does it mean for us, for Arsenal though? Well, for me it means this. I think much as everyone likes a new experience, people are generally home birds, they will naturally gravitate to what they know. In our case, it means the likes of Wilshere, Ramsey and Walcott, already first team players at one of the biggest clubs in the country are unlikely to be as succeptible to siren calls from Europe. It means that these players will have grown up not just realising how important Arsenal Football Club is to the landscape of the game, but understanding why it is. Don’t get me wrong, clearly there are English players that haven’t got it (step forward, with your head down, Ashley Cole), just as there are foreigners that do get it (Bergkamp, Píres, Henry, van Persie, even Chamakh). I think that it’s also healthy for English players to play a significant role at an English club- as long as they’re good enough. Just to make that clear, I’m not advocating we sign, oh, let’s say Kevin Davies just because he’s English!
Finally, I think, having watched two of our last three home games amongst disgruntled fans that having young English lads in the team lessens the disconnect between player and supporter. A fan is far less likely to give Jack Wilshere a hard time for a misplaced pass than he is Andrey Arshavin. Sorry if you don’t like me saying that, but I think that’s been made abundantly clear of late. If we have less disgruntled supporters in the ground, then that means more positive energy in the ground. That is something our players could really feed off right now.
