Jesus looking for a miracle

I mentioned reports of Roma talking to William Gallas yesterday. It seems that whilst Arsenal will be asking Billy G to take a pay cut to remain at the club, neither would Roma be able to match his current salary. Le boss has said today that he will be meeting with the player's agents next Thursday; he wants Gallas to stay at the club and thinks that Gallas want to stay with us. It is to be hoped that that confidence is not misplaced.

Speaking of which, Thomas Vermaelen is "convinced" Arsenal can win the Champions League. Now, before people rush to judge such arrogance in the player, they should heed his next words, which were; "...Otherwise I wouldn't be stood here. You have to stay focused in every game and be confident in every game."

In other words then, what's the point of being in the competition if you don't believe you're going to win it? Such questions must haunt Tottenham Hotspur on the eve of each Premier League season. Anyway, the field is becoming narrower by the week, with Bayern Munich, Manchester United and conquerors of Real Madrid, Lyon taking four of the eight quarter final spots. Ah yes, Real Madrid.

Cesc spoke earlier this week, at a time when perhaps the majority of football watchers were far more confident of Real Madrid's presence in the last eight than of Arsenal's, of his dream of playing Real in the Champions League final with Arsenal. Obviously, he'll have to wait at least another season now. Madrid's exit, though, shows the perils of; a) taking an opponent too lightly, b) failing to score away from home, which is something we know all about after last year's exit and, c) spending money like it's going out of fashion without a coherent strategy.

And a coherent strategy is something it is now becoming apparent Arsenal, to the surprise of everyone, do actually have. Whilst football clubs are being driven up the wall in pursuit of glory, the impressive financial results released a couple of weeks back are beginning to be matched by performances on the pitch. Tony Adams may say, and be right to say, that this Arsenal team is too attack minded, that it should be tighter. But what it does have is a vast array of attacking talent. I alluded to it yesterday, Cesc injured? No problem, let Samir Nasri take over. Likewise, behind the centre forward, Arsène can select any one of Arshavin, Rosicky, Walcott and Vela. Not to mention Eduardo and Merida.

So the upcoming trip to Hull should hold little fear for the Arsenal. Jesus (copyright Up For Grabs Now podcast) may, need a miracle to take part in the match, with Arsène saying, "His chances of playing are 0.5% - that means unless a miracle happens, he will not play. At the moment, Cesc is out of Saturday's game," I think we can, if you'll pardon the expression, take that last sentence as Gospel. I certainly don't expect to see Cesc on Saturday. But that just means Nasri will continue there, doesn't it? There are also doubts over the participation of Rosicky, Sagna and Campbell. Although Rosicky's absence would surely be covered by the return of Walcott, with the increasingly impressive Eboue stepping into Sagna's shoes. As for Sol, well Sol looks "better than expected" so perhaps Mikael Silvestre will be nailed to the bench for just a little while longer yet. Of course Alex Song will be missing as he completes his domestic suspension, but I am reasonably confident Denilson will be able to do a team job on Saturday evening.

I'm sure there will be more to say on this tomorrow.

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