What's on at the Sol?

I didn't miss it by much then, did I? I'm referring, of course, to Arsenal announcing the signing of Laurent Koscielny as rush hour began in north London on Wednesday evening. Our new number 6 trotted out the kind of spiel you'd expect from a new signing; the appeal of working under Arsène Wenger and with so many other French lads an obvious attraction. In fact, Arsenal's magnetic force is so strong that Laurent told the official website,

"The decision was quickly taken - I took the decision the day after hearing about their interest in me."

If only all footballers could be as decisive.

It's already been mentioned that, as with Vermaelen and van Persie, our new signing has history with a player already at the club having been sent off for a tackle on Marouane Chamakh last season. That'll give them something to have a giggle about in training, before Koscielny gets on with the job of filling some pretty massive shoes. No, not those of Phil Senderos, but the ones belonging to Tony Adams; his 20 years of defensive excellence casts a long shadow around these here parts.

As I travelled back from football last night (we won 4-2), rumours were flying around t'interweb, well Twitter, that one of the guys who filled his shoes so capably before going mental and disappearing to the south coast only to return in the very twilight of his career to great effect was about to do one again. I refer, natch, to Sol Campbell. Apparently he was supposed to be having a medical at Sunderland- ah, but what about his wedding? I hear you cry. You may well ask, I don't know the answer. In truth, having not seen anything else about it today, I'm taking the line that someone clicked onto their website, saw a caption saying "What's on at the Sol?" and put two and two together. Having clicked on that caption, though, I'm still none the wiser about what the "Sol" even is.

Sadly, the writing does appear to be on the wall for Campbell's second coming. Though, I guess the positive out of this is that a second centre back must certainly be on the way. And not one, great though he has been, in the autumn of a truly impressive career. Arsène is not mad enough to begin the coming season with only three centre backs. I keep saying this, don't I? Seriously though, Arsène has said (in an official website, not a made up Kenyan interview, kinda way) that another defensive signing is to be expected.

Whilst A Cultured Left Foot is right to suggest that this covers round about everywhere from he who concedes lots of goals to Alex Song's position in the team, centre back is the one area that is seriously depleted. As we know, sometimes having 5 centre backs in your squad isn't enough- so I think it's reasonable to assume we will be seeing a centre back arrive. Preferably a 7 ft tall monster with the defensive strength of Tony Adams and the ball playing skills of Franz Beckenbauer. What do you mean that person doesn't exist?

Just on that "interview", it was weird, wasn't it? I've been living in hope of Arsène saying something like that about Almunia in the last couple of years- though a synapse in my brain is flashing that perhaps he did say exactly what was reported, albeit about 5 years ago. Imagine my despair when Arse.com denied the veracity of the quotes and said that no "one to one" interview took place. Hey ho, I live in hope.

I've made it this far and not mentioned the World Cup Final. I was in a weird position on Wednesday night, having predicted a Holland Spain final pre tournament, I wanted it to happen. But I sat there, hoping for a Germany win. I've really gone off Spain, can't think why... It never looked on, did it? Spain were masterful and much of their display reminded me of Barcelona's opening 20 minutes against us at the Grove. I fear for my pre tournament pick now, but I have hope that in Sneijder, Robben and RvP, the Dutch have enough about them to get at Spain a bit more than the Germans managed.

Right, a weekend of celebrating my grandfather's 90th birthday beckons. Enjoy the game on Sunday, it should be a cracker.

User Comments

User Comments

• Got something to say?
• Read comments

Vs chelsea