Almunia's plain zero

Ooh, it's a right old mixed bag this afternoon. Oh yes. To begin with, we have what is probably the most popular part of the "Arsenalisation" process to date; the renaming of the quadrants and the return of the North Bank, Clock End, East and West Stands. I say that this is probably the most popular part of "Arsenalisation" and you might disagree with me. But I think that, as magnificent as the murals around the stadium, or the Highbury team photo, look bringing back the evocative Highbury stand names is a move that may really engender a feeling of the new stadium being home. For me, it's a similar process to putting up your old posters and photographs in a new home, you do everything you can to make a new place feel homely. One can only wonder why this has only been considered relatively recently.

Of course there is also a new clock to go with the Clock End and the move away from the colour coded quadrants will be in effect from the first home match of the Premier League season, which is Blackpool- welcome to the Premier League! The clock will also be unveilled before that match. So there's a couple of additions to the stadium experience to look forward to. If, however, a crucial part of your World Cup experience was the drone of the vuvuzela, then you're going to be disappointed as Arsène Wenger has said that he doesn't want to even hear one in the N5 postcode.

Oh, I know the club are wrapping this in a "supporter safety" cloak, but Arsène made it fairly clear what he thinks of these instruments during the World Cup, so the idea of allowing them in the house that Arsène built defies belief. Not that I blame him. I mean, they're alright for a while and they kind of blended into the scenery whilst watching on the television, but the idea of having to listen to some berk mindlessly buzzing away in your ear for two hours? Nah, not at our silent cathedral.

In first team squad news, well, it's hardly news, but Arsène has said that he expects Gallas and Silvestre to sign elsewhere and, accordingly, they have been removed from the first team squad pages on Arse.com. Sol Campbell's lovely smile is still there though, which gives me hope that the big man may yet re-sign for the club. I know how some of you feel about him, but really, if the choice is between Campbell and nobody, what would you rather have? There has been talk of Harvard Nordveit- who hasn't been at Arsenal since signing for us as a 17 year old three years ago- joining the first team squad and this seems to be backed up by the fact that he has travelled to Austria with the majority of the squad. But even so, his inclusion in the squad still leaves us with 3 out of 4 centre backs totally unproven across a Premier League season. And I say that as a confirmed believer in Johan Djourou.

Roger Chesney, as the Brentford fans affectionately called him last season, has returned from the his loan at the west London club ready to claim his rightful spot as the Arsenal number one. At least, he reckons he's ready. Talking to Arse.com, he said,

"I don't want to give up my place at Arsenal to go on loan. I went on loan last year, I have proved that I can do a job for Arsenal and now I want to see if I can really do it.

As the Arseblogger says, proving it at Brentford is one thing, Arsenal is another thing altogether. In fairness, I think what he's really getting at is that having earned rave reviews throughout most of a season where the two goalkeepers that turned out in Arsenal shirts weren't so much goalkeepers as total incompetents, he deserves to be given a chance. He says as much here, without having the luxury of calling his competitors "incompetent" of course,

"If I get a chance to prove myself as an Arsenal No 1 then I will take my chances but I just want to get as many chances as I can and show everyone what I am made of."

And who can argue with that? Someone else looking for a chance to show what he can do is Jack Wilshere. Looking towards the Emirates Cup and the opportunity to nail down a place in the first team squad, he says,

"A good performance at the Emirates Cup can help put you in the manager's mind.

"It's a chance to show what you can do against some of the best clubs. It's good for the younger players too. They can make an impact in front of the manager

On the day of the Emirates Cup that I watched from a corporate box last year, we beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 thanks to a late Arshavin double (on reflection a real foretaste of our attacking potential and defensive fallibility) but Jack Wilshere was the star of the show. Watching on the telly the next day, he repeated the trick. Doing enough to win both man of the match awards, although Arshavin was awarded the tournament award- is this the right way around? Then he got a few games here and there before being farmed out to Bolton for a few months. So it perhaps didn't put him in the manager's mind for the season gone. But, with a year's development behind him, the Bolton players nodding approvingly at his toughness, I think he has a real chance to establish himself this year. And perhaps that is why, rather than throw money greedy accusations Joe Cole's way, we can look at the talent we have and think "Yeah, he would have been nice to have, but did we really need him?"

What kind of signal does it send to Wilshere when he already has a raft of attacking talent to fight his way through to put another obstacle in his way just as he's on the brink of the breakthrough? The great thing about Wilshere's position in the squad is that talent around him, we're not reliant on him so he can grow without pressure. Well, without any pressure except that routinely put on a young, English talent at Arsenal.

Finally for today, Robin van Persie has vacated the number 11 shirt to take the number 10 many around the club feel should have been his, oooh, like 4 years ago when Dennis retired. He, of course vacates the number 11, which has promptly been snapped up by Carlos Vela, also moving one number down. It seems that, in moving one number down, both players might now have numbers that reflect their true worth to the team. One other person who might like to consider such a move would be the Waiter, I think a zero on his back would be rather apt.

Don't you?

Just a reminder that you can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rockthecasbah77

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