Manuel's thinking about the future

Picking up the Evening Standard after work last night, I came across the main Arsenal news of the day. No, not the match report of Arsenal's last minute point saver at Anfield, but Manuel Almunia giving voice to his current plight in the face of what has become one of the worst kept secrets in football, Arsenal's search for a new number one. He says that if that search is successful, he will have to "talk about (his) future". He says,

"I have to work and if one day I am not good for Arsenal, I will talk. That is no problem. I am very happy here."

I would respectfully suggest that the day Manuel became "not good" for Arsenal has long since passed and it is only the continuing ineptitude of Lukasz Fabianski that gave Almunia his Anfield reprieve. Listen, I don't have anything against the guy, I'm sure he's a lovely fella. I'll always remember the interview he gave after his penalty saving heroics at Sheffield United, which made me feel all warm and tingly aside. I would even go so far as to suggest he's one of the best keepers at saving a penalty I've ever seen. It's just that he seems so abject at everything else. He said other stuff as well, and if the day comes when he leaves Arsenal it seems that he won't be looking to stay in England, or returning to Spain- so I'll wish him well for the rest of his career.

That day, according to various newspapers this morning may be coming very soon indeed. The Telegraph and the Mirror are just two newspapers reporting that Arsenal are set to up their bid for Fulham's Mark Schwarzer- though how the Aussie would fit into a dressing room where the predominant language is, according to Paul Merson, French is anyone's guess. Do Arsenal run a language lab out of the training complex? That'd be something, wouldn't it? I'd pay to see the lads taking French lessons, I think. I digress. The key to this deal appears to be the possibility of Fulham signing Shay Given from Manchester City on loan. Unless that happens, I would suggest the Spaniard is safe for another season.

Someone else not quite covering themselves in glory on Sunday was our teenage protege, Jack Wilshere. I wouldn't go so far as to say he had a stinker, but nor would I suggest as Arse.com did, that he didn't look out of place against the likes of Steven Gerrard. Well, I suppose you could say that he did, but only in terms of his poor tackling. Arsène has given his backing to Jack but highlighted the difficulty of integrating a player, even an "exceptional" one into a team challenging for the title at a tender age. he said,

"... you [reporters] ask me if I want to win the title and yet you want as well an 18-year-old player to play in the team.

"It is not contradictory because Jack is an exceptional talent but you have to combine both experience and potential to win the league".

I think it's safe to assume we'll be seeing more of Wilshere as the season progresses. Ideally, I'd like to see him given at least a substitute role on Saturday- I'm sure he will be- because I'm not sure how beneficial it is to start one week and then not get any game time at all in the next one. I'd also like to think Blackpool at home would be easier than Liverpool away!

Speaking of the Blackpool game, it seems that- far from being a medium term injury- Johan Djourou is in training and therefore in contention to take his place at the heart of our defence on Saturday afternoon. Now, as you know, I rate Djourou but this comeback seems a little Lazarus like to me. So whilst I'm hopeful of seeing him on Saturday, a selection that would allow Alex Song to resume his normal beat in front of the defence, I'm not counting any chickens just yet. I am crossing my fingers though.

It seems Jay Simpson is set to join that club that really, really got up our nose during their two year stay in the Premier League. I wonder if we'll look back at our contretemps with Hull City and wonder how we ever sank so low. But I wish Jay well. For personal reasons I'd like to have seen him at QPR, but as Mick Jagger once sang, you can't always get what you want.

How many times have we felt like that over the last few years?

You can follow more of my ramblings on life, love, death and the Arsenal on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rockthecasbah77

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