Almunia is out of it

If ever there was an accurate description of a footballer, his apparent state of mind and his place in the grand scheme of things it came today with Arsène ruling Almunia out of tomorrow afternoon's match with Fulham using those very words. A match, by the way, that the club are "confident" will go ahead despite the freezing conditions enveloping our capital city. They have, rather helpfully I thought, reminded people to "wrap up warm", as if you might be tempted to turn up bare chested tomorrow. Saying that, there were reports of a couple of Gooners who did exactly that on Tuesday, the crazies, so perhaps the club had them in mind when issuing that reminder.

Back to the Spaniard though and, in the interests of fairness, I should point out that what Arsène actually said was this,

"The team news is that we have everybody available and not Almunia who had a little setback in training yesterday and is out of it."

Clearly, well I think it's clear anyway, Arsène was specifically talking about the Fulham game tomorrow. However, given Fabianski's recent improvements and the emergence of Wojciech, I think you might as well be talking about Almunia being out of the first team picture. Incidentally, I've just finished watching a repeat of last week's episode of the Walking Dead and I think Almunia could definitely pass for one of the show's "walkers". In fact, he would be put to shame by the reflexes on display there. Out of it indeed.

Whilst the Almunia era is soon (please God) to become a best forgotten footnote in the history of our club, it could be said that a new era at the club is beginning. I think the start to the season that Samir Nasri has had to the season has stunned even people like me who always believed he had the talent, but were looking for him to express it on a consistent basis. This season Nasri has shown his undoubted brilliance repeatedly and in doing so, that mix of steel and skill so beloved of Gooners down the ages; I'm talking particularly about the likes of Rocky, Wrighty, Bergkamp and Vieira, but I'm sure the older readers amongst you have got your own names to add to that list. That was a quite a lengthy preamble, wasn't it? Just to tell you that, as expected, Nasri will be fit to take on Fulham tomorrow, yes, it probably was. Sorry people. I just think that Nasri's growing importance to the side, especially in the absence of the Fabulous one, merited it.

We now come to the chicken and the egg section of the blog. Earlier today, during his press conference I suppose, Arsène was talking up the possibilities of a van Persie/Chamakh combination. The really interesting thing about that, for me anyway, is that Arsène appears to have forgotten that he has another striker at the club, that's right there is super Nik. Now, I don't for one minute think Arsène has forgotten about him which raises in my mind the possibility that Nik is essentially persona non grata at the Grove now. Seems unlikely, doesn't it? But it would tie in to a post earlier in the week on the Goonblog stating that Arsenal were now listening to offers for the Dane. Were Nik's complaints earlier this season founded in a belief that he was being frozen out in favour of these two? Or has he been frozen out because of his complaints (if, of course, he has been frozen out)? I didn't want to make this paragraph about Nik when we have Chamakh playing well and Robin on the way back, so let's have a look at what Arsène said,

"We can play Chamakh and van Persie together. We can play Chamakh up front and van Persie behind.
 
"What is interesting is that we can play all kinds of formations with the two.
 
"I am pleased because van Persie is getting stronger every day. He had 70 minutes the other night and I am confident that if we can get him injury-free in the next three weeks he will be back to his best level."

It would certainly be good to see whether we stick with the 4-1-4-1 and play Robin on a flank behind Marouane, or whether the roles would be reversed. I think what would be better though, is the prospect of Robin being somewhere near his best in time for the Manchester United game in ten days time (my sister's birthday, by the way). It sounds like it might come a bit too soon for Robin to start it, but after something of a lost month for van Persie, we can at least look forward to some form of positive contribution from him.

Finally for tonight, a couple of dates were confirmed this afternoon. First off, the the Carling Cup semi final legs will take place in Ipswich on the 12th of January and the return on the 25th. Which is, continuing a theme, my nan's birthday. There was better news for me with the announcement that whilst our FA Cup tie at home to Leeds would be televised, it will be played at 12:45 on Saturday 8th January, rather than the 9th. As I will be at Wembley for the opening day of snooker's Wembley Masters on the 9th , I would have obviously missed a Sunday game. As it is, I can now look forward to a great weekend of sport and more importantly, the chance to go and say hello to a few of the old faces I once shared a city with.

I have an appointment with a dentist tomorrow morning so, please, don't be surprised if you don't hear from me tomorrow. Let's hope that we've got our home form back on track by the time we next speak.

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