Captain Rambo

The place to start this evening, the only possible place, is with Gary Speed's announcement yesterday afternoon that Aaron Ramsey will lead Wales out when they take on England in the Millenium Stadium tomorrow afternoon. I'm not sure if that says more about the state of Welsh football than it does our Aaron's qualities, but it is impossible to be anything other than delighted for him after the year of Shawcross inflicted hell he has gone through. I don't know whether Ramsey's on pitch performances since returning from an injury justify being made captain of his country, but it must be one hell of a boost- perhaps the kind of boost he needs to kick on and reestablish himself in the Arsenal first team. Ramsey has said himself that he's "over the moon". He has also said he won't be screaming or shouting, he is going to be another one who leads by example.

Intriguingly, he will of course be going into battle against another young Arsenal tyro and the man who ("the man"- heh!) has usurped him as the third man in Arsenal's midfield three of Cesc, Song and... I've told you before that international football holds little interest for me, but I'd be lying if I told you that the prospect of Ramsey and Jack Wilshere going mano a mano didn't excite me immensely, or simultaneously scare me. The thought of our Aaron shaking hands with ENGLAND'S BRAVE John Terry has me reaching back into my father's ancestral history for the Welsh great-great grandfather I know exists somewhere. I'm not making that up, I promise.

In other news this week, we span the wheel and; over, not over, over, not over, not over, not over.. Johan Djourou's season is, it turns out, not over. Which is a right result, I think you'll agree. Ok, so he may only return to training in a month's time. But that does mean he has a chance of being avaliable for what could well turn out to be the mother of all Arsenal- Manchester United fixtures on the May bank holiday weekend. There is, I admit, the distinct possibility that the continued presence of Squiscielny (©Arseblog) backed up by the peazzo (© me) in goal will render this fixture totally irrelevant. But as I told you last week, whilst there is still a chance of winning the league, I'm staying positive. Of course, we may also have the big Chezzer back between the sticks by the time JD returns, so there is- whilst some of you refuse to have it- still reason to be cheerful as we look forward to April.

One of the things that I like about Robin van Persie, aside from his propensity to score miracle goals and all round total Goonerness, is that characteristically Dutch thing he has of calling a plank a plank. He's been at it again and, in this case, correctly calling Barcelona- and Chelsea a bunch of crying, moaning, cheating, babies. Really.

God bless him for this, he said,

"The Barca players were always complaining and moaning and that's something I dislike about them.

"In England, Chelsea players do the same. Barca are a great team but they don't have to exaggerate their continuous moaning, otherwise it becomes very irritating on the pitch."

Which I'm sure will have fans of those teams crying sour grapes- as if we didn't smash Chelsea all over the Grove the last time we played them, but is a fairly accurate summation of the behaviour of the Barca players, not just this season but last and as for Chelsea... well, we all know what they're like. Robin reiterated his commitment to the Gooner cause, completely dismissing any suggestion of a move. And all the cynical, disaffected Gooners said, "Damn right Robin! You owe us a season, just one, before you go". I just think no footballer wants to be injured and frustrating as it is to see Robin trip over a blade of grass and miss three months as a result, the joy he gets from playing for us (when fit) and the joy I get from watching him has to count for something.

It's refreshing to hear Robin, as one of the club's longest servants, talk about how the team hasn't quite been good enough to win things, refreshing too to hear him talk of his frustration at this situation. I began this section talking about Robin's honesty, so I don't for one minute think this is just some footballer paying lip service to what he thinks we want to hear. I think this is a super talented footballer who wants to win things and he wants to win them here. And that has to be good news for us.

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