Dads know best, Pires has his say, Nasri to stay?

“Hit the ground running, don’t stop running and run faster than anyone else. If you do that, you’ll always win.” Advice my Dad gave me for life. It works for anything as well, like Arsenal. There a lot of malcontent at the moment because, to put it simply Arsenal haven’t followed my Dad’s advice. They haven’t gone out and spent millions and millions. The loss of Cesc Fabregas hasn’t been compensated for. We’ve had an… underwhelming start to the season. Why wouldn’t you be disappointed.

Those who have read my blog will know that I’m hardly the most pessimistic of Gooners. Talking up the likes of Rosicky and Fabianski when the likes of Le Groan want them sold. The fact is that I’m still optimistic, despite the bad things happening. Look at our injury list. It’s massive! Added to that, Song and Gervinho’s suspensions, as well as Frimpong’s new one. Jenkinson picked up a knock as well and obviously Koscielny’s back spasm is a problem as well. I think he had the same problem last season and was out for two weeks.

Never mind that though, let’s get back to the positives, like our 2-0 loss to Liverpool… Oh. Right. In all seriousness I took quite a few positives from the match, the performances of all three debutants were quite good, barring Frimpong’s needless sending off and Miquel’s unlucky role in the own goal. For what it’s worth, I was pleased with the defence for the most part. There were elements of offside about both goals (I believe) and obviously the first was hilariously unlucky. Hilarious because I watched and laughed thinking, ‘Why does this only ever happen to us?’. Obviously, Ramsey should have stuck with his man but he’s playing a bit of an un-natural position at the moment. The sooner Wilshere comes back, which could be in midweek, the better in my opinion. If you haven’t already done so then you can check out all kinds of highlights and post-match reaction.

A funny thing. Robert Pires has been talking about how Arsene Wenger has to buy if we’re to be successful. I don’t think anyone would disagree with that, not even Wenger. It’s funny. I remember Pires scoring a peach against Villa, knocking the ball over Boateng, gets past him, knocks the ball over the ‘keeper one-on-one. In fact, here it is. Listen to Andy Gray afterwards, “You don’t buy those. They don’t come in packets.” Sometimes we can be quick to forget. Yesterday Jenkinson, Frimpong and Miquel all made their home-debuts and didn’t look particularly out-of-place. Last season, Szczesny and Wilshere became regular fixtures in the team-sheet. The fact remains that spending money isn’t the only way to get top players, nor does it guarantee success (Reyes and Shevchenko are cases in point).  Not to forget, it is a lot harder to convince top players to join when you’re still in qualifiers for the Champions League. Truth be told, I would be surprised if Wenger didn’t pull a bunny out of  the hat between now and the close of the transfer window. I just think he’s up to something. Here’s hoping anyway.

In other news then, it looks like Samir Nasri could well be staying after all with talks with City apparently stalling. Admittedly, he’s a top player. No doubt about that, I would much rather see him out wide though. Having said that, Roberto Mancini came out the and said, “If he plays on Wednesday, we no buy”, or something along those lines. What a tosser. I’m sorry, but what is he on about? Since when do managers select the team for another club? Nasri is our player. If he doesn’t want to buy him because he’s cup tied then that’s fine, but don’t go all public about it! Penis.

Something interesting to note, Miquel was on the bench for the Liverpool match. There were some reports that Squillaci had been injured, but reports in France suggest that the experienced Frenchman is no longer in Arsene Wenger’s plans for the season. It could be that he’s losing his place to younger players like Ignasi Miquel. Speaking of Miquel, he spoke after the Liverpool match of the importance of being positive and looking forward. Carl Jenkinson has been talking about the important part that youngsters could play this season and how important it is that they step it up if we’re to challenge for silverware.

In other news, UEFA have given Arsene Wenger a two-match suspension because he sat next to someone with a phone. I’ve already given my thoughts on this matter. The club is set to appeal as well. Expect another seventeen matches added to the ban because of that. A bit of team news floating around the inter-web then, Song and Gervinho are obviously eligible because there’s no Joey Barton in Europe, while Jack Wilshere and Johan Djourou have a chance of returning. Sebastian Squillaci has an ‘injury’. We’ll see tomorrow I suppose in more detail.

One other thing, Radio 4 did this kind of ‘profile’ of Arsene Wenger. Anyway, it’s on iPlayer so give it a listen. I’m not sure about licensing so it may not work for people outside of the UK, I’ve got no idea I’m afraid.

Righto then, that’s pretty much it for today. There’s all kind of talk of M’Vila and Hazard. A loan offer for Kaka which seems unlikely. Affelay for 8m euros could interest Arsenal as well, not to mention the talk of Mauro Zarate is still ongoing. We’ll have to wait and see. [How many times have I said that during this transfer window?!!?!?]

If you don’t already then be sure to follow me on twitter @SavageGooner. Be sure to let me know, either on twitter or the comments section below, who you think we will sign.

Victoria Concordia Crescit – Victory Comes Through Harmony