Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

Well Arsene started it I suppose, promising a busy summer!  Did I miss anyone out of the Sunday paper rumour fest?

The stuff in all this that is most likely for real is that a deal is there soon for Gervinho and a deal for Samba is being contemplated by Arsenal and Blackburn.  Blackburn’s Chairman reveals that Samba ‘has an ambition to play for Arsenal’ and that they might reluctantly have to go a long with it.

You can understand that reluctance when they’ve already lost Jones.  I mean, it would be like us losing Fabregas and Nasri in the same window wouldn’t it?

If these two deals (or a different central defender) do come through soon it will settle nerves around the place as a firm signal from Arsene Wenger that he really does intend more change than normal this summer.

I’m not going to write a deep analysis of how Eto’o and Barton could work well in the same team, though I suppose stranger things have happened.  Inside I’m torn between the prospect of having to think positively about Joey Barton and the images of Arsenal heads dropping against bottom-half opposition!  I’m going to lock that all away in a dark corner for now as 90% of this transfer stuff is rubbish anyway.

Perhaps the sane thing to do is ignore all the Sunday papers in June and follow the example of of Arsenal blog ‘A Cultured Left Foot’ – which today spurns transfer speculation for an appreciation of Anders Limpar.  For more recent fans, he was sort of Andrey Arshavin in an earlier life.  Anyway it’s well worth a look.

Great memories, that dreadful ‘rag-doll’ away strip.  That game against Coventry with Limpar’s hat-trick – even Perry Groves scored, but mind you the Coventry captain got Arsenal’s first with a bullet header past his own keeper!  Brian Moore (?) described it as one of Arsenal’s most spectacular goals of the season!

Have to admit there was an element of luck in there. Chamakh went down very easily, Nasri put the penalty away well. 

Wilshere played well until he made terrible lunging tackle at the end.  His red card was deserved and I’m glad no-one at Arsenal has tried to defend it.  If Arsenal are going to campaign for the beautiful game then we have to play the standards that we advocate.

Which brings us back to the penalty.  I think there is definitely contact, but you have the feeling that Chamakh has already decided to hit the deck.  Jury out, but only just!

I think that Fabianski had another good game.  He may not be the answer, long-term, who knows, but we need a keeper to get a good confident run until we can bring in better.  So far he is making a better case than he has in previous seasons.

I also thought Diaby was good, stuck to the task.  Arshavin didn’t seem to have good moves today – and when the special moments are absent he looks very ordinary.  Playing him is a matter of faith it seems to me.  Are there enough golden moments?  Did someone mention Limpar?

First impressions – enough solid performers and a bit of luck gets the points in.

What did you think?

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