Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

You kind of feel that the fantastic result achieved last Saturday afternoon deserves greater reward than to keep us exactly where we were in the league – fourth by virtue not of points or even goal difference but on goals scored. But that’s the tight spot we’re in and, unless Chelsea completely implode, it could be that tight to the end.

So the reward Arsenal get for coming back from 2:0 down to win 5:2 is the fact that it’s worthwhile pulling off the same success tomorrow. Hopefully without the 2:0 down bit!

Here’s how its stands:

Tomorrow we go away to Liverpool at lunchtime and Chelsea go to West Brom in the afternoon. Spurs host Manchester United on Sunday. So basically we’re still where we were last week. Chelsea have the easier game and we have to assume they will win. We have the tougher game that we have to win to stay on the pace.

We’re still waiting on fitness reports for Rosicky and Koscielny, with the former being the most doubtful. That could mean a second consecutive start for Yossi Benayoun. Vermaelen also took a knock against Spurs of course thanks to that crunching tackle from new England captain Scott Parker. Perhaps it made all the difference in Stuart Pearce’s eyes! But Vermaelen played 90 minutes for Belgium ob Wednesday.

Hopefully that’s a sign of his fitness rather Belgium’s misjudgement. If not we’re a little bit thin at the back again with Djourou and Squillaci unfit. I guess it would be a choice of Song or Miquel. But with no Coquelin or Frimpong, Song would be missed in midfield.

Liverpool are missing Agger through injury, so Van Persie can look forward to the tight embrace of Jamie Carragher. I’ve never understood how Carragher gets away with handling his opponents so much. They may also be missing Gerrard, but that isn’t confirmed as yet.

Should be a good game with both sides coming off the back of a success, though hopefully Liverpool’s struggle to overcome Cardiff is a good sign for us.

Probable team? Hopefully -

_______ Szczesny ______
Sagna _ Kos_ Verm _ Gibbs
________ Song ________
__ Arteta __ Benayoun __
Walcott _ RVP _ Gervinho

Come on you Gunners!

Playing over fifty games for Arsenal was probably a few too many, but how we needed him!  I think our season could have been a whole lot worse without his energy and ability in midfield.  Diaby, Denilson and Rosicky would all have played more games and they are not in Jack Wilshere’s class.  His breakthrough season has been one of the few high points.

Now commonsense has prevailed and he hasn’t been named in the England under-21 squad for the European tournament that hardly anyone will notice.

I’m not saying that the youth international system is pointless.  I think that it is probably of great value to those players who are showing great promise but are currently failing to get games or are playing in reserve or Championship games that are not testing them enough.

But for someone like Jack Wilshere, who has already broken in to a top Premier League team, played Champion’s League football and full International games, it would have been ridiculously dogmatic about youth systems to insist that he continued to play in the under-21s.

Thankfully Stuart Pearce has been forced into retreat and Jack Wilshere can get a decent break rather than be run into the ground and get injured.