How can a suggestion from Ian Wright’s radio show suddenly become accepted fact? When the engine behind the story is the Sun.
Talk of the morning is all about Vieira’s impending return to the Arsenal. As much as I loathe The Sun, you must admit they are very good at what they do. Ian Wright yesterday suggestion that it might be a good idea to get Vieira in, is picked up by the paper he works for, and now is being discussed all over the land.
Vieira is an Arsenal legend, but what purpose would it serve to bring him back? None whatsoever, this is just not true, the story is made up, yes he brings experience to the table but how is it going to be used when he’s stuck on the bench?
Since leaving Arsenal Vieira has been plagued by injuries, he’s won trophies in that time, but honestly, how much did he contribute to winning those titles? Anyone who really thinks about it will conclude that there is no way in hell that Vieira will be back playing at Arsenal. absolutely impossible.
Toure finally signed for City yesterday. There’s not much I have to say on this, the day we signed Thomas Vermaelen it was always thought that one of Toure and Gallas would have to leave. It must have been a close decision, but the correct one.
Toure has not been the same since that semi-final loss to Egypt in the ACN. The one where he was all over the place in Côte d’Ivoire’s defence and on one occasion completely bamboozled by Amir Zaki. He returned from that tournament injured, then suffered a bout of malaria in the summer, and put on some weight while recovering.
Toure’s form improved in 2009, but still short of his pre ACN level and knowing how much credence Wenger gives to stats and numbers, it’s no surprise then that Toure was moved on to Citeh. As far as the boss is concerned Toure had gone past the point of optimum performance, and £14m – £16m was just too good an offer to turn down.
Fans are split over this deal, all recognising that this was a good piece of business but divided over how much it hurts the team. As long as the funds from the sale of Toure and Adebayor is used well then the sales will be viewed as good for the club, however it is of no use to keep the money unspent. We should remember that there is still a month left to go in the transfer window, a lot of time for deals to be made.
Finally, it seems that we might have seen the last of Eboue. This is strictly based on the behaviour of the player after last night’s game against Hanover. Throwing gear into the crowd and waving goodbye can be construed as a sign that one is leaving, then again this could simply be Eboue playing up to the crowd, we all know how much of a joker the guy can be.
If Eboue were to leave could this be the end of an era for African players at the club? Has Wenger concluded that the loss of players during the ACN is too detrimental to the team’s progress? Whatever it is, I will miss Eboue almost as much as I’ll miss Toure, teams need to have characters and there is no doubt that Eboue is a character, love him or loathe him.
Will Arsenal challenge for the title this season as Wenger insists? Emphatically yes, I don’t think we will win the title but it will be close. United has lost Tevez and Ronaldo replaced by Owen and Valencia, Liverpool lost Arbeloa(spelling?) and Alonso (possibly), Chelsea on the other hand has bought Zhirkov a wonderful left back/winger and not lost anyone, we’ve lost Toure and Adebayor and brought in Vermaelen.
Chelsea looks to be the team to beat, Liverpool and Manchester United will suffer much more than us. Arsenal will come a close second, but will that be good enough? We’ll see.
