Brede and butter: Hangeland in our sights
Stop the press: Tomas Rosicky is injured.
After first being mentioned on sites without much reputation for truth-telling (and not many sites went with the story), it was eventually confirmed by Arsenal FC that the Czech international had picked up a hamstring injury ruling him out for the next 6 weeks.
Yet while it is incredibly frustrating for the fans and much, much more so for the man himself (he’s in the football equivalent of ‘developmental hell’), it is not entirely unexpected.
Having had such a big lay-off from very complicated injuries, hamstring complaints are almost guaranteed to follow an athlete around in his recovery.
You may recall that the exact same thing happened to Eduardo upon his brief return last season after the Roma penalty shoot-out, which ruled him out for the rest of the season.
Wenger has come out saying the injury is ‘not a major problem’ and when things are put into perspective, six weeks is not that bad – competing for his place in attacking midfield are Andrey Arshavin, Theo Walcott, Jack Wilshere and even Nacer Barazite. Both Eboue and Diaby can fill in too, while Samir Nasri has five weeks of recovery before his return to action.
So while we are a little short for the first month of Premier League action, we should be fine assuming we don’t hit that wall of injuries we always seem to come across.
(Just looking at that picture above, though, really, really shows you how frustrating it is to have injuries deny Arsenal of potentially awesome attacking trios. One can weep).
Scuffle for Hangeland
I have a confession to make: as cliched as this rumour has become, I really, really want us to sign Hangeland.
This isn’t a Cana or a Huntelaar rumour where we all slice ourselves open with Youtube abandon – Hangeland was a collossus for Fulham last season and would be the perfect replacement for Senderos.
Sure, he doesn’t have the years on his side that Senderos does, but as much potential as the Swiss has, Hangeland is an outright more dominant, mentally-strong defender who has a full season of Premier League experience to show off.
Which is exactly why Roy Hodgson, one of the much more respectable managers out there (suitably matched to Fulham who I will respect greatly as a club), is so desperate to hold on to the Norwegian. The Fulham boss says no contact has been made from our side yet, which given the merry dance that is involved in keeping transfers a secret, makes me believe what Hodgson says.
While none of us can honestly say what Wenger’s targets actually are (though a midfielder, controversially, may not be one of them), I would hope that should Senderos end up sold to Everton, Hangeland is the one to beef up the Swiss’ vacancy.
Vieira oh woah
The Vieira rumour has been going around now and I really haven’t voiced my opinion too much other than the odd rambling on Twitter.
In theory, I think Vieira would really lift our club from a fan’s perspective, but also on the training pitch and occasionally on match day on the pitch. His experience would be an awesome thing to endow to the likes of Alex Song and even Francis Coquelin, while he would be great muscle to put in against smaller teams away from home.
Of course, Wenger has said that no moves have been made towards his signing – but you would think that if it were to happen, it would be easy enough to sort out. Vieira will not be expensive and would literally jump at the chance of signing for his old club. Sensational if it happens.
Champions League draw
At 12:30 UK time, there’s the small matter of the play-off draw determining Arsenal’s fate in the Champions League. Win a two-legged tie, we’re through to the group stages; lose, and we’re in the ignominy of the Europa Cup. Wenger has said we don’t have to worry about missing out from a finances perspective, but I’d rather not even contemplate not qualifying, thank you.
Due to seeding reasons, the only teams we can actually face are Fiorentina, Athletico Madrid, Anderlecht, Celtic and Timosaura (a Romanian mix of a Dinosaur and a Tiramisu, apologies to Goonerholic).
I’ll be live-tweeting the draw, so make sure to get back here at 12:30 GMT – the twitter feed will be up in the side bar, but there is also a new post you can catch on the NewsNow feed coming your way soon. UPDATE: Arsenal have drawn Celtic away for the first leg with a return leg in the second. I’ll take that with arms wide open, thank you.
In some site updates, the Match Reports section has been updated with each fixture linking (in future) to the corresponding report written by yours truly. Also, oggle at the pretty graphics on the sidebar with the Valencia match coming up – all ‘new’ design elements harking back to the very, very early days of Third-Gen.
I’m all a-tingle with sentiment. Don’t forget, live Twitter updates for the Champions League play-off draw! See you then.
Filed under: Arsenal, Blogging, Champions League, English Premier League, Transfer Rumours
Tiramisu FC is the last club I want. I really would hate a trip to Romania this early in the season. The Belgians would be my idea draw followed by Fiorentina, Tiramisu, Celtic and last Atletico.
So I realize i completely contradicted myself by saying Tiramisu last and then placing them third. You get what I mean though. A trip to Romania would suck.
I personally would love Anderlecht – there’s a lot of history in the Arsenal/Anderlecht fixture and would bring back a lot of memories for the older Gooners out there.
It’s Celtic, everyone.
I’m actually quite excited about the Celtic draw. Two historic titans of football who’ve never met. England against Scotland. The Bhoys against the Gunners. Should be one hell of a playoff.
The key thing, I think is that we got the second leg at home. Much like the Villareal battle last season, we got the late goal from Ade (yes, it was brilliant…), but it was an away match where we really struggled. But once on home turf, we destroyed Villareal and sent them packing. I can see a similar scenario developing with Celtic – tough away match (but one I think we really ought to win) – and then the closing do at the Emirates. It works very much to our favor.
On Hangeland, I agree, jammathon. It’s a tet-e-tete right now, but I think Arsene comes in hard for the Norwegian big man and makes a solid bid for Hangeland. Hodgeson has all but admitted that, while he desperately wants to keep Hangeland, it will be awfully tough if Arsenal come calling. One of the things Hangeland mentioned in the spring, when tied to Arsenal, was that he and his family were settled in London and he really didn’t want to move. If he comes to Arsenal he might have a bit longer to drive every day to training, but there’s no reason for him and his family to up roots just to be in Islington. I think we get him.
I’m keeping positive thoughts for Tomas. He’s probably going to be a bit touch-and-go in the first half of the season, where he plays a few matches then is out for a few. But I think once January comes around and we get into the business end of things, we’ll have a Rosicky who’s put all the niggling stuff behind him and he’s be fully fit for the run in.
Would you like my job, SKAGooner? I cannot disagree with anything you’ve just written. Well put.