Morning All!
It’s the one we’ve all been waiting for… it’s Arsenal vs Shaktar Donetsk… and the return of Eduardo. Not only the return of Eduardo, but the return of Cesc… and I’ve got a great feeling that it’s going to be an awesome day at the Emirates…
First, let’s hear from Arsene:
“Cesc is available. He is good and has prepared well. He had a little setback but got over the hurdle and is ready to play at full fitness. “I do not know yet whether I start him or not but he is available. It will be [determined by] whether I take a gamble or not, because he has been out for a long time. I have to make up my mind tomorrow but physically he is ready, fit and wanting to play. Theo has a toe problem. But his ankle is all right and he is in the squad. It would be difficult for me to tell you who will start because I do not know yet. But Koscielny, Vermaelen and Van Persie are all out and not available.”
It’s great news to hear that Cesc is now available – there have been a lot of rumours that the absence of Cesc was due to other reasons and of course, the timely release of words in the press regarding his desire to go to Barcelona (again) but if the truth is as Arsene has said and the Spaniard had a setback, then fair enough – personally, I think it’s a bit of both. But our captain is back and considering his lack of football, I would have him on the bench for today’s game!
Interesting to hear about Walcott’s toe injury – I hope it’s nothing serious – by the sounds of it, it sounds relatively straightforward and hopefully he will be back in the squad soon. Arsene didn’t mention Almunia in his Monday conference, so I’m not entirely sure if he’ll be back, but if he’s not, the new all improved Fabianski will surely keep his spot in the first eleven.
Fabianski
Eboue – Squillaci – Djourou – Gibbs
Wilshere – Song
Nasri – Diaby – Rosicky
Chamakh
With a bench of Szcznesy Clichy, Denilson, Arshavin, Walcott, Vela and Bendtner
Yes, even though it’s a Champions League game, I think Arshavin will surely be dropped / rested. His performance against Birmingham was abysmal and in reality there is no way in hell that he should play the next game. We’ll have to wait and see, but it will be interesting to see how Arsene reacts to the recent form of Arshavin and the recent impressive form of Rosicky.
And very exciting news… the once king of the Emirates, Eduardo is back…
When Eduardo first joined, he was simply awesome. He was such a good player, and he really could finish with aplomb. He was brought in when Thierry Henry left and at first, no one thought he would be anywhere near an adequate replacement, but over time, the player showed that he could fill that void and some of his goals were absolutely sublime…
Arsene commented on Eduardo’s return and said:
“He just had the class of an Arsenal player. It is very difficult to quantify [how good he could have been for Arsenal]. I will be happy and sad to see Eduardo. I will be happy because he was always a fantastic boy with a fantastic mentality. I will also be sad because I worked very hard to get him here and he left with the feeling that he could not completely fulfil the promise he had in the first season. That was basically down to the fact he was injured for a long time and somebody else moved in front of him.”
I’m sure he’ll get a great reception… I’ll leave you for now… and leave you with this video of Eduardo’s greatest moments…
Come on you reds… here’s for an awesome game tonight…
