So, I've put my entire life on hold thanks to those 2 games. The first leg was nothing short of exciting, the second, was a walkover. We all had our hopes up but it wasn't meant to be. Barca is still years ahead of Arsenal. The argument always will be about having our full squad on the pitch but with Arsenal, it seldom materialises.
Been playing Football Manager a lot lately, and I'm into my 2014/15 season already. I play around with editor a lot, so I know which players do good and which will flop. I don't edit the game I'm playing, I just know their stats and their potentials and find out who to sign first before money bags Man City snag them all. My bro is 2 seasons ahead of me and the city squad is phenomenal. They sign all the fantastic players. Fret not, my Arsenal is very well prepared. For starters, my scouts (Grimandi & co.) pick up all the good players for me and I've managed to get them in my squad before City moved for them.
And I have Edin Dzeko. He's so fine I'm already in love with the player. Unlike all the other big strikers i.e. 190 cm and above, he has an excellent first touch (Bendtner fails this one) and a very high technical level. Not just in FM, where his stats are generated by the game makers. Just youtube a random compilation of his and his goals are absolutely fantastic.
Just what Arsenal needs, and he has came up on Wenger's radar too. The only problem is that we have Bendtner, who is arguably the same type of player, just not as good.
This could go on really. If there were to be any positives from this loss, it would be Le Boss dipping into the transfer market in the summer. Plenty of opportunities to look at players at the WC, with the biggest downside being the hefty price tags that come along with it. If he does add more quality to the squad with better players than his current crop, then this would be the biggest positive everrrrrrrr. I am hoping it happens, because a big club like Arsenal really can't sit around without any trophies (like Liverpool) and solely keep their philosophy of grooming young talent. If you've got the talent like the ones from the Barca academy then hats off, please continue because you're actually winning things. When you've got Arsenal's academy that produces less quality players but still possess some degree of good, then we'll only be a mediocre club at best, left with looking back at the 2005 FA Cup and that's that.
Players like Nicky, Diaby, Denilson, Song, Walcott are still developing and have made remarkable improvements in recent times but are nowhere near 'world class' yet. It is wrong to expect any more from them but it's hard not to. Barca added another dimension to their play by adding a world class striker in Ibrahimovic, moving from Inter Milan for 40 million plus Eto'o going the other way. That's essentially a 60 million dollar signing. That is a real statement of intent, one that Arsenal needs, but not necessarily with the same cost. I'm all for signing quality players for less, but Arshavin at 15m being our most expensive signing says it all. I am convinced Wenger will not play beyond that for anyone but I hope things change in the summer. We desperately need special talents in the squad. More often than not, we're stripped to our bare bones with injuries.
The home grown quota kicks in next season. It'll probably dictate how transfers proceed as well. Players aged below 21 do not have to be registered, while 8 of the 25 squad numbers assigned need to be from players trained in England for 3 seasons before they turned 21. We've got a wealth of that so there'll be no worries, and there's certainly room to add more.
Currently, the lads need to keep on going for the last 5 games of the season. The Wigan game has been confirmed to be on the 18th of April, Sunday night 2030 (+8 GMT) thanks to our Champion's League exit. I really do care more about the league title but at the moment, it's still beyond us because Chelsea have to drop 4 points. When they do though, United will be there to pounce as well. Imagine if we didn't draw at St. Andrews. We would have been ahead of United and just 1 behind Chelsea. That's life, but how costly was that?
We'll only know at the end of the season.
I'll be rooting for United to go through later. They'll be the only English representatives left in the competition and also, those 2 more games could come in handy. Besides, if they meet Barca in the final, they'll probably lose anyway.
No football this weekend, but what's interesting is that Chelsea meets Aston Villa at Wembley. After that 7-1 drubbing, I think the blues will proceed to the final comfortably, either that or Villa puts up a big ass fight which severs the legs of Drogba and co.
And like I said before, I really don't care for the legs of other players anymore. We've got 3 broken legs in 4 years and it's high time the numbshites of the lesser teams broke the legs of other teams so that the world would actually respond to stamp it out, because clearly, it's ok for Arsenal legs to be broken since nothing has been done. Not only has nothing been done, but people have came out in support of the perpetrator. So yeah, Shawcross can add to his collection of broken legs.
Going to enjoy this weekend of no football. It's one of my bestie's birthday anyway, so it's perfect. This past week has been nothing short of intense - late goals, late comebacks(2-0 down to 2-2), raised hopes (bendtner goal) that were taken away (by messi) and the ultimate demolition of my team (by messi again).
I need a breather.
P.S. I don't suppose all those out injured will come back 'like new signings'. We'll have Fabregas, Djourou, Van Persie, Song, Arshavin and Gallas. 6 new signings even before the transfer window opens! Fabregas the pick of the lot, tipped to be the signing of the season.
Labels: being pessimistic Arshavin style, I want Edin Dzeko, Nicklas Bendtner, transfer window hoo-ha
A Little Drunken Madness @ 11:59 PM
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