Players Speaking / Kroenke / Liverpool Away

October 25, 2007 on 5:37 pm | In Arsenal FC | posted by Jack |

Since this time last week when I wrote, Arsenal have picked up maximum points from their 2 games, scored 9 goals, and kept 2 clean sheets. It’s very impressive building on our already very strong start to the season. However, despite this, it still feels like Liverpool away on Sunday is our first real, big test. It’s hard to ignore the fact, that putting aside our one Champions League away game, we have gone out of London only once this season, and dropped points on that occasion. If we win on Sunday, we will start to be taken very seriously by everyone who still doubts this team, and if we lose, it will be remarkable how quickly we will change, in the media’s eyes, from being stunning to being shit.

It will be a very interesting game. It looks like Torres and Alonso will be fit for Liverpool, and several people have spoken to me about being worried about being on the receiving end of the backlash following Liverpool’s awful midweek game. Liverpool’s recent poor form doesn’t change this from being a very hard game, and with that in mind, I think I wouldn’t be too disappointed with a point. Obviously I would love the win, but a point wouldn’t be an awful result. It appears we will have no new injuries to contend with, which is good news - it is only Senderos and van Persie still out at the moment. There’s not that much more to say at this early stage about that game, but I am already feeling a little nervous. Due to the cuntish nature of Sky, the game is a 4pm kick off, and I sadly can’t do that on a Sunday, so I will be in the pub somewhere around Highbury watching.

Following our dismantling of Slavia Prague, a few players have been talking, notably the main focus of the press, Theo Walcott. On Wednesday he said:

“It’s a weight off my shoulders in a way. The last couple of games have gone well for me and it’s great to get my first goal at the Emirates. I remember playing against Reading as a striker [last season] but since the operation it’s the first game I’ve had up front and I really enjoyed it. The fans have been brilliant to me since I joined the Club. Every game the cheers are massive. It was good to get those goals for them.”

Today, he spoke of not being compared to Thierry, and being his own player:

“It was brilliant to train with him every day and take bits out of his game. But I’m my own player. People are going to compare the second goal to Thierry but it was my own goal. I just want to be my own player and get a few more goals. People are always going to compare me to Thierry - the way I run and everything - but as I keep saying I will be my own player.”

He’s a very clever lad, and is definitely doing and saying all the right things at the moment. I think comparing him to Henry is ridiculous at this stage - Theo has a huge amount of development and improvement still to come, and without wanting to sound too negative, he is nowhere near the levels Henry was at for most of his career yet. Yet is the key word - Theo has a lot of work to do, and it will be very interesting to watch his progress.

Fabregas had some kind words for Theo too:

“Amazing. The last few games he has made a difference coming on as a sub. He showed everyone what a player he is.”

Finally, van Persie spoke a little about the way the team is playing at the moment:

“I know that we can beat everyone. The present team is by far the best I’ve ever played in. Everything is about pure football. Most analysis bases quality on status but we have a good young team without status or years of experience. We’re technically tremendously good.”

Kroenke had a rare interview in which he was asked some questions about Arsenal. He failed to rule out any takeover, but on the positive side said that he sees Arsenal as a long term investment, and that he supports the board’s current lock-down agreement. I recommend watching the interview yourself here, it is quite interesting. In my view, he is clearly the lesser of two evils when compared to Usmanov. It’s good news he appears to be getting on well with the board, and working with them.

That’s your lot for today, thanks for reading. Heres to a good result in Liverpool on Sunday. Come on the Arsenal.