I'm so happy!! Not just about finally signing Squillaci but just to have something to write about. It's been odd the lack of proper news whether real or created. And all in one day, we get news of our new defender, Wenger's press conference, and we had the Champions League draw. Where to begin?
How about with Sebastian who I am sure will soon come to be known as Squid Man or something equally catchy. Big Z comes up with some good ones, so we'll wait and see. What can I say about him that has not been said all week? I'll let Le Boss do the talking:
"He is a real defender and is good in the one against one, good in the air, and can score goals on set-pieces as well.
"I believe he will be suited to the English game.
Sounds good to me. He's 30 and has Champions League experience, so that's another plus in his favor. What I'm wondering now is - of course- Where. Is. The. New. Goalie???
Onto the Champions League Draw held today in Monaco and we are in Group H along with Dudu's new team and last year's champions of the Ukrainian league Shakhtar Donetsk. Also in the group are Sporting Braga from Portugal and Partizan Belgrade from the Serbian League. Braga came in second place last season in the Portugese League and Belgrade were champions of their league which is a feat considering they haven't qualified for the CL in seven years even though they were national champions the last three years running. So does that mean they suddenly got a burst of talent and desire last year, or did they then bomb out in the early qualifications rounds? Either way, the fact that they won their league last year after having a dry spell is disturbingly surreal. They could be at the same place developmentally as Arsenal - or even a year ahead. Of course, it is the Serbian League after all. I just jinxed it there, didn't I? Overall, I'd say we got the second easiest draw (see, I did it again - JINX) with some travel involved.
Our first match is against Braga on September 15th at the Emirates following the Saturday match against Bolton. Hopefully no one will be injured from clashing with the Wanderers. We then play Sunderland away, West Brom at home before flying off to Serbia on the 28th. I don't like what happens next. After the longest leg of travel (if I'm looking at my map correctly), we then play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on the following Sunday. I hope we have a lot of momentum coming out of the Belgrade match to give us some extra energy. But then we have a whole week off before playing again. Oh did I mention there's a Carling Cup match stuck between Sunderland and WBA as well? To be frank, the Carling Cup still confuses me as I'm not sure what stage we start playing in. By that time, the CC is in its third round so I guess that may include us. Anyway, after September 11th, there's not much time to catch one's breath. That's a lot of football. Love it.
Wenger's press conference also informed us that Denilson is back in the squad and that Bendnter is expected back at the end of September when he'll have to do battle with Chamakh for his spot I'm sure. Nasri is going to "battle" to beat Nick into the squad as he's healing quite quickly.
That's it for now. Hopefully, we'll have news on a new goalie soon. I don't know if I can take all the new signings. Three in one summer? Come on Schwarzer (there goes my pinkie again...painful spasm) sign already! Until tomorrow...
P.S. (Did anyone else laugh when they saw that the Spuds drew Inter Milan in their group? Lovely).
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