Bang ! 1-0
Bang! 2-0.
Final score : Holland 2 Mexico 1.
Holland are more direct than Arsenal. They are willing to put the ball up for grabs. They don\’t pass the ball across the field in tiny triangles.
When Rafael van der Vaart hit a penetrating diagonal pass from the left, the ball bounced once and Robin van Persie smashed it in with his right foot.
Then the exciting Affelay hit a diagonal ball from the right and RVP volleyed it across the keeper with his left foot.
Dutch motto : hit Robin early !
Let’s play to our strengths. We know Robin can score goals and we know he’s explosive. Sure, we have craft, we can play possession football. We can play keep-ball whenever we want but let’s play keep-ball AFTER we’ve scored.
Hit Robin Bang! Persie early and he’ll score. He won\’t fiddle about. He’ll pull the trigger. Bang!Bang! You\’re dead.
HOLLAND have never won the World Cup. Can they surprise everybody this time? Maybe. They are better than France or Germany.
South Africa v Mexico is the first game in the World Cup.
If South Africa hit diagonal balls into the box they\’ll win
Affelay is a phenomenal player who could have a good World Cup and become a household name and be sold to a top club for big money.
If Arsenal had any ambition they would sign Affelay.
Three weeks ago I heard that Ajax had offered goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg to Wenger. He has replaced Edwin van der Sar as the national keeper. But Wenger turned him down. That suggested he already had a keeper lined up.
And it could be a 37-year old Australian who plays for Fulham.
Stekelenburg is 27 and would cost more than Schwarzer, who played 11 years for Middlesbrough before joining Fulham in 2008.
Past form strongly suggests that Wenger will not buy a top player until he sells Fabregas for the maximum fee.
No price has been agreed yet. It’s all been quite polite. The kid’s father still says : Let him go. George Graham says : Let him go, get the money, strengthen your team.
It’s conceivable that Wenger could agree a price in the next 15 days. But it is inconceivable that Wenger will sign players in the next 15 days who will make Fabregas change his mind.
Will the manager keep an unhappy player who wants to leave? It didn’t work with Vieira. His final season was pants.
Like me, Cesc Fabregas just can’t face another season of deja vu at Arsenal. It is too depressing.
Balague said on Revista that when Fabregas said he wanted to go, Wenger’s reply was : You can’t go now, I\’m bringing in new players. So Fabregas asked for names. He asked for names. And Wenger didn’t give him any.
Ask yourself this : Would the names Wenger has in mind have made Fabregas even keener to leave Arsenal ?