By Myles Palmer
Bergkamp has blossomed in Kanu’s absence and I expect him to score again today against Southampton.
He has started the last four games and scored three goals and been sent off once – it’s a bit like autumn 1997, his purple patch.
DB10 is fit, on form, super-motivated, and knocking in goals with his left foot
To an extent, Wiltord has blossomed in Ljungberg’s absence. He has been doing OK recently.
Working back to support Luzhny, playing simple passes, making diagonal runs into the box when the play is on the left side.
Like Bergkamp, Wiltord knows his place is safe at the moment. He won’t be dropped if he has one bad game.
Arsenal will field a strong side today, even without Keown, whose fibula has a hairline fracture.
Unbeaten in nine games, fired up, getting in shape for the Champions League starting again, they look in very good nick right now.
Fluent, sharp, mobile – and they are finishing well, for a change
Vieira is staying out of trouble,releasing Pires and Parlour and, sometimes, Henry, with nice early passes.
The FA charge for the Hasselbaink incident is plain silly. Hasselbaink jogged into Patrick deliberately, off the ball, to provoke him, to wind him up.
Patrick raised his arm, his forearm grazed Hasselbaink’s nose – and JFH fell on the floor!
Sheer gamesmanship !
If Vieira is charged, Hasselbaink should be charged as well.
He did not run into Patrick by accident.He knew exactly what he was doing and exactly why he was doing it.
It will be interesting to see what Marian Pahars does today, if anything.
The Latvian buzzbomb is a player I really fancied years ago, after his first two goals for Southampton.
Quick, brave, two-footed, hungry. A fine technician with plenty of bottle, almost a Baltic Claudio Lopez. My kind of player.
But I’m sure Arsenal will beat Southampton. And I’m sure they will finish the game with eleven men today.
The controversy has been insane of late. It will fizzle out now and the papers will have to write about something else.
2nd February 2002.
Did you see Del Piero on Gazzetta this morning?
Del Piero makes a mess of a one-on-one and the advancing Chievo keeper Lupatelli touches the ball, Del Piero falls over him, and a penalty is awarded.
He knows it should not be a penalty. Not in a million years. So he takes it himself and makes a backpass which Lupatelli saves.
Del Piero misses it deliberately.
No question about it. He missed that penalty deliberately. He sidefooted a tame shot which barely reached the keeper.
Later in the same game, Juve get a genuine penalty, and Del Piero blasts it past him and they win 3-1.
What a sportsman!
He’s not only a great striker, hes a great referee !.