By Myles Palmer
FRANNY JEFFERS will be buzzing after scoring on his England debut.
And what a goal!
8 out of 10 Premiership strikers would have missed that header.The other two wouldn’t have got there.
OK, it was a great cross by Jenas.
But a running header, by a player sprinting at pace, when he was already beyond the near post, required perfect contact with his forehead to glance that ball across the keeper and into the net.
Arsenal rarely score that kind of goal.
And that’s a shame because that move, properly executed, is one which cannot be defended.
If the striker anticipates and gets a couple of yards ahead of the defender, the defender has no chance of reaching the ball.
Arsene has had a change of heart about Jeffers.Which must mean that Jeffers has shown him something new off the pitch, a different attitude perhaps, a change of lifestyle maybe.
Otherwise the manager would not have said the things he has said in the past few weeks.
Sir Alex Ferguson, seeing an Arsenal player score the kind of goal that Man United love to score, will be wondering whether Jeffers might start this FA Cup clash.
If Jeffers comes on, his movement makes a game look different.
He will be super-confident. He will expect to score.
I reckon Arsenal will draw.Or even win.
Sadly, the Man United game has come a bit too soon for Freddie.
He may be OK for Tuesday night against Ajax.
The Swede’s return, his rehab schedule, has been tailored to February 18th, I’d wager.
February 14th 2003.
PS
STOP PRESS
Arsene has said today that Freddie will not be ready for Ajax.That makes Jeffers even more important.