By Myles Palmer
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LAST WEEK I was saying to friends that if Ashley Cole was picked at left back against Norwich, he would stay at Arsenal.
He started at left back, Arsenal beat Norwich 4-1 to go second on goal difference, and Arsene has said he wants Ashley to stay.
A manager has to say that because there are eight games left to play.
Ashley was booed at Highbury, but as Bob Dylan once said, “There’s a little bit of boo in all of us.”
Thierry Henry scored a hat-trick and now has 181 goals for Arsenal.
181 goals in such a short time is a mind-boggling total.
FREDDIE scored with a header from ten inches.
Last week’s Sky stats by Rob Bateman showed that the second most efficient finisher in the Prem was Andy Johnson with a conversion ratio of 30.50 %.
Pires was 5th with 28.60%
Henry was 8th with 21.60 % and 102 shots.
Who was the most clinical finisher in the Prem ?
Who was the most clinical with 9 goals from 24 shots?
Whose conversion ratio was 37.50% ?
FREDDIE LJUNGBERG !!!!!
Huckerby scored a great Thierry goal, a rocket shot from the left side after Pires pretended to tackle him and Ljungberg pretended to be a lamp-post.
Routine stuff, really, against a relegation outfit.
GILBERTO is back and playing like he’s never been away.
Arsene knows how to tune them up after rehab and bring them back at the right time.
The manager admitted that the Brazilian has been badly missed for the last six months.
“The positive thing is when he didn’t play, people realised how important he is and he became a more highly-rated player,” said Arsene.
“It’s not only because he protects the centre backs, it’s also because he’s good in the air and we have conceded many goals from crosses this season.
“It’s a shame as sometimes people, who have real team attitude rather that a flashy one, only get that kind of recognition when they don’t play.
“People forget that Gilberto is a world champion, but he’s a quiet guy and he doesn’t want special attention.
TRANSFERS is a tricky topic I will write about soon.
After the 11th, I’ll think about what players Arsenal might buy and should buy
GROSS MISCONDUCT by Lee Bowyer and Keiron Dyer took the headlines on Sunday.
Red cards always come when you are losing.
Newcastle were 3-0 down at home to Aston Villa with 10 men when those two muppets had a punch-up with play going on ten yards away.
Bobby Robson bought too many bad boys. I’ve said it here often enough. I was amazed when he signed Bowyer and Woodgate.
Bowyer and Dyer will miss the FA Cup semi-final between Manchester United and Newcastle on Sunday 17 April, kick-off 2pm.
The BBC has first pick and chose that game.
The Arsenal-Blackburn game will be on Sky on Saturday 16 April at 12:15pm.
CHELSEA have at last decided NOT to appeal against Uefa’s two-match touchline ban for Mourinho.
To do so would have been a PR own-goal of colossal proportions.
Did you see Jose’s interview last night? He still looks ready to throw his toys out of the pram at any moment.
Mourinho has brought fit-again Mikael Forssell back onto the bench for the visit of Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.
With Robben, Chelsea would beat Bayern.I have no doubts about that.
It’s unlikely that Chelsea will gift goals to Bayern in either leg, as Arsenal did in Munich, so I still reckon both legs will be very, very tight.
I like a tense game, for an hour anyway.Wednesday night could be one of those.
Salihamidzic is a steely assassin who can kick and score.
Big left winger Schweinsteiger can swing the ball into dangerous areas and also get on the end of crosses.
With Pizarro out injured, Ballack might play in a free role, as he did against Arsenal.
Roy Makaay never scores if I mention him in a preview, so he won’t score against Chelsea.
It’s conceivable that old warhorse Jeremies will come back, rather than the clever but smaller Scholl.
LIZARAZU versus Joe Cole will be fascinating. The bionic Basque against Sven’s new golden boy.
Big night for Joe. Bayern are far better than Northern Ireland or Azerbaijan.
MANY ITALIAN players knew the Pope personally, so I wonder what impact his death might have on Juventus, Milan and Inter. Serie A games were postponed last weekend.
Liverpool have a chance against Juventus, but I doubt if Stevie G will worry them that much.
I’m not saying that because I had a bet on Juventus to win the European Cup at 12-1.
That bet was so long ago that it has become hypothetical, abstract.I don’t normally bet on things that will happen six months later. It’s ridiculous to do that.
It’s absurd and sentimental to say : I rate Capello, I love Emerson, I think big Zlatan’s really fun to watch, so I’ll have a bet on Juve to beat everybody in the Champions League.
CAPELLO says Zlatan is getting better every day.That’s good enough for me.
Capello says, “I’d been following him for many years, even before he was at Ajax. He has everything, except that sometimes he wants too many touches of the ball and wants every goal to be a work of art. He’s scored enough goals and he’s getting better every day.”
I’m expecting a sweet shot by Del Piero from eight yards.
April 5 2005.