On Wednesday, 317 Arsenal shares changed hands.
On Thursday it was 107.
424 shares in two days means somebody is spending a lot of money and it could be J.P.Morgan.
Something big could happen soon but it’s impossible to tell when or how the chips will fall. It’s a soap opera whose script has not yet been written.
However, you can be sure than Stan Kroenke’s investment bankers are working hard to negotiate his acquisition of Arsenal ASAP.
BOLTON might make Arsenal nervous on Saturday and the crowd might make them nervous as well.
Gooners are very disheartened right now and, as always when the team plays as feebly as it did at Liverpool and Newcastle, fans are starting to say, “No British players ! We need some British players!”
In the last home game against West Ham, Arsenal had 29 goal attempts- including 15 on target- but lost 1-0. Are Arsenal the only team in world football who could have done that ?
They used to play power football but now they play powderpuff football.Powderpuff finishing will not beat Bolton, so they need to recover some dynamism from somewhere.
Adebayor has size and energy but not much else, so they should play 4-5-1 and maybe use Flamini and Diaby in midfield. Although since Flamini has said he wants to leave, and has previously refused to play left-back, perhaps he will not play for Arsenal again. It’s a sorry state of affairs when a journeyman can tell a manager who has won three Premiership titles where he won’t perform !
Arsenal’s best bet on Saturday is the player who came closest to scoring against West Ham : the Brazilian who wears the armband. If Gilberto has a big game, Arsenal might beat Kevin Davies, Meite, Campo and the bruisers of Bolton. It’s up to the team to play well, score first, and lift the crowd out of their gloom.
VERY SURPRISED to see Manchester United hammer Roma 7-1.
They didn’t miss Scholes, Fletcher did well, and Carrick’s early goal was classy.
Experience was the key to Milan’s 2-0 win in Munich, where Bayern missed left winger Schweinsteiger, skipper Willy Sagnol, and anchorman Dimichelis. Seedorf scored one and made one for Inzaghi, who had a nightmare for half an hour and then swept home his goal like the practiced predator he is.
Expertise is always an asset but can Milan’s thirtysomemething defenders live with Rooney and Ronaldo, coming through to support roughy-toughy Alan Smith? Having seen what United did to Roma, the Italian media is worried.
Milan’s youngest player, Kaka, will be 25 when they play the Red Devils, and Maldini will be 39 in June. On their best night they are a 75-minute team.
The 2006-2007 season has proved that big money talks loudest.
Chelsea and Manchester United are the richest and therefore the most powerful teams in Europe, although Rafa Benitez probably has other ideas, especially as his second leg against Chelsea is at Anfield.
Maybe Liverpool are better equipped to beat Chelsea than United are. But Sir Alex won’t worry about that until after United beat Milan.
Sparky, energetic and efficient, Seville started at a high tempo and almost blew Spurs away with two goals in the first eight minutes of their Uefa Cup quarter-final at White Hart Lane, racing to a 4-1 aggregate lead. Defoe and Lennon got two goals back and Jenas had his head deliberately trodden on by Poulsen, a Dane who was not sent off .
I hope the creative, tenacious Daniel Alves stays at Seville one more season and helps his hungry, busy, organised team to have a crack at the Champions League. If they beat Osasuna in the semi, Seville could retain the Uefa Cup this year.
I backed more than 2.5 goals in the Spurs game, and also won on Espanyol, who drew 0-0 at Benfica. But I recklessly backed AZ Alkmaar to draw or lose by one goal in Bremen – and Werder thumped them 4-1.The reliable Klose scored twice.
One German club left in the Uefa Cup, three Spanish.
Three English clubs left in the Champions League, all with managers who have won the European Cup before.
Mourinho won it in 2004 with Porto, when they beat Monaco 3-0 in extra time, Benitez won it in 2005 against Milan on penalties, and Ferguson won it in Barcelona back in 1999, beating Bayern Munich 2-1 in stoppage time.
In 2003, Ancelotti won it on penalties against Juventus. I was there for that one. Rob Hughes drove me up to Old Trafford and Shevchenko applied the coup de grace from the spot.