By Myles Palmer
On Friday Arsene Wenger made a statement and on Sunday his team made another statement.
The two events MUST be connected.
Arsene said he would definitely be here next season.
He said he had a vision for the club and would like to Arsenal manager for 15 years, like Ferguson at Manchester United.
On Sunday his team came out and blew United away with an awesome display of power, pace and teamwork.
Patrick Vieira had his best game of the season.He played,at last,like he did last season.
Some readers will think I have been a bit harsh on Thierry Henry, who has scored 17 goals this season and took both his gifts beautifully.
The first one was a harder chance than he made it look. His control was perfect, and he sent the panicking Barthez the wrong way.
His second goal was impressive in a different way because his balance was so good as he jumped over the advancing keeper, landed, and found, to his amazement, the ball in front of him.
So he rolled it into the net for 3-1.
Fine. I just thought Henry should have played better in the previous 80 minutes.And played better in La Coruna when it really mattered.
His old club Juventus visit in two weeks time. They are not playing well, with only one win in their last eight Serie A games.
Their opening match against Bayern Leverkusen was fogged off last week. So they play that game this Wednesday in Turin.
Juve might have ruthless centreback Montero back on board after Uruguay’s 3-0 victory over Australia in Sunday’s play-off.
Arsenal can certainly beat Grimsby in the Worthington Ciup and should win at Ipswich, who are bottom of the table, on Saturday.
So they should be in very good shape going into the Juventus game at Highbury on December 4th.
Juve’s new keeper Buffon did a Barthez on Saturday, making a bizarre blunder against Lazio.
He came out 14 yards for a long ball into the box which he could have caught – or punched.
Instead he HEADED IT to Liverani, who lobbed him for the only goal of the game.
Buffon headed the ball from a position four yards inside his box to an opponent who was 25 yards from the goal, giving him an empty net to aim at.
So the last weekend of a nervous November turned out to be a good one because the manager made comments which were the equivalent of signing his new contract.
He was asked on Friday if he would be in charge of Arsenal next season.
He said “Yes, of course. My commitment to this club has always been clear.Perhaps I am from a different generation, but I don’t need to sign something — if I give my word, it’s my word.”
Arsene said that he wanted to remain Arsenal manager for as long as Alex Ferguson has been at Old Trafford.
“I have a vision for this club. I want to help them move into a new stadium when this club can become one of the biggest clubs in the world.”
Those comments removed the uncertainty around the club.
At United the opposite is true.
The players are no longer scared of Fergie and question his decisions more than ever before.
Fergie told ITV last night: “That’s the best Arsenal have ever played against us.”
I knew he would not shut up !
26th November 2001.