From Alex: Walcott out…Gnabry in
Hi Myles,
Happy New Year to you.
Its January 6 and time to get back to work.
But to ease myself in, I thought I’d write to you about my favourite club. I’ve found this activity to be a nice therapeutic distraction.
Just read that Walcott is out for 6 months.
Sad news. I’ve grown to really like him. He’s never quite become the player we all expected/hope he’d be, but he’s still become a very good and important player for us nonetheless. He’s learned to score goals, and importantly, has racked up a nice tally against ‘big clubs’. He’s cut out the silly take-ons, becoming more patient and involved in the passing build-up plays. His work-rate and attitude is top notch.
Like Ramsey, he’s suffered from media and fan harassment over the years. He was brought to one World Cup too early, contentiously omitted from the last, now will be kept away from the next through injury.
Despite his England misfortunes, hopefully his cheeky smile towards the Spurs fans will cement his place in Gooner hearts.
Walcott’s season has ended, so we need to look for the bright side. I hope there are two positive outcomes:
First, Wenger sees further justification to sign another forward.
Second, Gnabry gets more playing time. I wrote to you after the Swansea game earlier in the season where Gnabry got the first goal for us.
I remember watching this game with an American colleague of mine. It was his first time sitting down and watching a PL match from start to end.
Although a sports fan, he knows little about football, and nothing about Arsenal. That game was frustrating affair. The first half was stale; we weren’t quite connecting. Most of our players seemed off the pace.
But the fresh, young Gnabry was the stand-out performer. My American friend thought he was our star player, not a youngster filling a void. That day, he was the star performer and scored his first PL goal.
Fast forward to the weekend’s fixture and again we see a player that can excel in the top level. Strength, speed, vision, intelligence, shooting, hustle, defending – he has it all. He narrowly missed from inside the box, created the Cazorla goal, at least three Walcott chances, and the Ozil chance at the end.
After the Swansea game, I thought it was too early to get carried away, and maybe it still is. But I think we can afford to have some long-shot optimism this season.
I’m looking forward to his next performance. I think he’ll be a star.
I could write all day about the Arsenal players.
Wilshere’s attitude is awesome. He’s an Arsenal fan. It’s like having one of us on the pitch. You were getting frustrated with his ‘macho’ attitude. I say we need it.
I’ll sign off on Rosicky. Like Walcott, he too is a player that never quite became what I thought he would.
The first time I saw him play was in a World Cup game vs. USA – the season before he joined us.
He scored this goal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0-hyWPeGJA
I was licking my lips at the prospect of seeing him play for us. Since signing, he’s suffered from injuries and confidence issues.
But the last 12 months he’s been immense.
Another one that Wenger stuck with through the lows, who is now paying dividends.
Back to work now.
Myles says:
Rosicky has been playing for a new contract.