By Myles Palmer
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Sunday’s Blackburn game at Highbury could be a thriller.
Aggressive Scots are not everybody’s cup of tea. And Sir Alex certainly isn’t mine.
But there is something about Graeme Souness that I like, even after seeing him perpetrate some of the most shocking X-certificate tackles in the history of British football.
Trying to take Ricky Villa’s foot off at the ankle at White Hart Lane is one that springs to mind.
But his teams play good football.
Obviously, he misses Damien Duff, big-time. Any team would.
But Brett Emerton is a terrific wide attacker, Tugay is Dunga with long hair, and Barry Ferguson is the midfielder I hoped might replace Petit.
Dwight Yorke can’t score twice as he did for Aston Villa in that 2-2 game, can he? No. He can’t. Not now. He is past it. But he is still cute footballer.
The only game I can remember Andy Cole playing for Arsenal was against Sampdoria in the Makita tournament one summer.
We had heard about Andy Cole, but only glimpsed him.
He was young, elastic, snake-like. He looked like a player who could become deadly.But he was sold and had a good career with Newcastle and Man United .
I tried to talk to Andy on the phone once. It was the hardest work I had done in 20 years.
Craig Short was more fun in a phoner, a sweet guy who loves Kerrang-type rock bands.
When I rang Garry Flitcroft to talk about an England Under 21 tour his kid sister answered the phone.
She said he had gone round to his girlfriend’s, could I call back in an hour?
I did and he was smashing, so enthusiastic.
ROBERT PIRES is now as good as he ever was. He is back from his injury.
On Wednesday he knew Patrick was going to be rusty.
He knew Lokomotiv would not come out.
And he knew that while Thierry had not missed much training, there was a doubt about his knee.
And he knew Arsenal had to win or go out of the Champions League.
So Robbie gave a big performance. The most complete performance since his injury, very aggressive in the first half hour.
And the way he took the goal was phenomenal, jabbing the ball up up ahead of himself, spurting into the box by taking two strides that were longer than usual, and firing precisely inside the near post.
BRILLIANT !
That goal settled the team, settled the game, settled the crowd, stopped everybody being nervous.
BUT KOLO TOURE was Arsenal’s best player. Sol was very good. Ashley was very good apart from one sloppy slip which allowed a breakaway.
THIERRY HENRY could beat Ronaldo and Zidane and win FIFA World Player of 2003 tomorrow.
142 international coaches vote in this award.
Shevchenko, Zidane and Ronaldo are all better. But Thierry could win it. And good luck to him.
I don’t set much store by such awards.
Keegan, European Footballer of the year?
Ginola was a wholly undeserved Footballer of the Year. That was absurd, ridiculous.
Michael Owen was European Footballer of the Year because of two games : the 5-1 in Munich and the FA Cup Final.
For me, Thiery Henry has achieved a helluva lot and he’s the best player I’ve ever seen for taking the ball in his stride and controlling it at pace.
Arsenal’s style of play is built round him.
And in TV highlights, as seen by those 142 coaches, he looks like the best player in the world.
But he hasn’t done it often enough in big games to deserve World Player of the Year, in my book.
But, as I say, good luck to him.
THIERRY is a nice guy, a happy-go-lucky Caribbean kid who is sincere and genuinely grateful to Arsene Wenger and AFC.
The award will improve him. It will give him something to live up to, if I can end a sentence with a preposition, which I never normally do.
Thierry could win World Player of 2003 and go on to do the business in the quarters and semis of the Champions League in 2004.
That’s how I see it. I would like to see him win it if he can earn it after he has won it.
I hope you won’t think that is churlish.
It’s a damp Saturday morning in London.
But I reckon Gooners will have a good weekend.
If Pires has saved something for Brad Friedel.
13th December 2003.