At the start of this week I was thinking : This will either be the Oscar game or the Podolski game.
I gather that some of the most knowledgeable experts in Brazil reckon that Oscar is the player who will create a big career in Europe, like Kaka.
Oscar was 21 about two weeks ago but he\’s a kid with wonderful balance and skills. He won’t mind playing in front of a big crowd at the Emirates and won\’t mind playing on a perfect pitch either.
When Jens Lehmann was so good, I expected Wenger, a German-speaker, to sign more Germans but I can\’t recall having two in the Arsenal team until now.
Steve Bould\’s got Arsenal defending ten yards deeper and that helps Mertesacker a lot.
Bouldy and Tony Adams weren\’t as fast as Keown, so they had to use their brains and strength.
Decades ago, when I did a phoner with Steve for 90 Minutes, he told me his hardest games of the season were against Manchester United because of their movement, the interchanging of their forwards, trying to run in behind him all the time.
Bouldy’s been in Mertesacker\’s position and that\’s why he wants Arsenal to defend as a team and concentrate on positional discipline. If Arsenal work hard today they can clamp down on the chances Chelsea are able to create.
There\’s been lot of talk about Eden Hazard this week and he\’s a helluva good player.
I reckon it will be an exciting game but with few goals and I\’m looking for Podolski to be at his most clinical. Drogba is not playing, Podolski is. That\’s how I look at it.
Arteta quickly became an important player for Arsenal last season and he is an important player for Cazorla now. He has known Fernando Torres since they were sixteen and when Torres played for Liverpool, and Arteta was at Everton, they lived next door to each other.
Neither club has been beaten in the league yet and when I saw gambling John today he said, “I really fancy Arsenal today. I reckon we\’ll beat them 2-1.â€
But football is also unpredictable, especially a derby game like this.
You can see a goal and an injury in the first 10 minutes- or no shots on target for an hour. You just don\’t know. That\’s why we keep watching football.
PS.
Several readers have asked if I\’ll write about my holiday, as I\’ve sometimes done.
Right now that\’s impossible because it would take too long but I\’ve knocked out a few pars about an afternoon on Lake Garda.