By Myles Palmer
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Arsene Wenger is an attacking coach whose team scores three goals in every game, almost.
Last Saturday they beat Blackburn 3-0 but if Blackburn had scored at 2-0, as they almost did, it might have been different.
Where Blackburn tested Arsenal in midfield, Bolton will test them at the far post and in the box.
Quincy looked good with Reyes in the Carling Cup, and Lupoli took his breakaway goal with natural poise in the 3-0 win over Reading.
THE REEBOK looks like a polaroid.
Is it a snapshot that tells us where we are in terms of building a good sequence without a left back?
Or is it a scan that will show up stress fractures in defence?
Let’s wait and see. Bolton have more firepower than ever with the Mexican Borgetti and the Portuguese Ricardo Vaz Te, who is like Darren Bent with more skill.
But Bolton remain unprolific. Big Sam has plenty of players who can score a goal but they don’t score many goals.
Arsene’s team selection may be tweaked to cope with Bolton’s formidable penetration on diagonal balls and crosses.
LAST NIGHT I was on Newstalk 106.4 in Dublin, so I listened to the show online for ten minutes before I was on.
Graham Hunter was talking from Barcelona about Roy Keane and whether he might go to Celtic or Real Madrid.
Graham said Celtic’s top earners are Hartson, Sutton and Lennon, who are on £28,000 a week, £29,000 a week and £31,000 a week, so if Roy went there he would be on similar wages, not the 80K he was on at Manchester United.
I was talking about Robin van Persie and Thierry Henry.
If I had been on five minutes longer I would have said : Thierry moved from Turin to London in 1999 and found love.
He found the love of the fans, the manager, the media.
And he found the love of his wife.
And all that love helped him to improve and become a great player.
His career now is about love and legend. He wants to keep the love and add to his legend.
He wants to win more trophies and be remembered and respected.
Thierry could move and add to his legend, yes.
But he would have to do it from zero.
He would have to start again.
He would have to do it all again without Arsene Wenger, without Dennis Bergkamp, without Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires and Ashley Cole.
So I think it’s a big, big decision.
For decisions like that most of us allow ourselves as much time as it takes to get the decision right. Obviously.
Myself, I think he has already made his decision to stay. To me that is the logical decision, the sensible choice.
SOME INTERESTING GAMES this weekend.
Man United will pulverise Portsmouth, where trigger-happy chairman Milan Mandaric wants to bring back happy Harry Redknapp.
Then Southampton’s Rupert Lowe will put Sir Clive Woodward in charge of the Southampton first XV.
It’s pure soap opera. You could not make it up. You could not make this stuff up. It’s fictional reality.
Does it makes you laugh? Does it make you glad you are an Arsenal supporter ?
ROSSI IS A HOT KID who could change the way Man United play.
Giuseppe Rossi is an Italian American teenager who can link with Ronaldo,Rooney and Park in a way that Van Nistelrooy can’t.
He can play quick first-time passes, turn on a dime, play people in and also sniff out chances and bury them.
He has a matador quality. He plays as if he does not realise he can be hurt and I love to see that contempt for danger.
In the 3-1 Carling win over West Brom, Rossi swivelled in the heat of the action and held the ball under pressure. The ability to pass under pressure is what marks a great player out from a good player.
Rossi is a razor-sharp artist who could turn into a goal machine – one to watch.
SCOUSER Paul Jewell takes Wigan to Anfield.
Liverpool have not conceded in seven games, but Wigan can break that sequence.
BELFAST will have a big Diana moment when George Best is buried there tomorrow.
December 2nd 2005.