We will see him on Saturday.
Arsenal have signed one new player and we haven’t seen him yet.
He played 45 against Barnet on July 18 we’ve not seen him since.
On Wednesday he played 45 for Belgium.
Thousands of Gooners have been screaming at Wenger for years to buy a centre half. He’s signed Ajax skipper Thomas Vermaelen for £10m and then told us the lad is injured. He didn’t play last week because he had a groin strain.
Goodison will be a baptism of fire for Vermaelen because Everton are good at set-pieces. They work on that because it’s a good way of scoring a goal. Lescott, Cahill and Fellaini, the giant Belgian, are very dangerous on corners, crosses and free-kicks into the box. Cahill’s on form, having scored twice on Wednesday against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, where Australia won 3-1.
If a new Arsenal centreback doesn’t play in pre-season, how can he develop an understanding with Gallas and Almunia?
Obviously, Everton are far better than Celtic. But Celtic is a bigger game financially.
If Arsenal don’t lose at Everton, their first 10 games might be OK.
I want to see their first 10 league games. We don’t know anything till we see the first 10 games. And I’m assuming Arsenal’s first 10 games will be more fluent and coherent than Manchester City’s first 10, as City have new players like Barry, Santa Cruz, Toure, Adebarndoor. If competition for places works, Craig Bellamy and Stephen Ireland could score more goals than ever before.
Right now, for me, Saturday is about Vermaelen. If he’s good, Arsenal won’t have a catastrophic season.
There are two weeks left of the transfer window and lots of crazy ideas flying about, tons of speculation, waves of paranoia.
Right now I’m not interested in quotes, spin, predictions, or the superstitions of a dopey striker who has changed his number from 26 to 52.
I’m interested in performances and results. What matters is what footballers do on the pitch.
Patrick Vieira says: “The truth is on the pitch.”
Myles says : Good players do their talking on the pitch.
That’s all I’ll say today. I hope Thomas Vermaelen is a good defender.