So we now look ahead to the rearranged Wolves fixture on the 27th now (KO is the same time) cause the moaning tube drivers have to work Boxing Day (diddums). At the end of the day many people have to work during Public Holidays, so shut up and get on with it. Anyway this is a football blog not a political commentary. This is another game where we just have to win and to be honest we're going to be expected to win easily. Our full back problems are now starting to concern me. At left back Gibbs, who seems to be made of cardboard has suffered another setback and will be out for a further 4 weeks. Santos is going to be out for a while yet so there has already been talk of replacements, but I'll get on to that in a bit.
In terms of danger men, you need to look to their wingers Jarvis and Hunt. They do like to play down the wings and fire balls in all over the shop. I think Hunt will provide the problems as I expect we'll play Miquel who is the most inexperienced of our defenders, with Djourou also being injured. Fletcher is the man on form in the middle and he certainly has some talent. I think our defence however will be up to the task and hopefully will have a solid performance. I wouldn't be surprised if Benayoun earned himself a start after playing well at Villa, in place of Ramsey who has been off form recently. The rest of the squad I imagine will be fairly standard.
3 points would certainly make Arsene Wengers Christmas and keep us in the chasing pack which after the draw the other night is still fairly tightly packed. That was a good result for us and with the yid's game in hand we need to keep the pressure on.
Now I said I'd touch on possible replacements, well not replacements as such more stand-ins if you will. With our two left backs out for a while questions about whether Wenger may bring in a loanee to hold the defence together until we have Gibbs back. Now naturally I thought this was a good idea, until I heard a name banded around from many sources. Wayne Bridge. Now it doesn't take a genius to know that Wayne isn't exactly a world class left back and although his club list is impressive, its long for a reason. Now I respect Arsene Wenger, but a move for Bridge would be diabolical to say the least, luckily he played down speculation earlier, but not enough to stop people talking, please, please, please Mr. Wenger don't subject us to that!
Before I wish you a Merry Christmas and leave you to enjoy the festivities I thought I'd throw my opinion in on the Blackburn/Keane/Venkys situation. I saw the protest today which had me wondering how high unemployment in Blackburn really is. But on a serious note, I think those people need to grow up. He's trying his best with the squad he has and it seems that some of the fans even want them to lose so they can hurl abuse at him. I must say I found myself agreeing completely with what Ferguson said earlier, firstly, full marks to Steve for dealing with it as well as he has so far. It takes a lot of bottle for him to take the sort of things that have been said about him and not make a remark about the supporters. Secondly, in the words of the gum-chewing Scot himself "for goodness sake give the man a break". I can understand that they want the owners to have more of a presence at the club, but forcing the Billionaires from India who lets face it basically finance the club to sell doesn't make much business sense now does it? Don't bite the hand that feeds you would be my message to those fans.
Anyway that's enough about about chicken farmers for now. All that's left is for me to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and I'll be back before our NYE clash with QPR. Until then have a good one!
Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Wolves
