I am lucky enough to be going to see my beloved Arsenal tomorrow in a home game against Stoke. Any team with aspirations of a top 4 finish LET ALONE winning the title has to beat Stoke at home, no offence Stoke. When they're at home they're a tough prospect (just ask Arsenal last season) but away without that loud crowd behind them they're just another Blackburn or Bolton for me. We beat them 4-1 in this fixture last season and you would hope for similarly entertaining scoreline, but considering the Arsenal's recent form I'll take a win any way it comes. No Theo Walcott again tomorrow who has picked up a 'minor' hamstring problem. We're now in December and Theo has started just 1 single game in all competitions all season. Arsene wasn't happy that in the summer he had to play for both the England senior side and U21 team, which I think he's perfectly right to complain about. The U21 team should be the stepping stone from club football into international football, and Theo has represented England plenty enough now to be past U21 level - he certainly shouldn't be playing for both teams, he's either good enough or he aint. So all that football meant he started pre season late, and then picked up injuries blah blah blah, so now we're left with one of our forwards having missed over a third of the season already. I'm sure he's aware of a little kickabout in South Africa next summer so he's got to get his shit together, right now Lennon, Wright Phillips, Young and Milner are probably all ahead of him.
Liverpool and Utd have tricky away games at Blackburn and West Ham respectively. Blackburn will be flying after their midweek cup exploits over the champions elect, and West Ham have started to pick things up and Upton Park is never an easy game. Game of the day though has to be the late one at Eastlands where City host Chelsea. The home side's league form has left much to be desired but will be confident after dispatching Arsenal B in the week. I don't think Chelsea penalty heartache will matter here, they will bring back a lot of players into the team and we could have a really good game. Unfortunately I'll probably have to root for City although a draw wouldn't be the end of the world I suppose.
Portsmouth host Burley tomorrow lunchtime and it emerged yesterday that for the second time (that we know about) this season the Pompey players haven't been paid. Isn't this the second time this season that they have been bought by some rich Arab bloke with loads of cash? And that cash turned out to be not there at all? I might be over simplifying the ins and outs of a takeover and the ability to release funds etc, but surely if you have the money, you can use it?! Seems pretty straight forward to me. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel too sympathetic to a player who has to dip into his £10,000 from last week or the week before, but the situation down there is a bit of a joke. I've said it before but the amount of money Pompey have got from transfers over the last 2 years is mental, and now they can't even afford to pay their players. Crikey.
Couple of big games on the continent tomorrow, both in Serie A. Juve host Inter and Milan take on Sampdoria so all of the top 4 teams are in action against eachother. Sky Sports would call this a 'grand slam Saturday,' but since they're such a rights channel, they'll pretend it doesn't exist and just talk to fucking Andrew Strauss all day, about a cricket match that no-one gives a fuck about. Inter are already 7 points clear of the chasing pack so it would really be nice if they lost to tighten everything up. They have won the Scudetto 3 or 4 times in a row now in a country where winning the league is pretty bog standard, it's all (as Ancelotti admitted recently) about winning the Champions League. Jose was obviously brought in to do this because domestic success wasn't enough to keep Mancini in a job, but I can't see Inter winning Europe this year either. They might be good enough to make a semi but it's gotta be an English or Spanish side again for me. Seria A has been in decline in recent years where as the Premier League and La Liga have just continued to soar. You still see names like Del Piero, Trezeguet, Nesta, Gattuso, Ambrosini, Cassano, Totti, Inzaghi etc and until recently Maldini and Nedved, players who were about on like Fifa 98. The only team really to take that European style step forward is Inter, who have a plethora of Brazilians, Argentinians and east Europeans to mix in with the odd Italian. Serie A seems to be where most players go to die.
Finally, World Cup draw day today and I cannie wait for 5pm, or 5.45pm by the time all the back slapping and video montages finish. Apparently in both yesterday's practice runs we got Australia which thinking about it now would be a great fucking game that. I'd like the Aussies, Cameroon and Serbia. Have fun watching and take her easy.
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