Build up to the big game begins 17 January, 2007

Arsenal vs. Manchester United is one of the most anticipated matches of the year and it’s been pretty quiet this week so far but people are stating to talk about the game now. The Wenger-Ferguson mind games have dies down in recent games but the passion is still there. Also Liverpool face Chelsea this weekend so this will be an important couple of days for the top four. Chelsea could close the gap to 3 points, we could go 2 points clear in 3rd, Liverpool could go 5 points away from second and we could be 6 points away from Chelsea. It’s hard to decide who I’ll be rooting for between the Scoucers and Russians. We will be looking to jump Liverpool but we’re quite realistically within distance of Chelsea. Man United are going to take some catching up but if we can take all the points on Sunday it’ll make things interesting.

A few months ago the top four all played in the same weekend, Chelsea beat Liverpool in the early kick off and we won 1-0 at Old Trafford. Two results like that would do us good again but I’m hoping that we win (obviously) and in the other game the points are shared. I think we can still come 2nd this year and I think we should have our sights on that rather than third. If there was some sort of disaster for Man USA then we could even be in with a shot of the title who knows.

I’d love for Lauren to be playing against Man United on Sunday, we could do with a bit of this in what’s bound to be a physical match. However Ralphy looks like he’s played his last game for Arsenal and his long-term replacement Eboue is keen to play on Sunday. He got an ankle injury a while ago against Portsmouth and made his return for the 3rd Round of the FA Cup but he aggravated it and has missed a couple of games. Now he has his eyes on returning against Manchester United:

“The problem has been my ankle. I have been injured since the game against Portsmouth and when I trained I was still feeling it a little bit. But I am hoping to be back for the game against Manchester United. I really, really want to play in that game.”

I’d prefer to have Eboue than Hoyte on Sunday but I’m really not that bothered, Justin’s done well recently and I think he’d also be up to the task.

The full back on the other side, Gael Clichy has been talking about life after Ashley Cole and how he still doesn’t take his place in the team for granted. With no Cole, Gael’s now first choice left back with only really Traore challenging him for his place. He’s going to have to play well this weekend as he’ll be up against an in-form Christiano Ronaldo. Here’s what he had to say:

“I am really enjoying myself, definitely. Playing football has always been a passion for me, since I was six years old I wanted to be a footballer. Last season was difficult for me with all the injuries. My first two seasons here were good but Ashley was there so I was on the bench a lot. But now I am just enjoying the time I get to play on the pitch. I’m really enjoying playing for Arsenal. I have to keep working hard in training because I know how quickly things can change in football. Maybe tomorrow there will be some new left back and Arsenal may want to sign him. So I am working hard to make sure that the boss doesn’t feel he needs to go out and buy someone else in the summer.”

I’m confident that Clichy will go on to become one of the best left back around and better than Ashley Cole. You have to admit he’s got big boots to fill but I think he can do it. I’m also I big fan of Armand Traore‘s and I think he’s another kid who can bee a big player for us one day. In a couple of years we’ll have to excellent left backs and I think Wenger knows this so wont be buying a left back anytime soon. Don’t forget we’ve also got William Gallas as cover there and I don’t need to go into how good he is.

Alex Hleb has been talking about Shevchenko saying he was wrong to move to the Premiership this late in his career. ‘Shevva’ moved from Milan to Chelsea for ₤30m in the summer and has been an absolute flop. I admired Andrei when he played for AC but was quite concerned when we’d have to face him in the Premiership, so I am over the moon how he’s been total bollocks for Chelsea and wasted thirty-mill of Roman’s cash.

Rio Ferdinand say’s he’s concerned about Adebayor the most ahead of Sunday’s game. The mind games have begun. Ferdinand is trying to be clever here when obviously any defender in the world is going to be concentrating on Thierry Henry the most.

And Finally, ticket details for the Spurs game at The Shithole for the first leg of the Carling Cup were released yesterday. You’re going to need 25+ away credits to have a chance of going for this first allocation of 3,000 tickets. Looks like I’m not going then. However there might be another load of tickets released where you won’t need as many credits. I’ve got 2, not looking good for me ay.

Have a good day.