Asian Chronicles 1

Top of the Morning to y’all

So the Arsenal team finally got their Asian adventure on the way on Saturday and after 14 hours, the plane touched down in Kuala Lumpur. Before the team departed, much of the talk was if Robin van Persie would be on the party to Asia and this was made much worse when Arsene delayed the announcement of the squad to Saturday instead of Friday. Finally the announcement was made and as expected, there was no Van Persie on the list and the excuse was that he was not fit and had to work on his fitness.   I chuckled when I saw the list as I had no doubt in my mind that the club was definitely paying Robin back for his actions in recent weeks.

First of all RvP is not the only gunner that was at the Euros. We also had Arshavin, Bendtner  Walcott, Ox, Szczesny, Poldi, Mertesacker, Giroud etc. On the list is Theo Walcott,Oxlade Chamberlain and Wojciech Szczesny are players who were also at the Euros and are on the tour. In fact The Ox reported to training on Thursday morning while Robin reported on Monday who the fitter between them will be is left for you guys to judge. Also, a player like Benik Afobe who took part in the recently concluded European U21 Championships for England (a tournament that was held after the Euros) is also on the 24man squad to Asia. So talking about fitness in my opinion, its just an excuse. Robin Van Persie is being paid back for his disruption of the club and was deliberately left out of the tour on purpose and I completely agree with the decision.

Before Wenger and the team left on tour, he reiterated his desire to keep him and make him see out the remainder of the contract but I had the feeling that he has given up on keeping his skipper during his press conference when they arrived when he said that the situation was different from last season’s transfer saga involving Fabregas and Samir Na$ri.

The situation is not the same as last season,” he said. “We have a squad that is solid and we have bought two strikers
Last year's situation was difficult for us through injuries, not only the transfer market. I knew Fabregas would go, but we lost Wilshere, Diaby and Rosicky on top of that. It was too difficult.

In other words, we have signed two other strikers, so go fuck off Robin.

Wenger also expressed his delight at having Diaby back in action

You cant imagine how happy I am to have him in the squad because he is an exceptional player. I am cautious but confident because he had had two hard weeks and he came through it well.This tour is another decieder for him. he will play on Tuesday night and its down to uncontrolled movement in games: how does your body react to that? I am confident with what I have seen in training that he will do it.

I find it interesting the bond and faith that Arsene has in Diaby. This is a player that has received his fair share of criticism from the fans and media for poor performances and if he is not being criticised for holding onto the ball for too long, he is always being injured.

I really do hope this season that he fulfils his potential and repays the manager’s faith in him by playing well and helping the team to achieve great things and in doing so don’t do a La Van Persie who fulfilled his potentials for just one season and suddenly those that believed in him and gave him the platform to do so are not good enough for him. I pray he gets paid in full.

The lads really look like they are enjoying themselves on tour with Alex Song probably stealing the show from the pictures that have been released so far. There seem to be a genuine unity amongst the players. A kind of unity that shows that they are not just professional colleagues, but also close friends off the pitch. It’s the kind of unity that makes working together so easy and comfortable. Its also the type of unity that if someone makes a mistake, its would be more comfortable to call the person to other. After all we are all friends. It’s the kind of unity where players feel free to express themselves on the pitch knowing they have their back who got their back around them and if a mistake is made, well there will only be friendly oafs going round in the dressing room.

Song, Arteta, Szcz and Gibbs.................... will they be able to transfer it on the pitch when the season starts?

Credit has to be given to Arsene for creating such an atmosphere at the club and it only goes to show that even at the top, there is professional understanding among the top echelons and that has translated to the playing staff and I hope that they translate that bonding to the pitch and win us something.

They play their first game of their Asian tour tomorrow against a selected Malaysian XI at 3:00pm and I will be looking out for Abou Diaby in that game.

That's all for now folks, be back next time for a fresh package.

God bless the Arsenal, Iree o