Good morning.
I SAID GOOD MORNING.
That’s better, now where were we. Oh yeah, interlull, ugh. Well at least no one has gotten hurt, yet.
Well, Djourou underwent surgery for the knee problem that has kept him out up until now and he will now be out until March. So technically, he didn’t get hurt in this international break. No, he was actually hurt in the LAST break! March is the perfect amount of time for Arsenal to really miss him whilst simultaneously being the exact amount of time Arsene needs to point to in January and say “well, we can’t very well buy a central midfielder because Djourou will be returning in March.”
I’m being a bit negative here and I don’t want to turn this into a full bore hand-wringing event but I think this whole thing raises a ton of questions.
What’s up with the Arsenal physios? Did they just miss this diagnosis? What if Djourou intentionally held off on surgery until the end of the transfer window? It seems unthinkable, but at the same time, they have all known about this injury for a month. Why is he now going under the knife?
Anyway, it’s not the end of the world because we still have, uhh, Senderos and that other guy and if they don’t work out I hear Wenger’s going to strap on some boots and reprise his role as sweeper.
Anyway, some other people from Arsenal played for their international teams and as I’ve already said, no one got hurt (fingers crossed). Aaron Ramsey played for his Wales U21 in their amazing 2-1 win over Italy and scored the following audacious goal:
Someone should show that video to Wayne Rooney and let him know that you don’t have to dive to score goals.
Speaking of which, Rooney is “on fire” having now dived in two consecutive matches. This last one is a classic Rooney-Dida-esque fakery which, of course the English press is making excuses for. I actually agree with Martin Samuels’ commentary on the Sky Sports Sunday supplement that there was some contact and that under our current rules it should have been play on or maybe a foul on Rooney (depending on whether you think there was intent). But, as I have maintained for years, the real problem is in this exact kind of play. No one argues that Dida didn’t dive, or Rivaldo, but in a play like Rooney’s yesterday, because of the contact (which was less than Boruc on Eduardo) there arises some doubt. In my mind, there’s no doubt, he could have kept his feet and instead went to ground, it’s what Rooney does, he’s a proven diver.
Well, that topic is sure to be put to bed for a couple of days. At least until Rooney dives to win a penalty against Croatia. Oh and if you’re waiting for UEFA to intervene, they can’t in either this match or the Arsenal match. It turns out that FIFA have jurisdiction here and they don’t allow video evidence to be used after the match. So, until Rooney dives in a European Cup competition or in a Champions League match, Arsenal can’t ask UEFA to examine the video. I am 100% behind them if they do.
Enough of that, on with the caption contest! The rules are simple: come up with a witty caption for the following picture, then read and vote for your favorite from among the others. What do you win? Love and admiration, what do you want???
Enjoy!
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