AW ready to risk Cesc – Nugent gets all gobby

by CARL ELDRIDGE Arsene Wenger says he is ready to risk Cesc Fabregas for tomorrow night’s crucial Champions League clash with Porto at the Emirates.

 

That’s according to the papers this morning after Cesc went off with a tight hamstring in the 3-1 win against Burnley and is doubtful for the game. AW told the Sun: “I’m ready to take the gamble. But if there is more than a 50 per cent chance of his hamstring going I will not take it.

AW added in the Mirror: “He felt a tight hamstring but it had not gone. I’m convinced he had put in his mind: ’We have to score a goal and then I will go off’, knowing that his hamstring was tight. But we were 1-0 up and I thought we shouldn’t take a gamble so we took him off. He has little chance, yes. I haven’t spoken to the medical people yet. We will have to assess that.

Meanwhile, Burnley scorer David Nugent has had a dig at us and Theo after he squared up to Daniel Fox after a fierce tackle. Nugent said in the Mirror: “We know they like to pass the ball around and keep it and we had to pressure them. There were no harsh tackles in there.

“Foxy won a tackle on Theo and then he got a bit annoyed by it but I think that was just because of what happened to Aaron Ramsey. We all hope he comes back as soon as possible.

“I don’t think Arsenal are targeted. Football isn’t a girl’s game, you have to tackle. I don’t think Ryan Shawcross meant to hurt the lad, but if a tackle is there to be won you have to go and win it.”

Backing our boy, AW tells the Telegraph: “Theo is growing up now and standing up for himself,” said Wenger. “He needs that. It’s part of being a clever player – he has to understand that players playing against him have to know he is up for the fight. He is polite but it doesn’t mean he is nice. There is a difference. When someone is polite, that comes from education. Theo is a fighter — a polite fighter.”

And Theo has his say too and insisted that he was untroubled by recent criticism, notably Chris Waddle’s claim that he lacks a football brain. “I don’t listen to people on the outside,” he said. “I listen to the boss, Mr Capello, my family and the people around me. Maybe if I keep performing like that it will shut people up.

“My development has gone very well. I’m only 20 still and I’ve been in the limelight all the time. I’m always the country’s biggest hope or the country’s biggest disappointment.”

Henry Norris picks out Nugent for special mention in the Bugle: “Let’s be honest, he is being gobby after playing the Arsenal, the highlight of his rather dull career. He didn’t make the grade at Pompey after playing for the mighty, er, Preston, and now he is heading back to the Championship with these mugs. Thanks for input, Dave, now do one.”

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