Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we’ve no place to go
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Thus sung Dean Martin more years ago than I care to remember. Unfortunately the Gooner Nation and the travelling support from the Potteries did have somewhere to go on Saturday. Late snowfall put the kibosh on that.
Unlike the postponement against Bolton Wanderers back in January which I thought was the nanny state at its worst, I can see why the referee called this game off. Late and heavy snowfall is always going to be difficult to deal with, even though the pitch would have been playable getting there for anybody more than walking distance away would have been difficult, getting home a nightmare.
My boss is a Stoke City fan. He came all the way down to London only to have lunch in Islington and do an about-turn and go home. No doubt many Gooners who travel long-distance for home games (of which I was one for eight years) had the same experience.
Given the way the holidays fall this year the playing and coaching staff will have the unusual experience (in this country as least) of having Christmas Day at home. Assuming the Chelsea game at the Grove next Monday goes ahead – a doubt as the Meteorological Office is predicting more severe weather in the next ten days – then the team will have gone two weeks without a game, which should allow any small niggles and knocks to heal but will leave the players potentially a little ring-rusty.
We’ll also have to fit in a new date for the Stoke City game, I’d guess this will be provisionally slotted in to the midweek reserved for FA Cup Third Round replays provided neither we nor the Potters draw our Third Round ties. It would be nice to get the game played as soon as possible.
The winter transfer window speculation is already starting to drive me mad and we’re still two weeks away January. We have already made one signing. Japanese youngster Ryo Miyauchi will join us in the New Year after the Japanese National High School Tournament (a big, big deal in Japan, as is the baseball version – packed grounds, national television, the full media Monty). I saw him play on trial in our reserve team friendly away at AFC Wimbledon back in the summer. He also played in the reserves away at Boreham Wood. He looks a prospect and a lot of teams were chasing him, but he’s one for the future at the moment.
I personally don’t see any incoming signings on the horizon, despite the manager hinting that there might be. I can see Manuel Almunia having it away on his dancers if an offer that suits him and the club comes in. He appears to have dropped to third choice if team selection at Old Trafford is a guide.
Cesc Fàbregas has been quoted as saying we freeze in big games. A statement of the bleedin’ obvious I would have thought. It wasn’t wise to say what he did publicly though. It only gives encouragement to our enemies. What is required is some leadership in the dressing room and on the pitch, the former being far more important. It’s necessary but a bit late when we’re taking water over the side during an important game.
There’s a very thin dividing line between confidence and arrogance. Over the last few seasons we’ve displayed too much of the latter against the so-called “smaller” teams and too little of the former against the so-called “big” clubs. Along with a lack of defensive tactical discipline and concentration and far too much sub-standard goalkeeping we need to cut that out – lively. With the players we have we should be performing at a much higher level and consistency than we’re managing at the moment.
That said; let’s not get things out of proportion. We’re still in the hunt with everything to play for in all four trophies. I think Barcelona is a massive mountain to climb but we need to go into both games believing we can beat them. After all, newly-promoted Hércules of Alicante managed a 2-0 win at the Camp Nou back in September in La Liga. Before we get close to the first leg at home we’ve got crucial business in the League and both domestic cups. The beauty of football is that games can run against form far more than in other team sports. Just look at the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi this week. TP Mazembe from Lubumbashi, the second city of the Democratic Republic of Congo became the first African team to qualify for the Club World Cup Final, beating Brazilian giants Internacional of Porto Alegre in their semi-final to face Internazionale in the final yesterday.
True they lost to Inter 3-0 but beating Internacional 2-0 was a real shocker. We need to show the same believe and application in our coming games, starting with Chelsea next Monday.
Keep the faith!
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