Making Nasri play is a petulant decision that shouldn’t happen regardless…

Morning Grovers! Beer time is nearly here thanks to another superb ESPN crap kick off. I seriously love those guys, I wish they could have all our kick offs so they could eat into our mornings or evenings every weekend!

First gripe of today is that Juan Mata is heading off to Chelsea for a reported £23.5million. That is disappointing . I don’t know what’s gone on here. The one thing I do know is that we were definitely scoping him out as a potential buy in June. It’s now late August and it appears we’re letting one of our rivals nip in and pick him up without even mounting a challenge for his signature. Now, it can’t be down to money as we’ve had lots of that floating around. It can’t be because he’s not a good player, we know he’s top notch. It could be salary like I’d heard… or, the dream scenario, it could be that we’re more interested in Eden Hazard.

For me, it has to be the latter because missing out on a talent like that when he’s going for less that we’ll receive for Nasri is negligence if we’re not signings other players. All this nonsense about us waiting for the Champions League qualification is also a load of rubbish used to excuse Arsene Wenger from a bad summer.Before season ticket renewal he was doing his business early, now he’s doing it late because of qualification.

If we were so concerned about qualification, we wouldn’t have sold half our squad in the build up. What happens if we don’t qualify? What… we’ll just not spend any money on the squad and not qualify next year? Stupid talk… the money is there, Gazidis has consistently said the money is there and in my humble opinion, if it hasn’t been spend that’s down to Wenger.

The whole idea of Samir Nasri pulling on an Arsenal shirt today is beyond ridiculous. It’s like a pubic humiliation and for me, it’s a totally petulant decision. We all know he’s leaving us for a team he doesn’t really want to join because of money and because he doesn’t think we’re good enough for him. Other blogs will no doubt say we should give any Arsenal player a great reception, but that to me is teeing the Arsenal fans up for bad press tomorrow. We KNOW Arsenal fans are going to heckle him. We saw it with Adebayor and he re-signed for us. There is no way a battered support are going to tolerate him today and to be honest, we shouldn’t have to. We’ve know he’s leaving all summer… we should be cheering his replacement, not contemplating booing the incumbent.

“He’s a professional. You do your job until the last day of your life at the club. I never questioned his love for this club. He will cope with the reaction of fans, don’t worry.”

A ridiculous statement to make about a player who is selling his soul to for a big contract at his 2nd choice team.

Anyway, Wenger spoke about Robin’s committment to the armband and his love for the club. I’ve no doubt Robin Van Persie is Mr Arsenal, he loves playing for us but for me, giving the armband to someone who averages less than 30 games a season is a bit of an odd one. He’s also yet to commit past two years, it’d be nice to think that the armband is his for a reason other than an emotional tie, but there you go, this is the situation we’re in.

Match day…

Due to injuries and suspensions, we’re in a bit of a squad mess. The back 5 pick themselves, Jenkinson slipping in for the injured Gibbs. Vermaelen and Kozzer have to make sure he stays disciplined as he has a tendency to wander.

The midfield is going to be very interesting. Ramsey will be the lead playmaker no doubt, a role he was feeling his way into during the week. Frimpong will step in to cover the Song role. He’s got to make sure the excitement doesn’t get the better of him today. He’s got to think about the tackles he makes and he’s got to try his hardest not to get booked in the first 20 minutes. I’m really excited to see him play. It’s a big test for him.  Rosicky is out injured, so I’m not sure who gets a run in the middle. Arshavin is way out of form, but he has play making ability. Could be a chance for him to shine? There’s no point putting Samir there, he’s not a centre midfielder and if he’s any good, we’ll be sad.

Up top, we have no Gervinho. So we’ll likely see Samir Nasri slip into his normal position, with Robin in the middle, with Theo Walcott the other side. A mean attacking front three you have to say. Theo has looked extra angry so far this season. He has a swagger about his play that excites me. He’s finally showing a bit of attitude and aggression. I’m not sure what Nasri is going to play like, if he plays badly I’ll be annoyed, if he plays well I’ll be annoyed and slightly depressed. It’s lose lose for me on that front… as long as we beat Liverpool, I don’t care. I’m sure he won’t get booed during the game. I’d hate to see that. I’m just worried about the team reaction to having an uncomfortable Nasri in the side…

As supporters, we have to give it 100% today. This team is more depleted than Alan Shearer’s personality, the voice of the fans is going to be crucial today. We need to lift the players and we need to tear the roof off the Emirates. I’m yet to be fully convinced by Liverpool. Focus will need to be given to Andy Carrol and his knock downs, but don’t forget, he also has great control and a good long-range shot. Luis Suarez also needs to be watched like a hawk, his movement confuses and he reads the game really well. It’s all about pressing Liverpool today, they play a much more pleasant brand of passing football, good thing is, they’re not as good at it as us, the high pressure will force mistakes and when we take possession… we have to be clinical.

I think we’re going to land a result today. Our backs are against the wall… it’s time for Arsene to show us his worth by sending his child soldiers out to capture 3 points!

Have a great day and enjoy your afternoon!

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