Dagens Arsenal 4 januari
Nya skador, nya rykten, David Beckham på träning och Jens Lehmann vaktar målet på söndag. En vanlig Dagens.
Adebayor och Hleb joinar Van P på skadelistan. Förhoppningsvis ska det inte vara någon större fara på dem i alla fall. Det är nog mer utav en säkerhetsgrej att de vilar.
Wenger kommenterar truppen mot Burnley.
“Robin van Persie is still out. Mathieu Flamini is suspended. Theo Walcott has a little shoulder problem that we will assess tomorrow.
We will rest some players who have played a few games. I might rest Fabregas and Alex Hleb has a little problem with his ankle. Emmanuel Adebayor will be rested because of his hamstring. Clichy will be rested aswell.
Nicklas Bendtner is back after suspension so he is available again. Denilson, Diaby and Diarra are in contention."
Robin Van Persie väntas annars kunna bara med mot Birmingham. Möjligtvis i alla fall.
"Robin van Persie is still injured and will not be involved (against Burnley). But it is very short for him now. The next deadline could be Birmingham or just after."
Vila honom mot Brum, säger jag, så han inte får något ytterligare bakslag.
Följetongen ”Sur-Jens får inte vara med” fick en liten oväntad vändning idag när Wenger berättade att det blir tysken som står i målet mot Burnley. Wenger menar också att han inte kommer stoppa Lehmann från en flytt, om Jens skulle vilja det.
“When I extended the contract for Jens, I opened the door that if he does not play [for us] and has a chance to play in the European Championships, then I would not stop him from leaving in January. If he does not play, that means somebody else can get in front of him.”
Wenger är dessutom nöjd med hur Lehmann agerar när han får chansen.
“He still thinks he should play, and I respect that. On one side you cannot want a player to give 100 per cent every day to be the best and then accept he is not the best. They do not work together.
But what I respect the most is he is a player who comes in and does his job 100 per cent and does not talk too much. That is what he does at the moment.”
En annan spelare som ryktas vilja iväg är Diarra. Idag säger dock Wenger att han inte har några planer på att släppa iväg fransmannen.
“I would love to keep him. You don't make a player come on August 31st and then want to sell him on January 1st. I want to keep Diarra but we'll see."
Arsène menar att problemet är att Diarra kom in så sent i truppen.
“The bad luck is that he arrived when our train had started. I rate him highly and, if it's down to me, I want him to stay. I can understand his frustration because he is worried by the national team. But I bought him in and it was long, hard work to get him here.”
Jag tycker Diarra ska inse att han inte är bättre än Flamini, och för att få spela måste han kämpa och hålla käften.
David Beckham tränar med the Gunners, som alla kanske vet, med Arsenal för tillfället. Men det handlar bara om träning säger Wenger – han är inte aktuell för spel.
"He's just come back from a long break and has had injuries. He joined us on January 2nd. He will not be playing in any games and will not be registered. He is just training. We don't want to make something complicated out of something that is very simple. He doesn't live far away and always loved Arsenal. That's why we help him.”
Vi är så himla snälla i Arsenal.
Till sist säger Wenger att han betraktar Toure, Eboué och Song som skadade, under tiden de är på Afrikanska mästerskapen.
"I consider them to be injured, so if they were injured, they would not play. The day they get out of the competition, they are not injured any more and so you get them back."
Ha en trevlig kväll och helg, nu ska det drickas vinbutelj.
