I had a stroke of luck today, in that as soon as I put finger to key to start writing, Arsene Wenger began his press conference ahead of tomorrow’s game against Bayern. There have been a couple of blows, as well as the general fighting talk. We’ll start with the (pretty) bad news.

Wilshere

Jack Wilshere will miss the next 3-4 weeks with an ankle inflammation, from a minor ligament problem he picked up against Spurs. There was some mild panic yesterday when it appeared he could have picked up a season-ending reoccurrence of his ankle problem that kept him out so long before, but it’s transpired to be his other ankle, and not a problem based on overplaying or burnout, as many were keen to suggest for some reason.

It’s a blow to lose Wilshere, and Wenger has only said the ‘plan’ is for him to miss 3 weeks, but his position in the team is fairly awkward right now, and some time on the sidelines may allow him to evaluate his game and actually fill a role in the midfield, something he’s struggled to do of late.

DROPP-RESTED

Fabianski will keep goal tomorrow against Bayern. Arsene Wenger was keen to stress that our normal Polish shot-stopper is being rested because he’s played every game since the NLD earlier in the season. One wonders if it could be due to a couple of minor gaffes he’s performed over the last few weeks. Then again, replacing him with He Who Fumbles is an interesting way to punish him. We’ll see. For an added zest to your evening tomorrow, play the Fabianski drinking game. If he looks uncomfortable collecting a cross, take a drink. If he fumbles it, but it’s safe, finish your drink. If he drops it into the path of Mario Mandžukić, keep drinking until you haven’t a care in the world.

Jesus-again?

It’s Tuesday, so Arsenal have been linked to Sevilla winger Jesus Navas. This time, Sevilla are in financial trouble so Arsenal hope to go all super-solvency on their Spanish behinds and secure the forward with a lump sum.

Navas is an excellent player, and a proper winger, unlike many of our wide men. With that said, there are probably other areas seen as more important, though few would object to picking him up.

‘I prefer the Germans’-Olivier Giroud

That’s not everyone’s favourite French lothario discussing his recent conquests, he’s actually talking about the German style of play.

In an interview with ‘Kicker’ magazine, Olivier (who almost joined Bayern Munich in the summer), said he enjoys playing against German teams because they ‘are attacking all the time, therefore I get more possibilities to score’. Not exactly blistering tactical analysis from Giroud there, but he’s got a point. Of course, the issue with Bayern is that they’re attacking all the time, and in the rare case they aren’t they’re defending and then they’re attacking again...you see my point.

People are boarding planes to Munich as we speak. They’re being carried far away by giant metal birds. Let’s hope the same thing happens to Bayern tomorrow. Or something.

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