The North Bank – “It’s got va-va-voom” (An Arsenal blog)

It’s a relatively quiet day so far. there isn’t a whole lot going on, due mostly to the fact that we don’t play until Sunday. I hate weekends when we don’t play until Sunday. It means that Saturday seems a bit empty and also that we have to suffer watching that tool Adrian Chiles on Match of the Day 2 in order to see highlights of the game.

Early team news is that Adebayor, Djourou and Almunia may be involved in the squad for the game against Boro, though I would be surprised if they started. Given our propensity for having players struck down by injury and recurrences of those injuries, I think it would be best if all three are on the bench and only called upon if needed. We should give them a little extra time in order to be ready for ManUre.

Van Persie remains on the treatment table for his chocolate groin and will miss both the Boro game and the first leg against ManUre next week. I wonder will we ever get a full season out of him? His talent is undeniable, I just wish he would stay fit for more than two months without picking up some kind of injury. Gael Clichy will be having a scan over the coming days and that will determine when he can be considered for a return to first-team duty. Let’s hope that we have him back for the second leg against ManUre, not because Gibbs has been doing a bad job but because we need to get cover and options in defence.

I saw on one site that Rosicky is out for the season, but haven’t yet been able to verify it elsewhere, so I won’t post the link to it just in case it’s a load of rubbish. However, it wouldn’t be any surprise should it be true given that it’s Rosicky that we’re talking about. It’s a real worry and you have to think that he may not kick a ball for us again. The comments coming from the manager are a bit vague and make it hard to gauge where Rosicky is at, in terms of fitness. I really hope that he will be fit and able to start the new season for us come August.

The game is at the Emirates but it won’t be easy as Boro are fighting for their lives and are likely to make life difficult for us. There is a danger that our players will have their eyes on the Champions League semi-final against ManUre but I fully expect us to get the three points, but the game shouldn’t be taken lightly. Some stats on the fixture can be found here.

Got an email from my brother yesterday to say that he managed to get four tickets for the ManUre Champions League game at the Emirates. Jammy bastard. It’s times like these that I don’t like living in Japan. I’d love to be able to get to the game. But, them’s the breaks.

This post is going to be short because I am nursing a wicked hangover. That’s the price I have to pay for stopping off for ‘one beer’ in my local on the way home from work last night. No dinner, beer, cute girls and random drunken Japanese folk makes for a dangerous combination. Well, now I think about it, it’s not all that bad really.

**UPDATE: The FA have charged Fabregas for the alleged spitting incident. What a bunch of cunts.

Take it easy. It’s 4pm, I’m off to get this carpet-like substance off my teeth.