Thursday News - Theo,Rosicky,Watt and more.

The whole of the Arsenal world seems to still be in a little of a glum, depressive state after Sunday's game. No real news has happened this week, whilst we have let the scousers clog up any talk shows after their amazing world cup final win Carling cup final appearance. Some are still tightly locked in Mugabe media lockdown, whilst others have aired their views numerous times.


I will say one thing about Sunday. It was a game most of my Arsenal supporting friends thought we would be convincingly beaten in, yet we played well and probably should have got a result. We made 2 defensive errors in the match and conceded 2 goals, whilst our finishing was not at its best. We needed a win, or at least a result, but not getting that is not the end of our season.


On the substitution: Wenger made a mistake to take off the Ox, and not Theo or Ramsey (who were both quite quiet) but as has been said he may have been tired/injured (I doubt it). Every other decision he made worked superbly, and had it not been for poor finishing we would have won anyway. He made the wrong choice, and may have to become less stubborn and more acceptive of criticism, but we cannot question The Arsenal's greatest ever manager ability to manage. At least until the end of the season.


The main news is about Theo Walcott who is said to have responded to the Arsenal discussions over a new contract. Like Van Persie, and Nasri and Clichy last summer, he is in the awkward position in that his contract expires next summer. If he does not agree a new deal, then - like Nasri and Clichy - surely he has to be sold this summer. He is said to have asked for a four year contract worth 85k/week. Whether he deserves that or not is another question entirely, and one I will address in another post in the future. His current form doesn't warrant that much, but with interest from Juventus, Chelsea and reportedly now PSG he could easily be getting that amount somewhere else. And after the 6 and half years we have invested in him, it would be very painful to see him become the player we all thought he could be at another club. Talks are set to continue.


Anyway on to more of today's news and it seems we have reverted to our usual transfer window activity consisting of....doing nothing. Well nothing is not entirely correct to be honest. Today Sanchez Watt completed his loan move to Crawley Town. Yes Crawley Town of League Two. Watt had an unsuccessful spell at Sheffield Wednesday earlier this season, but he has impressed highly for Leeds in the Championship before, as well as at reserve level where he notched an extremely impressive 7 goals in 8 games at the start of this season. A few eyebrows have been raised at how far he has dropped, but apparently he had rejected offers from teams in higher divisions. He chose Crawley for the excitement of guiding them to the title and the guarantee of first team football at a competitive level. Hopefully things work out for him.


Also on the way out of the club on loan is Pedro Botelho, who ended his Rayo Vallecano spell to sign for Levante. On his arrival he said: 

"I am very happy for the confidence Levante have shown in me. I will give everything."

He also mentioned the problems he encountered at Rayo, adding:

"I have said that I made a mistake and I asked for forgiveness from Rayo and my family. Everyone makes mistakes, now I don't want to talk about it anymore." 

Apparently he had an accident in his car after drinking, but that is only alleged. He started for Levante in the cup this evening, but was injured early on. Just form that you can he he has potential to be an Arsenal player.


More transfer news, none of it very exciting though, is that Rosicky is definitely staying. There was talk of a £3 million move to Fulham this January, but I think that is more to do with the fact that his agent wants him to get a new deal, or more appearances. Rosicky had a great game on Sunday, and his agent and Wenger are said to have met for talks this week. Today Rosicky's agent said:


To finish up there has been some mixed news on the injury front. Great news came from Sagna that he would resume full training today. We have really missed Bacary this season, any team would miss the best right back in the league but his loss has been compounded by the injuries to other back up players. He should be back in the team in the coming weeks, (a couple minutes at Bolton next week possibly?) and should definitely be starting in time for the Milan and Spurs games at the end of February.


The other news is around many rumours that have circulated via twitter - I know not the most reliable of sources for information. Apparently Jack has suffered a set-back on his return from injury. Whether it is a minor or more worrying set back remains to be seen, I mean there have been no confirmations that he has even suffered a set back. But this kind of rumour is too easy to believe as an Arsenal fan. Wilshere was expected to be back and able to feature for the Milan games too, and the last update was that he was even ahead of schedule on that front. Hopefully this isn't true, but when we hear anything new I will update.


That's all for now, except if you missed my earlier post of our Great Defence, then check it out now. Thanks.