The Upcoming Internationals (zzzzzz): What will they do to our season?

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, both Bergy Babe and I have been ill and until today it’s been difficult to look at a computer screen without feeling dizzy!  Not that there has been that much to talk about seeing as the internationals are disturbing us yet again.

I know that I said recently that this was one international break that I was ok with.  Our confidence is down and I thought it would be good for the players to have some time away from the Emirates to clear their heads.  A ball hasn’t even been kicked yet and I’ve already changed my mind!  I’m back to thinking internationals are possibly the most irritating thing on the planet besides Puyol’s hairdo.  All they do is disrupt and injure us.

Yes, I am talking about the Bendtner injury.  For those of you who haven’t heard, Nicklas was hurt whilst training with the Danish national team.  He has done something to his ankle, although it is unclear how serious the injury is.  And so it begins…..sigh.

Maybe I was expecting too much.  After all, look what international duty has done to Vermaelen.  We lost him last September while he was away with Belgium and after such a long lay-off, who knows if he be will the same player who was ripping through defences last season?  He has been talking of his return, and I do genuinely feel for the guy.  His absence has been frustrating enough for us, so imagine what it must be doing to him.

He told a Belgian newspaper, “I can understand my manager when he says that my season is over. I have been out for seven months and I must fulfil a complete ‘pre-season’, so it’s logical that he won’t take risks.  Time is ticking away and the season finishes in two months. I must first get fit again, then gain rhythm. So I’ve still a long way to go. I can kick a ball as hard as possible, but that’s not my problem. I need to run without pain.”

Now that Nick is probably crocked for the season, I can’t help feeling pessimistic and wondering who will be next.  Think what England have done to Theo in the past, and I’m convinced that Holland are secretly trying to kill Van Persie!  Speaking of Robin, he has said some fantastically controversial things this week that you can’t help loving him for:

“A club like Manchester City change their philosophy every year and Chelsea spent about €80m this season … two clubs who had a big mouth before the season, thinking that Arsenal wouldn’t play a role in the title race but we are still ahead of them. And just by playing our own game, through our own philosophy”

This comment literally made me LOL but in the Chavs case, I hope it doesn’t come back to bite us.  However it gets better.  He also said,

“The Barca players were always complaining and moaning without being punished and that’s something I dislike about them.  In England, Chelsea players do the same. Barca are a great team but they don’t have to exaggerate their continuous moaning, otherwise it becomes very irritating on the pitch.”

Of course, this is slightly stating the obvious but you really have to admire how upfront he is on this issue.  Barca players act like butter wouldn’t melt while doing these things, and they really don’t seem to think they have ever done anything wrong.  Anyway enough of that club, I’ll leave it to Eduardo’s Shakhtar to teach them a lesson.

One good thing about the internationals is that Ramsey has been chosen to captain Wales when they face England tomorrow.  He said, “

“Ever since I was a boy I wanted to become a professional footballer and to captain my country and this day has come and it’s a very special moment for me and my family. My mum and dad put in many miles and time to help me get where I am today so I’d like to thank them. I feel over the moon and honoured to be captain of my country at such a young age. It was a bit of a surprise but a very nice one. Hopefully now I can lead by example in the way I play. We know as a team what we’re capable of doing and we’re going to go into the game thinking that we can do something in this game and get a positive result.”

I think this will fantastic for his confidence and it will be good to have another player with leadership qualities on the pitch.  So as much as I hate internationals as they take away from precious Arsenal time, there is at least one positive.  And there is nothing we can do to stop these fixtures, so we will just have to keep our fingers crossed that no one gets crocked.

Here is a full list of players away with their countries:

Aaron Ramsey (Wales)

Samir Nasri (France)

Bacary Sagna (France)

Gael Clichy (France)

Robin Van Persie (Holland)

Tomas Rosicky (Czech Republic)

Nicklas Bendtner (Denmark)

Andrey Arshavin (Russia)

Jack Wilshere (England)

Kieran Gibbs (England Under 21’s)

Henri Lansbury (England Under 21’s)

Marouane Chamakh (Morocco)

Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast)

Carlos Vela (Mexico)

Good luck guys!

Lots of love,

Highbury Honey xxx