So, continuing from the last blog, maybe Wenger has all his hopes placed on Bischoff. Or maybe he actually does have four players lined up for central midfield, and even the mighty Lord W doesn’t actually know who the next genius to play next to Cesc will be.
I say that because just over a year ago Wenger clearly didn’t know if Flamini was going to make it. (If he had been certain he would obviously have given F-man a new contract. The fact that he did not suggests that Wenger was unsure, and could well have reverted to Gilberto.)
So I’m thinking maybe he is as unsure as I am. (Not that someone as great as A. Wenger could have a mind that could get as murky as mine, you understand – it was more a figure of speech.)
Anyway, back with the plot, maybe the thinking has been this…
Diaby, Denilson, Bischoff and Song are all really good players. All of them can make it at some time. Diaby and Bischoff are prone to injuries, but all players can overcome such problems given time. So lets take the season as it goes, and one of them will emerge.
“That’s one hell of a risk,” I hear you say (not literally of course). Suppose none of them make it. Suppose they all get injured.
And yes it is a risk. But then so is buying new players, because you never quite know if they are going to make it, or how long they will take. Neither Henry nor Pires were magnificent in their first years, but look at how amazing that partnership was in the end.
Thus far (3 games in, although it seems more because of the mucking about with Mr McClaren’s bunch), Denilson has had the games, with Song getting a few moments after the Olympics and the other two injured. Who knows what’s next?
I have had a feeling all the time that Song was the man, but it maybe that I got it totally and utterly wrong.
At least all this international rubbish means that squad has a further week to get fit.
Hmm, maybe you have a point about the next potential midfield maestro, maybe Bischoff is it…
and the injury thing? well, who remembers now how injury prone Gerard was when he first burst onto the scene?! If it turns out that Diaby or Bischoff is anywhere near as good as that annoying scouser then we’ll happily forget the injury years. (and to be fair to Diaby, describing him as injury prone is a bit harsh, given that at least one of the injuries – thankyou to one Dan Smith of Sunderland – was entirely due to external factors…)
When people trash AW for buying Bischoff, here’s something to consider:
1. One of Germany’s biggest clubs were not at all happy to see him go and tried to convince him to stay; while he was there, they even tried various ways to prevent him getting any int’l call-ups when he was fit. He was chosen to be immediately behind Diego, who is Bremen’s most important player (their #10 playmaker).
2. Two of Europe’s biggest football federations–France and Portugal– wrangled over him. The FFF were not at all happy to have lost his services in their youth teams and tried to find a way to lodge a complaint that he couldn’t play for Portugal because he’d already been registered with the FFF. Upon watching Bischoff play, the manager of Portugal’s youth team asked him personally to play for Portugal.
3. AW–one of the world’s best managers and one of the best talent spotters in the business–and his world class scouting network decided that, injuries and all, this kid was worth gambling on.
Surely he must have some talent, no?
Also to be fair to Diaby, I think the string of injuries could also be traced back to that horror tackle. He has never been the same since that assault, which is also one of my concerns about Eduardo.