Thankfully, we had Arsene Wenger’s press conference today or I’m not really sure what we’d be talking about, With such a big match just around the corner, it seems surprisingly quiet. Maybe those responsible for most of the noise have exploded from too much food and drink.

It’s a theory.

As usual, Wenger was asked about a host of things which had nothing really to do with Arsenal – Dzeko, Beckham, Adebayor. More than once he told the journalists they’d be better off asking Mancini, but they didn’t listen.

When do they ever?

The press conference started off very well. Wenger was asked what he thought about Lee Bowyer’s three-match ban which was handed out today, and before they could even finish the question, this was his reaction:

Arsene Wenger tells the media what he thinks of Lee Bowyer

Now, you might say that this is just coincidence, but it’s not. Ask anyone who knows about these things and they will tell you that that gesture means only one thing. Conscious or unconscious, it means ‘fuck you.’  Don’t believe me, keep an eye on yourself. When you find yourself subconsciously doing the same sort of thing, ask yourself honestly ‘what was a I thinking?’ You’ll soon see what I mean.

Wenger was asked about McLeish, who believes that the FA scrutinise the smaller clubs more than they do the larger ones and his reaction was pretty much just to laugh at the journalists. He wants all ‘challenges’ such as those from Bowyer punished, not just from this club or that. He also said, quite emphatically, “I don’t think we have any favours from the media, no” then he chuckled a little.

They knew what he meant.

Then there were some more questions about Beckham, you know that player who is screwing his current club? Wenger had nothing much to say. Ask yourself this – how would you feel if Cesc went off to play for a MLS side in the summer and came back with an injury which wouldn’t allow him to play for Arsenal until February? You wouldn’t be very pleased would you? I get the press’s love-in with him, but I just don’t think his balls are as golden as we’ve been led to believe.

No matter, he could be a Spud soon so why am I wasting time talking about him?

Next up they decided to ask him about Ronaldinho’s proposed move to Blackburn, and while Wenger talked about how it showed the strength of the Premier League you could tell he was getting a bit pissed at all these questions which had nothing to do with Arsenal.

Then they asked about Dzeko. Again, Wenger said ‘ask Mancini’ except he wasn’t even that rude. I would have been. I would have stood up, pointed to my badge and asked the journalists if they even knew what club they were at.

Finally, the journalists managed to get on to Arsenal and the question was as insightful as you’d expect – is it a big game for Arsenal?

No, of course not, in fact, we couldn’t care about one of our title rivals coming to the Emirates whatsoever.

That wasn’t his answer, it was mine. Wenger, ever the professional, stressed how important the game was. He also added: “We know we have a good away record so we know if we beat the big teams at home we have a fantastic chance to win the league”

That was really all there was about tomorrows match, things moved on to Vela’s loan which Wenger said he hoped to have wrapped up early this month. Bolton are only one of a few clubs interested and Wenger says Vela deserves to get games so he will go to the club who can guarantee the most.

He also stressed that Vela had grown up and matured a lot recently which is great to hear as there had been rumours that it was his attitude which was holding him back.

Speaking about the xmas run of fixtures, Wenger said he had a ‘two point frustration’ and added “We have five teams in the fight, some teams have more belief than others but that can change very quickly.”

Ahead of the game tomorrow night we have no new injury worries, we will absolutely, positively NOT be buying a goalkeeper, midfielder or striker and might buy a defender should the Verminator fail to reboot in time.

Having seen Adebayor and Kolo Toure’s bust up at Man City’s training ground it was interesting to hear Wenger talk when asked if he would take him back. Despite the fact that the ex-25 is a massive cnut, Wenger had not one bad thing to say about him. He simply said we had no room for a striker. The man is pure class.

Could you imagine what that would do to our dressing room? Could you imagine what the fans would do to him? There is talk that he’s off to Real on loan which should be fun, can’t wait to see how he gets on with Ronaldo.

Chuckles.

And that’s all there was really, there was some talk about if it’s better to build a team or buy one, and of course, Wenger said he preferred to do things the ‘Arsenal’ way. Some questions about YaYa Toure as well as Wenger confirmed it was a work permit issue when he was younger, not wages, and that YaYa just wouldn’t be patient.

For the day before a match between the second and third placed teams in the country, especially two teams with such bad blood, and so many old boys returning in one guise or another, there was very little on the actual match. Of course, it could all be embargoed, in which case we’ll hear about it later.

I’ll do the match preview tomorrow, but until then, you might want to check here to see who the mid-season winner is for the cap comp league.

See you in the comments folks.

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