Emirates Cup; Wenger Addresses Vieira Rumor

By: Martin | August 1st, 2009

The Emirates Cup starts today, and it’ll be a good chance for the home supporters to get a look at this year’s squad, for the squad to test itself against pretty high-level competition. Rosicky is supposed to be back in the squad, while Diaby is apparently out for another week or so.

We’re getting close to the season, and we’ve been through our primary preseason conditioning workouts in Austria, so what we see in these matches should be pretty meaningful. Nothing is set in stone, obviously, but the way Wenger lines up in these matches could very well be how the squad lines up two weeks from today when the season kicks off. Some of the big questions:

1. Who’s starting at striker? van Persie is a given, but he could very well be paired with Bendtner, Arshavin, or Eduardo.

2. Who’s pairing with Cesc in the center of the field? Song was playing very well alongside Cesc at the end of last season, but in the friendlies so far, Wenger has talked about using Song as a center back. I hope it’s Song starting, but we could also see Arshavin, Denilson, or Ramsey in the mix for a first-choice spot.

3. Who are our center backs? With Toure gone, it’s in flux. You’d have to think that it will probably be Gallas and Vermaelen, but Djourou, Song, Senderos, and Silvestre are also hanging around.

4. Who’s on the left? With Nasri out, we’re going to need someone to play on the left wing for at least the first month of the season. It could be Arshavin, Traore, Rosicky, Vela, or Denilson–I think it’s pretty wide open, and it will be interesting to watch and see if anyone can put in a couple of good performances in these matches and grab the spot until Nasri comes back.

Wenger announced that he will rest Theo Walcott for the Emirates Cup matches, so we could see Arshavin, Eboue, or Wilshere start on the right in these matches, but there’s no way Walcott’s first-team place is under review.

We play Atletico Madrid today, which will feature a return to North London for Jose Antonio Reyes. He might receive a mixed welcome from the fans–he was very good for us in his 2.5 seasons with the club, but ultimately requested out of the club because he was homesick. And then tomorrow we square off against Rangers. Given that they are, essentially, friendlies, and players aren’t up to game fitness yet, as well as the fact that we’re playing two games on back-to-back days, expect to see a lot of substitutions and reserve players get some action.

Still, though, it’s Arsenal at the Emirates, hopefully wearing red for the first time this season, playing against high-level competition. Games are on GolTV if you get it. Just 2 weeks until the season starts.

On the transfer front, Wenger has pointedly refused to rule out a move for Patrick Vieira, which seems to indicate that he is seriously exploring the possibility. I was kind of surprised that so many of the comments on the post which initially talked about a possible Vieira return were against the move–maybe I’m just sentimental, but if we don’t expect him to be much more than cover for our midfield, I think he’d be up to the task and would be a great influence on the rest of the club. However, I imagine that’s the sticking point–Vieira’s top priority at the moment seems to be actually being in the first-team somewhere so he can try to stay in the French international picture, and I doubt he’d be willing to come back to Arsenal just to be a backup and glorified mascot. Regardless, keep your ears open if you’re watching the game with the sound on–I wouldn’t be surprised if the Vieira song wasn’t sung prominently by the supporters.