DAVID DEIN probably doesnt know whether to laugh or cry
at the moment.
There are Arsenal, top of the Premier League, with a seemingly
never-ending production line of kids coming through. And he is on
the outside looking in.
No wonder David and his backers are so desperate to buy the
club.
Whatever David may say, I bet part of him is cursing about how well
Arsenal are doing.
Had the Gunners been struggling, as some people thought they might
this season, the fans would have been outside the ground clamouring
for his return.
Instead there has barely been a murmur and the current board must
be sitting quite comfortably.
When you are mounting a campaign like Davids, you need every
advantage you can get. And the way Arsenal are playing isnt
helping his cause.
Getting the football and the finances right is a tricky business
and Arsenal are pulling it off.
David is not daft. He may have been talking about the club needing
new investment but he also knows how good his friend Arsene Wenger
is at finding new talent at bargain prices and that there was a
wealth of quality already coming through.
He realises Arsenal will not drain a new owners resources because
a man like Wenger would not allow it.
Even when Arsenal went through a relatively quiet period over the
last couple of years, Dein knew the Frenchman was well capable of
taking them back to the top again.
It says everything about Arsenal that there was no panic when they
stuttered after winning the title without losing a game in the
2003-04 season.
They played some beautiful football over the last few years without
scoring the goals.
But now they have sold Thierry Henry and ended up with a better
team. They have found that cutting edge again and it is fantastic
to watch.
They are even packing out their Carling Cup games because the fans
all want to watch the next generation.
That competition went through a period when it was basically being
seen as a reserve-team cup that nobody cared about.
But now, at places like Arsenal, it is being revitalised because it
is a chance to see exciting kids.
It might not have worked at Manchester United this week but it
did in North London
And think of the way Arsenal destroyed Liverpools second string
last season.
I realise Julio Baptista scored four goals but the kids made it
work and it is a game which is still talked about.
Strangely, it all reminds me of years gone by when we used to play
pre-season games between two sides from the same club.
At Chelsea, I think it was free for the fans to get in and we used
to stage matches like the possibles v the probables or sometimes
mix the two sides up.
The fans loved it because it gave them a chance to see the new buys
or any of the youngsters who were coming through.
Id like to see that come back. The TV companies would fancy it, as
well. Arsenal v Arsenal would be the best game of the season.
Having already lost Emile Heskey from our next two Euro 2008
qualifiers against Estonia and Russia we now have to face up to
the prospect of being without our top goalscorer Michael
Owen.
They were as good as it gets against Israel and Russia. But, as I
said a couple of weeks ago, there was no point getting into a
debate about whether we should keep the partnership because
injuries can always scupper your plans.
While it is bad luck to lose one of them, somebody up there must
have it in for us to take away both. Weve just got to get on with
it though.
Weve proved the strength in depth is there so there is no reason
why we cannot deal with this setback as well.
All written by Terry
Venables...