N16 Magazine Summer 2003 - issue 18 pg 35 Man in the North Bank

• If what follows reads like what I wrote this time last year, that’s because the points need repeating. Then I argued that Arsenal desperately needed another forceful centre back to relieve the pressure on Sol Campbell and Martin Keown, and added that extra defensive reinforcements were vital after Lee Dixon’s retirement. How Arsenal missed the dressing room influence of Tony Adams in the closing weeks of 2002-3. And how the back four missed the influence of Adams and Dixon on the pitch. As Dennis Bergkamp pointed out, both were organisers who held the line together and talked colleagues into position. Every successful Arsenal side since Herbert Chapman has been built on the basis of a solid defence.

Lack of cover at the back cost Arsenal dearly in the championship run-in – and made the sale of Matthew Upson even more questionable than it seemed at the time. Shaky Pascal Cygan proved no answer at all. Nor did Igors Stepanovs or Stathis Tavlaridis. Arsene Wenger has achieved so much, exorcising the demons of ‘boring Arsenal’ and making the Gunners the most exciting team in the Premiership. But, as N16 feared, the defensive foundations weren’t secure last season. Look at the times Arsenal let leads slip. This summer, Arsene’s task is likely to be far harder if his spending power is limited by constraints arising from the Ashburton Grove development.

Upson’s transfer posed another question: does Wenger trust English players unless they’re tested internationals like Campbell? Are the Gunners interested in promising
young defenders from lesser clubs – such as Lescott (Wolves), Jagielka (Sheffield United) and Dawson (Forest) – or will Arsene always look abroad?

• Speaking of English players, I hope Franny Jeffers gets another chance rather than being sold in the close season. He’s already spoken of a return to Everton. Jeffers will never have Thierry Henry’s explosive brilliance. But he’s the one Arsenal striker who’ll go in where it hurts to score the ‘little’ goals. He and Freddie Ljungberg are the only Gunners prepared to make runs into the box for crosses, another issue that we pointed out last summer. If Robert Pires and Ljungberg are fit (and stay), then maybe Sylvain Wiltord could offer another option through the middle.

• As we go to press, the most urgent problem for the Gunners is finding a successor to David Seaman, another veteran keeper snapped up by Manchester City. Long time
target, Turkey’s Rustu Recber, has joined Barcelona and young Leeds‚ star Paul Robinson, seems to be beyond Arsenal’s budget. The Gunners have been linked with 24-year old Argentine keeper Diego Sebastian Saja, who plays for cash-strapped Buenos Aires club San Lorenzo. Or maybe a short-term solution might be Seaman’s successor as England number one, David James of relegated West Ham?

• But 2003-4 is a crucial season for Arsenal under Arsene. It’s their sixth successive year in the Champions League and they’ve yet to advance beyond the quarter-finals.
Then there’s the matter of answering Manchester United’s smash and grab raid on the title. United had the race to themselves in 2000 and 2001. Arsenal replied with the Double in 2002 and believed the balance of power had swung to north London.

That question will be settled by the end of the new season – with huge implications for Arsene and his stars.

Crossword grid 18 n16 crossword no. 18 ‘ by Gap

There will be a prize of a meal for two up to Ł30 at Lemongrass for the first correct entry drawn.

Entries to N16 Crossword, PO Box 44624, London N16 5WN
Solution and winner on our website after 11 August
Twelve clues define both a single word and its Cockney Rhyming Slang, in two parts which do not overlap. Each phrase is of two words (or three with a conjunction). The diagram entry is always the single word.

ACROSS
1 Credit first couple (7)
5 Sacred text put before police is a threat (7)
9 Roll scars into shape (9)
10 Controversial orator is dryer (5)
11 Biblical character emanating from 1 across (3)
12 Enable strange companion to get seat in pub (8)
13 Capital atmosphere inside firm (5)
15 Centre of fruit pie (5)
17 Neat code translated into narrative (8)
19 Decision referee intended, reportedly (8)
21 Roll with sweet notes (5)
23 Political group sends back party bill (5)
24 Foreign coin display chosen after Greek introduction (9)
26 ‘arold has it bad (3)
28 Follow model before Peter returns (5)
29 Harem slaves get nothing extra initially in squalid chaos (9)
30 Cook fish (7)
31 Niagara and Victoria falls in Spring (7)

DOWN
1 Support a revolutionary pain (8)
2 Licentious pantomime character (5)
3 Asset that is handled most simply (7)
4 Exact share allocated for church officials (10)
5 Finish off country meal (4)
6 Saw is hot, perhaps (7)
7 Rex accepts summons presented again (9)
8 Support hanging tree (6)
14 Trouble and strife, perhaps, when gambler has a swift drink (6,4)
16 Support underfoot for animal in a yard (9)
18 His pony’s suffering a trance (8)
20 An astronomer, I delay return and sign on (7)
21 Put assorted items on beast of burden, a half-caste (7)
22 Drink is reward for service (6)
25 Call Tom and Jerry (5)
27 See batsman’s reaction to bouncer, perhaps (4)

On Line