Roger's Arsenal letter

["Brian Cady" <cadyb@home.com>]

A letter from Roger as printed in the Evening Standard Monday edition
Available on line at:
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/sport/story.html?in_review_id=309771&i
n_review_text_id=253677

Arsenal must look to the new generation
by Roger Daltrey
My son got me into supporting Arsenal when he started in the late 1980s and
I've been a season ticket holder since 1994. With my busy schedule,
especially working in America so much it's not always easy to get football
news.
I get around this by giving my son the season ticket, who then rings me with
all the latest news.
The prospects for the coming season look good, but it's going to be a hard
season because the other big clubs have made big-name signings, so our squad
may be slightly weaker.
There are good youngsters coming through like Jermaine Pennant and Ashley
Cole, who should be given first-team opportunities at some point.
Another few players are needed to really complete squad, though. We still
need a forward, a defensive midfielder or defender. I would also like to see
the team create a greater aerial threat, as goals from headers have become
very rare at Highbury.
We were unlucky with the signings of Edu and Edmilson falling through, as
they would have brought real flair to the team as Silvinho does.
Robert Pires is a great buy. He showed in the European Championships that he
has great skills and I think he is going to be an adequate replacement for
Marc Overmars. He obviously doesn't have the same pace, but that won't
matter. I have not seen that much of Lauren. I saw him in the pre-season
game against Barcelona and he impressed me a lot. He was one of our best
players that night.
It's a great shame to lose any world-class players, but I support manager
Arsene Wenger's decision to sell Overmars and Emmanuel Petit as it made the
club a lot of money. Those players were bought for a combined fee of £10
million three years ago, and we got about £30m, which is a huge profit. Some
of that money now should be spent on replacements.
Overmars will be less of a loss to the team than Petit. Manu's work-rate was
incredible. He was a real strong point and his absence will hurt more, as
his partnership with Patrick Vieira has been broken, and that was the best
midfield pairing in the country.
The Who will be in the UK in November with their 'Greatest Hits Live' tour.
© Associated Newspapers Ltd., 21 August 2000