Volvos? Smorgasbords? Perhaps they will simply sing something by Abba – “Money, Money, Money” would do nicely in the circumstances.
The Swede’s transfer from Parma, all off according to his agent three days ago, has finally gone through, following a late hitch over the paying- off of Brolin’s Italian contract, which had seven months to run.A delay in registration means that Leeds supporters will have to wait before they see whether Brolin, who has failed to earn a regular place in Parma’s team since breaking an ankle last season, can link up as expected with the predatory Tony Yeboah.”I am not on top form now, but I hope to be in a month,” Brolin said yesterday. Leeds United’s supporters may need to think a bit harder about their welcome for Tomas Brolin, the club’s record pounds 4.5m signing, who will be presented to them at today’s home match against Chelsea. They will be good for this season, and a couple more.”Good news for Arsenal, but bad news for forwards and linesmen.. How to honour an arriving Swede? Middlesbrough’s fans had it easy when their boy from Brazil, Juninho, made his appearance – don the sombreros, cue samba bands, nothing too tricky. I knew the defence gave the club a good base.”It is largely a working relationship.
“It is difficult to get together socially as we live all over the place,” Adams said, “but the boss is into camaraderie, so we occasionally pop out together.”Their average age is now 31. How long can they go on for? Don Howe, one of the game’s leading coaches, said: “Their sell-by date is a long way off yet. Dennis Bergkamp afterwards described the defence as the best he had played with, while Alex Ferguson noted: “The defence is still Arsenal’s cornerstone, their great strength.” David Platt added: “They are the main reason I came here. That is when a team shows it has good team spirit.”They were equally resolute in Arsenal’s last game during which Manchester United were kept at bay. “We were battered for 90 minutes at Auxerre,” Dixon recalled. “That sort of performance gives you a lot of satisfaction – although I would rather win 5-0 every week.
It was not just the back four, we had a lot of defence in front of us. In that situation do you push one in and leave Rush, with his pace, against the other centre-half? We tended to keep our shape, the four.”Then there are the new balls. “I do not care what anyone says,” said David Seaman, the goalkeeper. “They fly all over the place and we have had to work on closing people down much further out.”"What’s the matter with him? He can stop them,” responded Adams, before confirming that was the case.In recent years, it has been the European campaigns which have often seen the Arsenal defence at its best, notably against Parma in the 1994 final and at Auxerre last year. “People said the pass- back rule would cause us problems, but I cannot imagine playing without it now,” Dixon said.
“When you watch it happening on the old Match of the Days, it even drives me mad.” Then there was the change in the offside law which, added Dixon, “just means we have to be more careful.”More teams are playing with one striker up and another off A new problem? No, said Adams “Liverpool did it with Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush. Linighan replaced the injured Bould during the FA and League Cup successes of 1993, even scoring the winner in the FA Cup final. O’Leary played in much of the first title season, often as a sweeper behind Adams and Bould.The quartet have had to adapt to various changes. Bould, meanwhile, has seen off a string of centre-halves: David O’Leary, Gus Caesar, Andy Linighan, Colin Pates and Martin Keown Some have had their moments. I can remember taking corners, Steve would flick them on and there would be Tony, diving in head first among the flailing boots.”Indeed only four players have scored more than Adams’ 28 goals during this period. He is very competent defensively but he likes to get forward.
