Category Archives: Arsenal FC

The Spainard who stole my heart, and I don’t want it back !

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Hi all, I hope your well?

This doesn’t happen to me a lot – Falling in Love. The malarky that goes with it isn’t much fun. But cupid decided to give me a double dosage AND IT FEELS GREAT!

I’m not going to pretend I’ve seen all of his games, I’ve only seen him from a far – I’ve actually only seen him play a handful of times during the season and he took my fancy but I blamed the beer goggles for that. I do have previous, so I had to be sure, so the U21 European Championship gave me an opportunity to take a more in-depth look at him. I’d like to confirm I really liked what I saw.

Strangely I wrote about him in my last blog and two days later we were linked him. Spooky eh?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2343413/Arsenal-set-sign-Gonzalo-Higuain-Asier-Illarramendi.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

To let the cat out of the bag its – Asier Illaramendi. If you don’t know who he is, I will give you a run down on him, plus why I think he’s what we need. He is a 23-year-old Spanish international (He has only represented Spain at U21 Level). Illarra is what I like to call a modern day defensive midfielder. He’s strong, he can tackle, he’s a good reader (awareness) of the game, he has good movement (he’s Spanish, what you expect?), has a great array of passing – He can spray the ball like a sprinkler. He has all the key ingredients (and correct – no square peg, round hole here) needed for the roll. He plies his trade for Real Sociedad, he also came through their youth ranks.

The Spanish media have compared him to Xabi Alonso but I’d have to politely disagree. I can see some similarities but they are both very different players in my opinion. Asier will shield the defence, roaming around the deeper areas breaking up play, but not afraid to stick it to the opposition when needed. When in possession he is very impressive, and doesn’t seem to hold back or slow down attacks, Like many other players in that role can. He will recycle the ball – keep it simple, when needed, but he isn’t afraid to move forward and play between the lines. Because its fresh in my mind, against Italy (U21 European Championship Final) he had the ball in very tight area and the awareness to swashbuckle his way past many of the opposition attacking players – it was magnificent. For me his most attractive attribute was how natural he is; he’s not a player who been converted, it’s second nature. Like Nacho Monreal he’s left back. Not a converted winger. A left back. Illarra covers, tracks runners and to be completely jovial he wears his socks very Sebastien Veron did, very nonchalant (love that).

We have been crying out for a holding midfielder since Gilberto Silva left the team. To bring in a dose of reality to the whole thing, Illarramendi is one of few players likely be available at ‘Arsenal prices’ that could anchor our midfield to level we need. Mikel Arteta has been the stop gap for the team in that role, it’s not natural for him but he’s done very well considering. I personally believe it’s been a blessing in disguise for the Spainard. I wasn’t and I’m still not his biggest fan. I feel he takes our fluidity away and slows us down at times.

So what would the damage be? A report from Spain, from the paper El Confidencial ‘believes’ Illarramendi has a £25.7million release clause – which would surely rule us out? But since then other reports have said he would hold a £10 Million price tag. At that price a must for me. A holding midfielder is key to this team progressing on. I’d also like to add it would be utterly ridiculous if we went into the new season without one. Asier Illarramendi would be a fantastic addition.

When I watched Spain against Uruguay the formation/line-up Spain played sparked something off for me. As I mentioned in my previous blog – ‘The Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla conundrum’ is an issue, but maybe we should take some tips from Spain? Vincte Del Bosque didn’t select Cesc as a false number number, he selected a ‘proper’ number nine in Roberto Soldado. He also didn’t include Xabi Alonso but added a different kind of attacking midfielder – Cesc. More importantly he didn’t play with a double pivot in midfield (4-2-3-1). The Spanish midfield was, Barcelona – Iniesta, Cesc, Xavi, Busquets and Pedro (Probably a major reason to why it was so successful). Spain were very direct and dynamic on the night, which is something they haven’t been so recently. Sergio Busquets played very deep. Pretty much on the laps of the two central. Xavi found his usual space to orchestrate…

Fabregas had an absolute blinder. The stuff he used to create at Arsenal. Fabregas was more direct, which forced Spain to be more direct and move the ball quicker. His link-up play with Soldado was impressive. Cesc and RVP stuff (sorry I mentioned him). There was no clogging in the midfield as we often see at Arsenal and Barcelona with Santi and Jack, also Iniesta and Fabregas.

What I’m saying is maybe we should ditch our double pivot and try and to be more direct. If we signed Illarramendi, he could sit and hold. If we pushed Arteta forward where he could orchestrate in pockets between the opposition. Push Jack behind the centre forward, Santi to the left, where he may have space to feed the number 9? Could Jack be our Cesc? I’d be interested to hear you thoughts. As always…

Cheers for reading,

Be happy,

Ben

In case of emergency, break glass

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Gentlemen, thank you for coming here today at such notice, particularly given that this is our supposedly quietest time in the year. I appreciate your speedy response. But I must stress this with the utmost importance: the nature of the situation we’re in does not allow for any back slapping or cosy catch-ups.

Gentlemen, we’re at DEFCON 2 here. Johnson, did you bring the tactical response manual?


Yes sir, but…

WE DON’T HAVE TIME FOR COMMITTEE DECISIONS HERE JOHNSON. We have to act and act with the swiftest of responses. Do you understand?


Yes sir, but I really think that we should…

DAMMIT JOHNSON! HAND ME THAT MANUAL NOW OR YOU WILL BE REMOVED OF YOUR DUTY!

(Hands across a dusty, red leather bound book that looks like it hasn’t seen daylight for an age. The man in charge swipes at the book and glares back at his compatriot, who quickly shuffles back to his place around the table of other men in suits. The man in charge looks down and, if you were to catch sight of him for just a split second, fear could almost be seen as he stares down)

Gentlemen, I don’t want this, I’ve never wanted this. In my tenure running this operation I never thought I’d NEED this. But we are out of options. When I open this manual and give you institutions, I need your words – all of you – that you will carry out these instructions verbatim. Are we all in agreement?

(A collective of nodding and mumbling of agreement ripples out amongst those present in the room)

Good. Here goes then. May God have mercy on us all.

(The man in charge tears open the paper seal that protects the book from opening and ensures that it has not been previously tampered with. The silence in the room makes the tension grow. You can see the anxiety amongst the attendees is so visible you feel like you could cut the air with a knife. The man in charge slumps his shoulders slightly. He reaches down into the book he’s holding and unclips a small brass key. He walks to the corner of the room where a huge frame of the recently departed chairman stands, fumbling at the edges of the picture until he finds a mechanism that he pulls, with a ‘click’ sound that starts the motion of opening the secret compartment behind the picture.

The entire room is now in an even more stunned silence than before.

The man waits until the picture has opened by about 45 degrees and stopped before he reaches inside to the opened wall deposit box. He grasps at something with both hands and returns back to where he was originally standing at the head of the table)

Anderson, take this.

(The man hands another gentlemen a small disposable camera)

This is the only answer I’m afraid gentlemen. Anderson, I need you to take this to the stadium. On your way there, contact the ground staff and get them to begin the cutting of the grass. When you get to the stadium, take as many pictures as you can. Jones – I need you to come up with some content, something that will link with the pict…


But sir, we can’t do this! Do you have any idea what stage we’re at now with the supporters? They’re practically going insane as it is right now, if we put something on the official website about the grass at the ground being cut, there will be pandemonium. It’ll be a Twitter meltdown of epic proportions. They want Rooney or Higuain and they’ll get pictures of industrial grass cutters? We’ll never survive the backlash – it will be worse than the time we invented that media watch page.

THANK…..you for your feedback Johnson. I fully understand the gravity of the situation here, but quite frankly people, we are out of options. We are not responsible for the acquisition of football playing staff. We all know who has that remit and short of demanding that he act – and I’m happy for any of you here present today to volunteer to tell him to do so – then we have to do whatever we can in our power to keep the hungry, salivating masses, visiting our website. That is our domain, that is where we can have an impact, and so that is where we are going to act. Do I have any further questions?

(The stunned silence remains)

**********
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, the inside scoop on why we got pictures of the grass cutting yesterday afternoon. As you can tell, I’m clearly the most ITK’y person in the whole wide world. Trust me.

Until tomorrow.

Silenter than Silent Stan in a library

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It’s so very quiet. It’s quieter than Silent Stan reading a book in a library whilst wearing a carpenters mask to stop heavy breathing from permeating through the atmosphere. It’s more quiet than ‘The Lane‘. That’s how quiet it is.

I think there was some stuff that resurfaced about Nani joining us yesterday and that has bobbed to the surface again today. It’s funny, it does feel like Arsenal transfer surfaces are like a barrel of Granny Smith’s in a pale of water. You push one down and it disappears for a minute or two, only to push two others aside and float right into the middle again. We had the Nani stuff in January, so it’s decided to bob to the surface in place of the Jovetic story, which will probably resurface in a week or so unless any deals are done.

Personally, I’m not sure about Nani, either us signing him or him being any success. He’s a skilful player, but he looks to me like the type of player that can go missing in some games, hence why United aren’t too reluctant to let him go. Mind you, if he was a like-for-like replacement for Gervhino, then there wouldn’t be too many Gooners that would complain. There’s no doubt Nani would be better in that wide man role than the Ivorian. Plus, at least he knows what he’s doing half the time, which is more than we can all say about our King of Forehead’s.

There’s literally nothing going on today. Nowt. Not even a ‘Johan Djourou has returned to Arsenal and he’s decided to give us another Arsenal.com exclusive’. Like I said the other day, I hope it’s the calm before the storm, but we’ve had this before, so there is inevitably a bit of anxiety amongst Arsenal fans as to whether we’ll see the stellar signing we a want. I am still hopeful it will happen.

Right, no point filling in any more of this blog space with empty words, so I might as well play Football Manager on my iPhone. I’ve got a Bundesliga with Bayern Munich to win.

Good ol’ Olly, bye-bye Nicky, hi-hi Fellaini?

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I do like Olly Giroud you know. There’s a chap who stands behind me at the games and he just completely ignores the idea that you should pronounce his name without a ‘D’ sound at the end of it to make yourself seem more cosmopolitan and, after the first couple of weeks where I took the Michael a little bit and he did it more with a smile on his face, I have actually got used to the way he says it and even given the man himself a more English sounding first name. Yeah, Olly Giroud with an emphasis on the ‘D’.

Let’s face it, his style and play is a bit more akin to the old fashioned British centre forward that we used to see 20 or 30 years ago. He holds the ball up well, has shown strength against some of the more meatier centre halfs in the league and by and large I think he’s acquitted himself quite well. 17 goals and a hatful of assists is certainly nothing to be sniffed at. He’s also added that element of aesthetically pleasingness for the female followers of The Arsenal, so overall you have to say he’s had a good start to his career.

Sure, he could have scored a few more goals, taking a bit of time to bed in before netting his first, but when you read his latest soundbites from the official site, you can see that he’s had quite a steep learning curve. The disappearance of that Dutch Bloke from our ranks was never going to be felt with a like-for-like replacement, but in Olly we have a guy that brings others into play with his ability to hold up the ball, which has probably also helped to spread the goals around the team a bit more. I thought that spell of three games towards the end of the season where he was suspended really showed his value. Poldi did ok, scored some and made an assist or two, but he didn’t give us that ability to take pressure off the defence when we were under the kosh a bit. It’s a bit of a shame that Arsene and his medical staff aren’t experimenting Frankstein-style by making a hybrid of the two. Olly’s hold up play and physical presence coupled with Poldi’s natural born killer instinct in front of goal. Maybe they are?

He’s ‘bigged up’ our chances of a title tilt next season if we get a strong early winning run going and, whilst it’s not something new to know, it’s good to see the players have that mindset to get going from the off. Although I have to say a lot of it will depend on the fixture list itself. Playing United, Chelski and Liverpool away in the first five or six games will make it more of a challenge to go on an early winning run, but if we did get over those hurdles early, it would set us up fantastically for the rest of the season. Swings and roundabouts and all that. I guess we can talk more about fixtures and thoughts when they come out in a few weeks time.

I also thought his comments about the players he’s now playing with being better, which has meant he’s had to adapt and be better even in training, was also interesting. Yes, he’s was in a title winning side in Montpellier the season before last, but you only have to look at the position Montpellier finished last year – ninth – to see that they were a team that just managed to go on a fantastic run and keep that going, a la Newcastle two seasons ago. The only difference between the two situations is that the Premier League is infinitely more competitive, seen by the fact it still draws the biggest crowds and audiences worldwide as a collective. So I say a big ‘well done’ to that newly adopted English sounding Frenchman Olly GirouD.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be looking at another striking option, I must hasten to add, and I think we will be over the next month or two. And that won’t be any ‘Like a New Signing’s either. Nik Bendtner may be temporarily back with Arsenal, but he’s already stated that Arsenal have accepted five offers for his services and he’ll need to make a decision over the next couple of weeks. It’s a shame that a career that appeared to be going in the right direction plummeted so dramatically, with the rumours I’ve read suggesting Arsenal would part with as little as £3million for a player who has the confidence of Ronaldo, but is light years away in terms of his actual real life ability. And how about the quotes attributed to him, eh? Making statements that you’ve got to take two steps backwards (I.e. play for a team lower down a league) to move three forward isn’t exactly going to be the kind of talk the fans of your new club will want to hear. But I guess that’s what you get with Nicky B; an ambitious player who thinks he should be dining at the top table. If you’re taking a punt on him, then you know what you’re getting so there should hardly be any surprises if he is successful and wants to move after a couple of years.

The other stuff that’s knocking around at the moment unsurprisingly delves into the murky would of transfer speculation, rumour and conjecture. Supposedly Fellaini has told ‘friends’ he’d love to play for Arsenal and live in London. Personally, as I’ve already said, I don’t think this will happen. His £24million price tag doesn’t sound like the sort of money we’d shell out for Fellaini and if he becomes available, there’s a Cesc Fabregas in the offing for £1million more, so that’s why I don’t think Arsenal will act on the fuzzy-haired Belgian. I think that’s why the club sometimes seems to dither. if yoi think your top target is on the verge of becoming available, you’re hardly going to dip into the second and third choice pots, are you? Yes, we can buy more than one £25million player, but I suspect we’d be looking at two, tops. If that is the case, surely the club should be looking at one creative midfielder and one striker in the £25million mould, no? We all know we need three, maybe four signings, but the Gooners I’ve spoken to all seem to also know that we won’t be spunking £100million. So there is a part of me understanding why the club seem to be making a few enquiries but nothing concrete yet.

Anyway, that’ll do for one morning, laters potatoes.

Episode XXV: a New (Cesc) Hope and the saga continues

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Allo allo allo you lovely lot. Hopefully you’re in fine fettle at the midway point in the week. I’m not too bad, considering I find myself hurtling at a rate of knots towards work in the heart of the smog, maybe I’m in some sort of tired daydream or something. An illusion of ‘okayness’ bought about by an early night, albeit with an early start.

Anyway, what shall we natter about today then my friends? The news that Cesc says he’s ‘living the dream’? Do you know, the last time I heard that it was when Burnley were in the Premier League. I was sat in my old seat in Block 3, I think, and the guy about five seats to my right had bought a mate that was clearly a Burnley fan with his shirt underneath. Of course, the first time they got into our half he jumped up and was suitably chastised by the home fans for cheering whilst sitting in the home end. Inexplicably though, he decided that he was going to start gesturing to the home support – of which he was sufficiently outnumbered to the point where even David would have turned his back on that particular Goliath – and start shouting ‘living the dream’, of course that went down like a lead balloon amongst the Arsenal faithful.

Turns out the ‘dream’ nominally lasts around 20 minutes. The. You get surrounded by stewards and escorted off the premises. I really don’t understand why people do that. I’ve sat in home fans sections whilst I’ve watched Arsenal (admittedly not for a while now that I can get away tickets in the Arsenal away fans section a little easier) and it’s just the unwritten rule that if you’re behind enemy lines, you don’t jump up and down when something positive happens to your team, let alone wear the colours of the away team even if it’s below your jacket. The best you can hope for, depending on who you are playing, is a quite clench and gentle fist pump when The Arsenal bag a goal. Quite what the bloke though would happen after he had baited the crowd is still a mystery to me to this day. He’d probably have paid a lot of money to sit there, so to through that away for 20 minutes of action and a bit of what he might call ‘banter’ is beyond me.

So, about that whole ‘living the dream’ thing. If I can try and make some sort of metaphorical link to my Burnley fan to the case of the Cesc saga, I’d say we’re in about minute 13 of it. There’s probably a few more ‘living the dream’ quotes the Spaniard could churn out on Catalan biased stations, but after a while people will start to suspect something again regardless of what he says. Lets just hope the stewards usher Cesc out of the Catalan doors and into the waiting and loving arms of Arsene. One things for sure, we ain’t heard the last of this. Let’s just consider what was said for a second. Cesc was quoted as saying he’s happy in Catalonia. I’m sure he is to an extent. He has family, he’s where he grew up and he has many ties to his club. But he’s also 26 years old and is of sufficient quality to expect to be a regular starter. Yet he still remains the heir apparent to Xavi, with his Spanish compatriot seemingly looking good enough for at least a couple more years at the club. That would take Cesc to 28 and most likely, if he hasn’t established himself as a number one, wanting to depart the shores where he was birthed. We always hear about how a footballers career is short, so why would you want to Squillaci yourself, when you clearly have plenty of suitors across Europe who would come knocking if it was clear you wouldn’t be the main man.

I’m no footballer. And I’m no genius. And I’m certainly no mind reader. But if I’ve thought about this, don’t you think it’s crossed his mind too? So that being the case, whilst I don’t know for certain whether we could get him or not this season, I’m pretty sure he’s not 100% happy about getting bench time. He’s not Alex Song. Yet his place on the bench sometimes means that he has to sit next to the Cameroonian and compare himself to the man. He wants to be loved. He would get more love away from Barca and into the warm embrace of Arsenal fans. I suspect he’ll get a hell of a lot of game time too. And if he headed back to these shores, I think he’d have had a bit of that ‘BarcaDNA’ we all heard about two summers ago, burned off a bit and re-healed as ‘ArsenalDNA’. It would probably give us more cause to hope that the team can be built around the maestro again. Imagine being given the opportunity for a Champions League team to build their playing style around you as opposed to being one of a number? Wouldn’t that seem attractive?

Let’s also look at the fact that his partner and child are predominantly based in London. Now, I’m no dad, but I do have a wife. I love my wife and any job that either of us got where we worked abroad would only ever be a short term thing unless the other one followed us out there. I don’t know Cesc’s missus, but from what I’ve heard she ain’t moving anywhere too quickly. So logically if he decided that he wanted to be with them every day of the week, he’d have to move to these here shores, specifically London. Which I’d hope would give us even more cause for optimism that this could happen. Families are very important. They give you stability and love. Cesc has a bit of a dilemma in the he’ll have family in both Barcelona and London, but his closest family (kid) are based here, so it may make the pull to the UK too great.

I said this on Twitter last night and I’ll say it again today: Cesc’s a smart lad. He knows what side his bread is buttered. Right now, it’s buttered in Spain and he wants to keep those that butter it happy. There is no value in him making public statements of disappointment and a desire to leave. we saw that when he left The Arsenal. people talked and talked all summer about him, but he kept quiet, kept his mouth shut and as a result has no animosity from most Arsenal fans. He saves the public declarations for the mercenaries that are trying to get a new contract and a big fat signing on fee. We all know he doesn’t care about money, just football, so that being the case who is best placed to give him that?

Cesc also knows a bit about PR. He knows that he’s a brand. He’s that nice guy that you want in your team. He’s one for the purists. A joy to watch and an exemplary pro off the field (cue scandal breaking in the press now I’ve said that). He has a fanbase in Barcelona and so he needs to say the right things off it. And he’s doing just that. Think back to everything he’s ever said about Arsenal. Always complimentary, always positive, always leaving the door ajar for a return. So now, if he finds himself in a bit of a tight spot and Tito doesn’t show him some faith, he knows he’ll get the red carpet treatment rolled out for him if Barca don’t show him the love. His public statements on the radio push the ball firmly in Tito’s court. If Cesc does leave Barcelona there won’t be too many Catalans that will be calling for his head i don’t think. But there might be some vexation at Villanova for one of their own being sent away.

Chelski thought they could make a song and a dance over Mourhino’s return? Well kids, you ain’t seen nothing yet. If he were to rock up at The Emirates we’d all see the impact he’d have. The club would be buoyed by the return of a prodigal son, the fans will welcome back one of the most creative players we’ve had over the last eight to ten years, plus it would make a clear statement: no more selling of stars, now we buy them and improve the club.

It might be a long summer ahead for us Gooners, but this particular story isn’t going away, as much as the Catalan media would have you believe. There are 75 days before the transfer window shuts. Only two or three of those days will see announcements from Arsenal of signings. Even George Lucas couldn’t string out a series of cult action movies – one for every day of the window – so we just have to wait patiently for the news of players to come.

When it comes to Cesc, the saga may continue, but I have a New Hope.

Until tomorrow.

A pressing need for pressing

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Do you know it’s been bloody ages since I wrote a blog about something else other than topical subjects that was happening in the world of Arsenal right now? So I find myself this very day quite bored of the ongoing transfer nonsense and inclined to pluck some thoughts from my cerebrum and dump them on to this here online parchment I see before me.

The title pretty much gives away what my focal point of personal discussion is today, but I’ll spell it out anyway for consistency:

What in the name of all that is Dennis happened to our pressing game?

You know, the one where all players would close down quickly and win the ball off the opposition as early as possible so we could turn defence into attack quickly, that type of pressing.

I remember being at a BBQ a few years back and not getting the chance to get anywhere near a TV, radio or online for a prolonged period of time on the first game of the season. Arsenal were away to Everton and when I got to a radio I was nervous. Everton are a good team and a result there was always going to be difficult. I needn’t have worried. As the news announcer declared the final result of 6-1, I heard of a team that had torn apart an industrious Everton side that simply couldn’t handle the attacking flair, even of a new centre-back who rocked up with a goal on his debut. Thomas Vermaelen was his name. But what really stood out for me during that short synopsis of the game by the commentator, was how he waxed lyrical about our high line of pressing, never giving Everton a moments peace.

And that’s how the season continued. We pressed from the front, worked hard from attack to defence, and picked up results, going on to compete for the title until at least March time. Yet here we are, three years later, with a team whose fitness levels are certainly no worse than the 2009/10 batch of players, yet I rarely see us engage in that type of activity.

And I have to tell you, I find it really odd, not least because we all know and are told that Arsene prepares his players really well and they are some of the fittest in the league. And we all know that if they wanted to, they could all do it. Yet we don’t for some reason that is unbeknownst to me.

You only have to look at one of the best teams in Europe over the last three or four years – Barcelona – to see what effective pressing can do. The last time Barcelona came to The Arsenal, that’s what stood out for me, their ability to press quickly all over the pitch. Don’t get me wrong, we are all amazed at their overall play when going forward and when they retain possession so well, but they were equally impressive without the ball too. If we adopted the same approach without the ball as that Barcelona team, the number of unforced errors we’d push our opponents into making would probably result in at least a dozen extra goals scored for the team at the end of a season. That ratio of extra notches into the onion bag could be the difference between finishing 16 points away from the champions and level pegging with them.

I think the thing for me that is also frustrating is that it’s not as if to teach a pressing game, winning the ball higher up the pitch, is a difficult one. In fact, it’s one of the easiest things to coach in football. Closing down your man and denying him space all over the pitch doesn’t require the skills and flair of Messi and Ronaldo. Heck, even Ryan Shawcross can do it, although you probably have to tell him there is a raw steak for his supper and a fresh bowl of water to motivate him.

So whilst we’re all looking towards what transfer activity could and should be done over the summer – and I must stress I advocate action too – there is a change I’d love to see from our Arsenal side in prep for the new season, and that is more emphasis placed on closing down the spaces that other teams have to do us damage.

For me, there most certainly is a pressing need for us to do more pressing in 2013/14

Operation Deadwood begins in earnest

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Hello hello and welcome to Thursday. For this particular Gooner, it’s a bleary eyed Thursday, after a black tie do where Peroni’s were available on demand. Curse you lady liquor, curse you.

From an Arsenal perspective however, it’s been a good 24 hours, as ‘Operation Deadwood’ has now begun its implementation phase with the announcement that the club will be releasing Arshavin, Squillaci and Denilson. It’s no real surprise that any of those players are going to be honest; none have contributed anything significant over the last 18 moths to two years and we knew that Squillaci and Arshavin’s contracts were up anyway. Arsene may have a soft spot for new contracts when it comes to younger, injury prone players, but it’s not unfair to say he and the club are ruthless when it comes to the more mature members of the squad.

I suspect that the club didn’t really want to announce that the players were to be release at the end of June just yet, but the announcement from Denilson’s agent meant that the cat was out of the bag early, so they brought forward the announcement. It doesn’t really matter I guess, after all the most important thing is that we free up space for players that can compete for a first team slot, but it just goes to show you how much of a pain in the arse agents can be when it comes to managing a clubs PR.

The departures of those three players is estimated to free up around £185-£195k per week off the wage bill, which coincidentally is probably what someone like Rooney would want to see at the club, so we can look at more than one reason why getting shot of these players is a good thing. It’s also pleasing to see it happen early. I know that the players contracts were expiring anyway, but coupled with a clearing of the decks of some of the younger players that the club doesn’t feel will make it, is more of a good PR move. The club are making a statement that they are done messing around and want to get the team settles and ready for the new season with plenty of time to spare.

For Arshavin, I’ll always have some great memories, like Barcelona at home or the four goals at Anfield. There’s no doubt he’s a talented footballer, but his motivation was probably just lacking a little bit to take him from a good player to a legend and one of the best at the club. I always felt that because he wasn’t given the freedom of the Emirates to roam around in, he never really applied himself as much as he probably could have, which is a real shame. I think he was used to the Zenit team being built around him and so when he joined Arsenal and became just another one of the stars rather than THE star, he probably gave up a wee bit.

As for Denilson and Squillaci, well, it never really worked out in my opinion. I never really felt that either properly established themselves as Arsenal players quality-wise. Squillaci played a lot in his first season and was unconvincing, whilst Denilson played a lot in 08/09 I think and never really kicked on. If I’m completely honest, even back then I didn’t rate Denilson too highly, so it was a surprise that the club renewed his deal back then to my mind.

Anyway, that’ll do for me, as my arms are aching and I’ve got a whole days work to pretend to do.

Have a good one.

Transfer woe and woe again! Not really folks, come on…

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Ok, ok, everybody calm down, I got this *hovers over the blue wire*…

You’d think the Arsenal universe was on the verge of some kind of massive time bomb about to destroy us all, if you’d have read some of the comments I read yesterday, referencing the stories about Laurent Koscienly threatening to quit the club. People taking a character ‘contract’ out on the French international for declaring that if the club were to not win trophies, he’d have to look elsewhere. Oh woe, woe is me and all of my kinsman, who have suffered so much with the slings and arrows of another transfer saga…

Talk about condemning a man before he’s even stood trial. I saw things yesterday on Twitter ranging from ridiculous to hilarious. People telling him to leave the club, people up in arms about his treacherous behaviour, and people bemoaning yet another saga with one of our top performers this season, as we battle to hold on to another superstar. I guess it’s not entirely our fault. Like a jilted lover, Arsenal fans have been dragged through the combine harvester of transfer pain not once, not twice, not even thrice, but…well, I’ve lost count actually (much like the number of commas I love to insert into my blogs). We have just got used to this kind of feeling and now we expect it to happen every year.

This wasn’t supposed to happen! Not like this! We were supposed to be free of worry this pre-season! Oh woe and woe again I say!

Right, Uxbridge Amateur Dramatics Society antics aside now, as let’s all take a deep intake of breath and come to some logical conclusions based on this interview he gave.

Laurent Koscienly wants to win trophies.
Good. I want him to as well. With Arsenal. He’s shown that he is a good player and towards the back end of this season he’s shown that alongside Mertesacker he can keep clean sheets as well. He’s also said the same things that Walcott, Sagna, Arteta, Henry, Pires, Bergkamp, Adams and countless other pro’s have said in the long 126 years of Arsenal’s history. They want to be winners and they want to do it at Arsenal. I have no problems with that and I’m certainly not going to lose sleep over it. Actually, I’m kinda glad, because he’s only saying what we all want to hear – he’s ambitious and he wants that drive to push the team to success. Let’s have eleven of those players out on the pitch for every game next season please.

Laurent Koscienly has said in the interview he’s happy at Arsenal.
Stop the press! That doesn’t sound like somebody angling for a move, does it? That sounds like, dare I say it, somebody who wants to stay at the club. Oh, jolly good then.

Laurent Koscienly has a four year contract.
This was signed just last year and underlined his commitment to the club. Yes, I know in this day and age contracts are far from unbreakable, but what they do is to allow the club to take a stronger stance when it comes to commanding top dollar for a player. How much do you think a Laurent Koscienly – arguably the best defender this season – is worth with a four year contract and at 27 years and reaching the peak of his career? I tell you one thing, he’s not going to go for less than £25 to £30million, and that’s me being pessimistic. The rumours that ‘Pep is a fan’ may be true, but it doesn’t mean his price tag would drop as a result. Otherwise Arsene would have acquired himself a Messi or two for the price of some Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Laurent Koscienly is just one player.
I don’t want to see him go. I don’t think he will go. But regardless of what happens, we all need to realise that players always come and go, it is the club that is the constant in our lives. Yes, we’d be upset for a week or two, but we would quickly pick up our heels and move on supporting The Arsenal. That’s just how it happens.

So my advice to you my friends, is to dispense of any worry you might have, replacing it with a lorry-load of ‘meh’ and enjoy the rest of your life. It’s too short to be concerned with scurrilous rumours that are designed to make online banner advertisers happy because of the exposure they receive on a webpage.

Peace out hombres.

Finding a positional home for The Ox

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Good day to you Gooners.

I want to talk a little bit about The Ox today, because he’s obviously man of the moment right now, but before I do I thought I’d at least acknowledge that it seems like we’ve got our ‘keeper to challenge Szczesny at last. Everyone and his dog seems to know that Cesar will soon become an Arsenal player and personally I think it’s a good fit. I don’t really want to go into too much on the possible signing because when it happens then I’ll have nothing to talk about when its been confirmed on the official site. But it sounds positive that the club are looking to get their business done early. He’s also the right age to challenge Szczesny but not force him out.

Now, on to actual Arsenal-related stuff, and I gotta say the only good thing about last nights England v Brazil game was the Arsenal goalscorer Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Although he didn’t start the match, The Ox came on and had an almost instant impact, rifling in a volley that bought a lacklustre and frankly terrible England side back in the match.

I don’t know why I decided to watch the game, because it really was a turgid affair, with England showing how far away from the best teams in the world that they have fallen. But what was pleasing and did even muster a ‘get in’ from your humble narrator, was the cool finish from The Ox who did what we have seen in glimpses, but not really enough consistently so far. But hey, let’s be realistic here; he’s 19 years old, he’s playing for one of the best (and therefore competitive teams to get in to) club teams in the UK and probably one of the best sixteen teams in the world, so we should always temper either the euphoria of a good performance or the effects of a poor one.

The Ox has the potential to be one of the best in his position. But therein lies the real question; what is his best position? Is he an attacking player that should play as one of the front three at Arsenal? Is he a player that should sit in a creative attacking midfield role? Or does he sit in the midfield as a box-to-box midfielder? Depends on who you listen to, but I’ve heard different people say a variation of all the above.

Arsene Wenger says his future lies in midfield, but what type of midfielder is Arsene talking of? The Ox is built like an Ox, so he could technically be a ball winning midfielder, as he also showed by replacing Arteta on the last game of the season and doing an admirable job in the heart of the midfield. But is the worry there that he will have all of the creativity suffocated out of him? Apologies for this example people, but think back to the role Scott Parker had at Charlton and the one he occupies now. Parker was an attacking creative midfielder that scored a few goals in an average Charlton team. He then went under Mourhino’s stewardship, before heading to West Ham via Newcastle and the player we see now is one that can’t beat a man, but when he’s not injured he can win the occasional tackle. The last thing you or I want to see is The Ox taken a similar path and winding up as a limited midfielder because he can win a tackle and his physique dictates that he should be a certain type of footballer.

Mark Chamberlain – The Ox’s dad – reckons his best position could be just behind the striker (although not based on yesterday’s performance, which he couldn’t muster an eyelid lift for). That ‘free-role’ type position that allows for space in between opposition midfield and defence. Bergkamp used to drop into those positions to find room to pick his glorious passes, but it would be foolish of me to start making such comparisons on one so young, however you can see the Ox making a success of that position. He likes to run with the ball, take on his man, then get a shot away or find a pass. By playing that type of ‘in the hole’ role he would certainly be given the Licence to do that. The problem we have at though is at the moment the current system will not allow for that player to play just behind the front man. We play with those two attacking winger/forwards with Santi sitting a little bit deeper in the midfield trio, but with licence to roam forward, so it means that unless Arsene is thinking about replacing the wee Spaniard – as likely as me eating my own faecal matter – then I don’t think we’ll see The Ox occupying that slot just behind a Giroud or a (insert name of latest striker we are linked with today) any time soon.

Unfortunately I’m not really providing any solutions here guys, sorry. We all rate The Ox, we all think he has a bright future and we all think he can go on to do great things at Arsenal, but I’ll be a Gareth Bale’s uncle if I know in what part of the pitch. I just hope Arsene figures it out quickly, because one thing we don’t want is for Alex to be a ‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ through his own versatility. Again, apologies for the comparison, but just think about what happened to Adel Taraabt at the Spuds. ‘Arry said he was one of the most skilful players in the team at such a young age, but he had no idea where to play him, so consequently he disappeared and reappeared at QPR in the Championship. I’m praying that future doesn’t befall The Ox. Thankfully, he’s got a manager that knows what he’s doing when it comes to developing youth, as opposed to one that prefers to wheel and deal himself an ‘off the peg’ player, so I don’t think that situation is likely to happen. But we still need to be mindful.

I hope – and think – that we’ll see more of The Ox next season. And I hope – and think – Arsene will have found him a positional home.

Until tomorrow people.

The Roobist of season reviews

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Here we are again folks, with another one of our fan-driven end of season reviews. Much like Thomas Vermaelen, we do not give up, and we absolutely will not stop (guess the popular movie line…).

Today, we have that man Goonerroobs who is regaling us with his thoughts and opinions after a long old slog. If you want to mosy on over to his gaff, give it a look over.

Anyway, let me take up no more of your precious time. Roobs, over to you mate.

How do you rate the season? A very up and down season – what where your highs and lows?

For me a bang average season that ended on a bit of a high. Considering that high was finishing above Spurs by one point, shows what an average season we had. However, we finished only five points behind City in Second, so it shows how it was generally an average Premier League season.

I can’t really count the 7-5 win over Reading a high – it was the Carling Cup and we let in five to the second from bottom team – but it was a roller coaster game that I think everyone enjoyed.

The low – the North London Derby at White Hart Lane. The game (at the time) meant so much to both and it was clear Spurs wanted it more. The goals we let in were so obvious. We were really staring at Europa League football at that point.

Who is your player of the season?

I was brought up in the George Graham era so I’m always a defensive kinda guy. For me selling Song and not replacing was criminal. I have to take my hat of to Arteta, filling in a role that isn’t his forte. He was immense all season and provided the balance we needed in that position.

Dave was also magnificent during our run into the CL and he and Per seemed to create a great partnership.

Santi, in his very first season, was also very good, but for me he seemed to disappear against the big boys.

So for me Arteta, gets my nod for Player of the Season, for the balance and consistency he provided.

Where do you think we need to strengthen in order to really push on next season?

All the players we have sold recently! ;-)

We really need a world class goalkeeper. It is such an important position and Chesney could be great but he needs mentoring. Lloris was another obvious buy that passed Arsene by.

TV’s days are probably numbered so an experienced CB will be a necessity.

Sagna could also be on his way out. Jenks will be great, but we need an experienced RB.

We need a box to box midfielder in a fit Diaby mould. Not sure a player like this exists other than Yaya Toure, so I say we go for an experienced DM. Fellaini please!!!

An out and out striker. I’d say we play Poldi in this position but despite his obvious class in front of goal, there are some worrying fitness issues there. Higuain is a rumour, but so is Rooney, who I’d take all day long. But the chances of Utd selling us anyone better than the likes of Silvestre are very small. They aren’t stupid like us. I think Higuain is too slow for the Premier League.

Where did our new resilience come from? Is that Steve Bould’s coaching?

No doubt we look better – but against the best we looked just as vulnerable. Arsene’s Arsenal ride on consistency and belief – lose one game, lose/draw a few, win a few games and we keep going.

Growing up under George Graham we saw some real resilience. Arsene and Bouldy have work to do, but there are some encouraging signs.

Who would you sell/release in the summer?

There are the obvious – Bendtner, Denilson, Squillachi, Arshavin (confirmed), Chamakh, Park and Mannone.

If true, hearing that Chamakh is on £92k a week is incredible. Wenger’s ‘socialist wage structure’ really hinders the club. We pay average players well which means we can’t get rid of them easily and they don’t have the hunger to perform. If a player deserves £70-100k fine, but make them hungry for it. Players should come in on £50k and work to get to the higher wages.

Anyway, get rid if the average dross we will have more than enough to entice some big names. Just think though that isn’t, sadly, Arsene’s style.

Some interesting thoughts there methinks! Many thanks to Gooneroobs for his thoughts on a season that is now slowly drifting out of recent memory and, thankfully, being stored away in the deepest darkest recesses of our minds.

I do like that Mikel Arteta has been given some kudos though. I must admit I’ve fallen foul of knowing that he always delivers to a high standard and, because of his consistency, his impact gets overlooked somewhat. Let’s hope next year he can be just as consistent, because if Roobs has his own way then he’ll be playing with a load of new team mates (which in some cases may not be a bad thing!).

That’s it from us for one day – you enjoy your Friday and I’ll catch you tomorrow with an instalment from another one of our passionate supporter base.

Arrivederci (did I spell that right? Too lazy to Google it….)