Tag Archives: RvP

Fanuary – another last one…..

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Morning all.

There’s not really a lot going on at the moment, as we count down to Sunday’s crucial game against Man City. Le Boss might poke his head around the door at the press centre in London Colney, but that’s probably it. He knows he’ll be asked about player availability, transfers and Theo, so nothing new at all I suspect.

With that in mind, I thought I’d re-post a blog on Fanuary that good olde Oaf12 did last week, but unfortunately we were poor in our communication and I posted something shortly thereafter. So let me hand him the floor and tell us who he wants to see with the remaining window days ticking down. Take it away Steve…

Hey party people oaf12 here!

So with all the excitement around the Fanuary series it seems mine was missed – queue the world’s smallest violin :(

The sad truth is that it was actually rejected the the evil bendtnersnettercousin who decided that it didn’t contain enough detail, which was fine. However, he also decided not to bother telling me…….pure evil I tell you!!

Anyway enough of him and back to me, you and the second final Fanuary :)

Enjoy.

Do you honestly think we are going to sign a number of players in January despite similar promises in previous seasons?

Really unsure about this one…..I’m usually very positive but I find it hard to see us signing a quantity of players after (by our standards) such a busy summer.

I know to us fans there are a few areas that obviously need strengthening / back up but what is so gloriously obvious to us isn’t always picked up by the boss – like the fact that Gervinho really isn’t a striker!

As usual we aren’t any the wiser with Wenger saying things like “Can I say we will be active? Yes. Can I say this will be concrete? No.” or statements about his main priority being getting Theo to sign before looking elsewhere – for all we know this night not happen until the end of the month, if at all.

I will remain hopeful though; let’s hope it pays off…..

Do you feel Wenger needs to buy a ‘big’ player in January in order to make a statement to the fans or just make the right acquisitions?

I don’t think it would hurt, yet I don’t think it is a necessity. I would have included Cazorla & Podolski as big players and I think that’s the level I would like to see us look at more – i.e. not Messi / Ronaldo level but still top class players. I would have definitely included Huntelaar within this level but he has signed a new deal at Schalke now :(

I know it’s not likely but a signing like Lewandowski or Cavani would be one hell of a statement and would be a great boost to the team. It would be a nice middle finger to players such as RvP and Nasri too.

The only negative would be that if they performed we would then need to worry about how long we keep them for, not a nice thought but unfortunately a reality at the moment!

Which position needs the most strengthening and which player would you sign to improve this area of the team?

I would say up top and cover out wide. Regardless of results and how we have been playing the stats are positive towards the number of goals we concede; we are just missing that clinical player up top to finish the job for us. Could this be Theo? Maybe – but should we put our eggs in a basket that may potentially be gone before too long, I’m not sure.

I’m also puzzled as to why Giroud seems to be playing fewer games since he looked like he had hit a bit of form….

I would have LOVED to see Huntelaar come in for two reasons 1) He is pretty damn clinical and is used to being the focal point up top 2) He doesn’t seen to like van Loser (as my son calls him).

With him out of the picture one of the two I mention above would be nice. I can’t see this happening though so let’s hope we pull another gem from somewhere…..hmmmm. We should have snapped up Ba.

Squad wise we need a keeper (I don’t even want to think about an injury to Szczesny right now some decent back up / competition like Butland, or us making it worse by him playing with one like last season), a left back (would love to see Baines come in but Shaw at Southampton has also impressed but the my hinder Meade) due to Gibbs’ fitness record and maybe some steel in midfield. I don’t have anyone in mind for this so can only point you in the direction of Ben’s post as he clearly has a preferred choice here.

I’d like to see Eisfeld get some game time too though.

Are we still in a situation of where we need to sell before we can buy?

I don’t think so but that’s probably not the view from the club. It would be good to get some of the players off the wage bull to make room for some of the above – unfortunately I would probably include Diaby is this.

It looks likely that Chamakh, Squilacci and Djourou may be out which is good for both them and their careers but also for our wage bill.

With Diaby my main concern is his injury record. Every time he comes back seems to coincide with a transfer window and he is hailed as ‘a new signing’ he then plays one good/great game out of 5 but is worshiped for this before getting injured for a few months just as the transfer window shuts.

We cannot rely on this and must sign reliable players and see his (and possible Rosicky) fitness as a bonus as and when it happens.

Saying that, knowing our luck, should these players leave they will probably never have an injury again and go on to play consistently for another team.

Do we need to sign replacements for potential summer outgoings in this transfer window?

Yes, without a doubt! Theo has actually been a bright light so for this season. We’ll need to replace him should he go and the sooner that is done the better. I’m sure that if he stays one extra man in the squad won’t derail the whole team.

Squad players (Chamakh and co) always need replacing but hopefully with more quality so that we can actually use them. Bringing Gervinho on or rotating him as a starter is really hindering us at the moment. His form at Lille and some of his early form shows he is obviously capable but at the moment he can’t even kick a ball cleanly – kind of important for a footballer – and constantly just runs into defenders. A decent winger to replace him and having the Ox (to remove some pressure) as back up would make a real difference.

Sagna is still one of the best right backs about (despite recent strange form) so if he heads off young Jenks will need some help and ideally another potential mentor. The French right back Debuchy impressed at the Euros and if he was willing to go to Newcastle…..

Would you like to add anything?

It’s been such a frustrating season so far as I had such high hopes for this team as on paper we look very good.

I don’t think major surgery is required (I seem to find myself saying that every year) but wouldn’t say it will be a simple key-hole job either.

We need to stop putting blind faith in players such as Diaby and also need to be harsher when assessing ability / form. Gervinho gets 90 mins when he is less effective up front than Mertersaker would be – this needs to stop.

I know I have focussed on our attack more than the defence but for me a strong attack really does help the defence. They are out under less pressure and there is always a focal point, conceding a goal isn’t as soul destroying and actually if you look at our (1st choice) defenders individually there are plenty worse players out there but not piles of better ones.

We also need to stop paying the mid-tier of players so much money so that clubs aren’t put off by their wages. We seem to have this the wrong way round – our worst players can’t find new clubs as their wages are too high, yet our best players could go to Liverpool and get more money.

Seems odd to me…..

Thanks all, until next time.

oaf out

The quest to lose ‘supporters’

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Hey party people @oaf12 here!!

It’s been too long since I have blogged on suburbangooners, despite bendtnersbettercousin moaning (he is a proper whine bag btw) at me on every possible occasion which, being as we work together, is quite a lot.

Truth be told I have been waiting for Mr Right in terms of content, unfortunately this time round it has been Mr Wrong rearing his ugly head that has forced me to finally pen (should I say key nowadays?) my thoughts…

Before I get into full flow I feel I should point something out – the word supporter is in inverted commas within the title above. This is because in reality it is near impossible (I say near as if the club changed all of its name, country, colours, etc I’m sure a few would consider their options) to lose a true fan in my eyes. A club is for life, not just for Christmas :) but there have been a few events recently that will have lost us a few of the fair weather fans no doubt. Maybe that’s the master plan?

I must also point out that while I initially started writing this the day after the Sunderland game, I was also doing so from the patio of a beach front apartment in a hotel in Lanzarote with the sun beaming and the breeze cooling with no wifi access (hence you reading this around two weeks later) meaning I am away from the undoubted twitter frenzy, so I was certainly not in a bad mood lol. However, being as deadline day was yesterday some serious editing was needed today before publishing.

I did feel that there was a huge AFC conspiracy against me to ruin my holiday, the club sold van P£r$i€ the day I flew out and then I read in the paper (my only means on keeping up with the EPL) and saw that we had agreed to sell our ‘one Song’ to that Catalan lot. Where were they when we wanted RvP abroad????

I must say I am disappointed at how easy they turned Song’s head, even Cesc who is a Barce boy took two or three years and a full out campaign by Pepe Reina and the Barcelona squad (yes that’s right Reina you need to remember you don’t play for them anymore……..even though IMO you are better than Valdes) to convince him, yet Song was on the plane as soon as he realised they even knew his name…..and before all the Fabregas haters give me all that “Cesc went on strike!” crap please make sure you have a reliable source before you spit all your accusations ITK style. So, anyway, Mr Song I hope you rot on the bench behind Busquets and Mascherano and when you do play I hope it’s in you less favoured CB position, I hope that when Barce with trophies you haven’t made enough appearances to get a medal…….so there (blows raspberry).

I also read in the currant bun while I was away that Song wanted to stay for life and that he had been trying to negotiate a new contract for months, if this is true then it’s rather annoying…..do we purposefully let players run into their final year? Then in the same interview AS also stated that the Barcelona train only comes round once in a lifetime and you have to take it…..hmm slightly hypercritical then – I want to stay for life, until Barce want me!

Now for you Mr ‘scores when he wants except in the Euros’ or Mr ‘scores when he wants even when a girl says no’ (oh yeah I went there) its a “I’m not angry I’m just disappointed” for you. No words can justify how I feel giving the fact that you could do this to the fans but also that the club would sanction it. I have never been in the Wenger out club (the crazies as I like to call them) and have always been a realist – understanding that the club can only do what is within their current financial means, we have no sugar daddy and cannot afford to pay stupid wages etc etc. I like the way the club is run and I have no intention of joining the crazies anytime soon, this doesn’t however mean I am happy, far from it.

The deal for Batman’s sidekick aside I have kind of understood the rationale when considering each transfer in isolation, I haven’t been happy that we have let players like Na$ri get into the last year if their contract but when the time comes there is no point dwelling. Then when you look at all of them together you realise it becomes a bit of a joke, worse than Torres winning the Euro 2012 Golden Boot. I can no longer honestly deny when my friends who support other clubs taunt me about us being a selling club. I will refrain from wishing him injury (although I wouldn’t shed a tear if it happens) but just hope he flops and I mean FLOPS.

It’s a real shame as it was looking like a great summer having signed Cazora, Giroud & Podolski (the later being one of the first players I would have chosen if asked who I wanted us to sign) but a lot of it comes down to timing. We have gone from a high to a low rather than vice versa – if we had sold RvP then signed Giroud & Podolski, then sold Song but signed Cazorla & (for instance) Sahin I am sure less would complain, it would have been an answer to the negativity.

If Sahin or another decent CM came in I would have been happy with the squads ability to compete. Had you asked me months ago whether I would swap RvP & Song for Giroud, Podolski, Cazorla & Sahin I would have said yes. However if this included RvP going to Utd I may have had a different answer. I will never be able to understand selling one of your main assets to a rival, yes it’s a business but you are making the competition stronger!! Surely abroad for less money or no sale would have been the better option??

Unfortunately this sale all but confirms our fall from grace in many eyes which is painful. Last night was painful too, i think we all wanted one or two more at least but as the minutes ticked away there was no mention of us. Until the window closed and we were shown that while we were the 5th highest spenders we brought in the LEAST amount of players in the league – 3, yet the players out covered 3 rotations of the Sky Sports News side bar.

While I believe our first 11 and even some of the fringe players are good enough to compete with anyone on their day I just hope our current squad is good enough (not even mentioning injuries) and that we finally win something so that Wenger can stick it to the doubters and the fans get what we crave – showing these mercenaries and the crazies that you can still do it without spending beyond your means.

Heres hoping my fellow Gooners!!

Until next time,

Oaf out

Out from the shadows, must step light

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Well here we are – a blog I knew I’d have to write sooner or later but wanted to stay in some sort of denial until any official announcement: Robin van Persie will soon no longer be an Arsenal player, joining yet another former player ranks that decided that all of the rain in Manchester was still not enough of a deterrent to stay away; the lure of trophies extra cash was too much to turn down.

It was announced on the official site yesterday evening and the Twittersphere went into instant meltdown. The mixture of emotions was quite surprising: some of sadness, some of angry, some of apathy and ‘meh’ness. But I think deep down there is not one Arsenal fan that is happy about the way in which this whole saga has come to an end. It feels somewhat of a recurring nightmare in a sense; well-trodden ground we are all familiar with.

But we all knew it was inevitable. The player made his position at the club untenable with his statement ‘for the fans’. Hmph! ‘The Fans’. Something he professed to be – once even stating that he couldn’t play for any other club than Barcelona or Arsenal. Well we now know that’s true. We also know that he was never a real ‘fan’. I describe myself as an Arsenal ‘fan’ and for that the club gets my undivided attention when it comes to football. I wouldn’t care if we were relegated – I’d still support the club. Were I therefore good enough to play football at the highest level I would want to spend all of my time at Arsenal. Because I am a ‘fan’. Robin van Persie is not a ‘fan’. He has never been one of us and now cannot even come back as one of us when his playing time has expired. I don’t really want to mention the player in the same sentence as Thierry Henry, but he has shown that he is a ‘fan’. Leaving Arsenal the first time was the hardest thing he had to do and he even made an emotional video explaining his reasons for leaving. And we were not unreasonable folk: we accepted it and have subsequently welcomed him back with open arms.

That can never now happen with van Persie. He has tainted his legacy at the club and will go down in the same bracket as Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Adebayor. This was never about ambition. It was about the reddies. You know it, I know it, van Persie knows it and the rest of football knows it.

Brace yourself for a whole host of broken cannons people, because the trolling media will have a field day with this: ‘Arsenal in crisis’, ‘Arsenal exodus begins again’ and ‘Arsenal to get relegated’ will be dusted off from the shelves and type set lovingly onto the back pages of the red tops and broadsheets. But do you know what? The club WILL survive. Out from the darkness must come light. We have our light. From the shadows of an over reliance on one player, new responsibility must, and will emerge. When Ian Wright left we had Henry. When Bergkamp left we had Cesc. When Henry left, Adebayour stepped out into the sunshine and embraced his responsibility with gusto. And when he decided the grass (and money) was greener Robin was there. Now it is somebody else’s turn to take the baton. We have the team to do it, we have the players to show their character, and they have just two days until they. An alleviate any fears or doubts amongst ourselves – not the media: what they say is irrelevant – that we’ll be just fine thank you very much. We will miss Robin’s goals, of that I am sure, but we don’t need another hero – we need a team.

One man who could potentially step up could be Theo Walcott. The signs are that he wants to stay at the club so get the deal done Arsenal. Let’s give him his chances up top and see how he fairs.

One man who could join Robin is Alex Song. There’s been a number of different online sources saying Wenger is fed up with his attitude and has told him he could go: but not after Song himself threatened not to play. If this transpires to be true, then he can’t leave quick enough for me. He has to be shown the door with a newer and better replacement found. He has been developed into a good (not great) player but has always struck me as somebody who’s head can easily be turned. If he’s a bad egg, then simple chuck him away, popping down to the supermarket to pick up some double yolkers instead. That is my overriding emotion right now. A quality replacement for someone like Song. I’d like someone like Llorente to replace Robin, but if nobody comes in its not like we’ve got no strikers, so I’m less concerned about that than I am about replacing Song. I remember talking to somebody about the DM position after we lost Flamini and they argued that it wasn’t the hardest position to replace. I have come to agree with this train of thinking. You don’t need to be the most gifted footballer in the world, you just need to be able to tackle, track, and be up for a fight. That’s all we need to sit alongside the cultured players like Arteta, Diaby and eventually (hopefully) Wilshire.

To wrap up today’s blog, I’ll leave you with my feelings of relief: the saga has ended, we can go back to talking about football, and I never have to write about Robin van Persie again – and after today I fully intend not to.

Arsenal Press Office on their toes: Miyachi, Arsene and internationals

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Ain’t it just the way: you spend all summer scratching around for some juicy Arsenal news tit-bits to feast on, getting nothing but the occasional Arsenal.com poll or an interview with Johan Djourou, then you see the count down to the season begin and a flurry of Arsenal-related issues all jump up and down like a seven year old at a five-a-side tournament shouting “pick me! Pick me for your reading and commenting pleasure!”.

It seems like the beginning of the season has kicked the Press Office at Highbury House into gear and I for one am happy about that. Ryo Miyachi will be joining the pie capital of the UK to ply his trade behind an out of town retail park venue called the JJB Stadium. It’s a good move for him that gets game time playing for a manager who likes to play football on the deck. It also keeps him in the Premier League and his acclimatisation to the style of our game can only help his potential future at Arsenal. Personally I would like to see every exciting loan player stay in the UK. Not for any xenophobia of other nations, but because it allows us to see them develop a little bit closer to home, they get a better understanding of how to play in our league, and it makes you think that they have a potential future at Arsenal. It’s true, there are some perfectly good examples of how a player has matured on loan overseas – just look at Coquelin – but there are also examples of players that have gone abroad and never really been the same (*cough* Carlos Vela *cough*). To me, the Spanish League requires a different type of player and so sending both Wellington and Joel Campbell there on loan spells doesn’t really do anything other than potentially increase their own value in Spain for a sell on. But perhaps that is why Arsenal are going down that route? Anyway, loan move for Miyachi which means I suspect we’ll see a bit more of him this season.

One man who won’t be plying his trade elsewhere just yet might be Alex Song, who has surely lost all interest from Barcelona by having the temerity to not announce his desire to sign for the club because of his Afro-Catalan DNA and instead has pledged his immediate future to Arsenal. Rosell must be incredulous with rage with his Barcelona players: they have failed miserably in their open tapping up attempts of the player to make him hand in a transfer request and now if they want to get their man they will have to pay over and above his market valuation. How could they do this to him? For us it’s a bit more positivity to snatch at as the season begins. Arsene also cleared up a strange debate going around that Song’s contract ran out in two years time, instead saying that it runs until 2015. Good stuff, as it means that at least next year (sharp intake of breath here as I say this) we should not have another star forcing his way out with a year to go on his contract. I was a doubting Thomas of young Alex, but as his importance in the team has grown, so has my appreciation of what he brings: physical presence, the occasional eye for a pass (Ben if it takes him four goes to get it right) and the ability to win the ball deep in the midfield.

To continue with constant flurry of succulent Arsenal news, even Arsene was once again been quoted in the press yesterday, following his fairly obvious statement that Arsenal wanted to keep hold of their captain and football writers player of the year last season. What is he thinking? Defending the interests of the club he loves and trying hard not to bend over backwards to accommodate a potential rival and strengthen them without making them pay a premium price. For shame Arsene…

It’s interesting though that Wenger once again re-iterated his position that he is keeping one eye on the transfer market as well. He did say he’s got two eyes on the existing team, so I’m looking forward to plenty more ‘third eye’ jokes over the coming weeks and days. Maybe he’s got the Eye of Sauron looking across Europe whilst he can focus on the team. That would be awesome by the way. He wouldn’t need to worry about lighting in his back garden, that’s for sure.

What type of player he’s looking for remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he already has another striker lined up for an instant swoop should we lose van Persie. As fans we’d all feel slightly deflated if/when the Dutchman goes to another English side, so an instant response by picking up a player like Llorente would see the balance firmly swayed back into the positivity camp like it currently is. I know Llorente is ‘in talks’ with Juventus right now, but just think how long we were ‘in talks’ with Cazorla – theres still time should a deal for Robin be struck. And with the Bilbao chairman announcing that Llorente wants to leave it puts the Basque outfit in the same delicate position we find ourselves in. Hey, here’s an idea: straight swap RvP for Llorente. We offload him somewhere abroad, he can fight for his trophy in the Copa Del Ray and Europa League, and we’ll have Llorente to bolster our attacking options. No? Yeah, you’re probably right, Bilbao aren’t quite the ‘direction’ van Persie was looking for.

I don’t really want to go over the Vincent Kompany quotes because, quite frankly, it bores me. Ask any player if they’d like Messi at their club and they’d tell you ‘yes’, so this gets a big fat ‘meh’ from me.

Usmanov may have to have his scornful next press release/open letter sat comfortably in his inbox for an instant ‘send’ if it RvP does leave for an English team – the window is getting smaller by the second and Arsenal would have to act straight away to get another player in.

And getting players in might still be on the agenda if the injury news filtering through turns out to be half true. Arteta picked up a knock last week, Koscienly sent back from the French squad and the Ox not included through potential injury. Adding to that Rosicky, Sagna and Wilshire who have all been absentees, and there’s nearly an impressive ‘crocked 11′ we could field. What ever happened to those days in the 90s when every single player started the season fresh and ready for action? I’m sure I’m not just dreaming it…

One final rant, if you’ll indulge me before I sign off for the day: who in that moronic and frankly farcical organisation responsible for governing the game, Fifa (and no, i’m not capitalising all the letters – they don’t deserve more attention than they already get despite being corrupt and generally useless at EVERYTHING), decided that it would be a great idea to have a round of international friendlies the week before most domestic seasons start and just over a month since a major international tournament finished? So now do we not only have to face the possibility of having players back that are slightly tired having probably spent the last week or so conditioning their bodies for a new season, but we also have the possibility of some of them not playing because they have to travel to far flung corners of the globe like Puerto Rica and Russia. Absolute madness. I’d put money on an injury to one of our lads and the only people that suffer will be the teams that receive the broken players that are returned. And you just know they’ll be some belligerent old international manager that will give some of our players 90 minutes – regardless of whether they need it or not. Grr…

Anyway, I’m off into the smog for another round of pushing paper from point A to point B. adios amigos.

That new season smell, plus RvP and Gnarby

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Another day and another counting down until the Premier League season starts. Eight days people. Eight long days and then it’s show time. As you could probably garner from my opening gambit in today’s blog, I’m excited.

I’m excited about our team (as I said yesterday), I’m excited about the pre match beverages (hopefully bathed in North London sunshine) and I’m excited about reliving the match day experience.

For me it remains something that is a magical experience. Up until I got my season ticket a few years ago, my Arsenal watching experience was limited to a few times a season as a red member, then before that any time I there was a spare from my Dads mate Roy. I still get that nervous anticipation when I begin my journey from home. Yes, my start destination may have changed over the years (from Harlow, to Hoddesdon, to Uxbridge), but my finish station has always remained the same, and so have some of the vendors outside too I would imagine.

Everything from the trip along Holloway Road swerving amongst a sea of red and white companions, through to the steps up to the stadium from the Armoury shop: it all feels like a new and exciting experience. And I’ll be doing it all again very soon.

What I will be trying to do differently this season, however, is meeting new gooners. I have had a season ticket for a few years now and I go with the same people, which will not change, but what I would really love to do is to know more of the Arsenal fraternity that share that match day experience.

And what better way to meet new people than the wonderful world of social media. Putting a little bit more into the ‘social’ element than already exists. So this is is a call to you: if you are around on match days and you fancy meeting somebody new, Direct Message me on Twitter or drop me an email in the ‘Contact Us’ section and let’s share a few jars on match day. Let’s converse over a bit of the amber nectar on all things football, tactics, transfers, but most importantly: Arsenal.

I suppose I should probably also mention some of the latest goings on with the first team as well. If I sound a little reluctant it’s probably because the main talking point is still that man van Persie. After Fergie decided to adopt the Barcelona model of openly tapping up players to try and force Arsenal’s hand, he’s now enlisting the help of Wayne Rooney to make positive noises about the Dutchman joining United. Brace yourself for a Paul Scholes ‘Manchester DNA’ and we’ll know we’re into Def Con 5 people.

There are a few reasons why this protracted saga is not the same as the Cesc situation, but from what we’ve heard, we’ll not be held over a barrel like Barcelona did and we’ll be demanding a premium price for his transfer and an ‘Ultra Platinum’ price if it’s an English club.

My personal gut feeling on this is that it will drag into the beginning of the season and will end at the end of August with Man Utd paying close to £20million with some instalments/add ons of some kind to ensure Arsenal get close to their asking price. Don’t be surprised if there is a cheeky City bid though. They have the money and could put £25million down right now if they wanted to.

Whatever the result, I’ve now resigned myself to the fact we’ll never see RvP banging in the goals for Arsenal, which is a shame because the way the team is shaping up his influence could have been all the more important had he just signed a new deal and embraced the love and respect he got from The Arsenal faithful. What’s more annoying is that I have a front cover programme mounted in a frame in my hallway with an article I did for the match day programme last season with his smiling face on it saying ’100 up’ – after he hit his 100th goal milestone for the club. Amazing to think you could etch your name in Arsenal’s history and scratch it out (in the eyes of fans) in the space of a season.

Serge Gnarby – possibly one of the most exciting of the latest crop of youngsters coming through – has been championing Abou Diaby as one of the best players he’s seen in training. No doubt Diaby is very talented and were he not to have suffered injury after injury since Dan Smith (who hasn’t been seen since in a footballing respect) broke him, would have starred for Arsenal at the heart of the midfield, but having seen some of his close ball control and ability to beat a man I can see why Gnarby has spoken so highly of the Frenchman. Diaby has finally managed to get himself his first full pre season under his belt and I am keeping every Falange crossed that Mr Glass survives a season without any serious injury. Were we to have a full compliment of fit players on the books, I’m not sure whether or not he would play as a first team starter, but with Rosicky and Wilshire out and Cazorla only at the club a week, we might just see Diaby given a start against Sunderland at the apex of the midfield with Arteta and Song sitting behind him. Assuming of course that Xavi hasn’t traced Song’s lineage to Catalonia and persuaded him to bunk down with Busquets by the time the big kick off comes.

Last friendly of the season tomorrow in Germany so I’ll stick a few thoughts about that on the blog tomorrow.

Have a good Friday.

‘Project Youth’ complimented by ‘Project Bargain’

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Good afternoon  gooners,

A wet Sunday afternoon here in West London and after what was an amazing night in the Olympics I have to say writing the blog about things that aren’t really happening at the moment (Robin’s contract, the delay of Cazorla, the potential arrival of Sahin) in the Arsenal world seems a little bit trivial. Team GB are showing what desire, passion and dedication can achieve, with some inspiring stuff from Jess Ennis and Mo Farah last night. Farah in particular, was made all the more sweet, what with him being a gooner ‘n all.

But I’m still going to talk about Arsenal and what’s going on at the mo, with the word on the online street that Robin’s been impressed with our signings and may be considering a U-turn on the contract situation. I’ve said before I think  this is media smokescreen like we had with Nasri last year, so I still don’t hold out more hope. Also, I would really question whether or not even a contract signing U-turn should be enough to let RvP keep the captaincy, but I think Wenger will forgive and forget if the unlikely happens and the captain signs on for four more years. Ideally, a marker needs to be laid down to potential contract rebels, but it’s not going to happen any time soon I don’t think.

One question I do want to ponder on today’s musings is this: With Santi Cazorla about to arrive, is ‘Project Youth’ finally dead?

Project Youth effectively started with a conscious decision from Arsenal Football Club to bring in younger, more technically gifted footballers in to the club at an early age, pay them high wages and see if championship winning sides could be built from the philosophy of a collective unity having played together for many years that would see them dominate the English Premier League against the backdrop of Chelsea’s and latterly Manchester City’s, billionaire owners. Season after season we saw younger players come in instead of more polished and mature signings. Wenger’s view was that by drilling a certain style into these players, by the time they reached their footballing peak they would: a) have a sense of loyalty and b) obligation to the club to stay despite the millions on offer elsewhere. So players like Fabregas, Clichy, Nasri, van Persie would look beyond the mega-money on offer and win trophies with the club.

Obviously we all know what has happened and we all know of ‘Project Youth’ as it has been referred to by so many bloggers over the last few years. But after year-after-year of bringing in players not over 23 into the first team, are we seeing a fundamental shift in Wenger’s unwavering philosophy? Perhaps the beginning of this was last summer, with the arrival of Mertesacker, Santos and Arteta - all of which are over 25 – and the  latterly with Podolski, Giroud and now Cazorla. All internationals, all reaching their peaks and all capable of really improving our chances of winning some silverware for the upcoming season. Is Wenger looking at his own time at Arsenal and starting to realise he is in the autumn of his time at Arsenal and will probably only be at the club for a few more years?

My view? ‘Project Youth’ has not been scrapped entirely, but is now being complimented by ‘Project Bargain’, which I deem as Arsene scouring the marketplace for players that are experienced enough but that are not going to bankrupt the club through massive fees. Mertesacker wanted a new experience, Arteta wanted Champions League football, Santos wanted a better league to test himself in, Podolski was a shining star in a struggling team, Giroud knew that a repeat of Montepellier’s success would be unlikely, and finally Cazorla is jumping ship from a rudderless vessel in Malaga. Wenger has effectively been the circling vulture looking for the very tasty and easily accessible meat. He’s scoured Europe for players he could pick up at a reduced price whose actual value is a lot higher than what Arsenal have paid. It’s an extremely clever tactic that, in the space of just under a year, has left Arsenal with a number of experienced internationals to compliment some technically gifted young players (Gnarby, Gibbs, Wilshire, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Frimpong, Afobe, Miyachi, etc) to come through without as much pressure as they could have had if these experienced signings had not arrived.

‘Project Youth’ has not been scrapped. We will not see Arsenal stop bringing in young players at higher wages than most of our competitors. But what we will now see is how successful it can be with a little bit more experience added to it.

Until tomorrow.

Benik Bolton Bound, and RvP boxes half ticked

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Good morning sports fans!

And may I quantify that by stating that the only sport worth watching is an Arsenal related one. I, probably like you, have been watching the Olympics and choosing to watch some different types of sports that I normally don’t bother with. Basketball, handball, etc. But one interesting thing about some of these team games would’ve whenever the Spanish sides are playing. The club level sides are named after the football teams in Spain, so you have Real Madrid, Athletic Madrid and Barcelona all mentioned. That got me thinking: imagine how good it would be to have Arsenal across many sports? Granted, I probably still wouldn’t watch them very much, but at least it would give you a sense of affinity with some of the players.

Anyway, on to the REAL Arsenal, and Benik Afobe has joined Owen Coyle’s Bolton on a season long loan. It’s a good move for Bolton – looking to bring in a talented player to help them achieve promotion without paying big fees; it’s a good move for Benik – looking to get the requisite experience to improve enough that next season he’ll be banging on the door of the managers office for a place in the first team; and it’s a good move for Arsenal – we will either get a better player back that can challenge for the first team, or a player with more experience and a higher resale value. Although a loan is no guarantee of success – just look at Big Game Bendtner – a precedent has been set with Bolton through Wilshire and Miyachi, who I personally think will also go on loan for one more season.

Unfortunately that’s all I’ve got when it comes to actual ‘fresh’ Arsenal news. The rest is all just about the two players we seem to have spent most summer talking about. Apparently Cazorla had his medical, met the players and is now waiting for Malaga to sign off on the deal, except nobody at Malaga has the authority to do it. If you take off your red and white gooner specs for a second it is really sad to see that a club has fallen foul to the new style of running a football club i.e. take all the money whilst it’s there and ignore the potential risks and alarm bells of billionaire ownership. The only people really losing out in this scenario are the Malaga fans who, after a season of seeing the side qualify for the Champions League, are now watching possibly one of the best teams they’ve ever had be dismantled and sent to different parts of the globe. And as we watched Barcelona and Manchester City try to take the guts from our team, Malaga must feel the same about Arsenal – particularly if the fees quoted of around the £14million mark are to be believed.

The second rumour that is circulating the various media types is that RvP might be actually staying at Arsenal after all. Personally I am still sceptical: we had this in small doses at times last year with Nasri, but it just took the right price for it to happen so I’m not holding out much hope at this stage. All we do know is that RvP set his stall out early, playing his ‘come and get me card’ and now we see that the card itself is a little manky looking and doesn’t seem to appeal to some of the clubs sniffing around who don’t want to pay upwards of £20million for an injury prone 29 year old. Fair enough I guess, but I still think we’ll get a bid come in, probably closer towards the start of the season.

What we also know is that Robin wanted to leave for trophies and success and he didn’t agree the direction the club is going in. I would suggest the ‘direction’ of the club was based on big name experienced signings. I would therefore suggest that this box is ‘ticked’ on the RvP requirements list. Unless Arsene has a crystal ball and could guarantee trophies this year, then that box can only be half ‘ticked’ – better players and a better squad will give us a better chance of getting hold of some silverware. There’s also a non public box in a shaded grey colour that is on his list: money, money, money. Again, Arsenal can only half ‘tick’ this box – he’ll be earning a fortune at Arsenal, but a bigger one at City, which is where I still think he’ll end up. They will pay what Arsenal want, the other clubs won’t, and we’ll have to endure watching him in the sky blue of Manchester next year I fear.

Anyway, must get up, the management requires chores to be completed. Laters alligators.

Transfers: Arsenal’s changing strategy

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Morning party people, grizzly in London, ain’t it?

Grizzly in the world of transfers as well. RvP wanted by Mancini, making his customary annual trip to the Arsenal shop to try and barter himself a bargain, announcing with a hint of attempted diplomacy “They are all top teams and I’ve no idea what will happen with him. If we have a chance to take him, we will try because we think he is a top striker.
“For now he is an Arsenal player and I think Arsenal are a top team. It is not easy for van Persie and other players to leave them.” I don’t really get it if I’m honest. Why is he trying to not be a tosser this year? Is it because he knows that he’ll be back again next year to raid the club and so wants to ensure that Brian Marwood does not have an uncomfortable meeting with Dick Law and Ivan? Whatever his motives are, I hope he’s already been given short shrift from Arsenal and told in no uncertain terms, “you of all football teams ain’t ‘avin ‘im”. Unfortunately we know that Stan’s money does more talking than he does, and of an offer comes in the American will be more than happy to ‘trade’ RvP onto another ‘roster’.

What else is on the news front? Ah yes, apparently somebody called Santi Cazorla could be an Arsenal player within 24 hours. You’ve probably not heard of him and so this will be a completely left of field signing, but I’m reliably informed by every ITK on Twitter, print, radio and TV media company, as well as some guy i met on the tube, that he’s a Spanish international and could be a good attacking outlet for us. Who’d have thought Arsenal were able to keep that one quiet, eh?

Arsene himself certainly hasn’t said anything, but has reassuringly given his first indication that he and the rest of the deal men at Arsenal are trying to shift on what has been unfortunately labelled as the ‘dead wood’ at the club. Seems a very morose term for guys that are surplus to requirements and perhaps reflects the fan frustration that has been felt towards some of these players that have been bought in on over-inflated wages and are now difficult to ship out. Arsene has even publicly named Bendtner, Park and Squillaci in an interview yesterday. I find that very interesting and it’s clearly a sign that Le Boss is publicly slapping a ‘for sale’ price on the players. Arsenal have historically preferred to keep their transfer business – both in and out – a closely guarded secret, but it feels like this year they have decided that seeing as nobody else plays the same way, if they can’t beat them then they might as well join them. It’s like Championship Manager 01-02 when you have the opportunity to make the deal ‘public’ with a ‘yes/no’ click. If you’re selling you’ll always make it public. Well it seems like Arsenal have decided that they might as well keep clicking the ‘yes’ button this year – Carlos Vela being exhibit A, your honour.

What I am intrigued about is the fact the three aforementioned players above have been so openly touted. Is that because Arsenal have failed to sell them on so much this pre season that it’s their last resort? The last thing we need is another year of loaning out players to run down their contracts so they can all leave for free in a couple of years time.

And finally, Watford have snapped up the ghostly form of Manuel Almunia on a free transfer. It’s good the man has managed to stay in London where he has settled, and hopefully he can establish himself as their number one and not go all crazy like he did in his last couple of years at us. In these days it’s easy to band about the word ‘legend’ – one newspaper called the recently departed Stewart Robson a former Arsenal one – so when it comes to Manuel Almunia? Let’s just not.

Until tomorrow.

Drawing ‘saga’ straws and Chamakh’s last stand

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Hello, fancy seeing you here?

I try to blog every day about Arsenal and that means I need new content every day, lest I fall into the trap of sounding like some forgetful old maid that tells you the same story very time you meet her. You know, the story about her nephew Jimmy and the car/job/wife/pet he has. Yeah, you know what I’m talking about…

So when Arsenal decide that once again for what feels like the seventeenth summer running, we have yet another transfer saga that stretches out like an Arizona desert, it becomes quite a challenge to form new opinions that don’t sound like I’m creating the world’s most drawn out blog. Maybe that’s what I should have done:

Robin van Persie is leaving the club….

still leaving….

still leaving…

yet more of the leaving

Leav…..

We all know what’s happening – we’ve become accustomed to it so much that half of the Arsenal fanbase probably believes that the players draw lots at the end of each season to see who will get all of the attention this summer. Last night we were treated to yet more rumour and conjection as it emerged that Juve had once again decided to come to the table with an upped offer. Music to the ears of every Arsenal fan. If we can get shot of him so we only have to see him in the Champions League then I’m A-OK with that. Let him have his reported £190k per week and play in front of half empty stadium. Can he do it on a warm and balmy Tuesday night at Lecce? I hope he will.

Elsewhere in the Arsenal world, Chamakh has had his say on proving to the boss that he can recapture the form that saw him look such a useful addition when he arrived. He will most certainly start in today’s game against a Malaysia XI (real football!!! I know!!!) and so with Giroud and Podolski still in the UK, it’s his time to shine. I think Chamakh is a classic example of a player that needs plenty of games to prove he can be useful. The problem is that we don’t want first team regulars that we can describe as ‘useful’. We want players who are world class and, unfortunately for the Moroccan, he has never really fit that description. An impact sub/squad player that needs five games to get his stride is as useful as right handed tin opener to a south paw. It would be great to see him prove his worth and show more fight than he did last year, but I wonder if that ship has sailed to be honest.

Santi Cazorla news is still knocking around, with the Spaniard telling Arsenal he is willing to join them, which is great news if a deal can be done. The Arsenal hotline, for any of you that wish to do the same, is 0800 800 800. Simply ask for Arsene and leave a message after the beep. He’ll be calling me any day now…

Seriously though, I hope this happens, but I suspect a lot will depend on the crazy Qatari businessman that currently owns Malaga. They have to pay their dues (tax, wages owed, transfer fees, etc) by Tuesday 31st next week and when you read a bit more into the workings at the club you wonder whether Malaga will just wait until 30th July before bundling a bunch of Euros into a black plastic bag and shoving it through the letterbox of the Spanish football federation with a note saying “can you pay all the businesses and people we owe please”. If they do something crazy like that, it means that they can play hardball over Cazorla and his €45million buy out clause, but if they don’t then it might be an easier conversation that Arsenal can have. I hope Arsenal act fast and get the guy in soon – we don’t want another Juan Mata situation.

Anyway, that’s enough of my gabbing, I’m off to enjoy the sunshine. Oh, no, wait a second, I’m not, I’ve got to spend a day in an office. Joy.

Taking stock and looking forward

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Howdy doodie Arsenal comrades,

Decided to take a day away from all things Arsenal and blogging to enjoy a bit of sunshine, canal boating boating with the family and a little bit of lady liquor to cap off a lovely Saturday. I also wanted to take stock of some of the announcements from Le Boss, the pre-season tour of Asia and of pottentiala signings before the transfer window slams shut on 1st September. I saw the stories yesterday and I also had a quick flick on to Twitter, which did nothing except get me more wound up about the RvP situation. Wound up, feeling betrayed by an individual that I thought understood what I felt about Arsenal – even 10% of what I feel towards Arsenal.

So blogging yesterday would have meant just another ranty, bitter, angry gooner wanting to know why we seem to be constantly kicked in the balls by the plaayers thata not months earlier we were chanting and singing and worshipping like the Greek gods and demi-gods of mythologies past. Instead i’ve chosen the ‘breathe, count to ten, and begin’ mantra instead.

So what did we learn yesterday? Firstly, Arsene is putting a brave face on the dogs dinner that is the RvP situation. Unfortunately for Le Boss he keeps getting let down by the players that he has invested his time in, nurtured, and grown into superstars. We can all talk about the lack of investment, the silence of Stan, and the general uselessness of the Arsenal board, but the one constant that always remains is Arsene Wenger. He’s there to be shot at by the media and the fans when things don’t go his way, yet still he remains as custodian of the club. Arsene has invested so much time and energy into Robin that it really must break his heart to see him throw his toys out of the pram over a golden gravy train in Manchester. Becuase that’s what this is. And as each day passes, and more information is leaked into the public space, we see more and more about what Robin van Persie is about. No interest in doing his professional duty, he is taking the Cesc Fabregas school of leaving Arsenal by refusing to go on tour. And even then, after letting Arsene down with his statement over two weeks ago, and not travelling with the team as captain of the football club, Robin drives the knife in further by not travelling to Asia – something even Samir Nasri did. It’s a real shame that he’s done more to sully his name in three weeks than in eight years of building his reputation at Arsenal. Arsene is even now still giving him the protection he doesn’t deserve, saying he’s not quite fit enough to go out and so will concentrate on his fitness in the UK. I feel for Arsene, it’s the most transparent lie we’ve ever seen from Le Boss.

Wenger said he wanted to keep RvP, but we all know it’s an empty statement. Robin is gone and it’s time for us to look at how we improve the team to challenge for the league next year. Which is the more positive news. Wenger has said that we are looking at a couple of options, and the news that has beeen filtering out from yesterday was that we’re taking a long hard look at Santi Cazorla. Yes please barmen. Cazorla would be a great addition to the team and, coupled with a defensive midfielder, would put us in a good position for the new year.

Believe it or not, i’m actually in a good place now. We have Podolski and Giroud would will ffigth for that top spot, and if we can tie down Walcott and Koscienly, as is expected, to new deals, I think we should be ok with one or two additions like Arsene mentioned. Yes, we relied on Robin for goals last year, but it was such a shambles of a summer that we were playing catch up. We’re not now, so let’s hope the pre-season goes well and we keep players fit for the first game against Sunderland.

Let’s be positive gooners – the season is approaching fast and we’ll soon be able to ignore all of this speculation and get down to supporting the lads.

Until tomorrow.