It’s been a while since I have written a post and to be honest not a whole lot has happened Arsenal-wise if you consider that it has been a good six weeks or so since the last post.
We did sign one player, Vermaelen, and it will be interesting to see how he adapts to the pace of the English game. One thing is for sure, he can only strengthen us in the centre of defence as his arrival should surely spell the end of Silvestre’s appearances in the starting eleven. Fingers crossed on that.
Signing him so early on in the window maybe gave us some slightly misplaced optimism that we’d do all of our business early doors. That would be in a perfect world and, as we all know, the transfer dealing of Arsenal don’t ever take place in a perfect world.
Speaking of transfers, it is looking more and more likely that Adebayor will be on the move to Man Shitty, who seem to be assembling a team of strikers. If we get the reported £25m for him then we should take it and laugh all the way to the bank with it. He is a player that has really only ever had one good season in his career. Last season he was woeful and to make things worse he was lazy. So, to get that amount of money for someone whose only track record is to eventually cause trouble is a great deal for Arsenal, should it go through. Ray Parlour has also given his backing to the sale of Adebayor.
**UPDATE: It now seems that Adebayor has passed his medical…sayonara. Good riddance.
Let’s hope that the manager reinvests the whole of whatever fee we receive back into the team and it would seem that Chamakh is the player that will replace Adebayor. Let’s hope that the remainder of whatever cash is available goes on a ball-winning midfield hard-ass. It would be crushing to go a second summer and not sign the holding midfielder that the whole world can see that we need. No need to worry too much yet, there are still about six and a half weeks to go until the close of the transfer window. So, we should be prepared to go right down to the wire in order to get the midfielder that we need.
This summer has seen the transfer market go completely crazy with regard to the transfer fees being paid and quoted. I mean, there is no way you can convince me that Ronaldo is worth £80m along with about £10m a year in salary. Crazy money, but that’s the world that Arsene has to cope with and try to come up with affordable targets that still improves our team.
Flamini, Diarra and Gilberto were never replaced and that must be the priority. I would be more than happy to see the entirety of the Adebayor fee dropped on that midfielder and no striker purchased. As it stands, we have Van Persie, Bendtner, Eduardo, Vela, Walcott and Arshavin that can play in the forward role. Albeit Arshavin and Van Persie play best just off the main striker. That leaves Bendtner, Walcott and Vela vying for the main striker role. Not all that bad, a bit young and inexperienced, but there is quality there and lots of room for growth and improvement. But, there are plenty of options there to go with a forward three. Not to mention that Rosicky, Nasri and Fabregas would be the creative force behind that attack. It’s not a bad position to be in at all.
Can’t really say too much about Melo or Chamakh as I don’t really know anything about them. Have never seen either kick a ball, so it’s hard to have any feelings about Melo’s will-he/won’t-he sign for Juventus saga. Chamakh seems very keen to come to us, but I seem to remember him saying a few months back that he had set his sights on a smaller premier league club like Spuds. So, again, it is hard to get too excited about him either.
Pre-season kicks-off at Barnet on the 18th and is being broadcast on ATVO. Kick-off is at 15:00, so that’s 23:00 JST. We can expect to see the squad for that game mostly consisting of youngsters, with a smattering of some more senior players.
It’s now July 15th and our first Premier League game away to Everton kicks-off on August 15th. Not long to go now! I have to say that despite the lack of anything happening in the world of Arsenal over the close season, the goings-on at Real have made the time pass that bit faster.
Finally, my thoughts are with John Hartson and his family at this time. Let’s hope that he can make a full recovery.
Right, that’ll do for the first post in an age. It’s low thirties here today and I’m sweating like a pig. So, some form of iced drink is called for.
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Kev, unfortunately he is still lingering on, I talk a bit about that in my latest post.
Willy, Adebayor is a good player when he gets his finger out and puts himself around….but he hasn’t done that for quite a while now, unfortunately. Don’t know much about Chamakh and I have hope that Bendtner could develop into a fairly decent player if he applies himself.
has that fucking barndoor still not left???
You’re alive !!!!!!!!!
as a neutral, its still a pretty big blow to lose adebayor. fare enough he was shite last season largely in the second half but he was still a decentish target man and could survive in the prem. Him gone your left with only bender as a target man, and he’s well the andy booth of the premier league. I dont reckon youve made much progress from 4th or even 5th spot finish as yet. Chamakh seems alright kind of like a john carew type, a little bit of skill and technique, powerful and fast at top speed but not so quick of the mark. bit like heskey maybe, ha ha ha ha ha. you should have bought wheater or huth from borough, or even taken a gamble on taylor from newcastle.
There were plenty of pub-based exploits over the past six or seven weeks. But, now it’s back to the serious business of preparing for the new season 😉
Great to have you out of the pub and back blogging.Thought you had given up on the Arsenal…