Saturday round-up and West Brom preview.

September 25, 2010

Today sees us take on West Brom at the Emirates. Kick-off is at 15:00 GMT and coverage will begin on J-Sports Plus at 22:54 JST.

 

The manager revealed that both Diaby and Rosicky are doubts for the game and were set to undergo fitness tests yesterday. As of yet, I haven’t heard anything with regards to the results of said tests. Though I think that we can assume that Diaby won’t make the game as he has a history of taking time to recover from injury. Perhaps Rosicky will make the bench. Squillaci missed the Spuds game with a muscular problem and he may make the team today. Eboue is also struggling to be fit due to a knee problem. I would be fairly certain that Gibbs will not be involved in the match day squad as there is no point in taking any kind of risk with him. He will probably be back for the game against Chavski, even though the manager has said that he has a chance to be involved in the Champions League game in midweek.

 

That should see us line up with Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci, Clichy, Song, Denilson, Arshavin, Vela and Chamakh. That’s assuming a worse case scenario in that only Squillaci shakes off the ‘small’ injury he had. I think that if we didn’t have so many players carrying small injuries, that Wilshere would certainly have been rested for this game, but I don’t think that we can afford to rest him considering that Cesc is definitely out and there may be a small question mark over Rosicky and Nasri. Though Nasri said after the Spuds game that he should be okay. Who the third man in central midfield will be will depend a lot on the outcome of the fitness tests, otherwise it will go to Wilshere, or one of JET, Eastmond or Lansbury or Nasri.

 

The team needs to re-focus quickly for this game as it is a game in which we must get all three points. We are already playing catch-up on Chavski and cannot allow them to get any further ahead before our against them next Sunday.

 

Yesterday, following the announcement to the club’s finances, there was the inevitable outcry as to why we don’t spend money and that Arsenal has gone from a football club to a business. However, I think that much of the criticism has been grossly unfair on both the manager and the club. Given the number of rich benefactors that have entered the game, had Arsenal stayed at Highbury they would now be dead in the water as they just wouldn’t be able to, or have any future chance to, compete financially. Therefore, the move to the Emirates was vital in order to secure the long-term future of the club, without the need for rich investors. In order to make this move work, the club had to put itself into a scary amount of debt and for this to work we had to embark on a youth development oriented approach to the future. Financial prudence had to be exercised.

 

This approach was accepted in the beginning by most, if not all, fans as we all knew that it was what was needed. However, over time, some quarters became more and more angry and disillusioned with the club and its seeming reluctance to spend. What sometimes has gotten lost in the argument is that in the beginning the money just wasn’t there to invest and then in the more recent years, although the money has been available the manager has not wanted to buy a player that would block the progress of the young players that he had spent the last four, five or six years developing. The manager himself said as much himself in Matt Law’s article in the Daily Express:

“We make a profit because we don’t spend – simple as that. What is unbelievable is that people reproach me for making a profit, but nobody says a word about those who lose money.

I manage in a safe way, but it looks like we are in a business where the quality is to lose money. You know I have the wrong reputation. I’m not scared to spend money, but the job of a manager is not to spend as much money as possible.

To get Chamakh for free – instead of getting credit I get accused for getting him for free. ‘Why did you not spend £20m for him?’ If I bought him two years ago for £20m, then it’s OK. But when you get him for free it’s, ‘Oh, Wenger didn’t spend money again’.”

 

The manager really must feel like he just can’t win. If he spends money and buys players he will either get stick from the fans for bankrupting the club or from the media for fielding a team of foreigners. Likewise, when he is financially prudent and tries to bring through young talent, he gets killed for turning the club into a business and being reluctant to spend. It seems that no matter what he does he will get castigated by someone, so I prefer he continues with the policy he has now.

 

In the same article, the manager went on to defend his youth oriented policy:

“I am reproached for not buying players but, for example, if I buy players Jack Wilshere doesn’t come through, so you cannot have everything. I have a development policy to educate the players and the most difficult thing is to stand up for the policy and play them.

I’ll give you one day the list of those players at the top level who have made careers with me. You will be absolutely astonished – nobody else in the world has made so many careers.

How do I know? First, make a list of the players who started their top-level careers at Arsenal. People like Djourou, Senderos, Clichy, Gibbs, Fabregas, Song, Ashley Cole. If you go all the way back through the names it is unbelievable the number of players who started at this club.

But I speak about me. When I go back to Monaco, the number of players that started with me – Petit and Thuram. When I arrived in England nearly all the Manchester United team had started there, but not recently.”

 

The Daily Mail somehow manage to get a big article today out of the fact that Wenger doesn’t generally share a drink with the opposing manager after a game. Quite why this is an actual story is beyond me. Why would ANYONE want to share a drink with the likes of Pulis or Allardyce? Now, I could envisage him sharing a drink with Ancelotti as he seems like a genuinely nice bloke. But, why would he want to share a post-game drink with two managers that have had nothing but bad things to say about him? Speaking on the matter Wenger told the official site:

“I’ve got nothing against it. When you play away from home you are in a hurry to catch the plane and you are playing three days later. Once I do my press, and my press can last quite a while, I have no time. Most of the time my assistant will go and have a drink.

 
I recognise that [can make me seem aloof] but there’s no bad feeling in that, I just feel after the game you stay on your own and you don’t want to disturb people. I’ve always had that philosophy, even in France. When I arrived here I didn’t know anyone. The managers all knew each other and played alongside each other but when you arrive from a foreign country you don’t know anyone.

I’m not shy, I didn’t even know this tradition existed before I came here. And it’s not that we have nothing in common – we love football and we both love to win. I’m always happy to meet people at the Emirates but away from home we want to get away as quickly as possible. After the game my mind is on the next game but sometimes other managers go quickly as well. When we are at home we always invite them in.”

 

That’s about all I have for today. I’m glad it’s Saturday and that Arsenal are live on TV again. No need to go chasing the stream today.

 

Have a good weekend. I’m off to debate (with myself) whether or not I should go out drinking in Tokyo/Yokohama tonight, or just have a chilled evening at home with cans of Kirin and shouting expletives at the TV.

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Injury updates and a look towards the weekend.

September 23, 2010

As exclusively revealed here yesterday, the scan on Gibbs showed only bruising. We can consider ourselves very fortunate that he will only be out for a relatively short period of time as he is a player that is very important for us this season as we need him to keep up the pressure on Clichy to perform week-in-week-out. Although the injury was feared to be the second metatarsal, which is different to the one he broke before, another metatarsal break would have been a major blow for the player and his development. So, bullet dodged.

 

Hopefully another ten days of rest will sort Vermaelen out and he can make it back for the Chavski game.

 

Enough of the bad news and on to some better news on the injury front. I can reveal that Diaby, Walcott and Van Persie have all started running again and so they are slowly making their way back towards being available for selection. However, as of yet, no date has been set for the return of any of the three players. I suspect Diaby will be the first of those to return, though given his injury history that may be a wildly optimistic prediction. One way or another, the above three players and Fabregas should all be pretty fresh for our traditional hell month, November. I haven’t heard anything on the Bendtner injury front.

 

Looking ahead to the weekend and we will be taking on West Brom at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon. Kick-off is at 15:00 GMT, which means coverage will begin at the much more convenient time of  22:54 JST. I am really looking forward to being able to watch the game at a more sociable hour. The game will be shown live on J-Sports Plus, while at the same time J-Sports 2 will be showing Liverpool vs Sunderland. The early game between Man Shitty and Chavski will be shown live on J-Sports 2 from 20:39. Looks like it will be a decent evening of football for me.

 

The team selection for the weekend should see Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci and Clichy play in defence. Midfield is likely to see Song, Denilson, Rosicky, Eboue, and Arshavin start with Chamakh again being the lone man up front. I think that Wilshere will be rested and Nasri may also be rested as there was a slight fitness worry over him at the end of the Spuds game.

 

The last thing we need is to take risks with the fitness of the players, so it would be prudent to exercise some caution with Nasri if there is any doubt at all over his fitness. Wilshere could also do with a little breather ahead of the Champions League and Chavski games next week. We should learn a little more about the possible weekend team selection over today and tomorrow as the manager’s weekly interview and press conference appear on ATVO.

 

Looking at the Carling Cup this could be our best chance for years to go on and win it. Liverpool, Chavski, Everton and Man Shitty are all out and it would be nice if we could get a favourable draw in the next round. We all know that for any of the big teams, the Carling Cup is the lowest priority, however, this team needs to win something in order to instill that belief and winning attitude. They need silverware, regardless of how low of a priority that competition may be. They need to experience winning a final. They need to know that they can do it. If that happens, it could be the catalyst to start an era of dominance for this team. I know that that last sentence is a bit Myles-esque in its hyperbole, but I really think that once the first trophy comes more will quickly follow. Much like going out drinking at the weekend and needing to use the bathroom, this team needs to break the seal. This is a sentiment echoed by Rosicky in the Daily Express.

 

I have a feeling that Wenger’s team selection against Spuds revealed that he may be coming around to the same way of thinking. Outside factors such as the easing of the club’s debt may also mean that there doesn’t need to be such an emphasis on blooding youngsters in this competition as we are not as reliant on that for continued success as has previously been the case. Or, it could just be that we have seen many of these players playing in the Carling Cup for a number of years now and it doesn’t feel like we are playing a weakened team in that competition anymore. These players are, for the most part, ready for inclusion in the first team squad and so the fruits of previous Carling Cup campaigns are paying off. Maybe it’s a combination of all of the above. All that I know is that I would love to see this club win a trophy this season and if that trophy is the Carling Cup, so be it. We have to start somewhere.

 

Speaking to the official site following the Tottenham game, Rosicky revealed his admiration for Jack Wilshere and he basically echoes the thoughts and sentiments that all fans have for our emerging star:

“He is great talent. For his age he has a great brain and he has a great future. When he has got the ball he is very calm, that’s something that sometimes younger guys don’t have – they panic a little bit or something.

With him you don’t see that though – he is very comfortable with the ball. That’s the first quality you are looking for and he has got that. Obviously we want Cesc in our line-up but all players who started showed that they are ready.”

 

Even though I am Irish, the fact that Wilshere is an emerging English talent does make him a bit more special. I suppose it also helps that the emergence of the likes of Wilshere, Gibbs, Lansbury, JET and Eastmond gives the media one less thing to denigrate Arsenal for. All of these players have big futures in the game, hopefully that future is at Arsenal. The days of the media harping on about Arsenal not fielding any English players, not that that should make a difference anyway as it is about quality not nationality, should be at an end.

imageThe future?

 

That’s a longer post than I had expected to write, so I’d best just stop here. But before I go, check out John Cross’s article on tackling. It’s a good read.

 

Take it easy.

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We’ve got Six Fabregas.

September 16, 2010

Good morning. I think that we can all be happy with the result of last night’s game and especially with our performance. The team played really well and it is a great sign that even with so many players absent due to injury the team can still put in top quality performances.

 

Granted, Braga may not be the greatest team in the world and they made the team’s job a lot easier by allowing our players space and time on the ball. But, we shouldn’t forget that they dispatched Celtic and Sevilla in order to get to the group stage and they finished ahead of Porto in the league last season. So, they are by no means pushovers.

 

As expected, the team, lined up in defense with Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Squillaci and Clichy. Though, in midfield, we started with Song, Wilshere, Nasri, Fabregas and Arshavin with Chamakh playing up front. I had thought that Wilshere may have been rested for the game as he has played quite a lot so far this season but he had a good game and his cheeky little back-heel for Chamakh’s goal was the icing on a good all-round performance by him. Let’s hope that he can keep his feet on the ground, because if he can do that he will develop into a world class player.

 

The goals came from Fabregas (penalty and header), Chamakh, Arshavin and two for Vela. Fabregas was great again and I think he is now back to his normal level, which is great. I also think that the arrival of Chamakh has made a difference too as his link play, holding up the ball and work rate is something that we were missing up front and it is nice to have a striker that is not afraid to get hurt in order to get on the end of a cross.

 

The most exciting thing about this season is that the team seems to have grown, learned and improved when compared with the last two seasons. That is great to see and it is also good to hear the manager say that we can no longer use being young as an excuse for not winning. The manager, players and fans all know that it is time for this team to deliver, no excuses. I, for one, really have a feeling that this could be a big year for us.

 

I’m not just getting carried away on the basis of last night’s result, but if you look at our games this season we have certainly grown as a team and the only blemish on our record is the 1-1 draw at Anfield, which is never a bad result, especially when you are a goal down with one minute left on the clock. Compare that with ManUre, whereas we are gaining a point late on, they have twice lost points late on.

 

The team has character and is showing signs of a greater resilience. Let’s hope that they can continue this vein of form as we can all remember them starting well before only to let their work-rate drop and as a result the performances and results  reflected that. Hopefully this year they will put right that issue.

 

After the game the manager spoke about the quality of our performance:

“We won the game but I believe as well we played the game we wanted to play, at a high pace, with top technical quality and with a lot of creative attitude and a good concentration and collective spirit. Our game is based on that. It’s our philosophy and, for long patches of the game, we managed to express that. I believe we had many good performances on the pitch. Everybody played quite well, we were sound at the back, Wilshere had a very good game as well. Everybody played well.”

 

I suppose the only real downside of the performance was the poor accuracy of Arshavin’s passing and that is an area that he needs to work on. At one stage his passing accuracy was around 56%, which just isn’t good enough at that level. Defensively we could be a bit more solid, but hopefully that will come as Koscielny and Squillaci get used to the league and each other. Clichy is also a bit of a worry and it can only be a good thing that he now has Gibbs breathing down his neck.

 

The manager also revealed that Diaby has some bruising and ligament damage. We can only hope that they crack out some Oleg Luzhny placenta to help his recovery along and that he is back in training sooner rather than later.

 

Next on the agenda is a trip to the Stadium of Light at the weekend and it is a game where the team will need to stay fully focused in order to keep our current good run going and to keep pressure on Chelsea and ManUre. The game is a 17:30 GMT kick-off, which means that it’ll be a delightfully convenient 01:30 JST kick-off here… I hate when we have a late kick-off, though at least Sunday is a day off.

 

That’s about all for today. Check out Arseblog and Gunnerblog who will probably have a more in-depth report on last night’s game. Though, I suppose that’s what newspaper websites like The Guardian are for.

 

The shareholders’ Q&A session should be taking place this evening from 6pm-7pm, so hopefully there will be some interesting things to come out of it.

 

Right, that’ll do for today. Take it easy and enjoy the feeling of a 6-0 victory in the Champions League.

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A routine run-out.

July 18, 2010

Yesterday saw the long-awaited return of The Arsenal in the game against Barnet at Underhill. The team ran out comfortable 4-0 winners and were never really put under any pressure. The goals came from Arshavin, Simpson (2) and Nasri. The assists came from Rosicky, Wilshere (2) and the fourth goal coming from a defensive calamity by Barnet. There is no point in going into any kind of great detail on the game as for a better report on it you should check out Gunnerblog whose Gilberto Silver attended the game.

 

Our two new boys got some playing time under their belts and from first impressions it is clear that Koscielny was right when he said, upon signing, that he needed to build up his strength and power. He is a bit gangly looking and will need to build up his muscles if he is to be an effective centre-half in the premier league. That said, he is still very young for a centre half and has time on his side. Also, it was just the first game of pre-season, with new teammates, so it is much too early to make any kind of prediction on how he will fare over the course of the season.

 

Chamakh got a 2nd half run-out and by the looks of the way he plays, he could pick up a few yellows over the course of the season and may not be as prolific as we might hope. But, as long as he helps to create goals, as well as score some, then he will be a good addition to the squad.

 

I though Jay Emmanuel-Thomas had a good game and I was surprised at how big he looked. Though, maybe the midgets around him just made him look bigger than he actually is. I thought Traore was a bit suspect and I am glad that he will just be our third choice left back next season. Frimpong also impressed.

 

In his post match interview, Arsene confirmed that six of the eight players yet to return from their post-World Cup holiday will return on Monday, in time to join the team for the pre-season training in Austria. In a roundabout way he also referred to Koscielny not doing so well with aerial challenges early on but slowly adjusting and becoming a bit more competitive in them. It will take time for him to get used to the English game and bulk up, that’s for sure. He also commented on the fact that Chamakh is good at linking play and involving the players around him, which should suit our attacking midfielders and style of play. I wonder if it means he will spend more time outside the box than in it. Let’s hope that he can get the balance of linking play and finishing a move off right over the season.

 

Although Wenger said all the right things in terms of Cesc staying at the club and any idea of such a move being over, looking at the video it wasn’t the most convincing of statements. However, I may be reading too much into that, but it’s just the impression that I got from watching it. However, in an interview which appears in today’s Guardian, the boss is much more emphatic about the situation:

“There was a lot of unneeded talk. It is not pleasant to read that every day. Now, the story has to stop. Cesc is our captain, he is so important to us and we want to keep him, that is why we were not listening to any offers. It was not a problem of money, just the desire to keep him at the club.

We can only influence our own behaviour and I believe things have now gone straight again with Sandro Rosell. We always had a consistent attitude and were always reluctant to talk about Cesc’s departure. It is very important we give the impression that just because somebody wants a player from us, we do not just give in.

We have shown our love and care for Cesc since the start. I believe Cesc loves the club, has shown his attachment to the club many times and I am very confident the story will end there. We want Cesc to be part of our club next year, and that is it.”

The first sentence in the second paragraph of the above quote is very telling as to the club’s views of Laporta and his regime and is about as close as Wenger will ever come to calling Laporta a c*nt in public. Great stuff. It also has the added effect of forcing Rossell to act appropriately and respectfully if he wants to differentiate his regime from Laporta’s in order to seal a deal for Fabregas at some point in the future. The attachment that the boss feels for Cesc is also evident by his talking about the ‘love and care’ that the club has for, and has shown towards, our Catalan captain. It was also good to see that Wenger wants to show that Arsenal are a big club that can resist the overtures from one of the world’s so-called big two. We need to show the world that just because a club wants to buy one of our players, it does not mean that they will be able to prize one of our prize assets away from us.

 

It was interesting to see the link to Schwarzer being played down, with the excessive fee being asked as the main stumbling block to any such deal going through. That, for me, is good news as any fee in the region of, or above 3m is just way too much money for a 37yr old. I could only justify an outlay of that magnitude if it also included his signing on fee and salary for the duration of the contract. There is also a rumour that Wenger told a fan that he hasn’t decided on his no1 for the coming season. Does this mean that a search for a keeper is still underway? The grapevine indicates that it is, judging from word I received during the week.

 

There are reports that we have had a 14m bid for Jagielka rejected. That’s a lot of money to bid for a player that recently had a serious knee injury. The boss was also very quiet on any alleged deal for Joe Cole.

 

Talking about Gallas and Silvestre, the club expect them to sign with another club while Campbell is currently in footballing limbo. While none of the three have been definitively ruled out, one suspects that out of the three the only one that has a chance of being here when the Premier League kicks off in mid-August is Campbell.

 

Right, that’s enough for today. 1,000+ words is more than enough for anyone to digest on a Sunday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

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Summer starts here (for me anyway).

July 15, 2010

Greetings from a hot and humid Yokohama. It’s river-down-your-crack hot today, but I am not complaining as I have also started my summer holidays today. So, all is good.

 

Things are a bit quiet on the Arsenal front. I heard a very interesting story last night but that’s about all I can say for the moment. If it comes to pass, we will be a good deal stronger going into the new season. But, as like many stories you hear on the grapevine, they don’t all come to pass. Regardless of whether or not it does bear fruit, I have been very much reassured, just by hearing the story, that the boss does indeed intend to make us competitive again. Sorry for being so horribly vague, but that’s how it has to be. I’ll just leave it by saying that it involves two players, neither of whom have been linked with us yet this summer.

 

Former Arsenal player, and legend, Thierry Henry yesterday signed with the New York Red Bulls on a multi-year deal. He is set to appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon today, Thursday, so if you want to submit a question for consideration for Jimmy to ask Thierry get yourself on Twitter and send a message to Jimmy Fallon pronto. I submitted two, no idea if they will be asked. He will make his debut for his new team on July 22nd, against Spuds.

 

There are reports that Cesc actually bought himself a brand new house about a month ago which, if true, would certainly indicate that our captain isn’t ready to leave these shores just yet.

 

It’s all depressingly quiet today, I must admit. Hopefully things will start to pick up in the next day or two. The squad for the friendly against Barnet this coming Saturday is set to be announced on Friday. Expect it to be a young side, along with  some of the players that didn’t go to the World cup and our new boys Chamakh and Koscielny.

 

There is a discussion with Arseblogger on the Young Guns site today, where they talk about the youth system at Arsenal. Check it out.

 

Right just a short one for today as there is nothing much else to talk about. Have a good one.

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A quick Tuesday round-up.

June 1, 2010

I’m writing this post after work on the train from Tokyo to Yokohama, so I’m not sure how long it will be. Yesterday was a quiet one in terms of Arsenal related news so I decided not to post anything as there really was nothing to say. I’m still trying to figure out if there is much to say today. One thing that did happen, in a didn’t sort of way, was the passing of the deadline which the Star set on Sunday for Joe Cole signing for us.

 

It seems like there is a real interest in him from both ourselves and ManUre. Given that he is a London lad and hasn’t ventured outside of the capital to ply his trade, you would have to figure that we would be slight favourites for his signature, if that side of things plays a factor in his final decision. Would signing both Chamakh and Cole serve to help Fabregas decide to stay for another year or two? His signing, while not entirely desirable, would certainly help to boost the strength of our squad. Luckily, he isn’t as c*ntish as some of his fellow Chelsea teammates.

 

Xavi moved one step closer to being a fully-fledged member of Mensa by saying that he predicted a whole two years ago that Cesc would one day rejoin Barcelona. Well done, Xavi. It is clear that you shouldn’t be playing for Barselona, you should instead by working at CERN. Nothing new or earth shattering in his quote and it’s just more of the usual Barselona skullduggery of trying to get a player to do their tapping up for them.

 

Arshavin has described Arsenal’s season as being nothing special, even pitiful. I’m assuming that he has been misquoted and that he actually was referring to his own performances and overall contribution to the team over the season. Maybe that is the reason we are interested in Joe Cole….taxi for Arshavin? He owes us a really good season next year, if he is still at the club.

 

Gallas missed the end of May deadline that he had been set by Wenger for the signing of a new contract, so it’s time for us to forget about him as an Arsenal player, though I get the feeling that some of us have felt that way about him for a while. Time for our former captain to go and sit sulking on a pitch somewhere else. It never really worked out as we had all initially hoped that it would. Good player but a bit of a mentally imbalanced loon, too.

 

The newspapers are becoming really, really lazy with regard to the Cesc transfer story as we are just seeing the exact same quotes turning up again and again with nothing new to add to the story. It’s all a bit tedious and boring, to be honest.

 

Almost at Yokohama, so it’s nearly time for me to wrap this post up. I’d just like to thank those that sent me messages on Twitter yesterday regarding newspaper (tabloid and broadsheet) reporting and portrayal of UK born players versus foreign players. I’m doing my MA thesis on whether or not racism, xenophobia or unfair bias is used when portraying incidents involving UK and foreign players. If you can think of any specific game/incident where you remember newspapers doing this, please leave it in a comment below. Eg: Ryan Shawcross ‘isn’t that kind of player’ after nearly taking Ramsey’s leg off, but Gallas is ridiculed for a slightly late tackle against Bolton. Oh, it can be about ANY premier league team or player, it’s not Arsenal specific. Thanks in advance.

 

Have a good Tuesday.

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Not a lot going on.

May 25, 2010

Greetings from a warm and sunny Yokohama. The post season is a bit quiet this week with just some tenuous transfer links that lack any real meat so far and the still ongoing Tantric Cesc saga. The Cesc thing is going on so long that it will soon make Sting jealous. I’m hoping that it will get resolved one way or the other sooner rather than later. One thing is for sure, regardless of whether it drags on until after the World Cup, it shouldn’t affect our signing of a replacement because now that Wenger knows that Cesc wants to leave, he should be finalizing his list of exactly who could replace him. That list should be drawn up immediately, just in case the worst happens. If Cesc leaves after the World Cup ends then we should be ready to move immediately for the identified replacement, or sign the replacement just before finalizing the transfer of Cesc. But, I won’t accept excuses of having to search for a replacement after Cesc has left. That groundwork should be finalized long before that time comes, if it comes. A Cultured Left Foot has some quotes from Hleb wherein he says that Cesc should stay where he is, no doubt because Hleb himself has found out first-hand that the grass is not always greener.

 

Crazy figures being reported regarding the transfer fee, ranging between £30m and £80m. I think that the actual fee, should it be agreed will probably lie somewhere between £40m-£50m, though I would like it to be on the high side of £50m.

 

Chiellini is making noises about moving on, though it could just be that he is trying to renegotiate a more lucrative contract. That said, he would be a good, strong, centre-half to put alongside Vermaelen. He is a player that I would like to see us sign and one that we have been linked with before, though how much substance there were to those links is debatable. He is also at the ‘right age’ that Wenger alluded to when talking about the signing of Chamakh.

 

The Swiss Rambler had a really detailed and very interesting post about the finances of Arsenal and Barcelona and details the debt at the latter. It’s a good read.

 

As expected, the ‘Nigerian business man to buy Lady Nina’s shares’ story has been dealt a blow by him stating that he had been interested in investing before but now has no plans to do so.

 

Elsewhere, we are being linked with Bolton’s Cahill, again. So, we’ll just have to wait and see what Arsene decides to do.

 

Right, that’s about all for today. Take it easy.

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And so it begins.

May 22, 2010

Yesterday saw us officially confirm and unveil our first signing of the summer. Marouane Chamakh was unveiled as an Arsenal player and has signed on a long-term contract, which I suppose we can assume to be for four or five years, given that he is twenty six years old. The music in the video at the above link is a bit cheesy, to say the least. Clearly music isn’t a forte of ATVO.

 

 

The player, of course, said that he is delighted to be joining us.

“This is a dream come true and a great joy to be joining Arsenal. My goal was always to play in the Premier League and Arsenal was the choice of my heart. Without any hesitation, Arsenal was my preferred club. The team and history of Arsenal, they make me dream. My goal was to join Arsenal out of the all the English clubs because it is a club that makes me dream and I have been a fan since I was a child.

“I’m very excited about playing at Emirates Stadium in front of the Arsenal supporters. I have heard many great things about the stadium and I cannot wait to be playing there in an Arsenal shirt. I will give my best to this Club, the Club that I used to support. We have many great players at Arsenal and I will be giving everything to help the team win trophies next season.”

 

Wenger, naturally was very happy to have gotten his man and had this to say:

“We are delighted that Marouane Chamakh has joined us. He is a player we have admired for some time now and I know he will provide our squad with great quality. Chamakh has proved he is a great player with his performances for Bordeaux and Morocco in recent seasons and we’re all looking forward to him joining us.

"Chamakh is a striker of real quality and has all the attributes suited to come to England and do very well. He is also a fighter, not only a good football player, but a fighter as well. He is very good in the air and also a good team player. He is a great addition to our squad.”

 

I must admit that I haven’t actually seen him playing, as Bordeaux’s Champions League games weren’t enticing enough to drag me out of bed to watch at 03:45 on a work night. But, he can’t fail to provide more goals to the team than both Vela and Eduardo combined did last season.

 

We can now crack out the songs “Boob, boom, Chamakh(alaka) boom!" and “Chamakh my bitch up!”

 

He will wear the no29 jersey and will provide good competition for both Van Persie and Bendtner. It does seem that one, or both, of Vela and Eduardo may be surplus to requirements. Hopefully it will be Vela that goes first because I would like to see Eduardo get another chance to regain his form next season. It really would be a shame if that Taylor tackle ruined his Arsenal career.

 

Perhaps this whole ‘Cesc to Barcelona’ bore-fest will give an extra incentive to Arsene to get the finger out and sign some more proper players that have both experience and proven quality. One thing is for sure, if we do manage to keep Cesc for another year or two, we will have no chance of him staying any longer if the squad isn’t significantly strengthened with quality players. Not necessarily big name players, just quality players. Three more signings along the lines of Vermaelen would do nicely.

 

Speaking of Cesc and Barcelona, the latter seem to be on a damage limitation drive now that they have seen their attempts to get Cesc to agitate for a move have only served to strengthen Arsenal’s resolve to keep him and reject all overtures. The c*nt-buckets are now saying that they will respect our wishes and not negotiate anything behind our backs. Someone should tell them that those are the actual f*cking FIFA rules. C*nts. I’m sure their financial situation is a factor in this renewed stance, too. However, I’m also sure that it won’t prevent them from using the Spanish papers to do their underhanded unsettling work.

 

It’s great timing to announce the signing of Chamakh, given the week of doom and gloom that we have just had. I just hope that Wenger now looks to address the defensive side of our squad. Give Ivan Gazidis the names he wants to sign, let Gazidis get on with agreeing a fee and personal terms for those players while Arsene goes about convincing Cesc that Arsenal are still the right club for him to be at. I wonder will there be another signing before the World Cup kicks off, or will we have to make do with this until after the tournament ends?

 

I see West Ham have made a bid to sign TH14. You would seriously have to question the way a club is run when the chairmen are trying to sign players before they have actually appointed a new manager.

 

Anyway, that’s about that for today. I’m happy that we have confirmed our first signing. Come on Arsene, make hay while the sun shines and build on this signing as quickly as possible.

 

Have a good Saturday, folks.

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Posted by thenorthbank

The final Friday.

May 7, 2010

This is the final Friday of the season for The Arsenal and as of yet things have been a bit slow news-wise today. Things have also been a bit quiet on the official word front, in terms of a confirmation/denial of the Chamakh(alaka) Boom deal. But, I suppose no news is good news.

 

Since my last post, Spuds beat Man Shitty 1-0 thus securing a crack at the Champions League for them and putting a bit of pressure on us to get a result against Fulham this coming Sunday. Not that we didn’t want our team to go out and get a result against Fulham, regardless of the Spuds game, but to be in the situation where we need to get a result in order to absolutely guarantee automatic qualification for the Champions League just shows how poor we have been over the final month of the season.

 

It amazing how a few inept and lazy performances have done so much damage to our overall assessment of the team’s performances and progress over the season. There are still a lot of issues with this squad, the greatest of which being in defense, but the team is on the cusp of improving it’s league position this year and that isn’t something which should be overlooked. That said, I think the performances of the other teams around us have made us look a bit better than we actually were. Yes, we may finish third which would be an improvement, but in terms of overall quality I am not sure we have actually improved a great deal. Certainly with regard to injuries picked up, we have taken a step backwards this season, though not all of those could be legislated for.

 

This season has shown that players like Vela, Diaby, Silvestre and Eduardo are not up to the task of representing Arsenal. The jury is still out on Rosicky and I would like to see him get another season to see if he can regain some form when playing regularly with Cesc, Van Persie and Arshavin next season. I mean, who wouldn’t struggle for form when playing alongside mediocre players such as Denilson and Diaby, who can’t really be arsed giving their all.

 

Of the four others mentioned above, I would expect Silvestre and Eduardo to depart in the summer but I don’t see Wenger letting Denilson or Diaby go. I quite like Diaby, he is capable of putting in great performances. The only problem is that he is even more capable of being a lazy sod that puts in some woeful performances.

 

Team news ahead of the Fulham game is a bit thin on the ground at the minute as ATVO still hasn’t put up the manager’s weekly interview in full yet, though today’s press conference should shed some more light on that matter a bit later. However, it would appear that Clichy is the only one of the players absent from the Blackburn debacle that has a chance of returning. It’s frustrating to not have Song for such an important game and it’s also disappointing for the player himself to not get the chance to play in the final home game of the season after having his best season for us. It seems likely that Arshavin and Van Persie will start. Let’s hope that Arshavin puts in a decent performance, he’ll need to be phenomenal if he wants to trick Barca into buying him in the summer…

 

I share Arseblogger’s incredulity at those that would like to see Spuds finish ahead of us in the league. How f*cking stupid is that? How in the name of f*ck would that help our cause in any way? If we finish fourth and then go out in the qualifiers, then you could forget any chance of splashing the cash next year. So those people need to get real and get behind OUR team, not those crowd of tossers down the road. We need automatic qualification for the Champions League, end of story.

 

My brother is heading to the game this weekend, so I’ll be crossing my fingers that he doesn’t jinx us and that we can take advantage of what will almost certainly be a weakened Fulham team. They will rest some players and those that will play will not want to pick up an injury, though there will also be some that try and play their way into their manager’s plans ahead of the Europa League final next Wednesday.

 

Anyway, that’s about that for today. A whole lot of nothing really. I’ll have more news, views and hopefully some concrete team news tomorrow. Time for a bit of Arsecast action (on the iPhone, nothing sleazy), check it out if you don’t already. Also, check out the ‘It’s Up For Grabs’ podcast with Alan Davies, too. Both are quality.

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Posted by thenorthbank