When pre-season commences in a weeks time, I think the first thing Arsene should do is gather everyone round and say "Ok guys, new rule. None of you, ABSOLUTELY NONE of you, will ever speak to anyone from the press ever again. Ever." This comes off the back of a story where Arshavin reportedly has said that he would like to play for Barcelona. Seeing as he's 28, and only just signed for Arsenal, and Arsenal are likely to keep him until maybe 30, plus the fact that Arshavin wants to finish his career at Zenit St. Petersburg, he's not giving Barcelona a terribly appealing prospect. Having said that Henry is the wrong side of 30 yet has just had a great year of Barca (nowhere near as good as he used to for us though) and still looks like having a career after 2012 (albeit probably in the MLS). I'm just going to ignore this story, it's a continuation of the press (led by the spaniards) to bully Arsenal. I suggest you ignore it too.
Just a few words on Gilberto Silva. What a gent eh? What a proper gent. Despite the fact the AW treated him pretty shabbily in his last season, plus the fact he found out on Arsenal.com that, after Henry's departure, he would lose out on the captain's armband to an immature sulky defender who just joined from Chelsea the year before (despite Gibo having lead the team admirably when Henry was injured in his last season (which was a lot)), he still told Felipe Melo, that if Arsenal were interested in him, he would jump at the chance of joining without a moments hesitation. Silva said that Arsenal were a great club, and that Felipe Melo is just the sort of player we need at the moment. I'm still not sure anything will come of this, but now Milan are giving Wolfsburg until thursday to decide if they're going to keep Dzeko (something they appear to have already decided), it's making it look increasingly like they may bid for Adebayor. This will give us some cash to splash. Or to spend on training a flock of sheep to keep the Emirates Stadium grass to it's ideal length, as a long-term solution to having to spend money on a lawnmower.
Finally, Usmanov's plans to get the fans on his side continues this week with a proposal that will be discussed with the board. Whatever Usmanov promises I will be sceptical over, seeing as he's a ManUre supporter, and won't want to pump money into Arsenal just to clear debt and provide a transfer kitty, without getting anything back. The board have varying opinions over this depending on who you read, I would go with the Guardian however, who state that the board are pretty hostile towards it.
Well it's only a week until pre-season training. As Wenger stated he wants an acquisition or two more, so it could turn out to be a busy week for Gazidis.
Here's to hoping Gooners.
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Sunday, 28 June 2009
As nothing is happening, I will talk about something that isn't important.
So nothing else has happened yet. There have been some extreme rumours first put forward by Sky Sports at around 10.30 last night that Arsenal are ready to 'high-jack' ManUre's bid for Karim Benzema. Sure Benzema would be a great signing but he would apparently cost £30million. It all hinges on Adebayor, if he's sold for £25million, then we may have enough dough for Benzema. HOWEVER, firstly Wenger had a brief interview in l'Equipe where he said Adebayor and Fabregas aren't going anywhere, and secondly even if Ade was sold there's no way on earth Wenger would spend £30 million on a player. The income from Adebayor would presumably go to producing robots who clean up the Emirates Stadium lavatories.
There is nothing else going on so I'm going to talk about Arsenal.com. Arsenal.com, isn't it the most boring piece of crap you have ever seen in your life? All I want is to see who has won player of the year. And sure 2nd, 3rd and 4th can be mentioned in brief as they deserve it. But having a week dedicated to each one is ridiculous. What makes it more ridiculous is that they can never find anything to write about. Last week Nasri was voted 4th (I would have given him 3rd, and not counted Arshavin at all). The whole week was: an article of his best bits, some old videos dug up about Nasri's perfect footballer that were given a while ago, and a video of Nasri scoring his brace against the Mancs, something (as beautiful as it was) we have each seen a thousand times over. That is all they could think about. Now it appears I have to wait 3 weeks to find out who won. That is such a long time! And so long after the season ended. Most teams anounce their player of the season in the last week of the term.
Arsenal.com also never have any news, of any kind, ever. They also have an uncanny knack for unveiling signings after every other site including BBC.co.uk. BBC.co.uk the website that usually waits for a player to play his first game for the club before announcing he's signed. On match day morning I log in to Arsenal.com hoping for some hints as to who may play, but there never is. They just mention that Eduardo and Rosicky will be missing out with injury. Something that had remained the same for the better part of a year.
I long since abandoned Arsenal.com, having been disillusioned with it. But that's what these blogs are for. For opinions, fantasy and why not a bit of gossip every now and then?
So I guess this has been a round about way of saying long live the Arsenal blogs! (Especially mine).
God how bored must I have been to have written that....
Oh by they way there is quite a nice article concerning Robin van Persie on the News of the World site. It's not nice because it was written by NotW, purely because it concerns the boy wonder. Had it been written by the Guardian it would have been a very nice piece of journalism. It highlights RvPs passion for the game, and his strive to be seen as one of the best players in the world in tandem with winning trophies at Arsenal.
So, that's it. Not much to talk about. I'll be back sometime, I guess.
'Til then Gooners.
There is nothing else going on so I'm going to talk about Arsenal.com. Arsenal.com, isn't it the most boring piece of crap you have ever seen in your life? All I want is to see who has won player of the year. And sure 2nd, 3rd and 4th can be mentioned in brief as they deserve it. But having a week dedicated to each one is ridiculous. What makes it more ridiculous is that they can never find anything to write about. Last week Nasri was voted 4th (I would have given him 3rd, and not counted Arshavin at all). The whole week was: an article of his best bits, some old videos dug up about Nasri's perfect footballer that were given a while ago, and a video of Nasri scoring his brace against the Mancs, something (as beautiful as it was) we have each seen a thousand times over. That is all they could think about. Now it appears I have to wait 3 weeks to find out who won. That is such a long time! And so long after the season ended. Most teams anounce their player of the season in the last week of the term.
Arsenal.com also never have any news, of any kind, ever. They also have an uncanny knack for unveiling signings after every other site including BBC.co.uk. BBC.co.uk the website that usually waits for a player to play his first game for the club before announcing he's signed. On match day morning I log in to Arsenal.com hoping for some hints as to who may play, but there never is. They just mention that Eduardo and Rosicky will be missing out with injury. Something that had remained the same for the better part of a year.
I long since abandoned Arsenal.com, having been disillusioned with it. But that's what these blogs are for. For opinions, fantasy and why not a bit of gossip every now and then?
So I guess this has been a round about way of saying long live the Arsenal blogs! (Especially mine).
God how bored must I have been to have written that....
Oh by they way there is quite a nice article concerning Robin van Persie on the News of the World site. It's not nice because it was written by NotW, purely because it concerns the boy wonder. Had it been written by the Guardian it would have been a very nice piece of journalism. It highlights RvPs passion for the game, and his strive to be seen as one of the best players in the world in tandem with winning trophies at Arsenal.
So, that's it. Not much to talk about. I'll be back sometime, I guess.
'Til then Gooners.
Saturday, 27 June 2009
Time keeps ticking away....
Despite my promise of almost daily articles from now on, there just hasn't been any news worthy of being put into letters and words recently. The other day Le Boss proclaimed that he had a couple of targets that we was aiming to purchase before pre training commenced. He went on to say however that identifying targets, and getting them were a different kettle of fish. It appears that he is right there as there has been NO news on anything. I don't count the Melo rumours as news. I do find it encouraging that there is continual speculation surrounding him because usually when there is this much speculation it goes beyond rumours and must have some element of truth about it (for example Vermaelen, Nasri and Arshavin). However the only 'news' (and I use that in the loosest possible way) is that Melo has said he's happy at Fiorentina. That's no surprise, everyone says they're happy at their current club. If they say otherwise there is the potential that they could forfit a signing on fee for the new club. Apparently Gilardino had the feeling on the 24th that Melo would be sold, yet a couple of days later BBC claim that Arsenal's hopes of signing Melo have ended due to the player himself ruling out a move. Reading the article to which the BBC refers, there is no indication that the player in question ruled out a move, merely that he was settled in Italy. That's it. That's all there is that constitutes as news about Melo. God it's boring.
Shall I bother saying anything about Chamakh? Go on then, as I'm bored. Rumours concerning him appear to be sluggish and indecisive. Have Arsenal lodged a bid, or are in fact Bordeaux offering him a new contract? More importantly, last season Chamakh scored a grand total of 13 goals. Is it me, or is that actually not impressive? I'm not doubting his ability but Bendtner scored more and still managed to gather some boo-boys. Although we have to consider that said boo-boys may in fact be mentally retarded.
In other news, Arshavin has dumped Dennis Lachter. Not really surprising when you think about it. Although he was insturmental in securing Arshavin's move to Arsenal, he didn't half make it as uncomfortable as possible, and every now and then still says things that make him seem like a pain in the arse. There is some good news! Drag queen-faced Ronaldo's move to Madrid is complete. We don't have to see his face nearly as often anymore! Yippee! I bet Andy Gray is upset though.
Cesc is being bullied by the media again. Cue every Gooner in the world, and indeed presumably most other people who aren't Barcelona or Madrid fans, groaning to themselves and rolling there eyes to the tune of 'oh no not again'. Cesc himself said he doesn't know how many times he has to prove his loyalty to the club. It highlights an act of pure desperation by the media that they continue to go back to this story. In future if I were Cesc I would think twice about talking to the Spanish media at all. As Arseblog state, if he does give interviews, he should end every sentence with "I'm not leaving Arsenal". Gerard Pique, who I previously had a lot of respect for, has announced in a rather pompous fashion that Barca will snare Fabregas, and that (whether he wants to or not) he will end up in the blue and red. Pique also stated:
"I wouldn't be happy at all (if Fabregas signed for Madrid)"
Hahaha like anyone gives a crap about whether you're happy. Didn't I say pompous? There goes that respect Gerard....
Well done to Theo and Gibbsy who both netted penos that got the under 21s through to the final in a match that England tried their best to throw away.
That's it. That's actually it. I hope something...anything happens tomorrow. Otherwise I'll try and think of something interesting to write about.
Um......
Shall I bother saying anything about Chamakh? Go on then, as I'm bored. Rumours concerning him appear to be sluggish and indecisive. Have Arsenal lodged a bid, or are in fact Bordeaux offering him a new contract? More importantly, last season Chamakh scored a grand total of 13 goals. Is it me, or is that actually not impressive? I'm not doubting his ability but Bendtner scored more and still managed to gather some boo-boys. Although we have to consider that said boo-boys may in fact be mentally retarded.
In other news, Arshavin has dumped Dennis Lachter. Not really surprising when you think about it. Although he was insturmental in securing Arshavin's move to Arsenal, he didn't half make it as uncomfortable as possible, and every now and then still says things that make him seem like a pain in the arse. There is some good news! Drag queen-faced Ronaldo's move to Madrid is complete. We don't have to see his face nearly as often anymore! Yippee! I bet Andy Gray is upset though.
Cesc is being bullied by the media again. Cue every Gooner in the world, and indeed presumably most other people who aren't Barcelona or Madrid fans, groaning to themselves and rolling there eyes to the tune of 'oh no not again'. Cesc himself said he doesn't know how many times he has to prove his loyalty to the club. It highlights an act of pure desperation by the media that they continue to go back to this story. In future if I were Cesc I would think twice about talking to the Spanish media at all. As Arseblog state, if he does give interviews, he should end every sentence with "I'm not leaving Arsenal". Gerard Pique, who I previously had a lot of respect for, has announced in a rather pompous fashion that Barca will snare Fabregas, and that (whether he wants to or not) he will end up in the blue and red. Pique also stated:
"I wouldn't be happy at all (if Fabregas signed for Madrid)"
Hahaha like anyone gives a crap about whether you're happy. Didn't I say pompous? There goes that respect Gerard....
Well done to Theo and Gibbsy who both netted penos that got the under 21s through to the final in a match that England tried their best to throw away.
That's it. That's actually it. I hope something...anything happens tomorrow. Otherwise I'll try and think of something interesting to write about.
Um......
Monday, 22 June 2009
Do do do we've got Thomas Vermaelen
Hi all, please accept my profuse apologies for the lack of posting recently. I've had exams and other miserable excuses for trying to get my concentration away from Arsenal. As I'm sure you're all aware by now, we recently signed Thomas 'Tommy Boy Vermaelen' Vermaelen from Ajax. The fee is thought to be around the £10m mark, and it's a good capture if you ask me (which you probably don't). The centre back was captain of Ajax last season at the age of 23. Ajax, although in a slight slump at the moment from past great teams, is still a good team, and being the captain shows he must have excellent leadership qualities. In his first interview (available on youtube) he also states he is a physical player. That's very much needed, although being a centre back one would assume he is physical. Let's hope he means more physical than the norm. His height appears to fluctuate between 5'11 and 6'1. His official height is apparently 6'. I don't think we should get carried away with all the height malarchy. Let's remember that Abou Diaby is 12 ft 3 yet as soon as the ball approaches his head he let's out a stifled cry and runs as far away as possible.
I hope Wenger gives him the number 6 instead of some silly number. Of course the question is what will happen to the part-time nightclub bouncer now that Milan aren't interested and if we can't get rid of him. 28 appears to be available now Bischoff looks like he's leaving, and Kolo used to have that. Dave said to me the other day he hopes if Senderos stays, he'd be given the number 18. Implying that Fish head should be sold. I hope to god Silvestre does leave, but I have a nasty feeling that it's not going to happen.
Talking of Senderos, there have been rumours flying about that he could be used (along with plenty of cash) to agree a deal with Fiorentina where Felipe Melo would come to Ashburton. Melo has come out with the standard, I want to commit myself to my current contract chit-chat, but to be honest everyone says that. Apart from Ronaldo. God i'll be glad if i don't have to see his drag queen face in the premiership again. But anyway I digress. Melo is a tidy defensive midfielder with a crunching challenge, and an excellent long pass. 'Just what we need' I hear you shout. Yes but only if Arsene were that simple. From watching the Confederations cup it's easy to see why le Boss is interested in Melo, if indeed he is.
That brings me nicely to Cescy boy. He was very impressive in Spain's first game of the confederations cup bagging a goal and an assist. He was everywhere on the park (stats showed he covered the most distance by the end) and was clearly enjoying himself. He missed the second game against Iraq apparently because in training Xabi Alonso took him out again. Steady on Xabi, some may start saying that you're jealous 'cause Fabregas just walked into the Spanish squad at the age of 18, and you're still not quite a regular in the starting XI. (That said, I think Alonso is a fantastic player). In the latest game against South Africa, with Spain already qualified, Cesc once again played the whole match, but couldn't quite get into the game, coming in off the right flank. He started off trying hard to get into the game, but eventually gave up and had a lazy kind of game. It was only at the end when Pablo Hernandez came on and got moved to the right, that Cesc could move into the centre and strut his stuff. Still it's nice to see an Arsenal player playing this summer. Let's hope he's not too tired by the beginning of pre-season training.
Walcott and Gibbs have also been playing. Gibbsy has been taking many plaudits for his performances at left back, with Walcott receiving less praise. Walcott still proved his undoubted talent, when coming off the bench against Spain, he provided a superb assist to James Milner.
That's all for today. The articles will be more plentiful now, probably almost daily. I've only got one exam left and I really don't care about it.
'Til next time Gooners.
I hope Wenger gives him the number 6 instead of some silly number. Of course the question is what will happen to the part-time nightclub bouncer now that Milan aren't interested and if we can't get rid of him. 28 appears to be available now Bischoff looks like he's leaving, and Kolo used to have that. Dave said to me the other day he hopes if Senderos stays, he'd be given the number 18. Implying that Fish head should be sold. I hope to god Silvestre does leave, but I have a nasty feeling that it's not going to happen.
Talking of Senderos, there have been rumours flying about that he could be used (along with plenty of cash) to agree a deal with Fiorentina where Felipe Melo would come to Ashburton. Melo has come out with the standard, I want to commit myself to my current contract chit-chat, but to be honest everyone says that. Apart from Ronaldo. God i'll be glad if i don't have to see his drag queen face in the premiership again. But anyway I digress. Melo is a tidy defensive midfielder with a crunching challenge, and an excellent long pass. 'Just what we need' I hear you shout. Yes but only if Arsene were that simple. From watching the Confederations cup it's easy to see why le Boss is interested in Melo, if indeed he is.
That brings me nicely to Cescy boy. He was very impressive in Spain's first game of the confederations cup bagging a goal and an assist. He was everywhere on the park (stats showed he covered the most distance by the end) and was clearly enjoying himself. He missed the second game against Iraq apparently because in training Xabi Alonso took him out again. Steady on Xabi, some may start saying that you're jealous 'cause Fabregas just walked into the Spanish squad at the age of 18, and you're still not quite a regular in the starting XI. (That said, I think Alonso is a fantastic player). In the latest game against South Africa, with Spain already qualified, Cesc once again played the whole match, but couldn't quite get into the game, coming in off the right flank. He started off trying hard to get into the game, but eventually gave up and had a lazy kind of game. It was only at the end when Pablo Hernandez came on and got moved to the right, that Cesc could move into the centre and strut his stuff. Still it's nice to see an Arsenal player playing this summer. Let's hope he's not too tired by the beginning of pre-season training.
Walcott and Gibbs have also been playing. Gibbsy has been taking many plaudits for his performances at left back, with Walcott receiving less praise. Walcott still proved his undoubted talent, when coming off the bench against Spain, he provided a superb assist to James Milner.
That's all for today. The articles will be more plentiful now, probably almost daily. I've only got one exam left and I really don't care about it.
'Til next time Gooners.
Saturday, 13 June 2009
Poll results, and general tittle-tattle.
Hi all, sorry about the lengthy absence, I've had several exams not to revise for. I have several left as well, so there may be another week long break coming up.
So the results of the poll are in, and thank you to everyone who voted. There aren't too many surprises, apart from the people who seem to want Cesc Fabregas to leave this summer... 'Who would you most like to see leave the club this summer' kicked off the poll, and we had a tie for first place. It seems 28% of you would like Mikael Silvestre to leave, and the same amount of you would like Emmanuel Adebayor to leave. There were also votes for Diaby, Fabregas (which I shall ignore), Fabianski, Arshavin (again which I will ignore), and Eboue. So it would appear a bad attitude means as much to you people as an incredible lack of ability. I personally would have voted for Silvestre, but I can understand the people who went for Adebayor. In my opinion, the Silvestre signing was just an embarrassment, and kind of said a lot about what was going to happen the coming season. He is just absolutely, incredibly bad, but I'm not going to go into it again, because I can feel my blood pressure increasing. Word is that Silvestre was about to sign for another (worse) team, when Wenger heard he was available, and brought him in. That to me sounds like a hurried and panicked transfer. Apparently we spent £750,000 on him, and rumour is he's attracting interest in the MLS (poor saps, they don't know what they're getting themselves into). I reckon we could make a slight profit there. We could fool the MLS into believing he's worth at least a million, after all they're american, what do they know about football?
Adebayor on the other hand does have talent, it is obvious, no matter how much you are starting to dislike the guy. As I stated in a previous article, Adebayor used to be the hardest working striker in the premiership when he was rubbish, but now he has the attitude of someone who thinks he's made it big. There has been some whimpering coming from his corner, stating that he thinks he has worked as hard as he could this year, and that it's not his fault people are interested in him. We all know what he does however when team's are courting him, and it hasn't been forgiven yet. It is also plain to see that he hasn't been working as hard on the pitch as he used to. Football fans aren't that hard to please, as long as they see a player chase down everything on the pitch they can, they're going to appreciate the player. As it is, Adebayor has got better, got paid more, and stopped working. Perhaps, for the sake of the work ethos of the front line in general it would be best if he left. Abou Diaby is another person I would like to see leave. He's 23 now and older than a lot of more established players in our squad. Despite this, his inconsistency is perhaps that of a 12 year old, as is his willingness to get stuck in. His lack of commitment into tackles and aerial battles does not justify Wenger including him in physical games. Nor does Diaby have any vision, or any idea when is the best time to release the ball. I think it's time Wenger raised his hands and admitted defeat. Now i've said that, Diaby is likely to have an incredible season next term. If he stays, let's hope he does.
On to 'who do you actually think is going to leave this summer?'. Run-away winner with an incredible 50% of the vote is surprise, surprise Adebayor. We've talked enough about him though, apart from to say that Milan, and Chelsea have made noises about signing him. I'm not convinced he will leave however, I think it's more likely Senderos will leave, and he occupies second place with 25%. He clearly isn't happy at being an Arsenal player any longer, and he personally believes he's more suited to the Italian game. Unfortunately Milan appear not to be making his loan permanent. Wenger will find another club for Senderos to go to though, le Boss won't want a player in the team who doesn't want to be there. There were also votes for Silvestre, Arshavin (ignoring) and Gibbs. That last one is very strange....
'Who would you least like to see leave this summer?' was the next question, and it was a hard fought battle between two players. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise these two were Cesc and Arshavin. Arshavin just edged it with 30% as opposed to Cesc's 20%. The rest were Gallas, van Persie, Walcott and somehow Adebayor. In contrast to all the people who voted for him in the above two questions, it does appear there are still some fans of him.
It seems people are undecided as to which position needs filling the most. Centre back, and defensive mid ended up equal on 37% each, with the rest of the votes going to right-back and striker. I too can't decide which one needs filling the most. Hopefully players will get bought for both positions this summer, but I'm not so sure about the defensive mid. That would mean Wenger admitting Denilson and Song aren't ready yet, and he's too stubborn for that. As much as we need a player there, Wenger may stick to his principles over logic. Right back is a strange one, recently Sport.co.uk have linked us with Maicon, although from reading that article they appear to have just made the story up. Striker I can understand if Adebayor leaves. If he doesn't, we won't get another Striker, we already have van Persie, Eduardo, Bendtner, Vela and Walcott.
So on to the final question, which was 'which realistic signing would you most like to see at the Grove?'. 36% of the vote went for Yaya Toure, 27% Gareth Barry, 18% Xabi Alonso, and 9% each of Lorik Cana, and Mamadou Sakho. I hate to say it, but I find it highly unlikely that Yaya Toure will come to Arsenal. Wenger could have had him on a free several years ago, when the younger Toure came on trial, but he did not make the grade. As we have discussed our boss has pride in abundance, and is very stubborn. If he does make on offer for Yaya, it's not going to be big enough. Wenger is not going to splash large quantities of cash for a player he could have had for nothing, it's simply not going to happen. I would love Xabi Alonso in an Arsenal shirt, but again who honestly thinks it will happen?
Since this poll was made two weeks ago, one of those targets (Gareth Barry) has decided that the size of his wallet is more important than his integrity, and as jumped ships to Man City, however there have been the appearance to two other players. It would appear Thomas Vermaelen is now all but an Arsenal player. Rumours have it that the bid has been accepted, and now they're in the stage of discussing personal terms, with Vermaelen seemingly keen on becoming an Arsenal plaer. However, they seem to be taking a lot of time in this stage. If it were me in advanced contract talks with Arsenal, I would shout 'I don't care, they can pay me with flat pack Ikea furniture, just make me an Arsenal player!'. Evidently, it doesn't work that way for Vermaelen, but let's just hope it happens quickly, we don't want to have another Nasri saga on our hands. Another player who has been linked to us a lot recently is Luc Castaignos for either £4million of 4 million Euros depending on what source you believe. I don't know if any of you have ever seen him play, but he is dynamite. A striker who reminds me a lot of van Persie, except, quicker, and more clinical. This guy is going to be absolutely massive, and 4 million of whatever currency is great value, but it is understandable if Wenger just wants to see what's available to him for the first team, before spending on a 16 year old. Interestingly, in all the articles I've read (an example of which is this one) no one has actually said Arsenal have made an offer for the young dutchman, just that his agent has said he would be 'open to a switch to Arsenal'. I think there are a lot of players who would be. I'm sure Giuseppe Sole of Woking FC would be open to a switch to Arsenal, doesn't mean it's going to happen.
Lastly, Mamadou Sakho's Mr 20% has been chatting to the press. He says his client his highly likely to leave Paris St-Germain this year with Arsenal the likely destination. That's great, as 9% of the voters show. However if we read on, his agent states that:
'Arsenal are interested, but the club are too cheap at the moment....Arsenal are a good club, but Manchester United is a better club.'
Oh great. Let's hope that's just the opinion of the agent, not the player. The thing about Manchester being a better a club that is. Not the thing about us being cheap. Everyone knows we are cheap.
Well that's all for now. Must get back to not revising.
Have a good weekend Gooners.
So the results of the poll are in, and thank you to everyone who voted. There aren't too many surprises, apart from the people who seem to want Cesc Fabregas to leave this summer... 'Who would you most like to see leave the club this summer' kicked off the poll, and we had a tie for first place. It seems 28% of you would like Mikael Silvestre to leave, and the same amount of you would like Emmanuel Adebayor to leave. There were also votes for Diaby, Fabregas (which I shall ignore), Fabianski, Arshavin (again which I will ignore), and Eboue. So it would appear a bad attitude means as much to you people as an incredible lack of ability. I personally would have voted for Silvestre, but I can understand the people who went for Adebayor. In my opinion, the Silvestre signing was just an embarrassment, and kind of said a lot about what was going to happen the coming season. He is just absolutely, incredibly bad, but I'm not going to go into it again, because I can feel my blood pressure increasing. Word is that Silvestre was about to sign for another (worse) team, when Wenger heard he was available, and brought him in. That to me sounds like a hurried and panicked transfer. Apparently we spent £750,000 on him, and rumour is he's attracting interest in the MLS (poor saps, they don't know what they're getting themselves into). I reckon we could make a slight profit there. We could fool the MLS into believing he's worth at least a million, after all they're american, what do they know about football?
Adebayor on the other hand does have talent, it is obvious, no matter how much you are starting to dislike the guy. As I stated in a previous article, Adebayor used to be the hardest working striker in the premiership when he was rubbish, but now he has the attitude of someone who thinks he's made it big. There has been some whimpering coming from his corner, stating that he thinks he has worked as hard as he could this year, and that it's not his fault people are interested in him. We all know what he does however when team's are courting him, and it hasn't been forgiven yet. It is also plain to see that he hasn't been working as hard on the pitch as he used to. Football fans aren't that hard to please, as long as they see a player chase down everything on the pitch they can, they're going to appreciate the player. As it is, Adebayor has got better, got paid more, and stopped working. Perhaps, for the sake of the work ethos of the front line in general it would be best if he left. Abou Diaby is another person I would like to see leave. He's 23 now and older than a lot of more established players in our squad. Despite this, his inconsistency is perhaps that of a 12 year old, as is his willingness to get stuck in. His lack of commitment into tackles and aerial battles does not justify Wenger including him in physical games. Nor does Diaby have any vision, or any idea when is the best time to release the ball. I think it's time Wenger raised his hands and admitted defeat. Now i've said that, Diaby is likely to have an incredible season next term. If he stays, let's hope he does.
On to 'who do you actually think is going to leave this summer?'. Run-away winner with an incredible 50% of the vote is surprise, surprise Adebayor. We've talked enough about him though, apart from to say that Milan, and Chelsea have made noises about signing him. I'm not convinced he will leave however, I think it's more likely Senderos will leave, and he occupies second place with 25%. He clearly isn't happy at being an Arsenal player any longer, and he personally believes he's more suited to the Italian game. Unfortunately Milan appear not to be making his loan permanent. Wenger will find another club for Senderos to go to though, le Boss won't want a player in the team who doesn't want to be there. There were also votes for Silvestre, Arshavin (ignoring) and Gibbs. That last one is very strange....
'Who would you least like to see leave this summer?' was the next question, and it was a hard fought battle between two players. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise these two were Cesc and Arshavin. Arshavin just edged it with 30% as opposed to Cesc's 20%. The rest were Gallas, van Persie, Walcott and somehow Adebayor. In contrast to all the people who voted for him in the above two questions, it does appear there are still some fans of him.
It seems people are undecided as to which position needs filling the most. Centre back, and defensive mid ended up equal on 37% each, with the rest of the votes going to right-back and striker. I too can't decide which one needs filling the most. Hopefully players will get bought for both positions this summer, but I'm not so sure about the defensive mid. That would mean Wenger admitting Denilson and Song aren't ready yet, and he's too stubborn for that. As much as we need a player there, Wenger may stick to his principles over logic. Right back is a strange one, recently Sport.co.uk have linked us with Maicon, although from reading that article they appear to have just made the story up. Striker I can understand if Adebayor leaves. If he doesn't, we won't get another Striker, we already have van Persie, Eduardo, Bendtner, Vela and Walcott.
So on to the final question, which was 'which realistic signing would you most like to see at the Grove?'. 36% of the vote went for Yaya Toure, 27% Gareth Barry, 18% Xabi Alonso, and 9% each of Lorik Cana, and Mamadou Sakho. I hate to say it, but I find it highly unlikely that Yaya Toure will come to Arsenal. Wenger could have had him on a free several years ago, when the younger Toure came on trial, but he did not make the grade. As we have discussed our boss has pride in abundance, and is very stubborn. If he does make on offer for Yaya, it's not going to be big enough. Wenger is not going to splash large quantities of cash for a player he could have had for nothing, it's simply not going to happen. I would love Xabi Alonso in an Arsenal shirt, but again who honestly thinks it will happen?
Since this poll was made two weeks ago, one of those targets (Gareth Barry) has decided that the size of his wallet is more important than his integrity, and as jumped ships to Man City, however there have been the appearance to two other players. It would appear Thomas Vermaelen is now all but an Arsenal player. Rumours have it that the bid has been accepted, and now they're in the stage of discussing personal terms, with Vermaelen seemingly keen on becoming an Arsenal plaer. However, they seem to be taking a lot of time in this stage. If it were me in advanced contract talks with Arsenal, I would shout 'I don't care, they can pay me with flat pack Ikea furniture, just make me an Arsenal player!'. Evidently, it doesn't work that way for Vermaelen, but let's just hope it happens quickly, we don't want to have another Nasri saga on our hands. Another player who has been linked to us a lot recently is Luc Castaignos for either £4million of 4 million Euros depending on what source you believe. I don't know if any of you have ever seen him play, but he is dynamite. A striker who reminds me a lot of van Persie, except, quicker, and more clinical. This guy is going to be absolutely massive, and 4 million of whatever currency is great value, but it is understandable if Wenger just wants to see what's available to him for the first team, before spending on a 16 year old. Interestingly, in all the articles I've read (an example of which is this one) no one has actually said Arsenal have made an offer for the young dutchman, just that his agent has said he would be 'open to a switch to Arsenal'. I think there are a lot of players who would be. I'm sure Giuseppe Sole of Woking FC would be open to a switch to Arsenal, doesn't mean it's going to happen.
Lastly, Mamadou Sakho's Mr 20% has been chatting to the press. He says his client his highly likely to leave Paris St-Germain this year with Arsenal the likely destination. That's great, as 9% of the voters show. However if we read on, his agent states that:
'Arsenal are interested, but the club are too cheap at the moment....Arsenal are a good club, but Manchester United is a better club.'
Oh great. Let's hope that's just the opinion of the agent, not the player. The thing about Manchester being a better a club that is. Not the thing about us being cheap. Everyone knows we are cheap.
Well that's all for now. Must get back to not revising.
Have a good weekend Gooners.
Thursday, 4 June 2009
Arsenal transfer rumours kick into gear.
Yes I know there has been a lot of stuff about Adebayor, but I'm talking about interesting rumours. And rumours that concern incoming players. Stories circling about Thomas Vermaelen have been gathering pace, quite so that they're now an unmistakable whirlwind which culminated in Wenger almost tying up a £10million deal for the Belgian last night. The article in question where this story presents itself does not state why the deal wasn't finalised or if there were any stumbling blocks, or whether the bid itself was in fact accepted. Actually the whole article is devoid of anything worthy of actual journalism. There is however our old favourite friend who we affectionately like to name 'the insider' giving his 5-daily quote:
"It's true. He's a very good player and could certainly be a success at Arsenal."
I don't know what made this insider say it's true he's a very good player. Presumably someone from the Sun asked 'Is this guy a good player?' followed by 'considering Arsenal's frailties in defence, and the fact this guy is a defender, could he be a success at Arsenal?'. Plus what makes the insider an expert? If this guy says Vermaelen could be a success at Arsenal, then christ we better get him quick because he must know all there is to know about Arsenal, he is after all an Ajax insider. Anyway that seems to be all the information the Sun need that Arsene almost tied up Vermaelen, because they certainly don't give any other evidence. Saying that, I do think Vermaelen is a good player, and I do think he'll do well at Arsenal. He must be doing something right to be the captain of Ajax at 23.
In a transfer rumour that has no where near the velocity of the Vermaelen whirlwind (this is more of a zephyr), the Times reckon we want Chiellini. Well who doesn't? Doesn't mean we are going to get him though. We'll presumably be priced out. Sky sports 'believe' (have made up based on transfer rumours from a year ago that were only rumours in the first place) that Arsenal, Aston Villa and Everton are all interested in Oba Martins after Newcastle were unceremoniously dumped from the premier league. Sky sports state that Martins' agent has said that three clubs in the upper echelon of the premier league are after his client. To be fair to sky sports it seems possible that these three clubs may indeed be the three clubs they believe, but then again their article inexplicably changes to italics half way through, and remains like that for the rest of the piece.
Well that's it for the incoming rumours. Perhaps I was a bit mis-leading with 'kicking into gear'. In outgoing news, Eboue admits he is unclear in what his stance is at Arsenal. It's usually on the floor Emmanuel, after an opposition player has come within a metre of you. Apparently Inter are keen on our Ivorian cult hero. Eboue goes on to say he will make his decision before the season starts.
The Sun can apparently see the future. As well as their gift of somehow finding the notorious Insider the eludes every newspaper except for them and the Daily Star, they seem to somehow know that AC Milan will bid for Adebayor this week. Do you how I know they can see the future? Because they haven't given any quotes from anyone, or any evidence in general, that someone told them about this. Therefore they must have looked into their crystal orb and saw that Milan made an offer. Unfortunately they didn't go on to tell us whether it was accepted or declined. That would have saved us a whole lot of bother. Or perhaps the Sun actually subliminally control Milan, and line "AC MILAN will make a bid of £15million for Emmanuel Adebayor this week" was actually an order. Wouldn't that be interesting? Still though, £15 million. Would prefer something around the £20m mark.
In other news Hleb is a target for Aston Villa. Whether Hleb can handle the hustle and bustle of England's second city after arriving from the spanish equivalent remains to be seen. The star reckons Barca will sell Hleb for £7mill less than they bought him for last year to raise some cash for Cesc. Go away Barca, stop bullying us. I don't think Cesc will go to Barca just yet. He knows that if there is one midfield he can't get into yet in the world it is Barca's. However Xavi is flirting with 30. In a couple of years time these Cesc rumours will turn into a worrying reality. Real Madrid appear to be gently nudging us away from Xabi Alonso, as they flex their financial muscles. As a result Liverpool are upping their valuation of the player. That pretty much rules us out for now.
Right, i reckon that's it for now. I'll be back should anything interesting happen. Which it won't.
'Til then Gooners.
"It's true. He's a very good player and could certainly be a success at Arsenal."
I don't know what made this insider say it's true he's a very good player. Presumably someone from the Sun asked 'Is this guy a good player?' followed by 'considering Arsenal's frailties in defence, and the fact this guy is a defender, could he be a success at Arsenal?'. Plus what makes the insider an expert? If this guy says Vermaelen could be a success at Arsenal, then christ we better get him quick because he must know all there is to know about Arsenal, he is after all an Ajax insider. Anyway that seems to be all the information the Sun need that Arsene almost tied up Vermaelen, because they certainly don't give any other evidence. Saying that, I do think Vermaelen is a good player, and I do think he'll do well at Arsenal. He must be doing something right to be the captain of Ajax at 23.
In a transfer rumour that has no where near the velocity of the Vermaelen whirlwind (this is more of a zephyr), the Times reckon we want Chiellini. Well who doesn't? Doesn't mean we are going to get him though. We'll presumably be priced out. Sky sports 'believe' (have made up based on transfer rumours from a year ago that were only rumours in the first place) that Arsenal, Aston Villa and Everton are all interested in Oba Martins after Newcastle were unceremoniously dumped from the premier league. Sky sports state that Martins' agent has said that three clubs in the upper echelon of the premier league are after his client. To be fair to sky sports it seems possible that these three clubs may indeed be the three clubs they believe, but then again their article inexplicably changes to italics half way through, and remains like that for the rest of the piece.
Well that's it for the incoming rumours. Perhaps I was a bit mis-leading with 'kicking into gear'. In outgoing news, Eboue admits he is unclear in what his stance is at Arsenal. It's usually on the floor Emmanuel, after an opposition player has come within a metre of you. Apparently Inter are keen on our Ivorian cult hero. Eboue goes on to say he will make his decision before the season starts.
The Sun can apparently see the future. As well as their gift of somehow finding the notorious Insider the eludes every newspaper except for them and the Daily Star, they seem to somehow know that AC Milan will bid for Adebayor this week. Do you how I know they can see the future? Because they haven't given any quotes from anyone, or any evidence in general, that someone told them about this. Therefore they must have looked into their crystal orb and saw that Milan made an offer. Unfortunately they didn't go on to tell us whether it was accepted or declined. That would have saved us a whole lot of bother. Or perhaps the Sun actually subliminally control Milan, and line "AC MILAN will make a bid of £15million for Emmanuel Adebayor this week" was actually an order. Wouldn't that be interesting? Still though, £15 million. Would prefer something around the £20m mark.
In other news Hleb is a target for Aston Villa. Whether Hleb can handle the hustle and bustle of England's second city after arriving from the spanish equivalent remains to be seen. The star reckons Barca will sell Hleb for £7mill less than they bought him for last year to raise some cash for Cesc. Go away Barca, stop bullying us. I don't think Cesc will go to Barca just yet. He knows that if there is one midfield he can't get into yet in the world it is Barca's. However Xavi is flirting with 30. In a couple of years time these Cesc rumours will turn into a worrying reality. Real Madrid appear to be gently nudging us away from Xabi Alonso, as they flex their financial muscles. As a result Liverpool are upping their valuation of the player. That pretty much rules us out for now.
Right, i reckon that's it for now. I'll be back should anything interesting happen. Which it won't.
'Til then Gooners.
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Johnny Quest thinks Gareth Barry is a sellout.
And he is. Last summer, Gareth Barry: "The time has come for me to move on with my career, I need champions league football." Fair enough, looks he's heading to Liverpool. This summer, Gareth Barry: "The time has come for me to move on with my career, I need champions league football." Fair enough, Liverpool don't care anymore, maybe he'll come to Arsenal. This summer: Gareth Barry signs for Man City. You greedy sellout. Word around the campfire was that Barry, no longer wanted by Liverpool, was desperately wanting a switch to the only team in North London. Clearly Barry wasn't really that fussed about champions league football. Barry just wanted lots more money. Apparently he's getting £60,000 a week more than he did at Villa, just to go to a team full of other sellouts who don't really care about their club, just about being paid. I'm glad Arsenal didn't manage to sign a sellout like that, even if it was £6million less than Villa were asking for last year.
Oh well. In other news Arsenal have been linked to Blaise Matuidi. Again. Boring. And the times have a supplement on how football transfers are meant to work, as opposed to how they actually work. More interestingly there is a section about net transfer spend of premiership teams over the last 5 years. Yep Arsenal are the only team to have a made a profit overall. £4.79million in fact. Considering that, it's remarkable we finished 4th, and made it to 2 semi finals of major competitions. Obviously there is an argument that we could spend more money and win trophies, but there is still substantial doubt over how much money AW actually has.
Right that's it for today. There is sweet f*** all happening at the moment. I'll be back when I can no longer hear the grasshoppers churping outside.
'Til then Gooners
Oh well. In other news Arsenal have been linked to Blaise Matuidi. Again. Boring. And the times have a supplement on how football transfers are meant to work, as opposed to how they actually work. More interestingly there is a section about net transfer spend of premiership teams over the last 5 years. Yep Arsenal are the only team to have a made a profit overall. £4.79million in fact. Considering that, it's remarkable we finished 4th, and made it to 2 semi finals of major competitions. Obviously there is an argument that we could spend more money and win trophies, but there is still substantial doubt over how much money AW actually has.
Right that's it for today. There is sweet f*** all happening at the moment. I'll be back when I can no longer hear the grasshoppers churping outside.
'Til then Gooners
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