Buy Some ……… Players

July 11, 2011

Written by Loh

Finally, after days of reading various rumours and tabloid stories on Arsenal’s potential transfer targets and the continuous never-ending Cesc and Nasri sagas, we at last, get to hear from Wenger himself on what is exactly happening and to be bluntly honest, it doesn’t sound too promising….

Well the good thing is Wenger has confirmed that he will be fighting hard to keep both Cesc and Nasri. How successful he is remains to be seen.

In the case of Nasri, if what he says is true, and his main motivation is to win honours, then I struggle to see how Wenger can convince him to stay especially with what he had said now on his planned transfer activities (which I’ll talk more later). If Nasri wants money, if rumour is again to be believed, we are offering him up to £110,000 per week now which is probably what he can earn elsewhere. Only difference is he is probably thinking he can earn as much elsewhere, but has a better chance of winning honours and hence, potentially further inflate his wage demand the next time he negotiates a new deal (assuming he will be a key player in his new team)! So the only chance I see of Wenger convincing him to stay will be down to 1 word:- LOYALTY! And sadly, loyalty is a rare virtue in modern football.

As for Fabregas, based on the current situation, I see him as the more likely one of the two to be in an Arsenal jersey come next season mainly because of his long term contract. All indications show that he will not want to tarnish his reputation and relationship with the fans and he will probably not publicly force a move to Barcelona (unlike Dani Alves who I now rank jointly top of my hate list with Evra). However, how the long running soap opera will affect the performance of our captain again remains to be seen. We all know his heart is probably by now, firmly set on returning to Barca although I really can’t see why he wants to move so quickly considering he will more likely than not, end up behind Xavi and Iniesta on the midfield pecking order. So perhaps Wenger can use this again as a reason to convince Cesc to perhaps give Arsenal 1 more year (again).

As I said at the beginning, how successful Wenger will be in trying to convince his 2 star players to stay remains to be seen. And I do agree with the pundits and fellow fans that a statement of intent will need to be made to prove to these players that we mean business! And what better way to do this then to really strengthen the squad and bring in some big name signings. Now unless the Board is telling us a whole load of bull c**p and Wenger is happily playing along with it,  there is money available. However, we are not seeing anyone walking in through the door!

We are led to believe that the Gervinho deal is very very close to finalisation but due to the Alvarez case, I will only believe it when it’s officially announced. Wenger’s statement doesn’t seems to sound too convincing either saying he doesn’t want to give too much details as it usually complicates the deal – a somewhat contradictory statement.

What really annoys me however is the fact that Wenger says that he is now only looking at 1 or 2 more signings!! Counting Gervinho, this means we would have signed only 2 or 3 “big name” players (assuming the next 1 or 2 signings are indeed big names). This again contradicts with the statement he made earlier where he said he will be “extremely active” in the transfer market. Is his earlier statement then misunderstood and being “extremely busy” means all we are doing is identifying players but not tabling a bid to actually get the player in?

Anyway, how is the signing of 1 or 2 more players going to help in trying to convince Cesc and Nasri to stay? All of us know that we are probably 3 players short as of last season to give us a chance of challenging for honours. With Clichy gone, to me, that makes at least 4 as I am really not convinced that Gibbs is even remotely ready to be our first choice leftback. Many agree that he should be given a loan stint first to get more experience before he is deemed ready. But Wenger seems to see Gibbs as ready and is now unlikely to go for a replacement which means the £7 million we get will probably end up as profits on the balance sheet and not reinvested! This to me is a major risk that Wenger is taking but he may see something  in Gibbs that I don’t.

Back to the issue of “1 or 2 signings”, we know we seriously need a new centreback so that’s probably 1 of the signings Wenger is referring to. Question now is who? The Cahill story seems to be getting a little stale now with Coyle stating that no bids have been received (how the tabloids is getting info on us offering Lansbury, Vela or Bendtner as part of the deal and how close are we in geting Cahill to me is a mystery unless you can buy a player without putting in a bid or you can do it without the team’s manager knowing it). There’s really not much news at all on the Samba end apart from Blackburn bidding for a new defender. Dann seems to be heading to Stoke now so who are we expecting to see in an Arsenal shirt? Hopefully it’s not another unknown French player as that really doesn’t make any statement of intent at all!

So, excluding a CB that we definitely need (assuming Wenger also sees things our way, which he has a tendency not to), is our other “possible” signing someone that we have been linked to? A player like Mata or Vidal or Benzema or perhaps it’s just Oxlade Chambelain? The first 3 names will probably makes us happier rather than the signing of yet again another untested youngster but knowing Wenger, a youngster might well be the favourite here!

But is 2 new signings really enough? Wenger had said 1 or 2, so we might even end up with 1! In my opinion, it’s NOT enough. Where is the DM that we so crave? Where is another proven striker that will complement or cover for RVP? And I haven’t even mentioned the need to find some quality squad players to replace those that are definitely not performing although our inability to offload these players now is fast becoming a major stumbling block.

How is Wenger going to convince Cesc and Nasri even if he said he is going to fight hard to keep them with a plan that sounds something like “we are buying players to strengthen but the core of the team will still be the same as management has complete faith in the existing team to finally wake up and deliver when it matters!”

I am sorry Mr. Wenger, if this is your transfer plan and your plan to keep your 2 big players, I am afraid you are going into a nuclear war with just your bare fists and a broken sword.

I have been trying very hard to be positive. I have been telling myself that things will change and Wenger knows what he is doing. I have been hoping that behind all these rumours, Wenger and Ivan are doing something preparing for some major surprises for us and one fine day, I’ll get to read the announcement that we have signed some top top quality players.

However, when I read Wenger’s statement, I just couldn’t help but to write this long post to  express my frustration and air my opinion.

Lastly, in Wenger, I probably still place my trust (after all he has led us to glory), but please Mr. Wenger, heed the advice of us fans. You might be great, you may have revolutionalised English football when you first arrived and you have unearthed many rough diamonds and turned them into precious stones, but the world is changing.

Things are not the same now. Many teams are cherry picking our young talents and it’s no longer so easy to find rough diamonds … So please BUY SOME F***ING PLAYERS!! And I do mean big name players!!!

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenals’ attraction to genuine World Stars?

July 10, 2011

Written by Harry

Last week that fine gent and upstanding journo, Martin Samuel, claimed that Arsenal can no longer attract genuine world stars, is this right?

For a start lets be honest have we actually ever signed someone at the top of their game?

Bergkamp was a truly world class player, but when we signed him, he was in a massive dip, the top teams at the time AC Milan, Madrid just were not interested……..

Vieira was unheard of in the reserves at AC Milan, Henry similar to Bergkamp hadn’t quite made it in Italy leaving the Old Lady in Turin without making his mark (needs to give Rooney lessons there).

The best ever……..

Overmar’s was a massive risk with his knees, no one else wanted to take the risk. Reyes was still very raw, as was Van Persie and Nasri. Rosicky was grabbed before he made his name at the world cup in 2006……..Unfortunately injury has stalled his career……..

Fabregas was taken under the cover of night from the Barca Creche, sneaked out in a laundry trolley…..which has been wheeled in and out again twice this summer with Bellerin and Toral-Harper been snaffled away………

So who and what is a genuine world star?

Messi, Ronaldo (Both), Buffon, Del Piero, Rivaldo, Maldini, Carlos and Zizou all of these are or were world stars, could we have ever signed one of these? Maybe if they were in the youth sides of their teams, but not at their peaks.  Realistically there are not that many world stars that move to clubs of our standing (got be honest with ourselves), they move between the big powers in Europe, the Milans, Juve, Barca and Madrid.  Now we have the wannabees who have muscled in with their oil enriched wallets, money talks and ours generally just whispers at best….

In  the late 80’s and into the 90’s it was Serie A, that had the money and no one really could compete,  Ruud Gullit, Van Basten, Cafu, Baresi, all went where the money and weather was better…….

Even as the Premier league gained power, not many world stars at their peak came until the real money was thrown in the ring by Roman, but even then, still the world stars were seen going to the galacticos of Madrid, Barca but not the premiership household names…..

Even Man United and Liverpool haven’t signed that many world stars at their peak, have they? Veron at 26million, Berbatov at 30million, the price doesn’t make them world class stars………Rooney was snatched at 16 from Everton.  Liverpool snared Torres from Athletico Madrid, but at the time he wasn’t truly world class, he still had a bit to go………Ok they have spent more money than us on players, but when have we been in awe of their signings?

If United get Sneijder I would for once be jealous, he is a world class player…….Liverpool have spent 20million on Henderson…………say no more on that one…..

Samuel was in essence just trying to make headlines and as usual by the press, having a dig at Arsenal and Wenger, success breads contempt and people are swayed by the human trait of envy, which sees them seeking to bring people down.  We do it so successfully in this country, build people up and then enjoy knocking them down, the “sandcastle affect”, what was more fun building it or knocking it down?

So I personally don’t expect any real marquee signing any time soon, Juan Mata would a big signing, Benzema would a massive signing, are either genuine world stars, not sure, Karim is close to be but has struggled at the Bernabeu, similar to Bergkamp or Henry , but I don’t expect them anyway……

Karim, in? Unlikely……..

Anyhow back to the here and now as the lads board the plane today to Asia, minus Bendtner and Almunia who are in talks with unnamed clubs. There was a shock boarder after his end of season outburst, with Denilson sneaking on through the luggage conveyor.  Nasri is on board so Wenger has a week to talk with him away from the UK, hopefully his team mates will convince him to stay,  but Cesc was left behind whilst he is having his hamstrings fine tuned……..

Gervinho, missed the plane due to visa issues with his signing, but will eventually find his pen and sign, protracted and annoyingly too public, lets keep things under wraps better, until signed. Let the press fabricate the dross…that leads to, too much line dancing and knee jerking………

So who else will come in?

After Wenger finally spoke on Friday, don’t expect too many more, I expect maybe a centre back and then another if we are lucky. There is a lot of youth getting promoted this season I feel……Gibbs will be the No 1 LB, Lansbury, Bartley, Miquel and Frimpong  amongst others, expect to see a lot more of them in the Emirates Cup…..That’s where our answers will come from……..

Cahill, one of just a few coming in?

If at least Nasri stays, then Gervinho,  one of Cahill or Samba (or maybe another CB) and perhaps a midfielder will be it, we weren’t that far away, so I don’t think we need that much, nor does Wenger…….

If we do lose Nasri and Fabregas, then we would need one big signing, perhaps that might be a world star, unlikely though, that’s not and has never been our style.

Wenger has a big big big summer, I for one will wait and see what unfolds, allow for a settling period for the team and then at December, see just where we are at……

Quietly optimistic, realistically restrained, but a Gooner to the core forever……

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Football and Fleet Street’s Finest.

July 9, 2011

Written by dandan

I did a run round of the blogs on Friday and was dismayed to see the amount of poison being directed at Samir Nasri.

Now I have no brief for Nasri in particular, other than he can play a bit and is still an Arsenal player. To read the blogs you would think he was public enemy number one.

It’s not enough that Cesc is considered such a certainty to leave that even reasoned posters on here have sunk to calling him names, that his service to the club man and boy, do not deserve. We are also getting stuck into Samir, when to the best of my knowledge, neither he nor the club have said anything publicly.

Sure his agent has mumbled some stuff and the  media has published all kind of nonsense about his and the clubs supposed intentions. But if you want to know what that is worth, just take a look at the News Of  The World’s predicament today. No doubt some concrete facts will emerge by the time AW does his press conference for the Asian tour. Surely we can at least wait for the outcome of that before starting to slag our own people off?

As far as the NOTW is concerned, how many football fans are shocked by their actions? The fact that they have employed a sleazebag of a private eye to invade people’s privacy, looking for salacious tittle-tattle should come as no surprise to football folk, the only difference of course, is that we are introduced to them as knowledgeable and well-informed pundits.

Fake Sheiks, fake rumours, fake news and fake scoops are meat and drink to this the most scurrilous of all the Red Tops and to see its death throes, is the best off-season treat most fans have had in many a year.

The list of players according to these jokers, who are joining, leaving, staying, shunning or rubbishing us is endless. Our players, staff, management and board are subjected to constant abuse, based on nothing but the whims of the aforementioned media hacks. In this way I suspect enough misinformation is generated each week, to fill another volume of the encyclopaedia of football crap and nonsense.

We are told we are a club in crisis, how then I wonder would you describe the state the press  finds itself  in, as they wait for the kind of checks and balances to be imposed upon them, that have been a patent necessity for years?

When we supporters see this rubbish written daily about the club we love, why do we give it credence by reacting to it, can’t we just take a step back and refrain from joining in the melee, until we know probably through the club site that its true?

Finally I came across this quote, for those who think losing is the end of the world.

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.

Michael Jordan

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Posted by dandan

Why Arsène won’t replace Clichy – The disassembly of the clique

July 8, 2011

Written by Wigan Gooner

Arsène won’t replace Gael Clichy. He believes he has a ready-made replacement in Gibbs. Similar to the transfer of Cashley in 2006, Arsène thinks he has a player-in-waiting.

I like Kieran Gibbs. I like his desire to get forward and his determination. He’s got more obvious drive than Clichy who I always felt was very laid back, so laid back he was horizontal at times and I feel that is where his complacency has stemmed from and why his performances have dropped over the last 3 years.

I’m delighted that we have sold Clichy to be honest, he didn’t want to re-sign for us and every penny we get now is better than nothing in 12 months time. Frankly, I don’t want 12 more months of Clichy’s abject performances.

Don’t mistake my happiness at seeing Clichy leave for anything other than frustration at his poor performances last season. For a quick defender with 8 years of top flight experience he spends a lot of time being tricked and then eventually falling over.

I like the guy, but its time he left. We have 3 different options at the club already in Gibbs, Botelho and Traore and I think Arsène will look at them in pre-season before making a decision on signing a replacement.

One of the big question marks over last season was the mental state of the squad. Over the course of the season we became victims instead of heroes, also-rans instead of winners. After promising so much the team delivered so little and had no excuses for it other than “there was something missing” – a quote from Alex Song.

Too many times last season we saw a little shrug here and a shake of the head there when things were going wrong. Our top-class defenders were making bad mistakes, infuriatingly so at times.

It’s the meek, victim mentality of “it’s not my fault!!” instead of “let’s sort this cr#* out and get back on the front foot against these guys”.  Our defence was too submissive and too quiet when needing help.

In the players at Arsenal I see similar traits between them. The silent strop that does not achieve anything except make the player himself lose focus, an inability to pull their socks up and regain initiative.

I think Arsène has seen the emergence of Jack, of Rambo and of Gibbs and he’s forming a new clique, a British one. A clique with fight and passion. A clique full of guys wanting to prove themselves because on the International Stage they’ve won nothing and they’re judged by the International Football community on their medals and trophies. Using their supposed lack of technical ability to drive them on and prove it’s right to have faith in the British players.

Arsène is right, but is he already a year too late with the likes of Young, Jones, Smalling already at Manchester United, has he missed the drag-curve on the best British talent?

Which begs the question, in a football context “Has Britain Really Got Talent”?

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Arsenal’s Crisis is Arsène’s Opportunity?

July 7, 2011

Written by Double98

Arsène Wenger has so far built 3 distinct teams.

The first team 96-00 was built on the rubble left by George Graham. At the time he got great credit for rehabilitating and actually improving the side but then revisionists like Myles Palmer started to justify their own agendas by questioning his achievement declaring it to be a George Graham Built Side that won the double in ‘98. It wasn’t – Graham and Rioch had left a team of mentally weak, drunks and drug addicts who were running on empty – Wenger transformed them in to confident, arrogant top class modern players. That team was broken up over the raids on our club by the Spanish giants and Wenger set about replacing the older defenders and filling the holes caused by the departures.

The second team 00-05 was built on the same blueprint but had a superstar spine with Campbell, Vieira and Henry. Wenger built a squad of players to suit Henry (on and off the pitch), youngish, french(ish) and easy going- but Henry started doing tv ads and hanging out with Roger Federer and Tiger Woods and again the Spanish Giants came in and destabilized and broke up the team so Wenger went about building his third team.

Both the first two teams were built on attacking Pace and Power – there was no great defensive system just a collection of natural defenders who knew how to beat their man. Wenger doesn’t teach defensive systems. He teaches technique.

The next team was to be built on Possession and Craft, the defensive philosophy is the same, however the caliber of natural defender is not the same. This is a hard skill to spot – you have to somehow remove the defender from the defensive unit and imagine how he’d react with out a script.

The 05-11 iteration is a team built around perhaps our most naturally talented player ever, Cesc Fabregas but has never fully delivered. Oh how the Manager has indulged Fabregas and his friends (Hleb, Flamini, Nasri etc) in an attempt to unleash their potential. He has mostly shunned older, experienced players in the transfer window, so that Fabregas can always be the Alpha Male in his pack.  Now Cesc and his crew believe that they are somehow not in the slightest bit responsible for themselves not winning medals. Cesc even said that to go to Barca is to win things… If I was Guardiola I would think twice about bringing that complacency to the club.

Wenger’s mistake was to treat Fabregas the same way as he had treated Henry. Henry was older and had done his time. His on field entourage (Pires, Lauren, Edu, Vieira) was older and had already been in the trenches. Bergkamp even lent himself to creating the “Henry” legend. Henry was also a more precious personality type who needed the “love”. Fabregas started out a much tougher character and the “love” has weakened him – Spoiled him. Look at the Cesc Fabregas Show on Sky a couple of years back – who does that? Who allows them?

Suddenly the Invincibles were gone and Fabregas is surrounded by his contemporaries in a youth team that relies on natural ability and a need to retain possession almost to the point that it borders on being an anal retentive fear of shooting.

Sure Wenger has his share of the blame. But in fairness to him, he was trying to compete in a world where he was building a new stadium in an economic collapse and the economy proof Spanish Giants were suddenly joined by newly rich Chelsea and “willing to take on huge debt” Manchester United who could buy players at any cost and forced Wenger into a different player recruitment strategy, The good news is I don’t think that Real, Barca, Man U, Man City or Chelsea care anymore about who we buy as they know they can let us take the risk and then buy the diamonds from us after we have sorted and polished them.

We need Wenger to analyze the current team in this light and build his last great team, to restore his legacy at least. He owes us this and as supporters, we owe him that. He can do it quickly, as can be seen by his rapid building for teams 1 and 2. Maybe we are better off without Fabregas or perhaps in an ideal world, Fabregas becomes the king maker (ala Bergkamp) rather than the king – If he stays, great but if he goes thats great too.

Arsenal’s crisis is Arsène’s opportunity. He has delivered great teams when faced with crisis before, he reacts better than he proacts. And this summer is a crisis in the full meaning of the word, but what a great opportunity to reinvent the team and restore Arsene’s Legacy.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Softly Softly Catchee Monkey: Wenger Secretly Moving for Bale?

July 6, 2011

Something is going on at Arsenal.

Behind the scenes there is plotting and planning on a scale that has not been seen at the club for over a decade.

Of course I have no proof of this: it’s pure speculation just like 99.9% of what you read in the newspapers and in the Arsenal blogosphere (all sound and fury signifying nothing, to quote old Bill Shakespeare).

But call it a feeling in my water, a tingle from the old war wound, the way the tea leaves are lying at the bottom of my cup: to my mind there’s no doubt – Arsene is up to something.

I really think he is going to pull a transfer rabbit out of the hat – something to surprise and delight the Arsenal faithful and to stick two metaphorical fingers up at his critics.

What could it be?

A secret move for the N17 MonkeyMan himself? He would be an ideal replacement for either Clichy or Nasri. It would be the greatest coup since we landed Big Sol.

Or a marquee signing like Ibrahimovic or Falcao? I know the conventional wisdom is that we don’t ‘do’ marquee signings, but I wouldn’t rule it out this summer.

Maybe it could be a big triple announcement of quality players like Gervinho, Cahill and Mata.

Whatever it is, something’s brewing and I am eager to see it.

So far all the press coverage has been about some of our young, overpaid players who, having failed to deliver when the chips were down, now want to move away for money, glory, or both.

Brats leaving a sinking ship?

Not really, because the good ship Arsenal is a tough old bird and she has weathered bigger storms than this. She will still be afloat long after those players’ careers have sunk into obscurity.

But the concerted media onslaught to incorrectly suggest that we are a club in crisis and facing an exodus takes a hard toll on us supporters, who so far have had a rough summer.

First we got a glimpse of the new away kit. When I saw that strange pattern and colour I thought it was a pigment of my imagination. But no. It really was our away strip.

Then there was the re-ignition of the Cesc-to-Barcelona saga, with all its tedious, morale-sapping predictability.

Then Samir Nasri got kidnapped by that odious scumbucket Patrice Evra on the Riviera (if you don’t believe me, just consider that an anagram of Evra’s name is “Rare Captive”, which is exactly what he had in Sami). Evra proceeded to pour poison in his ear and suggest he should leave Arsenal if he wanted to win things.

Then we had to look on as other clubs (Liverpool, Man United and Man City) appeared to be acting fast and decisively in the transfer window.

Meanwhile at Arsenal… nothing.

I can understand fans’ frustration with the radio silence coming out of our club, but we ought to have more faith. Arsene Wenger has repeatedly said he will be active in the market this summer and I believe he will be. He has known for a very long time that Clichy was leaving – do you really think he has not planned a replacement?

He clearly wants Nasri to stay – but not at any cost. If Samir leaves I would be disappointed, but not devastated. As many have said before me, he had a good half a season and was poor when it really mattered at the business end of things. He’s a quality player, but not as good as he appears to think he is. In fact I wouldn’t be entirely surprised if a move away turned out to be a disaster for him and he was back playing in France in two years time.

If we can get £20m+ for a player with one year left on his contract then that’s pretty good business in my book.

In the mean time I’m prepared to wait it out and let Arsene and Ivan Gazidis do things in their own way: quietly, purposefully and intelligently. I am sure they are doing it – it just remains to be seen what ‘it’ is.

But if you are of the “we won’t sign anyone, we never do” persuasion, get your napkin, knife and fork out and prepare for a big helping of humble pie.

RockyLives

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Posted by RockyLives

City Clinch Clichy ……. time for a scarf sandwich

July 5, 2011

Written by London

Clichy to City, I am flabbergasted, why would a club with unlimited funds, a club who could afford any left back in the world want to sign an error prone, erratic crosser? So convinced was I that this wouldn’t happen I think I went as far as saying that I would eat my red and white scarf if the deal went ahead (and I like my scarf).

This comes as a huge shock to my self esteem especially as you all know I am usually right about everything, lol. It just goes to show that there just is no accounting for bad taste.

Incredible, still, I also said that if he did go it would be with Wenger’s agreement and it has to be seen as exactly that. There is no way Wenger could not have kept him if he really wanted to, that being the case we have to assume that Wenger wanted the change and has alternatives in mind. So Clichy has gone to join that Sky Blue grave yard along with Adebayor and Toure in the North, well, well, well.

What other predictions did I make that are now inevitably starting to look a little less credible: there is no way Nasri is going to leave, hmmmm. We will not buy a new CB, I am not saying we shouldn’t I am just predicting that it won’t happen. Bendtner will leave and we will buy Gervinho this idea lifts my spirit, a powerful attacker coming in from the left capable of scoring goals is just what the doctor ordered.

And talking of spirits being lifted, the other thing that I am starting to notice is the return of an optimistic feeling about winning the league. When asked shortly after the end of the season I think I answered that for the first time in years I would be taking my seat at the start of the season not expecting to win the league, the reason I gave was that I expected the club would wait until the financial fair play rules came into play before really going for it again.

But recently I have started to ask myself if Arsenal aren’t going to win the league who else will – Chelsea? The task ahead for that new manager is enormous the changes needed to the squad are daunting, the pressure will be intense and all in all it is not beyond the realms of possibility that there is a dressing room melt down before Christmas.

Mancity: they have just brought Clichy how can anyone now take them seriously?

Manu: They have been running around trying to buy every available decent young player in the EPL in an attempt to add some youth to their aging squad; they were lucky last year but as I have said before they cannot defy gravity for ever.

It’s time for the mighty red and white of Arsenal to take their natural place again at the top of the league.

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Posted by LB

How many central midfielders does Arsenal need?

July 4, 2011

Written by TotalArsenal

The tabloids are full of gossip about Cesc as well as Nasri leaving. Most of us know better than to trust any of the red tops, but say it would actually happen. We would get between £50- 60m in the bank, and then what?

Well, how many central midfielders do we need? The next generation is ready to take over: Song, Jack, Rambo, Diaby and then there are Arshavin, Lansbury and Frimpong, who for different reasons can all be drafted into the two central spots.

If Cesc leaves, we might play more regularly 4-4-2 again, meaning we only need two central midfielders: one defence minded and one attack minded. The pairings of Song and Jack, Song and Arshavin, Jack and Rambo or Song and Diaby etc, all sound mouth-watering to me. The only thing we would be missing is experience in any of the combinations that does not include Arshavin. Yet Arshavin does not seem to be the sort of player who can give 100% focus and dedication to a central midfielder role during a game, let alone a whole season. So that could leave us with a problem as experience in the centre of midfield is essential. However, if we play 4-4-2 we could make RvP captain, play him in the hole (with Bendtner or Chamakh upfront), so he would be closer to the midfielders and lead and guide them where and when necessary. TV could become our deputy captain and even be our DM at times. Both RvP and TV could focus on leadership support to the midfield, if and when required.

Of course, I’d like us to keep either Cesc or Nasri, as it is always hard to get over the loss of two players in one area – in this case the midfield – in one season. Our additional fat/riches are in the central midfield positions, and the money we can make from selling one or two players should be used to strengthen in other areas. In fact, I feel we need to sell either Cesc or Nasri to make space: if we are not selling anybody in that area this season, we could start blocking the further development of Jack, Rambo, Diaby and Song, as well as Frimmpong and Lansbury, who are behind those first four in the queue. The money we would get from the sales can be used to add to our transfer budget, and buy us a quality winger, another CB and maybe a LB.

If I were on the BoD of Arsenal, I would want to sell either Cesc or Nasri, both for financial and sporting reasons. Even if we decide to let them both go (which is highly unlikely), I can see some positives coming from this. Rather than all the talk about a crisis, this is actually a great opportunity to make a few positive changes, whilst sticking to our unique and fantastic philosophy.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Time for Heroes

July 3, 2011

Just a short post today as we seem to be no further along with our new signings and if you believe the anti-Arsenal/Arsenal in crisis talk in the media we’re about to lose the bulk of our experience too.

There will be a group of players that we are familiar with and we need to get behind them from the start of the season.

We need them to be heroes next season as we missed having any from February onwards last season.

It’s time for the fans to have a few players who stand up consistently week in week out. We need a name to sing. We need a player or two we can rely on not just on the pitch but off the pitch too. A player who shows unwavering commitment to the club and his teammates.

A player who wants to play for Arsenal.

It also looks like we need a new skipper, who should it be?

So friends, who will be our heroes and if Cesc goes or stays who should be our Captain Marvel?

Inspired by Gooner in Exile

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Dopey Diaby – Destroyer Diaby: which one will we get next season?

July 2, 2011

Written by Total Arsenal

“When you think of your wife that she is pretty, she becomes pretty – if you think she is not pretty she slowly loses confidence and becomes not pretty. It is the same for players: you have to believe in them, that makes them feel that they have a certain strength”.
Arsene Wenger (when talking about discovering Vieira on the DVD ‘Arsene’s 11).

Seldom have I seen a football player like Abou Diaby. On the one hand he oozes class and potential, a beautiful athlete: a modern day gladiator. On the other hand he seems to struggle badly at times with being able to focus on the field, and achieving consistency in his performance. In every game he has a spell of being the destroyer: great tackles, followed by powerful, mazy runs, precision passes, regular assists and a great goal now and again.

Just have a look at this again: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOs2Gf0rhd8

Unfortunately, often he also has spells in which he seems to switch off, becoming almost dopey, uninterested and sloppy; without much focus or energy.

I am saying here, he seems to switch off and lack focus and energy at times, because of course I do not know him: I have never spoken to him, and I have never spoken to anybody who knows him. I am only drawing conclusions from what I can see on the TV screen and during the occasionally game in a stadium. Yet, it is so easy to judge and label a player from the comfort of a seat at home, or at a football ground, without questioning our own motives and attitudes towards other people.

Are you a ‘Theory X’ or a ‘Theory Y’ Gooner?

For me one of the most useful classic theories in (People) Management is ‘Theory X and Theory Y’ developed by Douglas McGregor. They describe two different attitudes towards workforce motivation, which can easily be applied to football as well.

The Theory X manager assumes employees (footballers) are inherently lazy and will avoid work if they can, and that they inherently dislike work. Usually these managers feel the sole purpose of the employee’s (footballer’s) interest in the job is money.

A Theory Y manager believes that, given the right conditions, most employees (footballers) will want to do well ‘at work’. They believe that the satisfaction of doing a good job is a strong motivator in the workplace, and that employees (footballers) are not primarily motivated by money.

This is a simple theory and has its critics, but I have found it very helpful in dealing with people and fellow football fans alike. Seldom have I encountered a pure X-er or a pure Y-er, but people tend to polarize towards either X, or Y on a 80/20 basis. ‘Pure’X-fans tend to quickly jump on players, say that they are lazy, money-grabbing bastards, their attitude stinks, and as a result they will quickly show their dissatisfaction towards any player who falls into this category. ‘Pure’ Y-fans on the other hand, tend to give players who underperform the benefit of the doubt, believe that external circumstances rather than motivational issues are the cause of a player not living up to expectations. They are very unlikely to taunt a player and would always look for ways to remain positive and supportive.

Diaby: bad attitude or lack of confidence/focus?

The ability to focus and concentrate, and to get the very best out of yourself is a special quality. It is not automatically there in every player and it is also not simply a matter of choice by a player. Some players have focus and concentration in abundance: Flamini, Keown, Fabregas, Wilshere, Sagna, RvP for example. Other players seem to struggle with it at times: Arshavin, Clichy, Almunia and Diaby come to mind.

Yet, what really bugs me is how easy we, the fans, mix up an apparent sporadic inability to concentrate and focus and/or a lack of confidence by a player, with a perceived bad attitude of that player. We come to the conclusion so quickly that some players are only in it for the money, that they do not care about Arsenal, are lazy and that they are letting us all down. Worryingly, we are seeing now a growing trend where fans are expressing these views venomously during home games and on the blogs. By doing this, there is a big risk of a vicious circle being created for players like Diaby:

  1. An occasional lack of focus and concentration;
  2. Is followed by moans and groans by the fans during games as well as complaints etc on websites after games, which then the press is very happy to pick up on, and magnify as much as they like;
  3. Which easily leads to a further reduction in self-confidence by the player who is targeted;
  4. With the likely outcome of even more mistakes/ underperformances, leading to even more and louder jeers and taunts; etc, etc.

 

If a player truly is lazy and does not give his all for the club, he should be treated with the disdain he deserves.

But, I am going to put my neck out here by saying that we do not have these sorts of players. Wenger would not let them wear the shirt. Players like Abou Diaby need our trust, need us to believe in them and support them, and give them the benefit of doubt when things go wrong occasionally. Of course all players need this, but some need it more than others. Only then will we avoid seeing Abou retreating in his shell again; only then will we see an improvement in focus, concentration and performances; only then will we more regularly witness the Destroyer that Diaby has within him; only then will we see his full potential come through. We, the fans, have a huge responsibility to help and support our players to become the gladiators they have within them, rather than let them crumble in front of 60.000 fans.

 

In order to do that, we have to question our own attitudes and motives a bit more: suppress the X-type tendencies as much as possible, and allow the Y-type characteristics in us to come to the fore.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

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