Monthly Archives: July 2012

Arseblog, the arsenal blog
July 31, 2012 posted by arseblog

Singing that transfer Song, RVP madness

Singing that transfer Song, RVP madness

Good morning to you.

First thing this morning I went scouring the Spanish football dailies to see what I could find the latest on Santi Cazorla. More than one headline this morning suggests it’s D-Day, what with Malaga having to pay their bills or face expulsion from La Liga, but while it’s not impossible something could happen today, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

It’s not that I don’t think we’re in for Cazorla, it’s pretty obvious that we are, but transfers are complicated things and we have a reputation, rightly or wrongly, for making them a bit more complicated than they need to be. Even when we have a player willing to come and a club willing to sell it can still take ages to complete a deal. Look at the Gervinho situation last summer. Malaga’s problems might make things more simple, it might be a case they’re desperate for the money and are forced into doing a deal as quickly as possible.

On the other hand it might make things even more complicated. How easy is it to buy a player from a club that is up for sale and whose owners no longer give a fish’s tit about anything other than getting rid? The power vacuum could bring about a state of transfer stasis where even if they wanted to sell they don’t know who’s going to sign the papers. I could be wrong of course, I frequently am (except about John Terry), but I just think this might be a little more difficult to wrap up than we might like.

Anyway, as I was going through the papers I came across an article in Sport which suggested that Barcelona are looking at Alex Song as a replacement for Seydou Keita who left them this summer. The article is interesting because although it doesn’t give any quotes from anyone at all, it’s like a gigantic Alex Song CV. It tells of how he signed from Bastia, went on loan to Charlton and shone like a shiny shiny thing, and then lists all the reasons Barcelona would be interested in him: he’s tall, he’s friends with Cesc Fabregas, he’s brilliant with both feet, he’s used to playing in a team which passes the ball like Barcelona so he’d fit in with the style of the team, and he’s played against Barcelona loads of times including, get this, in the Champions League final in 2006. Er, whoops.

They then go on to talk about his contract situation, saying he has a deal until 2014 but also that he has rejected a new contract offer from Arsene Wenger leaving Arsenal in a position where know he could leave on a free in two years time. It is an interesting situation of course, will we be faced with another van Persie/Walcott situation with Song next summer? Knowing that Darren Dein is now his agent, and knowing Darren Dein’s connections with Barcelona (you’ll remember he did such wonderful work bringing Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas there), I’d be very surprised if we weren’t.

Unless the player has a real desire to stay with us and insists on signing a new contract (Koscielny, for example), any agent is going to advise him to wait. Not just to play the game with Arsenal, but to see who might be interested next summer when he’s got a year left on his deal and his price drops because of that. Then you wonder is Arsenal’s interest in Sahin pre-emptive, in a way. If we did sign both of the Spanish based players we’re after then our midfield line-up consists of Cazorla, Sahin, Arteta, Ramsey, Wilshere, Diaby, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky, Coquelin, Frimpong.

I realise there are fitness issues with some of those players but that’s a lot of midfielders and maybe we’re reacting to something other than the Wilshere situation. I realise it’s all speculative at the moment but to me the Sport article is worth mentioning because it reads like an obvious plant, part of the machinations of transfer business from a player/agent point of view. From what I can see Song is happy at Arsenal and Arsenal should be, relatively, happy with him. I have some reservations about him as a player and would like to see more focus from him defensively, but he has become an important part of the squad. He knows that, his agent knows that, and it’s just funny to see the wheels start turning so early.

Meanwhile, The Mirror reports that Juventus have uncooled their interest in Robin van Persie. In fact, they’ve stuck it in the microwave and it’s all scaldy in the middle and tepid around the edges. A 5 year deal worth £190,000 per week after tax is on offer apparently, as well as a £20m fee for Arsenal. Frankly, and as much as I have loved Robin as a player, anyone offering a five year deal to 29 year old with an injury record longer than a blue whale’s mickey is off their rocker.

That’s not to say I wouldn’t take it if I were Arsenal. Bite their damn hands off because £20m for a player in the final year of his contract from a club that isn’t one of the petro-dollar giants is a remarkable offer and one, all things considered, that we’d be quite mad to turn down. The ideal situation, for me at least, is van Persie buggering off outside of England. That way I could still enjoy some of what he did for us, if he rocks up in a United/City shirt then I’m afraid he is stricken from my memory-relishing lobe and becomes just another Nasribayor.

It is still shaping up to be a busy week and although the team flew back from Hong Kong on Sunday, jet-lag plus a day of rest means that the manager will probably be well and truly back in the saddle today. Let’s see what happens.

Finally for today, if you haven’t already seen the video of Mertesacker, Sagna and Podolski in a dance routine in Nigeria, then your life is not complete. The twinkle toes on the BFG are really something to behold. Enjoy and I’ll be back tomorrow.

Arseblog, the arsenal blog
July 30, 2012 posted by arseblog

Thomas catches the Eis as a busy week looms

Thomas catches the Eis as a busy week looms

Morning all and welcome to a brand new week. The Asia tour is over and a travel weary Arsenal side drew 2-2 with Kitchee FC yesterday.

We went behind twice and equalised first through Theo Walcott and secondly via young German Thomas Eisfeld. That’s was his second goal of pre-season and of all the youngsters who got playing time he looks to have made the most impact. Arsene said of him:

He is composed, intelligent, mobile and he makes the game come alive. Every time he came on you could see something straight away. He has an impact on the game. He makes himself available and his passing is intelligent and he is good in the box. You cannot teach a player that. He earns maximum points on this trip.

Quite the endorsement, but whether it’s enough to force himself into the first team plans remains to be seen. I suspect it might be a bit too soon for him and perhaps a loan move might be just thing to aid his development. Anyway, it was a good trip for him and I guess as part of the work we need to do to get match fit, playing three games isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

However, due to the cancellation of the Nigerian game, scheduled for August 5th, we only have one more pre-season fixture between now and the opening of the new Premier League campaign. It seems it’s too late to organise something ‘official’ and the manager says if an opponent can’t be found for a behind closed door friendly, a game involving the whole squad will be the way they’ll make up the shortfall.

I decided to have one game behind closed doors to try and get a good opponent but at the moment it will be behind closed doors against ourselves. I have organised a training camp in Germany ahead of the Cologne game. It is a little bit unusual for us.

And this is where the balance needs to be found in pre-season. There is absolutely no reason why the club shouldn’t try to use tours as a commercial venture. It gives fans the chance to see the team who would never normally get to see them play, it opens us up to new markets, the players enjoy a new experience, but we ought not to forget that first and foremost pre-season is about getting the team ready for a new season.

With so many players left back in London because of the Euros, some players injured and then the African fixture leaving a big hole in our plans, you wouldn’t say it has been ideal from a football preparation point of view. That said, it’s probably easier, from a logistical point of view, to organise a behind closed doors game. At this stage it’d be practically impossible to sort out ticketing, policing and everything else that needs to be done for any public fixture. Hopefully they can sort something out because although match fitness is the primary concern, there’s also a need to let players bed in, get to know their new teammates and so on, and you can’t really do that well if they’re playing against, rather than with, each other.

The manager also spoke about potential departures, suggesting at least three players could be on their way out.

Bendtner, Squillaci and Park will be on their way to go somewhere. Arshavin, it depends. We have to sit together and talks. He could still have a future at the club.

There are stories linking the Russian with a loan move to Fulham, which would necessitate Arsenal paying half his wages (according to the Russian media), but there’s no surprise whatsoever regarding the other three. You’d have to think things are quite advanced for the manager to make such public declarations so let’s hope whatever needs to be done there is done as quickly as possible.

And the return to London re-opens the Robin van Persie saga, like it or not. I don’t know how much there is in the Man United link, we know City want him but Mancini and Marwood are not singing from the same hymn-sheet when it comes to transfers, and the Juventus interest has seemingly cooled, so it’s hard to know what’s going on. With Arsene and Ivan Gazidis back at base it should refocus us on doing what’s best for Arsenal.

I wonder if it has been awkward around the training ground at all, having the captain of the club who so publicly dismissed the manager’s plans around players who have just joined etc, but either way this is a situation which needs to be resolved. I know we, as fans, would like to put deadlines on things, but as sensible and all as it sounds that’s just not the way football works. Otherwise last summer would have been a whole lot less traumatic.

There’s also Theo Walcott’s future to consider. His latest comments about how it might ‘take time’ to sort out his new contract make me feel a bit uneasy. He’s perfectly entitled to try and get the best deal possible for himself, same with any worker at any job. This brinksmanship might well be to get more money out of Arsenal, or it might be to put Arsenal in a position where we have to let him go. With just one year left on his deal I don’t think we can afford to let him go for nothing next summer having put so much work into him. Whether we’ve reaped as much as we sowed is another thing.

But while he’s entitled to do what he feels he needs to do, I’m entitled to think it’s a bit shitty to be honest, and also to wonder if he’s gotten a bit big for his boots (which would explain some of his clumsy touches, ha ha). I could be wrong and if I’m doing him a disservice then I’ll hold my hands up and say so, but I just have a feeling we’re being played a bit and it doesn’t sit well with me.

Anyway, it promises to be a busy week with players going, hopefully some players coming, and the futures of others ready to be sorted out once and for all. It’s a shame there’s no football but hopefully that’s something they can work on too.

Right, that will do it, till tomorrow.

Arseblog, the arsenal blog
July 29, 2012 posted by arseblog

Early Sunday football + news/transfer round-up

Early Sunday football + news/transfer round-up

This morning sees the final game of the Asia tour as we take on Kitchee FC in Hong Kong. It comes less than 48 hours after the Man City game and with the squad feeling the effects of all the traveling I don’t expect this to much more than a training game, to be honest.

We might see more time given to the younger/fringe members of the squad as the senior players played most of the game on Friday and with, I’m sure, all due care and attention being paid to their fitness the last thing we want to do is pick up silly injuries by asking too much of players when there’s still a good three weeks until the first game of the Premier League season.

Arsene Wenger says that there’s plenty of promise in the new generation:

We have some more young players who might push up this season. On tour we have Chuks Aneke who has shown quality and of course Ryo.

And what better chance to take a look at players like Afobe, Eisfeld and others before pre-season takes on a serious side. No doubt we’ll see some of the names, maybe for 45 minutes, as this is a commercial venture as much as anything else, and while it would be useful to give youngsters a run-out the fans who pay their money want to see the likes of Arteta, Vermaelen and co. Kick off is 10am, so there’s just about time for breakfast.

Away from the tour and it’s being reported this morning that Jack Wilshere won’t be back till October. Arsene says:

Hopefully, we will get Wilshere back playing for October. With Abou Diaby returning, it will be like signing two new players.

L2NS! Awesome. While the news regarding Jack isn’t great, it’s not hugely unexpected. There has never been a suggestion he’d be fit for the start of the season, if there has I haven’t seen it, and I think everyone accepted the fact his recovery would be gradual and not rushed in any way. Of course the longer he’s out the more you worry about his future but this isn’t some shocking revelation that requires us to be up in arms.

What is interesting, however, is that we seem to be mindful of the fact that both Wilshere and Diaby, while L2NS, are both very difficult to rely on. We have to wait and see how Jack’s recuperation is going to go and how he’ll cope with the rigours of first team football again, and Abou Diaby’s record speaks for itself. He may well feel fine and sharp right now, but one clogger going in hard on that ankle again and it could be curtains for his season, maybe worse.

So the twin pursuits of both Cazorla and Sahin suggest that we’re looking to build a squad that can cope with injury as and when it happens, and also provide a truly competitive environment if and when most of these players are fit. Remember, we’ve still got Song, Coquelin, Ramsey, Rosicky and Arteta in the midfield, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has, interestingly, been played central in both games on the Aisa tour thus far, suggesting he’s an option there this season. The official bid for Cazorla was submitted yesterday with many reports suggesting it could all be done as early as Tuesday, and if you were a transfer whisperer you’d be hearing lots of talk about Sahin is practically done already, hence the Marca story from the other day.

It’s all quite encouraging really but I’d urge caution until the deals are done and dusted. We were close to Cazorla last summer and I think he’d like to join us now, stories like this don’t get this far without the player being open to a move, but Malaga’s complicated financial situation is certainly an issue. This morning the Spanish press are reporting an Albanian-Russian conglomerate are bidding for the club and there’s a chance we could find it difficult to complete any transfer as long as this kind of thing is going on. Let’s hope not.

Meanwhile, Sahin has gone on Real Madrid’s tour of America despite Mourinho quite publicly saying he needs to play somewhere else next season. And although his relationship with Arsene has always been poor, I don’t think this is a deal being done between the two managers. The player himself is reportedly not keen to leave Madrid but when your manager says you need to go somewhere else to play I guess you need to listen. Let’s see where this goes.

Other than that little to talk about or speculate on. The most ridiculous transfer story of the day goes to the Sunday Mirror who suggest Southampton could be in for £15m, £100,000 a week Theo Walcott. I expect we’ll get some clarity regarding Walcott’s future in the next week or so, when he returns from tour, but whatever happens a return to his former club seems pretty much impossible.

Right, bacon time, then football time, then laze about on a Sunday time. Have a good one folks.

Arseblog, the arsenal blog
July 28, 2012 posted by arseblog

Man City reaction : Sahin : Cazorla

Man City reaction : Sahin : Cazorla

Morning all, Saturday round-up for you starting with yesterday’s 2-0 defeat by Man City in Beijing. Certainly the four Man City fans in attendance will have been happy at the result, but one or two shoddy defensive moments aside I thought there were some encouraging things from an Arsenal point of view.

Firstly, the game itself was played at a much higher pace than the one against Malaysia XI so from a fitness point of view it’ll have been a very good work out. Secondly, I don’t know whether it was instruction or opportunism, but Arsenal seemed willing to shoot from distance right throughout the game. It may well be just because the chances presented themselves but Jenkinson, Walcott, Santos and Oxlade-Chamberlain (amongst them all) were all quite willing to have a pop (the latter hit both posts with one effort). When you’re as routinely accused of wanting to walk the ball into the net, this certainly made a nice change and had we been facing a goalkeeper who didn’t have the game of his life (even in pre-season it happens!) we probably would have scored a couple.

As I said though, a couple of defensive lapses let City in for their goals, both of which came late in the first half. These are not uncommon in pre-season but I guess the difficulty is these are not uncommon for Arsenal in mid-season either. It is worth noting though that Steve Bould is only a couple of weeks into his job as Arsene’s assistant and expecting him to sort out the defence straight away is unrealistic. In a way, it might even be a good thing that those goals went in the way they did because he’s got perfect ‘See this? Don’t do that, do this’ material to work with the players.

Again, it’s the performance and the workout that matters most and it will have been positive in that regard. Afterwards, Arsene said:

We were a bit vulnerable on the counter-attack and that is where we got caught. But overall what is important for us is to see everybody play and give everybody competition. We lasted 90 minutes at quite a good level.

The next game is Sunday in Hong Kong and then it’s back to London where we don’t have a fixture until the game against Cologne on August 12th. You would have to hope somebody’s trying to organise something, the gap left by the Nigerian cancellation needs to be filled and the players left at home need more than one run-out to get themselves ready.

The manager was inevitably asked about transfers and Robin van Persie. Apparently he got a bit grumpy with all the van Persie questions and I can’t say I blame him. It’s not as if he was waiting for after this game to spill the beans he hasn’t spilled all summer. Anyway, he denied we’d received any further bids for him and that’s about that at this moment in time.

He was also asked about the potential signing of Turkish midfielder Nuri Sahin on loan from Real Madrid. This was based on an article in Marca which stated quite definitively that Sahin would join us for a season after Sp*rs dropped their interest in him as part of the Modric deal. There’s a screenshot here and the first line reads ‘Nuri Sahin will play for Arsenal next season.’ Quite quickly, however, they changed the story, saying only that he would ‘probably play in the Premier League next season’. Maybe they jumped the gun, maybe they were asked/told to tone it down, but either way Arsene did his usual and said we’re not close to signing anyone. Interesting stuff though.

Meanwhile, in this morning’s Spanish press, AS reveal (Spanish) that late last night a €23m offer for Santi Cazorla arrived in Malaga. From us, just in case you were wondering. They also say that Malaga were all like ‘Nuh-uuuuh’ and pointed to the €45m release clause in his contract, but apparently Arsenal’s offer would cover what they paid for him last summer as well as the money they owe Villarreal (including VAT!).

According to a local paper Malaga’s financial issues are still ongoing despite the fact they sorted out payments owed to players, including Cazorla and Ruud van Nistelrooy (who I hope was paid in hay and metal shoes). It means that in the short-term they may have to offset their desire to keep the player with the need to keep the club afloat. Quite what will happen at board level there is hard to know but if there’s now an official offer then it looks as if we’re trying to take advantage and bring in the kind of player who would really add something to this team. Keeping it all crossed here.

And that’s really about that for this Saturday morning, but I have to mention last night’s Olympic opening ceremony though. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything that mental and utterly fantastic. Once the teams came out and started parading around I gave up but what came before that was just brilliant, looked amazing, and was also a nice reminder that there’s a big world out there, full of people who don’t know everything and can’t wait to tell the Internet about it. Well done, London.

Till tomorrow.