It’s always a bit disappointing when ex-players say things they really shouldn’t and it’s really disappointing when one of your favourite ex-players says things he really, really shouldn’t. Speaking to El Pais Robert Pires said that Thierry Henry should come and join him in Spain and most cuttlingly of all dismissed this Arsenal team and the manager’s rebuilding attempts. He said:
Thierry Henry would be very happy at Barca. I should not be saying this, as Arsenal, their manager and their fans are all very good. But it would be best for him to make the change. Arsenal are at the end of a cycle. They have lost good players in Patrick Vieira, Edu, Ashley Cole, Dennis Bergkamp and myself.
Now, I know footballers are generally incapable the kind of loyalty we’d like to expect from them but Bob knows how important Henry is to Arsenal. I suppose his first loyalty is to his friend though. As for Arsenal being at the end of a cycle, well, he probably has a point but then some of the player departures were inevitable and every team goes through periods like that. Talking to somebody yesterday I made the point that we were blessed with incredible players like Vieira, Pires and Bergkamp and having them all in the same team at the same time was a million to one shot, in a way.
When you lose players of that quality it is almost impossible to replace them, especially if the expectation of fans is for each signing to be the new Pires or the new Bergkamp or the new Vieira. Fact is there aren’t new Bergkamps or Pires’s’s’s’s or Vieira’s out there even if you have all the money in the world to spend. That said you probably need to spend your money a bit better than we have done in the last couple of years but you can’t just go out and click ‘New Pires’ on the Player Maker Machine©®.
Look at the ‘wingers’ we’ve been linked with this summer. The fact is everybody is completely underwhelmed by the likes of Ribery and Malouda because they’re decent players but nothing special. However, if you ask somebody who their ideal wing signing is then it’s hard to come up with any names because there is no talent that stands out. People got their knickers in a twist over United’s two signings last week but how many people had actually heard of these boys beforehand? Not too many, I’d wager.
Anyway, I think my point was ‘Shut up, Bob. Please.’
Freddie Ljungberg can leave Arsenal on a free according to the Independent. Some might question the thinking behind not looking for a fee but the problem is that Freddie is on £70,000 a week, more astute negotiating from David ‘The players are my friends’ Dein, and despite efforts Arsenal have been unable to find a club willing to take on an injury prone player earning that much money. Also, with a couple of years left on his current deal Freddie won’t be in a rush to move anywhere unless that kind of salary is matched. Allowing him to leave on a free allows the buying club to put what they might have used as a transfer fee into his personal package – fnarr. So that’s our choice. If we insist on a fee it will become almost impossible to move him on. He could, of course, stay and have a cracking season next season but unfortunately that seems unlikely. The good season bit, not the staying bit.
Arsenal Shorts has a transfer story linking us to an Argentinian player, Angel of Mary. I’ve never heard of him, I have to say, so I’m holy uninspired.
Not much else to tell you. I must off and prepare this week’s cuntarffic Arsecast. Bye.
