So, quite out of the blue we signed a defender yesterday. Some French/Polish chap. He’s Frolish. Laurent Koscielny they call him. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of him. Here is below.
There’s the usual stuff from the manager, who says:
Koscielny is a central defender with great ability who performed extremely well last season for Lorient. He is mentally strong, he’s a fighter and a very strong competitor. Koscielny is a great addition to our squad.
And the player himself who said:
I’m very excited to be joining Arsenal. They are one of the biggest teams in Europe. I hope we will have a fantastic season this year and get that Premier League title. I came here to improve myself and win titles.
As I told you the other day he’ll wear the number 6 shirt and he’s a welcome addition to the squad seeing as most of our other central defenders have left. I really don’t know very much about him at all other than his rise to the top level appears to be quite rapid. I’ve read decent things about him from people on Twitter who watch a lot more French football than I but I’m in no position to tell you any more or pass any judgement until I’ve seen him play.
I know many will view this transfer as a bit meh but we need central defenders and we’ve got one. I don’t believe he’ll be the only arrival either. As it stands we currently have but three recognised centre-halves at the club, even a man with the attacking philosophy of Arsene Wenger won’t go into the new season with just Vermaelen, Koscielny and the perma-injured Djourou. There’s more to come in this area, I’m sure of it.
Koscielny also puts paid to the notion that a player who has appeared on the horrendous Transfer Linked section on the official site won’t sign for us. Here he is … ooh … and with Joe Cole too. Coincidence or just a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection? We shall see.
In other transfer news The Sun says we’re battling Liverpool and some other bunchatwats for Shaun Wright-Phillips. I can only assume this is so we can intimidate the opposition with our size and strength. Lining up with SWP would make our collection of half-pints look like the giant Persian from 300.
The Goon Blog has an interview with Arsene Wenger in a Kenyan newspaper in which, amongst other things, he hints that an announcement regarding the goalkeeping situation will be made after the World Cup. I like the way he uses Almunia’s full name. I think he should make this a permanent habit.
“Arsene, how do you think the team played today?”
“Well, we lacked a little bit the sharpness but Theodore Wilmot Constantine Agamenon Walcott did very well in the second half and Samir Mohammed Kareem Abdul Jabbar Saddam Nasri got us back into it with that fantastic goal. And as for Nicklas Nicholas Nicky Nick Nickington Bendtner, don’t get me started”.
“Thank you, Arsene Mephisto Aramis Wenger”.
Splendiferous. Update: Arsenal have released a statement, saying:
Arsenal Football Club would like to clarify that quotes attributed to Arsène Wenger today (Thursday 8th July 2010) in a Kenyan newspaper are not correct. Arsène Wenger did not grant a one-on-one interview to the newspaper and would kindly ask all media not to attribute any quotes from this source to him.
So there you go.
Barcelona continue to talk about Cesc but can they afford him and are they being fair to the player?
Spain went through to the World Cup final last night without so much as a hint of Cesc. A goal from Sarah Jessica Parker (tip of hat to sexay and Tom) put them through. They were really quite brilliant in the second half but couldn’t break down the Germans with their tippy-tappy, relying in the end on some good old fashioned forehead from a set-piece. Still, it sets up a very interesting final on Sunday between them and Holland.
And speaking of Holland Robin van Persie talks about the finals of the past, the Dutch teams that failed on the final day and his ambition to win it. I know people will look at Spain and see the beautiful team and look at Holland and see Destructor van Bommel but I’m entirely up for the Dutch on Sunday. Firstly because I want a jubilant van Persie back at Arsenal and maybe, just maybe, Spain losing will show Cesc that even great teams don’t win all the time. Or something. I dunno.
So that’s about that. It does seem, from that interview, that much more will happen post World Cup. Maybe Arsene has his beady little eye on a player or two out there. Maybe he’s allowing his new signings to come back from their post-tournament holidays. Maybe all our dreams will come true. Just like the Christmas we always dreamed of!
Hasta mañana.
