Happy Tuesday y’all.
You might have noticed a lot of Wayne Rooney talk, suggestions that Arsene Wenger has ‘hinted at a move’ for the freckly mammoth, but all he did was answer a question in an interview in a bog standard manner. I don’t think it makes a move any more a possibility than it already is, but such is the nature of the web now that the need for content meant many papers went large (no pun intended) with it yesterday.
In some ways it’s quite sad to see organisations who, in print, might at least apply some standards to what they publish now joining the very worst of the click-snatching, hit-whores, but I guess that’s the nature of the beast. It is no longer about what’s real or even vaguely truthful, but simply about page views, ‘eyeballs’ and traffic.
The newspapers, for the most part, are conscious they have to have more presence online. I think everybody understands why, but the they’re like hamsters on a wheel and nobody can get off. While the likes of the Mail have forged a massive niche, you now see the same stuff appear on the Telegraph, the Independent, and even the Guardian. It’s almost as if everybody repeating the same nonsense lends it credibility simply because everybody’s saying it.
How long before they go the Caught Offside model and simply invent outrageous rumours that have no basis in fact whatsoever? How much analysis is given to where the traffic comes from, and why, as long as the numbers increase? I think we all know the transfer story industry is one that has always driven people to buy papers, and subsequently, click on websites. We all know that most of it lacks real veracity as the competing agendas of clubs, players, agents and media play the game each time the window’s open, but even more caution than usual is required this summer.
For those interested, you can see the interview with Arsene Wenger here.
Meanwhile, some very interesting news regarding Denilson and the fact the club and player have come to an arrangement to cancel the final year of his contract. According to his agent:
I can confirm Denilson and Arsenal have agreed to terminate his contract at the end of this month. Denilson is free to move to another club and a number of clubs are interested in him. I do not want to name teams, but there is interest from Brazil as well as Russia, Italy, Germany and Turkey and I am talking to them.
While I don’t think there’ll be any real tears about Denilson himself leaving after two seasons away on loan, the interesting part is that we’ve found a way to release the player, thus getting him off our books and making it easier for him to find a new club because no transfer fee will be required.
I suspect that we’ve found a pay-off figure which is acceptable to him and in some ways you have to give the player a bit of credit too because many would sit tight, see out their contract and take full whack. Then again, maybe we have paid him off in full. Either way, it’s a positive move because he had no future at Arsenal, and had we been looking for a transfer fee, on top of what he’s paid, then it would have made it very difficult to move him on.
I think, in some ways, he became a bit of a lightning rod for a team which, collectively, underachieved. He arrived in 2006 and at that point he looked a very promising player. People were lauding the manager for unearthing another gem, but I think he, more than any other first team player, showcased the dangers of rewarding potential like we did. I think he became complacent. There wasn’t enough competition on the pitch to drive him, and the level at which he was being paid was far in advance of his talent and progression as a player. He got comfortable, he wasn’t the only one in fairness (you might look at somebody like Carlos Vela too), but he was the most obvious.
He had a statistically good campaign in 2009/10, scoring 6 goals in 28 appearances, but in January 2010 came the moment that, for me, at least, defines his Arsenal career. We were playing Manchester United at home, we were 2-0 down at half-time and looking for an early second half goal to get back into it. Denilson lost the ball in the United half, they broke up-field, and as they did so we saw the astonishing sight of the Brazilian being overtaken by the referee as he ambled back. United scored to make it 3-0 and that was game over.
It came just a week after a similarly lethargic performance against Stoke in the FA Cup when his lack of effort cost us a goal, and for me that was what ruined what could have been a much more positive career at this club. I don’t really care about sideways passing, lots of players do that and he was decent enough on the ball really. But it was the lack of effort and application – I believe brought about by a salary which made him believe he didn’t have to work hard to earn well – which sent him into a spiral from which there was no way back from an Arsenal point of view.
However, back to looking at this from a positive point of view, one would hope that similar arrangements are being sought with Santos, Chamakh, Bendtner and Park to ensure that they’re no longer players we have to worry about next season. It might cost us a bit in the short-term, but either way we’d have to pay them off. It’s hard to imagine a queue of suitors for those players if any investment beyond their wages was required. We have to make it as easy as possible for them to find a new club, and if that means paying them off and releasing them, then that’s what we should do.
Till tomorrow.
