First headline I saw this morning was:
Arsenal lure Jackson.
And I thought, ‘Awesome, we are signing Action Jackson’. Carl Weathers in an Arsenal shirt, bringing something new to that midfield mix. Add a Wilshere, a little Ozil, and you got yourself a stew, baby. Then it turned out it was Jackson Martinez, the Colombian who plays for Porto.
His agent says we’re ‘very interested’, which I suspect will be a common theme this summer. Everyone knows Arsenal want a new forward, and in this world where you can have quality by association if not performance, agents are going to be touting their man as a possible candidate for the Arsenal forward line.
What better way to garner some headlines and exposure for your mediocre centre-forward than suggest The Emirates as his playground for next season? So be prepared for plenty of ‘Arsenal are linked with’, ‘swooping for’, ‘planning an audacious move for’ and all the other transfer window buzzword bingo with every striker in the western hemisphere at the root of it. Indeed, if Sepp Blatter is to be believed, we may have some interplanetary footballers on our hands soon, which would certainly add a bit of something new.
As I said, it’s fairly common knowledge that we’re hoping to add another striker to the books, and the one we do have has clarified the club’s intentions. Olivier Giroud told InfoSport+:
I can tell you Arsenal will add a striker to the team. We need another striker. Great clubs have several good strikers, who compete with each other.
Like most of you, I am fully behind the search for a new forward who can add some quality and depth to our squad, but I am also very much for the retention of Giroud. He got 17 goals in his first season, and 22 last season, so there’s obvious progress there. And ultimately, despite some shortcomings in his game (not all of which are down to him alone as I tried to analyse here), we can’t simply buy one forward and let another go.
That leaves us in exactly the same position as we were in this season, where one guy is overworked and overplayed to the detriment of the team. When we talk about ensuring our best players are kept fit so they can compete at a maximum level throughout the entire campaign, being able to confidently rest those players will be a big part of it. So, imagine a situation where we sign Jonny Scorealot, the World Class forward everyone wants.
He can make the difference in the games in which Giroud tends to struggle, against the highest quality opposition. Yet, as the fixtures pile up as the season really gets going, you have the Frenchman to rotate with Scorealot knowing that he is more than capable of getting goals against most other opposition. You have two strikers who you can bring in and out of the team without it really damaging the team’s style or efficiency.
And, imagine this, you might even be able to play the two of them together. If the situation calls for it, we could get medieval on the opposition and play two strikers at the same time! So, those people who think a new forward would mean the end of Giroud are cutting their noses off to spite their faces, in my opinion. Yes, we have to add some quality to the team, but the summer is all about the D word for me. Depth (you have a filthy mind).
It’ll be interesting to see how Giroud will respond to any new arrival. Sometimes it can get the best out of a player to have competition (or a partner), but he has consistently said he’s not afraid of anyone new coming in. Interestingly (or not), having said last month that talks were underway about a new deal, he said:
No decision has been taken yet about extending my contract.
It’s a bit vague that. We don’t know if it’s Arsenal that have yet to make a decision, or the player himself. I suspect it might be the latter as he waits to see how his role in the team might change, but he still has at least two years on his current deal so I don’t think it’s anything to worry about just now.
Away from all that, the World Cup starts this evening. It’s such a shame that FIFA are in charge of something that should be amazing. It’s a bit like if all bacon was distributed by a holding company owned by Jose Mourinho and Phil Collins. Blatter’s nonsense yesterday highlighted what a reprehensible lunatic he really is, but I suppose once the football starts people will forget about that.
Time to stock up the fridge with decent beer, which most definitely does not include the one that sponsors the tournament, and get ready for some bleary-eyed mornings as the late night football gets going.
If you fancy some World Cup betting, Paddy Power are giving you Brazil at 8s, Argentina at 12s, Germany at 14s or Spain at 16s – click here to register!
Till tomorrow.
