Posts filed under '2004-2011'
August 7th, 2011
Arsenal lost their final pre-season friendly of the summer 2-1 to Benfica last night, sparking widespread panic among Gooners and initiating a witch hunt for Sebastien Squillaci. Video highlights here for those that are interested.
A little perspective is required. Missing from the squad were:
Laurent Koscielny, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby and Carlos Vela
That’s without mentioning Emmanuel Eboue and Nicklas Bendner, who could yet remain at the club.
Even so, in the first half we were on top, and indeed went in at the interval ahead thanks to a goal from birthday boy Robin van Persie, who lashed in Kieran Gibbs’ cutback. Gibbs was one of the real pluses, showing tremendous energy to break forward in to the box, as well as composure once he arrived. Gervinho also looked lively, as he has done throughout pre-season.
The second half was, of course, a different story. Benfica dominated and only a string of saves from Lukasz Fabianski prevented it from becoming a rout. However, it is worth pointing out that for the majority of the second 45 the XI we had on the field was:
Fabianski, Jenkinson, Squillaci, Vermaelen, Traore, Frimpong, Ramsey, Lansbury, Gervinho, Miyaichi, Chamakh
With the exception of Vermaelen and Gervinho, and possibly Aaron Ramsey, this was essentially a ‘Carling Cup’ side. None of the others can expect to be first choice this season – and the players themselves acknowledged that they had an off night, to say the least:
However, it is worth saying that the performances of Squillaci and Chamakh underline the fact that there are areas of the squad where we seem very short of depth.
If Nicklas Bendtner does leave, it’s vital he’s replaced. And even if we retain our current quartet of centre-backs, there’s plenty of room for a step up in quality there. As others have suggested, you don’t have to be “super quality” to enhance this Arsenal squad.
Arsene’s pre-game interview in Lisbon suggested we were on the verge of adding at least one player this week. Of course, comments like that run the risk of generating mass panic if we don’t. Whilst I’m as desperate as anyone else to see us bring in new players, we’re now less than a week from the big kick-off, and I’ll be getting as excited as anyone else about the prospect of facing Newcastle with our current crop of players. As things stand, even accounting for injuries, we could be seeing:
Szczesny; Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs; Song, Ramsey, Nasri; Gervinho, Arshavin, Van Persie (c)
It’s an XI good enough to go to St. James’ and win. And, crucially, it’s a side significantly better than the one which lost to Benfica last night.
August 6th, 2011
According to reports in Cataluña, yesterday’s meeting between Arsenal and Barcelona officials ended without agreement on a fee for Cesc Fabregas. Barca’s latest offer still falls short of Arsenal’s £40m valuation, and the saga looks set to run on in to the start of the season.
Whilst Arsenal are undoubtedly right to push Barca to pay as high a fee as possible, the truth is that I don’t think it matters too much exactly what the final amount is. What difference does a few million euros make, really? The fact is that Arsenal are losing their captain against their will. Having a little bit more money in the bank won’t make that blow any easier to suffer.
The only figure that matters to me is how much is reinvested in the squad. Cesc Fabregas cost Arsenal less than a million pounds in compensation. His sale will generate an enormous profit, and one that, if we’re serious about always planning to keep Cesc, is not one we’ve factored in to any budget. Without going in to the economic detail – mainly because I don’t know enough about it – it’s money that we should be able to go and spend.
And boy do we need to. Partly to fill the gaps in the squad that remain from last season, but also to put a positive spin on what has been a horribly draining story for the football club.
Arsene says he understands the fans’ frustrations, and is doing his best to recruit new signings, adding that “next week, something might happen”. It’s hardly definitive, but it’s something. We can hope.
The preposterous nature of Fabregas situation reached new heights yesterday when, after showing off the fact he was training like a good boy, the club elected not to take him to Lisbon. Arsene said:
“Everybody is free to think what they want. We cannot stop people raising questions.
He is just coming back from injury and is not ready to play in a game. But he is not injured.â€
I have to say I’m amused by the idea that the solution to Cesc’s lack of practise is to stop him playing in, well, ‘practise matches’. It’s clear there’s more to this than meets the eye, and sooner or later Arsenal are going to have to be honest about that, otherwise Arsene will find himself facing some very difficult questions if and when the skipper is left out of competetive games.
Also missing from the 19-man squad are the injured Kieran Gibbs, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby, Carlos Vela, and Laurent Koscielny. Youngsters Frimpong, Miyaichi, Lansbury and Miquel are included.
So tonight an Arsenal team will line up without either Fabregas or Nasri. Might have to get used to that…
August 5th, 2011
Hello all. It’s the end of yet another week of summer stagnation at Arsenal. Seven days ago we were headed in to the Emirates Cup. Based on Arsene’s quotes in his press conference at that tournament, I felt that the dominoes would soon begin to fall. The Cesc saga surely had to come to a head, whilst Phil Jagielka and Juan Mata were both reportedly on the way in. A week later, and it’s ‘as you were’. Or arguably worse: if you believe everything the press tell you, Jagielka has rejected a move, Mata’s escape clause has expired, and the Cesc deal could drag on until deadline day. With the players due to go away next week on international duty, it’s hard to foresee a flurry of action changing anything major between now and the start of the season.
The squad have flown out to Portugal this afternoon, where they will face Benfica in their final friendly of the summer tomorrow night. As usual, all the discussion surrounds Cesc Fabregas, and whether or not he a) travelled and b) will take any part. He’s certainly playing a full part in training – the club have gone out of their way to show photos of him looking all smiley and chummy with Arsene. Catalan paper Sport are claiming that he hasn’t travelled, but there are conflicting reports and no official word as yet. If he has remained behind, perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the BBC say Ivan Gazidis was due to meet Barcelona today.
Samir Nasri won’t be on the plane either are reportedly picking up ankle injury. Whether it’s a genuine injury or more like Cesc’s phantom hamstring problem remains to be seen – L’Equipe claim today that his move to Man City could be back on.
One player who has left, albeit just on loan, is Kyle Bartley. A full season with Rangers will do good things for him, and hopefully he’ll return in twelve months a better, more experienced player. It was suggested to me today that the major dam halting the flow of our transfer activity is our inability to move on squad players like Almunia, Eboue and Bendtner. We can’t even sell our best player and captain for a decent fee, so selling these guys is a hell of a task. Bendtner is apparently now the subject of interest from Stoke after they failed in bids for Carlton Cole and Cameron Jerome. Imagine being the third choice on that list. And then imagine your ego is as big as Bendtner’s. I’m afraid I can’t see that one working out.
Lastly, we come to the most important news of the day: the Champions League draw. Arsenal will face Udinese, with the first leg at the Emirates on Tuesday, August 16th. Check out this article for the lowdown on our opponents.
Udinese will be tough opponents – certainly the likes of FC Zurich or Odense might have made life a little easier. Having lost Sanchez, Inler and Zapata, they’re likely to be weaker than last season. They’ll also be behind us in their preparations, as Serie A won’t yet have kicked off. That said, both Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie are suspended for the first leg, whilst Cesc Fabregas will be keen to avoid participating and thus becoming cup-tied.
If, that is, he’s still here…
August 4th, 2011
Today was Members Day, and my first trip to the Emirates since the back end of last season. It felt great to slip back in to familiar rituals: the walk down Holloway Road, the steps up to the concourse, the site of players leaving the field injured.
I hadn’t attended a Members Day since 2006, when it was as much a chance to be one of the first fans to enter the new ground as anything else. On that day, the squad themselves took a back seat as fans gawped at the new and spectacular surrounding. Since then, the sheen of the new place has worn off a little, and today all eyes were turned keenly on events on the field.
Whereas last year squad members were introduced individually, this year they all entered together. It was a prudent move designed to prevent a negative reception for any players whose future might be in doubt.
The much talked about squad photo was cancelled due to poor weather conditions, but the big news remained that Cesc Fabregas was present. Not only was he present, but he took a full part in training, and showed no sign of the “muscular injury” that has kept him out of all our pre-season fixtures thus far. There was intrigue surrounding several absentees: aside from the injured Walcott and Wilshere, neither Samir Nasri, Emmanuel Eboue, Manuel Almunia or Kyle Bartley were involved in the session.
There are varying explanations. Nasri and Eboue were certainly both present at the stadium, and indeed Eboue has since been signing autographs up on club level, so I’d imagine they’re both carrying injuries of some kind. However, the rumours of Eboue moving to Galatasaray surfaced again in Turkey last night, so perhaps he’s being spared ahead of a potential medical.
Manuel Almunia is free to leave the club, so was presumably wandering the Spanish highways somewhere wearing a sandwich-board saying ‘Goalkeeper for hire’. Kyle Bartley has just signed a new deal, but having secured his long-term future I think we might be keen to send him out on loan again. Rangers remain interested.
Things kicked off with an eleven-a-side game on a shortened pitch. Bendtner lashed in a volley to give his green team the lead, before Henri Lansbury immediately followed up with a screamer from long range. Benik Afobe fired across goal to pull one back, before Bendtner stabbed in a third to seal a 3-1 victory.
The squad then split in to two groups and carried out basic passing and shooting exercises, working the ball wide to cross in to the box. In front of me, Ryo Miyaichi demonstrated his dexterity, happily crossing with both feet from the left flank for Bendtner and RVP to finish.
There followed a seven-a-side tournament on a half pitch, with three teams:
Yellows: Mannone, Vermaelen, Song, Lansbury, Arshavin, Jenkinson, Gervinho, Bendtner
Greens: Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Traore, Afobe, Frimpong, Fabregas, Chamakh
Whites: Fabianski, Squillaci, Gibbs, Djourou (again), Rosicky, Miyaichi, Ramsey, Van Persie
First up the Yellows beat the Greens thanks to a tap in from Gervinho – making up for missing an absolute sitter in the XI-a-side. Then the Whites beat the Yellows thanks to an instant piece of control and finishing from Robin van Persie.
In the final game, the Greens battered the Whites 5-0, with Bendtner and Afobe each netting a brace. A shocking result, until you remember the Whites had Squillaci.
After the round robin tournament the players warmed down with a series of shuttle runs.
It’s hard to read too much in to a training session, but Bendtner looked miles ahead of Chamakh, whose touch was often unsure even in these pressure-free conditions. Bendtner, meanwhile, was smashing them in from all angles. On current form, if I had to keep one of the pair, I know which it would be.
Benik Afobe also really impressed me – the 18-year old didn’t look a bit out of place. I suppose the degree to which he is involved with the first team could depend on whether or not we manage to finalise a deal for Joel Campbell, who scored twice last night in the U-20 World Cup.
Unfortunately, both Carlos Vela and Aaron Ramsey left the field with knocks, though Ramsey was spotted post-training looking fit as a fiddle. On the far side of the field, Theo Walcott spent the session building up his fitness alone.
I did have access to a Player Q&A, but decided to give it a miss after remembering that generally footballers are more entertaining on the pitch than off it. So far my decision has been vindicated, with stories that Theo Walcott responded to such thrilling questions as “What do you eat for breakfast?” with answers as illuminating as “toast”.
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Members Day was presence of Stan Kroenke – and I don’t think he’d only come to see Eboue. A board meeting is reportedly due to be held this afternoon, at which it’s impossible to think that transfer business will not be discussed: crucially, what to do about Barcelona’s latest offer for Cesc Fabregas. The repercussions of that meeting could define our season.
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August 3rd, 2011
The saga of Samir Nasri’s contract negotiations will be familiar to you by now.
Arsene had suggested they were close to an agreement in the Spring, before back-tracking and saying talks were on hold until the end of the season. Both Clichy and Nasri were given a deadline of the end of June to sign new deals, or face being sold off to the highest bidder.
Clichy decided his fate lay elsewhere, and left on good terms for pastures blue. It was an amicable parting of the ways, with Arsenal able to recoup a significant profit on a player who felt he needed a change of scenery.
It’s August now, and negotiations with Nasri’s representatives seem to have ceased entirely. The hopes of him extending his contract beyond next July have faded – he clearly sees his long-term future elsewhere. And yet he remains.
Arsenal now face the prospect of losing one of European football’s brightest talents, and one that cost us some £13m when he joined the club in 2008, for free. Understandably, this has provoked anger among fans. And part of that resentment comes from the fact that this is an all too familiar pattern.
The path from Marseille to Islington to the open plains of the Bosman has been trodden before, by one Mathieu Flamini. After a fairly middling career as a plucky and versatile squad member, including some impressive performances as a left-back in the run to the Champions League Final of 2006, the start of the 2007/08 season saw Flamini find himself in the first-team. An injury to Abou Diaby and the absence of Gilberto Silva opened the door, and Flamini kept it ajar with a series of all-action displays that endeared him to the Arsenal faithful.
Flamini was playing for his place. And, we were to discover, for his pay-packet. Despite Arsene’s confidence, a new deal never materialised, and Flamini found himself able to walk away and join his boyhood club, AC Milan. For nothing.
Flamini became the subject of much ire because, ultimately, Arsenal fans were disappointed that a solution to a problem area had emerged, only to disappear. Fabregas and Flamini was our most functional central midfield partnership since the days of Vieira and Gilberto – in fact, since Flamini’s departure Arsene hasn’t entrusted another pair to play in the middle of a midfield four. It was a duo that could have run and run – and boy could Flamini run.
Nasri’s career pattern at Arsenal has not been dissimilar. His most recent season has been by far his best, and that was reflected in the fact he finished second in the PFA Player of the Year Awards. He, like Flamini, emerged as a potential solution to a different problem: finding Cesc’s successor. Although he excelled in a wide role, Nasri has long envied Fabregas’ central playmaking position. The blow of the captain’s probably depature was due to be softened by the emergence of another world-class talent.
I don’t think either Arsene or the fans banked on Nasri declining the invitation to become Arsenal’s focal point. But Nasri has always been his own man, with little respect for reputations. He famously infuriated the old guard of the French national team by daring to sit in their seats on the coach. He is strikingly confident, and hugely ambitious, and seems to have decided that in order to fulfill those ambitions – namely by winning trophies – he needs to move elsewhere.
Naturally, this has drawn angry comparisons. According to some Arsenal fans, he’s “just another Flaminiâ€. Well, the situations have a fundamental difference.
With Flamini, the salt in the wound was that for the first time in his Arsenal career, he was worth something. Twelve months before he departed, Arsenal agreed a fee with Birmingham for a matter of a couple of million pounds. Had his contract not expired, the end of the 2007/08 season would have seen his worth quadruple – at least. The feeling was that Flamini had saved his best form for the season in which he was playing for a contract elsewhere. Arsenal benefited on the pitch, but lost out economically.
With Nasri it’s different. Having attracted interest from the likes of United and City, at various points this summer there have been offers on the table which would allow us not only to recoup our £13m investment, but almost double it. As goodplaya points out, the player himself is doing little wrong: he signed a four year contract, and is willing to see it through. He has not agitated for a move away – the decision to sell him or not rests with the club. And, crucially, the manager.
Having identified Nasri as Cesc’s heir apparent, the prospect of losing both has obviously come to Arsene as something of a shock. I don’t doubt that the club worked hard to offer Nasri an enticing new deal, but when he and his agent withdrew from talks in the spring Arsenal should have known what was coming. Now we’re in a position where we face the possibility of losing both players – a prospect that Arsene feels threatens our status as a “big clubâ€:
“I believe for us it is important the message we give out. For example, you talk about Fabregas leaving, Nasri leaving.
If you give that message out, you cannot pretend you are a big club, because a big club first of all holds onto its big players and gives a message out to all the other big clubs that they just cannot come in and take away from you.â€
It’s a strong statement, and one that puts the manager in something of a corner. For now, the seemingly imminent departure of Cesc means he’s prepared to take a £22m hit on Nasri, partially in the vain hope that Nasri will revel in the freedom afforded by a central role and sign a new deal.
I consider that unlikely. Big players want to play with other big players. Cesc leaving does not make Arsenal are a more enticing long-term option for Nasri.
I’m also not sure he’s right about how “big clubs†behave. Manchester United lost both Carlos Tevez and Cristiano Ronaldo in the same summer – I think it’s fair to say they’ve retained their status among the giants of the European game.
A big club is by definition bigger than any player. A big club would sell a player who didn’t want to be part of their long-term future and reinvest the cash in someone of equal talent. Alternatively, a big club would point to the end date on Cesc’s contract, tell Barcelona to try again next summer, and sell Nasri now in order to maximise revenue for the two players and put the club in the best possible position to adequately replace them.
Arsene, usually the economist, is justifying retaining Nasri as a “football decisionâ€. It’s an unfamiliar stance from our spendthrift manager. But, crucially, the fact it’s a football decision means it is his and his alone.
Nasri is not the appropriate target for anger. Unfortunately the world of football has moved on, and loyalty is not to be expected – certainly from a player who has already walked out on the club that raised him, Marseille. He’s a professional, doing a job. We can only hope he continues to do that job to the best of his abilities until Arsenal sell him, or his contract expires.
Man City will gladly come in with £20m+ plus and make Nasri a very rich man. They’re just waiting for Arsenal to give the word. But so far, the club remain resolute.
Arsene is taking an enormous gamble. He’s hoping that Arsenal push on from last season, claim a trophy, and convince Nasri that his ambitions can be fulfilled in North London. As an eternal optimist, Wenger will have every faith that could happen.
Alternatively, his roll of the transfer dice could spectacularly backfire. If Arsenal fail to progress this season, and then Nasri walks away for nothing, the manager might find himself wondering if he should have taken the money and spent it on players who actually want to be here. And the board might find themselves wondering if they can still trust the judgement of the man once known universally as “The Professorâ€.
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