March 14th, 2012
Considering the transfer window is firmly shut, it’s unsurprising that my thoughts have been entirely on the on-field action. Â However, away, from the pitch, Arsenal have also been making plenty of headlines. Â With some brief respite in our fixture list, here’s a quick look at some of the major contractual shenanigans of the last fortnight:
Tomas Rosicky’s new deal
The timing of the announcement of this deal is significant. Â Contract negotiations are a long, drawn-out process: Rosicky and the club will have been in talks over the past few months. Â Had a deal been concluded and made public eight weeks or so ago, the fan reaction would have been very different. Â At that stage Rosicky looked a shadow of the player Arsenal signed from Dortmund in 2006.
His recent form, however, has been startling, and I for one am delighted to see him staying. Â I don’t buy the argument that he’s been “playing for a new contract” – as I’ve already stated, Arsenal will have decided to try and extend his deal some time ago. Â It’s possible he’s been boosted by the manager’s show of faith. Â What’s far more likely is that he’s benefitting from his first run of starts in years. Â His combination of game-accelerating turns and passing and quite immaculate slide-tackles have been a vital component in our recent good run.
Handing Rosicky a two-year deal also represents a change of policy for Arsene Wenger, who had previously only offered players over thirty one year extensions. Â There will have been various factors involved in that gear-shift, many of them economic, but he has also doubtless been influenced by seeing the value of experienced squad members at other clubs, like Manchester United. Â The influence of Thierry Henry during his brief return to the club doubtless also gave Arsene food for thought.
The possible arrival of Lukas Podolski
The latest on this is that Dave Woods of the Daily Star reports that Podolski has now undertaken and passed a medical for Arsenal. Â This would not surprise me, and it’s worth noting that the Star are very close to certain influential members of the Arsenal hierarchy. Â It seems that whilst there are a few details of the transfer to iron out, Koln, Arsenal and Podolski all seem to have a determination for the deal to be done.
It’s hard to argue that this is anything but a good signing.  A fee of little over £10m for a player with almost 100 caps for Germany is extraordinary business.  Anyone who has seen Podolski play for Germany will have admired his pace, finishing, and ability to break quickly from the left-flank.  This season, he’s been in great goalscoring form, and after an ill-fated spell at Bayern Munich a few years back will be determined to make his mark at a big European club.
At 26, he is another example of the shifting age profile of Arsene’s signings. Â Should the deal be completed he’ll add another finisher to the squad – something that the likes of Marouane Chamakh and Ju-Young Park have been unable to provide.
The future of Robin van Persie
Some have speculated that Podolski could be arriving as a replacement for Robin van Persie. Â That is certainly not Arsene’s plan. Â The club will make every effort to keep Van Persie, and hope to be able to deploy him alongside the German in our front three.
I can’t pretend to know what Robin will decide to do, but my gut tells me that if he feels Arsenal can challenge credibly for trophies in the next three years, he will stay. Â He loves the club, he loves the role of captain, and he wants to make it work. Â His decision will be influenced more by ambition than by money: Arsenal will be happy to make him the highest-paid player in their history.
Jan Vertonghen
The Times are reporting that Spurs are about to beat Arsenal to the signing of this Belgian defender. Â Good luck to them: my information is that Arsenal are not interested in signing a centre-half this summer. Â Whilst I don’t doubt we have kept a watchful eye on a talent like Vertonghen, Arsene currently believes the quartet of Koscielny, Vermaelen, Mertesacker and Djourou, with Miquel and Song available as back-up, is strong enough. Â And I’d be inclined to agree.
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Right, that’s yer lot. Â Now back to the football.
February 29th, 2012
Greetings, one and all.  I’ve been so busy of late that a midweek blog has become something of an unaffordable luxury.  However, with the horrors of Internationals upon us, I reckon it’s probably best that we huddle together and warm ourselves by a reassuring, Arsenal-flavoured fire.
I don’t know what percentage of the readers of this blog follow me on twitter.  If you don’t yet and are considering it, abandon that plan:  I will only stress you out, as I seem to have devolved in to the football fan equivalent of Chicken Licken.  In the last  48 hours I have stated, on separate occasions and with a worrying degree of certainty, that Robin van Persie and Mikel Arteta were both suspended for the game at Anfield, and that Van Persie had picked up an injury in training with Holland.  On each occasion, I was incorrect: the fact that Arteta and RVP have reached five yellow cards ceased to be relevant after December 31st, and the decision to let Van Persie sit out training with Holland last night was predominantly precautionary.  The sky, it seems, is not falling after all.  Apologies: I shall endeavour to be more thorough in the future.
Of course, we’ll still all be praying that RVP and others come through tonight’s internationals unscathed. Â We have a massive game at Anfield on Saturday morning, and to be without the Dutchman in particular would be an enormous blow. Â There’s rather a nice piece by Henry Winter here which makes clear his importance to the club. Â Some papers have attempted to attach some drama to the fact that Van Persie will not enter in to discussions about a contract renewal until the end of the season. Â To most Arsenal fans, however, it comes as no surprise. Â Van Persie will want to know whether or not Arsenal will be competing in the Champions League, and in the interim one cannot question his absolute commitment to making that happen. Â When those talks do happen, I don’t doubt that Arsene and Ivan will attempt to throw money at the problem by offering Robin a very competitive contract. Â In some respects, they’d be better throwing it elsewhere: what’s most likely to keep him is a competitive Arsenal team.
Perhaps one of the summer recruits will be Lukasz Podolski. Â German tabloid Bild claims the player has decided that his future lies with Arsenal – the sole obstacle is for the two clubs to agree a fee. Â Knowing us, that remains rather a big obstacle, and the article itself seems speculative at best. Â Let’s wait and see on this one.
A bit of good news to end with: Andre Santos has said on Twitter that he expects to be back playing in the next fortnight. Â That’s a huge boost for us – prior to his injury, his form was outstanding. Â Although Kieran Gibbs recovered from a shaky start to have a strong second half against Spurs, for me Santos is a superior player, and certainly provides a more experienced option at left-back. Â When Santos returns, we’ll discover if Arsene sees it the same way – if, that is, Gibbs can stay fit long enough to make Arsene have to choose.
Right, that’s all from me. Enjoy your Wednesday.
November 29th, 2011
A draw against opposition of Man City’s calibre in the Quarter-Finals of the Carling Cup presented Arsene with something of a selection dilemma. Arsene may have been toying with the idea of including some of the first-team in tonight’s tie. A somewhat lacklustre display against Fulham at the weekend will have banished that thought from his mind. He’ll want to give the regulars a rest, so it’ll be a combination of reserves and youngsters on display tonight.
At his press conference yesterday, Arsene said:
“I believe that some players are on the fringe of being really limited. I will rest some players but I still want to play a team that has a chance to win the game. For example, players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Emmanuel Frimpong will play but I consider them to be first-team players. I have 90% decided. There is still 10% flexibility.”
Those two are likely to be joined by fellow Young Guns Francis Coquelin and Ignasi Miquel. Experience will come from the likes of Lukasz Fabianski, Johan Djourou, Sebastien Squillaci, and Park Chu-Young.
Yossi Benayoun will also be afforded a rare start, and the manager has moved to praise a player whose opportunities have been limited by competition:
“He has been absolutely fantastic but we have so much choice in midfield and we play with three strikers.
The chances for the midfielders are not so big and that’s why he has not played as much as he deserves.”
Benayoun’s versatility and work ethic make him a really useful option both from the bench and when Arsene sees fit to rotate. His age and pay packet mean he’s unlikely to be offered a permanent deal at the end of this season, but that only makes his professionalism in the mean-time all the more commendable.
Abou Diaby will also play, making his first start of the season. We’ve been here so many times before that it’s difficult to get too excited about his latest comeback. One feels that a good performance would only signal another false dawn before his problematic ankle returns to plague him. I think we just have to accept that his will be a career dogged by injuries, and enjoy the fleeting glimpses we do see of a player who is undeniably talented. If we use him sparingly he could be an excellent option over the winter months, and allow the likes of Arteta and Ramsey a well-deserved rest.
UPDATE: I’m being told Diaby is in fact already injured again. So more his latest setback than latest comeback. Dear dear.
City will rest players too, but their absurdly bloated squad will mean that they’ll have plenty of talent at their disposal. The likes of Kolo Toure, Nigel De Jong, Adam Johnson and Edin Dzeko were all on the bench on Sunday and should start tonight.
In other matters, Matt Law of The Express says Arsenal were scouting Lukas Podolski at the weekend. Podolski’s versatility makes him an intriguing option, and he’d provide more prolific back-up for Robin van Persie than either Chamakh or Park. However, Raphael Hongistein swiftly pointed out that confirmed Arsenal target Marco Reus was also playing in the game, so perhaps he was the main object of our attention.
Finally, thanks to Charlton Athletic (featuring Ian Wright’s son, Bradley) for beating Huddersfield last night and thus ending their unbeaten run at 43 games. Our 49-game streak remains intact, and the Invincibles remain immortal.
Right. Very little would be funnier than seeing our Reserves beat moneybags Man City. So Come On You Gunners.
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