July 6th, 2012
I’m not going to call this a blog. I’m going to call it a statement. I’m not going to publish it, I’m going to release it. This, it seems, is the new vogue. Less than 24 hours after Robin van Persie rocked the boat with his public declaration, Alisher Usmanov’s Red & White sought to tip it over with a few words of their own. As I said on Twitter: Robin turned on the fan; Usmanov’s arrival on the scene was the shit. Cue mess.
The statement, which arrived in the form of a public (or at the very least deliberately leaked letter) to Arsenal’s board members, can be read in its entirety here. If you haven’t yet, I suggest you give it a once over. At first glance, it’s stirring stuff: a vision of a debt-free club, able to compete for the most talented players and the most prestigious trophies. It’s a rallying cry to a disenfranchised fanbase to rise up, and put the sword to their indulgent, swan-eating stadium-building Etonian oppressors. But before you pick up your pitchfork and find a set of stocks perfectly sized to encase the round head of Ivan Gazidis, stay a while, for in my mind echoes the nasal voice of my GCSE History teacher, Mr. Kinder. He taught us about some of history’s greatest movements: the English civil War; the French Revolution; the American uprising. Whatever the setting, his mantra remained the same: “When assessing evidence, always consider the sourceâ€.
Now Mr. Kinder was a strange man. Very slightly built, and seemingly demure, but with the capacity for astonishing outbursts of anger. Imagine if Martin O’Neill was anaemic, and a teacher. But he did know a thing or too about history. Admittedly he knew almost nothing about football, but that’s not relevant in this instance.
He did know that when people say something they’ll often do so with a motive. And there was a word for that, I seem to remember. It was called ‘propaganda’. Propaganda, for those who did not have the benefit of Mr. Kinder’s guidance, is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of community toward some cause or position. And that’s exactly what Alisher Usmanov is trying to do.
I have to credit his PR people. They’ve managed to turn many fans’ opinions of him around entirely, from a predatory villain in to a red and white knight, say bestride what must an incredibly strong horse. He’s cleverly turning the debate from ‘Why not to support Usmanov’ to ‘Why should we support Kroenke?’, and it’s working in his favour.
I don’t quite buy it, though. My primary objection is this: Red & White state in their letter they “will never do anything that would destabilize or “create conflict” at the Clubâ€. And yet at this very moment in time that is exactly what they, like Robin, are doing.
Wherever you stand on Red & White and the current board, I’m sure we all agree that this kind of public bickering is altogether unseemly. Unfortunately I don’t expect it to end any time soon.
Here’s a quick run down of what else is happening in the Arsenalsphere:
_ The club have cancelled a planned trip to Nigeria this summer. It’s a big shame for our fans over there, who must rightly feel a little jealous of that fact we’re going to Asia for a second consecutive summer, but I’m sure the club will make sure we recognise our huge African fanbase sooner rather than later.
_ Terry Burton has been appointed as Reserve Team Manager and Head Development Coach, essentially taking on some of the duties previously belonging to Steve Bould and Neil Banfield. The guy is Arsenal through and through and everyone around the club tells he he’s perfect for the job. Here’s a nice story about how he helped Aaron Ramsey to turn down Manchester United and sign for us.
_ Denilson has extended his loan spell with Sao Paolo for a further twelve months. Nice guy though he is, it tells you a lot about the disproportionate amount of money he was being paid that an Arsenal that we’ve had such trouble moving him on. At the end of this loan spell, his contract will be just a year from expiry – it wouldn’t surprise me if we never receive any true transfer fee for him at all.
_ Finally for today, have a read of this from Robin van Persie in 2008. How things change.
July 5th, 2012
Gunnerblog has been going for eight years this month. When you’ve been writing a football blog for as long as that, you become acutely aware of the cyclical nature of sport: you constantly have to find new ways to describe ‘thrilling’ comebacks, ‘shock’ defeats, and ‘unexpected’ triumphs. You’re always wary of sounding like you’re repeating yourself, or treading on old ground.
As an Arsenal blogger, this is particularly difficult. Our seasons have, of late, had an air of ‘deja vu’ to them: a promising start followed be a painful collapse. At least last season had the good consideration to feature three or four collapses rather than one disastrous diminuendo.
There is one specific theme I’ve become accustomed to facing. At this point, it is tempting to copy and paste an article I’ve written focusing on Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, or Cesc Fabregas. Instead, I’ll try once again to find new words to describe the beginning of the end of a relationship between club, captain, and icon. Robin van Persie is leaving Arsenal football club.
It’s a bold statement, but one that is impossible to contest. Certain fans cling to the similarities between the statement Robin issued yesterday and the transfer request issued by Wayne Rooney in October 2012. Rooney’s turned out to be a posturing act, designed to force United to increase his pay packet. I’m afraid, as far as Robin is concerned, there are several key differences. In the first place, Rooney was a good deal further away from the end of his existing – United were in a far stronger position. Secondly, Robin has already made plain that this is not primarily about his wage. Thirdly, Rooney was never likely to move away from his native north-West; Robin has already showed a willingness to change scene. And lastly, the Englishman always knew his goals were achievable with United. The Dutchman plainly does not feel the same way about Arsenal. The most optimistic prognosis is that he stays for twelve months before departing on a Bosman, but for reasons I’ll go in to later, that seems infeasible. In all likelihood he’ll be off in a matter of weeks.
We can’t pretend to be surprised by that prospect. We all knew this was a possibility. And we’re used to it by now – the loss of a star player and a captain has become routine; like a shake shedding its skin we’re accustomed to building new teams, new heroes. What’s so disappointing about this year’s annual betrayal in the manner of it. After keeping his mouth shut during the Euros, at Arsenal’s behest, Van Persie has gone rogue and issued a full and damning statement. It’s a statement that damages the manager, the chief executive, and the club as a whole.
I can imagine the way Van Persie’s ‘people’ have sold it to him: “It’ll keep the fans onside; show them you share their concerns. People will appreciate your honesty”. I’m sorry to say that if he bought in to that he has been severely duped. This statement makes Van Persie’s position as captain, and at the club at all, untenable. There is no way back from this, and as such he’s immediately knocked a few million quid of any price Arsenal could hope to get for him. Â The buying club will know that, and will doubtless have told Van Persie that without such a statement, any transfer could falter.
He did, however, have other options. People criticised Cesc for his silence last summer, but it was one borne out of a respectful pact with Wenger, allowing the club to negotiate a marginally better, albeit only slightly, fee from Barcelona without the added pressure that would have been created by public statements from the player. Alternatively, an agent friend of mine told me yesterday it is common for a player to do a deal with his club whereby he maintains a public silence in exchange for a small percentage of his eventual fee. In speaking out so vehemently, Van Persie has set light to bridges built over eight eventful years.
The club’s response was swift but ultimately meaningless. To say we “expect” our captain to fulfil his contract moments after he has done something we plainly did not expect at all demonstrates our powerlessness.
For Robin to be so bold, I suspect he already has an agreement with his next club in place. My hunch is that it will be Manchester City: a club who will surely satiate his desire for trophies, as well as providing a huge payday for a player who is 29 next month and beset with injury problems.
Arsenal are left to pick up the pieces, yet again. Fortunately some of them are already in place: yesterday ought to have been a ‘good news’ day, as Lukas Podolski officially signed his contract to join Olivier Giroud at the club. Van Persie’s imminent departure puts enormous pressure on those two players to hit the ground not just running, but sprinting.
There will be plenty of fans and pundits in the next few days getting their violins out for Van Persie, telling us how such a great player ‘deserves’ the opportunity to pursue their goals elsewhere. I won’t shed a tear for him. I’m an Arsenal fan, and I love the club above any individual. If Van Persie was the fan he claims to be, he’d be staying and fighting to win something his our club, our team.
I think that’s the saddest part. Deep down, we all hoped Robin would be a footballing anomaly: the one player who put the love of a club before purchased trophies and piles of cash. The bitter truth is that at the end of it all, he was just like all the others.
June 27th, 2012
And so, Arsenal have confirmed the signing of France forward Olivier Giroud. Â It’s not yet July and we’ve already completed two major transfers. Â This is unusually proactive behaviour from Arsenal.
Arsene Wenger, who has made plenty of unofficial statements about the player already, officially said this:
“We are delighted to have secured the signing of Olivier Giroud. He has a very good physical presence and is exceptional in the air, with a great work ethic. We are excited about Olivier joining us and he will add an additional dimension to our attacking options next season.
He has proved that he is capable of performing at the top level with club and country, and we saw what a big influence he was in Montpellier’s championship-winning side last season. We all look forward to Olivier joining us and seeing him play in an Arsenal shirt.”
Giroud himself, meanwhile, is clearly delighted to have signed. Â Presumably it was the player’s strong desire to make the move that saw this deal tied up relatively quickly:
“I am delighted to be here at Arsenal and to be part of one of the great teams in English football. It’s a huge satisfaction to join this great club and it’s been a dream since I was young to play in the Premier League.
I was attracted by the philosophy of football and Arsène Wenger’s ‘touch’ at this club. I have always admired Arsenal with its great history and reputation, and I now hope to achieve great things here. I’m very proud to be a Gunner and I will give my best for all the Arsenal fans.”
We owe a debt to Giroud’s France and former Tours team-mate, Laurent Koscielny, who doubtless helped convince him of the upside to joining Arsenal.  We were aided too by a very reasonable release clause in Giroud’s contract, pricing him at around £13m – not bad for the top goalscorer in Ligue 1.
This remains a big step up for a man who was playing football in France’s second division a few years ago, but Koscielny has shown such a transition can be managed with talent and hard work. Â A quick glance at Giroud’s career record shows 93 goals in 216 games – not bad for someone deemed a slow starter.
He certainly has the qualities to make an impression in the Premier League: he’s tall, powerful and good in the air. His adaptation will probably be helped by the fact that he seems an intelligent guy: at Tours he was also undertaking a university degree, and made an impressive stand against homophobia in football whilst posing for a gay magazine.
Of course, there will be further question marks over how this signing relates to the future of Robin van Persie. Â The pair do share certain similarities: they both prefer to play in the central striking role, are both left-footed, and both enjoy taking the keeper by surprise by striking the ball early – often on the volley. Â However, I don’t take either Giroud’s arrival – or that of Lukas Podolski – as confirmation that RVP is off. Â Both signings were necessary to improve upon the efforts of Chamakh, Gervinho, Park and Arshavin last season. Â Both could play with RVP, and provide backup artillery if necessary. Â If, however, the worst comes to the worst and Van Persie is sold this summer, at least we’ve begun the job of replacing him a good while before 5pm on transfer deadline day.
We’re taking more control of our fate, and not letting one player determine our entire summer transfer policy. Â Makes a change, that.
June 22nd, 2012
When even Arsene Wenger is prepared to talk publicly about a transfer, you can be pretty sure it’s a done deal. Â Yesterday, in an interview with TF1, he confirmed that France striker Olivier Giroud is “90%” certain to be an Arsenal player next season. Â Arsene continued to eulogise over his forthcoming signing, saying:
“I think he has exceptional potential and will integrate very well in our collective and our way of playing. He’s a real team player and knows how to combine with other players and I’m sure he will do well with us.â€
He also had some positive words for Lukas Podolski, who is likely to start for Germany in their Quarter-Final with Greece tonight:
“Podolski did a great job for the German team, he has superb team work. He plays in a cautious way sometimes, but he’s still scored a very important goal against Denmark for his 100th cap.
I am very happy with what I’ve seen from him.â€
He sounds like a kid on Christmas morn who can’t wait unwrap his new presents. Â Arsene loves signing a striker, and next season he’ll have some proper ones to play with after a campaign making do with Chamakh and Park. Â Hopefully he’s corrected his error there, and these strikers are ones actually capable of both playing matches and scoring the occasional goal.
Of course, I can’t help but notice that at a time when the future of Robin van Persie is in so much doubt, we’ve bought two left-footed strikers. Â The other day Arsene bet a reporter an ice-cream that RVP wouldn’t sign for Juve – hardly ‘putting his house on it’. Â It would be quick to put two and two together and infer the worst. Â However, there’s no point worrying: if Robin signs a new deal, we’ve got a terrific set of strikers. Â If he goes, at least we’ve begun the job of replacing him, avoiding the horror of a last-minute trolley dash. Â And if he stays and sees out his deal, that will give the new boys plenty of time to settle in, and for Arsene to assess what further action might need to be taken.
By the way, that distant fanfare you can hear is not a premature welcome for Giroud, but one heralding the return of Denilson. Â I can already see an orderly queue forming at the club shop as fans wait to get their new shirt printed with his name. Â Not his squad number, though, as he doesn’t have one. Â If Denilson does return I can only imagine it will be for a short while, with Spain a probably destination – although the Spanish club that showed most interest for him last summer have since been relegated.
We might just be stuck with him.
June 21st, 2012
My cry last night shook Islington. Â Euro 2012 has been a veritable feast of football, then last night the waiter inexplicably stopped bringing delicacies to my table. Â I had to watch Channel 4’s Secret Eaters. Â Pity me.
At least my abstinence has had the effect of making me disproportionately excited for the Czech Republic vs Portugal later this evening – so much so I’ve even had a flutter with FREEbets.org.uk. Â Tomas Rosicky is unlikely to be fit to play, and that’s a significant blow for a Czech side I count as a little fortunate to get out of Group A. Â The Quarter-Finals are shaping up nicely: England face Italy, whilst the tie of the round is surely France versus Spain, with Laurent Koscielny expected to start in place of the suspended Philippe Mexes.
Koscielny’s France team-mate, Olivier Giroud, curtly told reports yesterday that he has “not signed for Arsenal”, although I still expect him to shortly after France’s probably elimination on Saturday. Â His arrival will edge Nicklas Bendtner and Marouane Chamakh closer towards the exit door, although finding clubs who can afford to a) take the gamble of signing players with intermittent form and b) pay their wages won’t be easy.
Speaking of wages, I see Mathieu Flamini has been ‘released’ by AC Milan. Â Some Arsenal fans have taken the opportunity to have a bit of a chuckle at Mathieu’s expense, but I think they’re missing the point: Flamini is a serial bosman mover. Â He ran down his contract at Marseille, did the same at Arsenal, and has now completed a hatrick with Milan. Â When he eventually retires, he’ll be a very rich man indeed.
Hmm. Â That’s about it for today. Â There’s not much happening, I suppose. Â At least the Euros are on tonight.
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