Yesterday Arsenal romped to a 7-1 victory over a side that fielded a player in his mid-forties. A host of players made their return to the squad and there were braces for Aaron Ramsey, Nicklas Bendtner, and Robin van Persie, as well as a headed goal from William Gallas. You can catch the highlights at the ever reliable 101greatgoals.
In both halves, the formation was similar: a 4-4-1-1, with Andrey Arshavin positioned deep and to the left of first Nicklas Bendtner then Robin van Persie. I wonder if we might be seeing a lot of that next season. Other than that, Aaron Ramsey looked impressive and central midfield and the defensive partnership of Thomas Vermaelen and Johan Djourou seemed very balanced.
I’m writing this up in between bits of work and it seems to be dragging on forever. I think I started this blog post about three hours ago, so I’d probably better put it out of my misery.
One man absent yesterday was Samir Nasri, who broke his right fibula in a training ground accident. It’s a painful one for Nasri and frustrating for him that he’ll miss the next two or three months, but this isn’t the hammer blow to our chances some would have you believe. Nasri is undoubtedly a good player, but when it comes to attacking, creative players, our cup runneth over. Andrey Arshavin, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky, Jack Wilshere, and even the man who reportedly caused Nasri’s injury, Abou Diaby, are all able to step into the breach and replace him.
The other Nasri might have been deployed in is defensive midfield – and if this injury sparks Arsene into bringing another holding player in, then so much the better, frankly.
Not you, former Gunner and now Hleb’s fellow idiotic bench warmer. Your views don’t count.
It is a little cruel, but you have to laugh at Hleb’s lamentations about his decision to move to Barcelona. What makes it even funnier is that we don’t miss him one bit, having replaced him with two players (Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri) who are arguably superior. It’s becoming quite the maxim, but not many players leave Arsenal and prosper. Emmanuel Adebayor: you have been warned.
Arseblogger references a radio appearance last night by journalist Xavier Rivoire, who claims Gilles Grimandi informed him that Marouane Chamakh would be making a widely-expected move to Arsenal. I feel like I’ve talked about this player enough, really. Also, his name still sounds like an onomatopoeiac term for a duck’s sneeze. Not that that’s a reason not to sign him – if anything, the opposite is true.
Last night an ‘Arsenal XI’ won 3-2 at Lincoln with goals from Gilles Sunu, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, and Luke Ayling. The likes of JET, Coquelin, Sanchez Watt, Barazite and Simpson all played – I wonder if this means they won’t be at the training camp in Austria.
Arsenal play a friendly this evening against SC Columbia Floridsdorf, an Austrian side not to be confused with Colombia the country or Columbia the American city. The match will be shown live on ArsenalTVOnline, who had advertised their screening of four pre-season games as a “FOURsome offering”. Clever, eh. However, with just three games to go, their main banner is calling the triple-offering “THREEmendous”.
Now, that just doesn’t work. After the delay in announcing Adebayor, this debacle is the final straw. I’m boycotting Arsenal.com (until 5:30pm GMT, when the match starts.)
With Emmanuel Adebayor having departed, we’re bound to spend the next few days being inundated with links to unheard of Franco-African strikers. In an attempt to get ahead of that particular game, Gunnerblog brings you a few of the names we’ve heard banded around already, and a couple we haven’t:
Marouane Chamakh, Bordeaux Most of the press seem to be assuming this is a done deal, and certainly French journo Philippe Auclair was declaring just that a few weeks back. On paper it makes sense: Chamakh has just been a key component in Bordeaux’s title-winning side, and whilst not prolific he is hard-working, good in the air, and has a deft touch. Arsene has admitted publically on more than one occasion that Chamakh is a player that interests him, and with just one year remaining on his current contract the Morroccan seems primed for a move.
And yet, are we forgetting the golden rule of Arsene’s transfer policy: that as soon as he admits an interest in a player it’s almost guaranteed he won’t sign? At a club where silence is most certainly regarded as golden, a public declaration of interest is usually the death knell for any potential deal, and now it seems Chamakh knows it too. With Sunderland, Blackburn, and apparently even Spurs lurking, I can’t help but feel that were Arsene’s interest genuine he would have made it concrete by now.
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Real Madrid
One of the stranger sights at Saturday’s friendly against Barnet was man in a brand new Arsenal top with “Huntelaar 25” emblazoned on the back. Unless the man in question’s name was actually Mr. Huntelaar, I can’t help but feel he’s going to be disappointed: despite the Dutchman’s finishing prowess the touted £17m seems too steep a price. Huntelaar, like Chamakh, is now being linked with Harry Redknapp’s Spurs. Presumably Steve Bruce and Sunderland will be interested too: those managers seem to do fairly well out of picking up players Arsene is interested in but neglects to buy.
Andre-Pierre Gignac, Toulouse
Linked today by The Daily Mail, £15m-rated Gignac was Ligue 1’s top scorer last season. After Toulouse sold Johan Elmander to Bolton for some £10m (a deal known commonly in france as “La grande scandale hilariouse”) Gignac was promoted to goalscorer in chief, and he did not disappoint, ending the season in the Ligue 1 Team of the Season and as a full France international.
Lyon were interested before switching their attentions to Lisandro Lopez of Porto, and the player certainly fits Arsene’s typical bill: young, French, and almost unheard of. That said, Toulouse are known for driving a hard bargain, and I can’t see Le Boss splashing out millions on a player who could yet be a one-season wonder.
Gomis’s stock is lower than it has been for some time, and inevitably that means his price will be lower too. With Saint-Etienne reportedly reading to sell for anything north of €10m, the 23-year old Gomis might be a gamble Arsene considers worth taking.Â
Demba Ba, Hoffenheim
Hoffenheim is a club built on the Arsenal model: they sign young, often African talent and build a team of counter-attacking athletes. Demba Ba, the Senegal striker, is a perfect illustration of this, and one of the Bundeliga’s most feared marksmen. Tall, powerful, and very quick, Ba has all the characteristics that we require from our new frontman, and the signings of Jens Lehmann, Tomas Rosicky and Aleksandr Hleb demonstrate Arsene’s willingness to recruit from the German league. Hoffenheim, however, are backed by a rich owner and have no need to sell. Were we interested, he wouldn’t come cheap.
Luis Fabiano, Sevilla
Luis Fabiano, being Brazilian, is often unfairly compared to his predecessors in that yellow number nine shirt: no-one comes off well in a straight fight with the original (and slimmer) Ronaldo. Fabiano does, however, compare well with just about every other striker going on the continent.
A pure finisher in the Samuel Eto’o mould, Fabiano is currently AC Milan’s principle target, but after the Italians refused to up their bid from €13m it seems that deal is at a standstill. An offer of €16m or so would reportedly prompt a warmer response from Sevilla. Fabiano is in his late twenties: somewhat old for an Arsene signing, but if the manager decides we need more experience (as he did with Arshavin) than the Brazilian would be a great option.
Nicklas Bendtner… Arsenal, of course
Is this the most likely choice? Bendtner had an impressive end to last season, and ended with a none-too-shappy fifteen goals – just one shy of Adebayor’s final total. The Dane is similarly threatening in the air and arguably more intelligent in his build-up play, but lack’s Adebayor’s pace in behind. I admire Bendtner and think he could be relied upon to score 20+ goals were he to start most games, but my concern about our current selection of first-choice forwards (Van Persie, Eduardo, and Bendtner) is that they lack the searing speed to get beyond a back four. Adebayor gave Fabregas the option to look for the long ball over the top, whereas none of that trio do. Carlos Vela and Theo Walcott are both quick, but I don’t think either is ready to be relied upon as a regular starting striker.
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For the reasons just outlined, I’d like to see our current selection supplemented with another forward, for whom the primary considerations must be pace and power. Whether it’ll be any of the above remains to be seen. If the interest in Chamakh is real, then that deal could be done as early as this week.
We might yet have more money at our disposal if Myles Palmer is right about Kolo Toure heading to Man City. I do consider this a possibility, though I suspect it would only happen later in the window, were City to concede defeat in their pursuit of either John Terry or Joleon Lescott.
It’s fun to talk about strikers, but I would gladly cope without one if it meant we signed a high quality central midfielder. It’s obvious they’re at an absolute premium right now: just a year ago Xabi Alonso was talked of in the £14m bracket – now he’s valued at something closer to £35m.
Still, if anyone can pluck a bargain from the big hat of world football, it’s Arsene. Let’s wait and see.
I imagine this post will pick up a fair amount of traffic from Manchester City fans googling “Adebayor barnet” in an attempt to emulate their new striker’s elaborate hair-do. Alas, I cannot help you, other than to suggest cutting your braided hair with one of these bad boys.
Adebayor is a better player than Santa Cruz and I think he’ll do OK at City. The important thing is to use the funds they’ve given us to reinvest in the squad and make sure we stay ahead of them.
It won’t surprise you to learn that Arsene doesn’t sound eager to spend the money, bizarrely citing the availability of “Thomas Bendtner” as a reason to not increase our striking options. It’s interesting: in several interviews of late Arsene has failed to mention Carlos Vela as a striking option. Is that because he sees his future on the wing, or is the Mexican going to get sent out on loan to pick up some much-needed experience?
Arsene did admit an interest in Marouane Chamakh, and with the player set to be offered a new deal by Bordeaux that story could come to a head next week. I do wonder, though: Arsene declaring an interest in a player, un-prompted, is usually a sure sign we won’t buy them. Tomorrow I’ll be looking at other alternatives to replace Adebayor.
Yesterday our pre-season got underway with a 2-2 draw at Barnet, and you can see the highlights here: our first was a tap-in from Andrey Arshavin (who was puffed out after the first five minutes), and the second a sumptous curler from Nacer Barazite. I would get all excited about Barazite, but this is the third year running he’s scored a good goal in this fixture only to fail to make an impact in the coming season.
The real highlight was the return or Tomas Rosicky, who was skipper and came through some heavy challenges unscathed in his 45-minute comeback. It must have been a great feeling for him, and his every touch was met with cheers. Hopefully he can build on this throughout pre-season and be, as Arsene would no doubt say, like a new signing.
Thomas Vermaelen made his debut looked like a player who enjoyed a physical challenge, whilst both Philippe Senderos and Armand Traore are absent: the pair look likely to leave, though whether that’s permanently or on loan remains to be seen.
So, come back tomorrow for notes on who might replace Adebayor – if anyone…
Most of the press seem to be assuming this is a done deal, and certainly French journo Philippe Auclair was declaring just that a few weeks back. On paper it makes sense: Chamakh has just been a key component in Bordeaux’s title-winning side, and whilst not prolific he is hard-working, good in the air, and has a deft touch. Arsene has admitted publically on more than one occasion that Chamakh is a player that interests him, and with just one year remaining on his current contract the Morroccan seems primed for a move.
