Wenger: “N’Zonzi is a good player”
2 comments May 1st, 2010
Steve N’Zonzi is a 6ft-plus French midfielder of African descent. A link with Arsenal, along with some nonsense suggestion that he’s the “new Patrick Vieira”, was simply a matter of time.
Predictable too that such a link should come to the fore in the week we face Blackburn. Asked about it in his weekly Arsenal.com interview, Arsene said:
“He is a good player, but we are linked with so many players that I can’t deny every wrong rumour. At the moment we are not on any case in a concrete way.”
That’s something of a contrary statement to his declaration that talks with potential targets were already underway. I suppose all that shows is that anything Arsene says about transfers ought to be taken with a pinch of salt. The specifics are simply too important to be made public.
Rest easy, however. He’s got it under control:
“The supporters have to trust us. Historically we have done well. We bought Vermaelen when nobody knew him, and now he is in the Team of the Year. We will as always try to be intelligent and sensible and take care of this club in the right way.”
Arsene admitted, too, that certain players will leave to make way for new signings:
“One or two will go out, but the first target is to keep the squad together.”
The manager has also reiterated that it is defensively where he feels we most need to improve:
“If you assess our situation, going forwards we have been very, very efficient – our goalscoring rate is very good. Where we want to set ourselves a target next season is we have conceded nearly 40 goals – that is too many to win the championship and is where we want to improve.”
I just hope he realises that the problem is as much one of attitude and organisation as one of not having the right individuals. Serious work must go in on the training ground, and if that means bringing back an Adams or a Keown to drill the back four, so much the better.
The Arsenal.com site has taken the unusual step of publishing quotes from Andrey Arshavin that were originally given to Russian paper Sport Express:
“I respect the club and I am happy that I am a part of it. I am very grateful to the Arsenal fans, who love me. I am often translated wrongly. If I talk to the English press, there is no problem but when I say something in Russia, some special news agency takes it, translates it and sells these quotes. During the process of interpretation they translate my words as they see fit. I find this unpleasant because people might think I said something that, in fact, I never said.”
One can only hope that Arsene’s strong words on Thursday will teach Arshavin to bite his tongue a little more often. Let’s not forget that we rescued him from a difficult situation at Zenit, doing a deal that made him our record signing when all odds were against us.
Other than that there isn’t much about. Enjoy your bank holiday weekends!
