Arsenal must beg Mikael Silvestre to come back immediately
195 comments August 27th, 2010
It’s a headline that requires an explanation. However, to instill the blog with an element of suspense, as well as to force you to read the rest of my drivel, I’ll make you wait for it.
This morning, Arsenal.com announced the signing of Sebastien Squillaci from Sevilla. It was odd timing: Arsene had already let the cat out of the bin in his press conference yesterday. After Arsene confirmed the deal, Arsenal.com failed to make any mention of it, withdrawing their video coverage of the press conference and putting their fingers in their ears until this morning’s press release. Why the delay? Who knows. Perhaps the work experience boy hadn’t yet put together the factfile. Perhaps Squillaci hadn’t had the obligatory photos with the number 18 shirt made infamous by Cygan and Silvestre. Either way, he’s here now, and he has the eyes of a deranged mentalist.
It’s the old “long-term contract/undisclosed fee” combo, though John Cross quotes Arsene here as saying we got him for just €4m, which is an absolute steal. He’s a France international with Champions League experience. And he’s making all the right noises too – namely guttural, aggressive ones. When Koscielny signed he talked about the weakest aspect of his game being his physical strength. Squillaci has no such concerns:
“Yes, I do like the duels. I feel it is one of my qualities and here in England there are many duels and it is good to be able to respond physically.”
Arsene says the signing offers us “some variation at the back”, which suggests he might be preparing to chop and change the centre-backs depending on the opposition. For what it’s worth, an informed fan of French football told me that he rates Squillaci way above Koscielny. He described Arsenal signing Koscielny, a player with just one top flight season under his belt, as a “big shock”, comparing it to a European giant like Barcelona making a move for Birmingham’s Scott Dann. Squillaci, meanwhile, has an established reputation as a reliable defender. I think he could make himself first choice fairly quickly.
Despite training with the first team this morning, he’s not available for the game with Blackburn tomorrow, so Koscielny is due to start alongside Vermaelen.
The other big news yesterday was that of the Champions League draw – we’re grouped with Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting Braga and Partizan Belgrade. Apart from the length of a couple of the away trips, we couldn’t have hoped for a more favourable group. Nice too that Eduardo, newly of Shakhtar, will have a chance to bid farewell to the Emirates Stadium. He’s started well in the Ukraine, scoring twice in his first three games, so I think we can pretty much guarantee he’ll knock several past us. This is the law of the sod.
Spurs, meanwhile, must face Inter Milan, FC Twente, and Werder Bremen. At first glance, it’s exactly the sort of tricky group you’d want them to have. Until, in a moment that resulted in me involuntarily vomiting my heart out on to the desktop in front of me, I read the following headline: Mikael Silvestre on brink of joining Werder Bremen.
This must not be allowed to happen. Spurs vs. Werder Bremen is an evenly-matched game in which Tottenham stand every chance of losing. Spurs vs. any side including Mikael Silvestre is, comparatively, a disaster. Silvestre makes the Young Boys look mature. And he’d make Tottenham look good. Let’s sign him now, and play him in goal or something. If he is playing for Bremen, Spurs will have a field day.
Blackburn Preview tomorrow.
