Archive for August, 2010
August 24th, 2010
Sebastien Squillaci arrived in London for his medical yesterday. In the light of our recent injury problems, we’re obviously being particularly stringent about the fitness of any prospective signings, as the deal is not yet done. I had been waiting to see if we made an announcement this morning before blogging, but I’ve run out of patience.
Despite the delay, Squillaci has been talking about the impending move:
“If a French player receives an offer from Arsène Wenger, it’s practically impossible to turn down. It was a sensational offer for me and I was happy Sevilla let me go. It was a difficult situation but I knew I had to take this chance. I knew if I played against Braga then I would not have been able to play for Arsenal in the Champions League.
Arsenal were always the team I watched out for. For any spectator like me, you had to watch a squad with [Thierry] Henry, [Robert] Pirès, [Patrick] Vieira and [William] Gallas. Now, I’m happy to have my name in the history books. For me, this is a great new challenge and I’ve gone there purely to be part of that.
I don’t think my age is a problem. My experience in football is great and players of my age tend to be at the peak of their playing career.”
Sevilla were unhappy with the way the player engineered the move, but at the end of the day a fee was agreed very quickly and the deal has been relatively painless for all parties. I’ve been speaking to some French footy fans about Squillaci, and I’ll divulge the details of those conversations when the transfer is completed.
Andrey Arshavin has been doing the media rounds, and there’s a long interview with him on Talksport here,in which he discusses Theo Walcott’s form and why he’s not afraid of bears. Talking to Sky in a chat which will be televised before the Blackburn game on Saturday, he admits he is still one or two kilos overweight. I thought his performance against Blackpool showed signs of improvement, and hopefully he can build on that as the season progresses. And, y’know, shed those love handles.
Nicklas Bendtner, Arshavin’s extrovert pal, has sacked his Danish specialist physio and labelled him a “self-publicist”. Bendtner will now continue his rehab with the Arsenal fitness team.
Henri Lansbury is due to join Swansea on loan, and judging by the quotes from Brendan Rodgers they’re already hoping for a permanent move. I think Lansbury still has a future at Arsenal, but to get the experience he needs a temporary move makes the most sense.
Right. Think that’s it from me for now. Bit of a midweek lull.
August 23rd, 2010
Arsenal 6 – 0 Blackpool (Walcott 12, 40, 58, Arshavin 32 (pen), Diaby 49, Chamakh 83)
Highlights | Match Report | Arsene’s reaction
Apologies for the delay in getting my thoughts to you. Paradoxically, a disappointing performance is often easier to write. A great win, like Saturday’s, can require a little more thought.
That was the best performance of Theo Walcott’s career.
His hatrick in Zagreb was bizarre in that, goals aside, he was barely in the game. On Saturday he was everywhere, zipping past defenders and laying on chances at will. His finishing was as composed as it’s ever been, and his goals will push him almost a third of the way towards his season target of double figures.
For the first-time, he looked like a striker.
Not for the whole game – he spent most of it on the wing and was devastatingly effective in that role. But at one point in the second half, he swapped positions with Chamakh. Receiving a pass from Jack Wilshere, he took the ball with his back to goal, span on a sixpence, and fired it underneath the goalkeeper. It was a centre-forward’s goal.
Although both Arsene and Theo clearly he believe that’ll be his eventual default position, I’m less convinced. However, when you play a front three it’s vital for them to be able to interchange and switch during the game. Theo’s increasing strength on the ball gives us that option.
There is, however, a caveat.
At the risk of going all Alan Hansen on you, it is worth pointing out the nature of Saturday’s opposition – not only do Blackpool lack defensively sound personnel, but they also throw men forward in a kamikaze fashion. Stephen Crainey, Blackpool’s left-back and the man ostensibly assigned to stop Theo, spent most of the game bombing on in to the Arsenal half – even once Blackpool were down to ten men.
The sending off ended the game as a contest.
The foul looked outside the box to me, which made the double award of penalty and red card particularly cruel. Until that point, Blackpool had threatened going forward, and Gary Taylor-Fletcher missed a terrific chance to pull things back to 1-1.
Tomas Rosicky was outstanding in central midfield.
If you watch the highlights linked above, you’ll see that Rosicky was at the heart of everything we produced. He linked well with Chamakh, brought some good moments out of the mercurial Arshavin, and generally was a buzzing hub of creativity. We’re extremely fortunate to have such a talented footballer as our third choice attacking midfielder behind Cesc and Nasri.
Chamakh needed that first goal.
He missed a couple of good chances in the game, twice sidefooting tamely when played in by Walcott and shinning the ball over when sliding in to a meet a teasing Arshavin cross. His goal, however, showed exactly why we’d signed him: a towering downward header from a Van Persie corner. His workrate and intelligent movement are not in question, but hopefully he can take advantage of the many opportunities he’ll get in this Arsenal side to evolve in to a goalscorer as well as a focal point for the team.
Squillaci can’t arrive too soon.
Johan Djourou was only deemed fit enough for the bench, which meant we were forced to play Alex Song at centre-half. The fact is that Djourou has been out for the best part of 15 months – he’s going to pick up knocks and niggles. Song is a midfielder, and Koscielny is lacking top level experience, having played just one season in Ligue 1.
All of that makes the news that Sebastien Squillaci has jetted in for an Arsenal medical all the more promising. A fee of £5.3m for an established international defender looks, on paper, to be great business. I’ve got plenty more to say about this if and when it happens. Hopefully we’ll hear something by the end of the day.
After that, all focus has to be on securing Schwarzer.
The Aussie keeper was left out of Fulham’s squad again yesterday, and is clearly available – at the right price. Arsenal must up their bid and secure the deal: Schwarzer, Koscielny, Squillaci and Chamkh would have to be regarded as a decent summer’s spending. The interest in Schwarzer has destabilised our current keepers and, if anything, made their confidence drop even further. £3m or so is a small price to pay to avert the risk of ending up in a worse position than we started. Get it done, Arsene.
August 21st, 2010
It never feels like a season has really started until we play our first home game. Today we face Blackpool, and despite their impressive start, only a win will be good enough.
Manuel Almunia will start in goal despite Arsene’s refusal to quell speculation about his intention to bring in a replacement:
“It has been unsettling. It is a very sensitive subject which is difficult for me to talk about.
You can understand that he is unsettled by that situation but on the other hand, when you play at Arsenal, that’s what you have to deal with. You have to be strong enough to deal with that and I believe he is.”
Whilst it’s obvious to all and sundry that Arsenal are trying to bring Mark Schwarzer in, Fulham’s claim that we’re “unsettling” the player is absurd. As Arsene points out in that article, we have never commented on our interest. For now, however, Almunia will continue. Let’s hope he’s not too distracted by his impending displacement.
At the back, Johan Djourou will come in for the suspended Laurent Koscielny to join Sagna, Vermaelen and Clichy. Whilst we’re on the defence, Arsene admitted we were looking at Sebastien Squillaci, though suggested the deal was in its infancy.
In midfield, the big news is the return to the squad of Cesc Fabregas. Alex Song is also available, and both could start alongside Abou Diaby.
I expect Robin van Persie to begin on the bench again, with Marouane Chamakh joined upfront by Andrey Arshavin and Theo Walcott. However, after his impressive cameo last week, Tomas Rosicky will be pushing for a starting spot.
It’s a Saturday 3pm kickoff, and we’ll be wearing red shirts with white sleeves.
The East Stand is Back.
The West Stand is Back.
The Clock End, with accompanying clock, is Back.
The North Bank is Back.
Come On You Gunners.
August 20th, 2010
Hello all. I write this blog from aboard a train from Edinburgh down to London. As I speak, I appear to be passing through some dank, uninhabited highland wilderness, wherein WIFI and 3G as absent as any other recognisable signs of civilisation. I think it’s called ‘Newcastle’. For that reason, I will not be able to stretch my limited connection to go in search of links to substantiate today’s blog. If I tell you something, you’ll just have to take my word for it. Frightening, I know.
We start with the news that Emmanuel Frimpong has been ruled out for six to nine months with a knee injury. It’s a blow to the player, first and foremost – after an impressive pre-season he had jumped ahead of Craig Eastmond in the queue for first-team places. Arsene even suggested that the emergence of Frimpong, as well as Wilshere, is what stopped him from signing another midfielder.
I don’t expect that policy to change now that Frimpong is injured. Cup competitions aside, I suspect he would only have played in the absence of Song, Diaby and Denilson. Hopefully he recovers swiftly and without complications, and with any luck we’ll see him in action again before the season is out.
Fulham have rejected a second Arsenal bid for Mark Schwarzer, after we failed to increase our initial offer of £2m. I wonder how and why we thought that might turn out any differently. Do you think we presented it differently? Maybe we offered them 200,000,000 pence, and thought they’d be gulled by that great long list of zeros.
It’s a similar state of affairs in our move to sign Sebastien Squillaci, with Sevilla reportedly holding out for £6m as we refuse to budge beyond about £4m. Brinkmanship is, as ever, the hallmark of our transfer window antics.
Finally today, William Gallas is due to undergo a medical ahead of signing for Spurs. It’s a controversial move, but I think we should be clear about one thing: it is not in the league of Sol Campbell’s switch from Spurs to Arsenal. Campbell was a Spurs hero, whereas Gallas spent much of his time at Arsenal as a pariah. It’s not even as controversial as Gallas’ initial switch from Chelsea. I won’t be booing him with much force because this isn’t a betrayal: I knew he was a mercenary when we signed him, and he’s only confirmed that.
Right. Gonna call it a day there. Bye for now.
August 19th, 2010
Everyone knows Arsenal need a new centre-back. With Campbell, Gallas and Silvestre having departed this summer, it’s essential we recruit a defender with some experience. Last night, we moved closer to finding out who that might be, when French TV station Canal+ Sport reported that France international Sebastien Squillaci is “very very close” to joining Arsenal. The reports were then lent substance by Squillaci’s absence from Sevilla’s team to face Braga in their Champions League qualifier. This morning, a statement has emerged from Sevilla, confirming negotiations are taking place:
“Sébastien Squillaci’s future is in the air. As was confirmed by sporting director Ramón RodrÃguez at the airport in Porto, the club have received an offer from Arsenal. The player asked coaches not to play him in the match.”
The deal is far from done – our offer is currently described as “insufficient” – but with Sevilla willing to leave the player out of a vital qualifier, one suspects an agreement can’t be far away.
Squillaci is thirty years old, and stands at 6’1″. He’s French, and has a history of injury problems. It sounds like a done deal.
In seriousness, here is a defender with twenty France caps. A guy who has won two French titles, a Copa del Rey, and been a Champions League finallist. It’s an impressive CV, and he’d certainly enhance the squad.
He doesn’t, however, have the credentials to come in and become an automatic first-choice: he has no experience of the Premier League, for one thing. If he does arrive, he’ll be competing with Koscielny and Djourou to be first choice alongside Vermaelen.
That could be no bad thing. A bit of genuine competition might bring the best out of our crop of centre-halves. We urgently need a centre-back: if Arsene thinks Squillaci is the man, I’m prepared to back him.
The move will be in part funded by a couple of departures: Jay Simpson is on the verge of signing for Hull (may God forgive his soul), whilst Armand Traore looks set to join Benfica. Simpson has been on his way out of the club for some time, and will cost The Tigers around £1m. Traore, meanwhile, will fetch a none-too-shabby £3.2m, and leaves in search of first team football having fallen behind Gael Clichy and Kieran Gibbs in the pecking order. Good luck to the pair of them.
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