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July 16th, 2011
Morning all from a very rainy London. In about 45 minutes time, Arsenal will kick off a friendly against Chinese outfit Hangzhou Greentown. Apparently weather conditions there are much the same – according to journalist John Cross, it’s so bad the roof is leaking.
Nevertheless, I’m sure the Chinese fans will be in good spirits. The degree of support we’ve seen from fans born thousands of miles away has been really heartwarming. They also put our British banner-making skills to shame. Have a butchers at this rather spectacular offering:
Jeremy Wilson of the Telegraph has just announced the starting XI as:
(4-3-3): Mannone; Sagna, Squillaci, Djourou, Traore; Rosicky, Frimpong, Nasri; Vela, Van Persie, Arshavin
It’ll be interesting to see how Samir Nasri equips himself amid all the speculation about his future. Roberto Mancini has spoken to Sky Sports about City’s interest in the player, saying:
“Samir is under contract with Arsenal. Also for Samir it depends on many things.
I don’t know if an offer has been made in this moment, I don’t know the situation but for Nasri it is difficult.
I hope that we can buy because we need other players and I hope that this player can arrive before the end of the month.”
To me, it’s clear that the “many things” the deal depends on are the forty million pounds Barcelona will have to stump up to sign Cesc Fabregas. If Cesc stays, Nasri will probably go. If Cesc goes, we need Nasri. It’s as simple as that. City will have to bide their time until any negotiations with Barcelona are concluded, one way or the other.
I’m also intrigued to see whether not Denilson is involved at all today, with ESPN Brazil reporting that he’s on the verge of a loan deal with his former club Sao Paulo. According to the reports, he’s due to undergo a medical on Monday, so he may have left the China tour already.
Finally, an update on the Joel Campbell story we brought you yesterday. The latest from the Costa Rican press is that a pair of Italian agents have brought offers to Campbell’s club from Juventus, Rubin Kazan, and the club who’ve signed Roberto Carlos and are tracking Neymar, FC Anzhi Makhachkala. These offers would not only be more lucrative, but would also allow Campbell to join up straight away rather than have to go out on loan, which he may have to do if he joins Arsenal.
Much will depend on the success of Arsenal’s application for a special talent visa. It’s clear however that our interest is based on more than one flashy performance in the Copa America. The player’s agent, Joel Batica, has said:
“I have been in contact for several months with an Arsenal scout who works in Central and North America.
I have a partner who also worked with and knows Arsene Wenger very well and we were running things from both sides. I talked to the scout who reported to Wenger and the interest grew little by little, because Arsene Wenger initially was unaware of the player.
Now the interest is high from the Arsenal and we are here.”
Richard Law remains in Costa Rica attempting to strike a deal.
Right, off to watch our game on Arsenal Player. If you’re not a subscriber, follow me on twitter for updates.
January 5th, 2015
The latest Arsecast Extra is here, featuring lengthy discussion on Theo Walcott, Francis Coquelin, and Joel Campbell. Andrew and I also make our prediction as to what we think we’ll spend in January. It makes for scary listening.
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January 2nd, 2015
Will Arsenal win three consecutive league games this season?
We haven’t managed it yet. Arsene Wenger is quick to point out that consistency will be the key to making the top four, but it’s precisely that which evades us at present.
Every time we seem to be building some momentum, that nefarious handbrake slams down to foil us once again.
Nevertheless, six points from nine is more than I expected from our festive fixture list. Watching our defending at St. Mary’s, the victory at Upton Park began to look ever more miraculous.
I still think we’ll make the top four, but I think that case more about an absence of quality elsewhere in this league than any positive attributes of our own.
Is Francis Coquelin the answer to our defensive midfield problem?
Not for me. Coquelin’s tenacious displays don’t make me think we ought to anoint him as the long-awaited “DM†— rather, they convince me of how much better we’d be with a top class player performing in that role. However, Coquelin does look as if he will give Mathieu Flamini a run for his money until a superior player arrives.
At present, Coquelin’s certainly a better option in that role than Calum Chambers. According to Squawka, Chambers didn’t make a single tackle during his return to his former club.
That stat doesn’t necessarily mean quite as much as you might imagine — interceptions are just as important, and tackles can be a desperate last resort prompted by poor positioning. However, it was clear watching the game that the Englishman is a long way from ready to play regularly in central midfield.
Is Wojciech Szczesny good enough to be our number one?
I think so. He has the talent. Is it being properly harnessed? That’s another question (but, crucially, not one in bold. Got to stick to the five. #SEO)
Look at where David de Gea was two years ago and where he is now. That’s surely down to coaching. Has Szczesny made the same strides forward? Probably not. He relies on his instincts and his preternatural self-confidence. Technically and tactically there are still flaws in his game.
The identical errors made by Almunia, Fabianski and Szczesny can’t be mere coincidence. The problem must lie on the training ground.
What’s up with Laurent Koscielny?
Although Szczesny was painted as the villain of the piece, Koscielny also endured something of a personal nightmare against Southampton. Aside from misjudging the run of Saido Mane on the opener, he also played a weak back-pass that ought to have resulted in a third for the Saints.
You know, it’s almost as if he’s being forced to play through a debilitating chronic injury. Tendinitis doesn’t just disappear. His is a condition that requires careful management. It’s been said many times, but Wenger has to buy a central defender with the ability to cover a prolonged absence for Koscielny. Relying on him is a risk we can not afford.
On the subject of the back four, much will understandably be made of how shoddy we looked with our first choice defensive unit in place. However, in their defence it was the first time those five players have played together this season. All change — even position change — can be disruptive. It will take time for that unit to click.
What sort of team will we see in the FA Cup?
Ideally, I think Arsene Wenger would like to field a rotated side after a demanding Christmas period. However, a glance at our subs bench at Southampton suggests he has very few options at his disposal. Theo Walcott should start his first game in a year, while David Ospina is guaranteed a game in goal. Other than that I expect it to be fairly similar team.
One man who may get a run-out, most likely from the bench, is Chuba Akpom. It seems clear Wenger is launching a charm offensive to convince the young striker to extend his deal beyond the summer. The development of Joel Campbell does not seem to be quite such a priority for our manager.
August 29th, 2014
Well, here we are. Another season is underway. I initially wrote ‘well and truly underway’, but then deleted it. In truth, this period between the opening fixture and the transfer deadline always feels like an extension of preseason. The window ends, there’s a flurry of late deals, and then club football goes on a two-week break while some dull internationals are played. When we return in mid-September, that’s when it really feels like the campaign has kicked off.
That seems truer this season than most. The fact that a large portion of our squad is still recovering from their exertions in the World Cup means we’ve had an unusually slow start. Our performances have yet to impress, but fortunately the results haven’t suffered too much. We’ve shown fight if not fluency, getting late goals to pick up valuable points against Crystal Palace and Everton.
I’ve been in Edinburgh throughout August, but returned this week to see my first live game of the season. Arsenal got the job done against Besiktas, but it wasn’t easy. Mathieu Debuchy was certainly unlucky to pick up that second booking, but he’d been wobbling uneasily on a disciplinary tight-rope all evening. He must curb his aggressive streak if he’s to avoid more red cards in future.
Watching our side in the flesh, it became apparent to me that we are very much a team in evolution. The midfield, for example, appears to have been slightly restructured over the summer. Last season, Arsenal typically played with two men in a double-pivot, with Mesut Ozil floating ahead. Mikel Arteta would hold with Aaron Ramsey given greater license to break from deep alongside him.
This season, there’s been a slight shift in emphasis. Rather than the customary 4-2-3-1, Arsenal have been employing something more akin to a 4-1-4-1. There is a pure designated holding player, with two dynamic midfielders deployed further ahead.
This system was presumably implemented in part because of the available personnel. Ozil missed the start of the season, and Arsene Wenger had to find a way to accommodate both Jack Wilshere and Ramsey. This formation allows both those players to break forward, secure in the knowledge that an anchor man is on hand at all times to fill in.
However, Ozil’s return has not prompted the expected reversion to last season’s shape. Instead, the German has twice been positioned on the left flank. Against Besiktas, Ozil found himself ousted to the wing, with Santi Cazorla asked to play a busy box-to-box role in the centre. Last season, that deployment would have seemed improbable at best. Throughout 2013-14, Cazorla was routinely used on the flank in order to grant Ozil a free role through the middle.
Perhaps during the international break Arsene will take the opportunity to restructure his midfield once again. However, it’s also possible that he has decided that playing Ozil as a pure number 10 leaves his midfield too exposed. This summer, Ozil played predominantly as a winger for the German national team, and that experiment turned out pretty well for Jogi Low’s side. A hypothetical central midfield three of Arteta, Ramsey and Cazorla certainly has more energy and commitment to the defensive side of the game than one containing Ozil.
The remodelling of the team does not end with the midfield. In the past week, there has been significant evidence that Arsene Wenger plans to renovate his attack too. When Arsenal signed Alexis Sanchez back in July, I said I thought he’d been bought as an alternative to Luis Suarez – the brilliance without the biting. His future, it seemed to me, was as a centre-forward.
However, I did not expect him to be picked there so early on in his Arsenal career. In just Sanchez’s second Premier League game, he was named at the point of the Gunners front-line. That initial experiment failed, but Wenger was forced to repeat it in midweek having lost Giroud to a broken tibia. Against Besiktas, Alexis fared rather better. Not only did he grab the winning goal, but he also showed class and courage to hold the ball up against defenders who towered above him.
With Giroud confirmed as being out until Christmas, many Arsenal fans are incredulous that Arsene Wenger does not deem recruiting a new striker a priority. However, as far as our manager is concerned, he has already bought a £35m striker this window: Alexis.
For more than a year, Wenger has been chasing a mobile forward with a good pressing game. Wenger didn’t buy a striker last summer because he couldn’t get his number one target, Suarez. He didn’t buy a striker in January because a player of the requisite calibre and attributes was not available. This summer, Alexis came on the market, and Wenger moved quickly and efficiently to get his man.
I’m sure that in an ideal world Wenger would like to bed Sanchez in as his centre-forward over a period of several months. Giroud’s injury robs him of that luxury. Alexis’ evolution must be sped up, and the team’s with it. However, Wenger presumably reasons that there’s no point threatening that process by buying the ‘wrong’ type of centre-forward. If he has already decided that Sanchez, rather than Giroud, will be his team’s long-term focal point, why derail things by bringing in another square beg for his newly-carved round hole?
Of course, Alexis can’t play every game. But if our team is being rebuilt to accommodate a slighter, speedier forward, then Arsenal already have an ideal back-up in their ranks. Within a matter of weeks, Theo Walcott will be available for selection. When Alexis needs a rest, he seems the obvious player to step in to the void.
In the meantime, Walcott will flourish on the right flank. Alexis is more of a ‘false nine’ than a true target man. Against Besiktas, it was intriguing how frequently he dropped deep to collect the ball and join up with the midfield. On more than one occasion, I spotted Alexis furiously gesturing at Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to dart in behind him. He will find Theo Walcott a far more willing runner. In combination, the pair could be devastating.
The possibility of fielding Walcott as a centre-forward ensures Yaya Sanogo will remain third-choice in the pecking order. What’s more, Wenger has Joel Campbell to consider. Many Arsenal fans spent the summer crying out for Campbell to be given an opportunity at Arsenal. Some of those same fans are now furiously demanding a new striker. You can’t have it both ways.
If it were up to me, I’d bring in an experienced frontman who guarantees 10 goals. Loic Remy, for example, is a proven Premier League finisher with an excellent record. I’d recruit someone of that ilk to add depth and experience to our options. If that meant sending one of Sanogo or Campbell out on loan, so be it.
Arsene doesn’t see it that way. Rightly or wrongly, he believes giving playing time to Campbell and Sanogo is a better investment of resource. What’s more, I suspect he envisages a restyled attack modelled around Sanchez and Walcott. Giroud’s injury robs him of a Plan B, but Plan A is still good to go.
I hope Arsenal will be active between now and the end of the transfer window. They still need another centre-back, and a holding midfielder would be handy too. With Giroud out, the first XI could do with an injection of height and power – if only to help them cope at set-pieces.
However, at this stage I’d be surprised to see another attacker arrive. Giroud’s injury doesn’t derail Arsene’s plans, it merely accelerates them.
July 9th, 2012
The Arsenal squad recommence training at London Colney today, and they’ll be buzzing with the usual ‘back to school’ excitement. Â What’ve they been up to over the holidays? Â Has Mikel Arteta’s hair shown any sign of moving? Â What cool new pencil case has Andre Santos got?
Of course, not everyone will be in attendance. Â Term might have started, but most of the boys are still absent. Â Anyone involved in the European Championships will not return to training for a week or two yet. Â Another absentee will be Yossi Benayoun, who has returned to Chelsea after the end of his loan spell. Â Clearly, no-one told Andre Santos:
Oh dear. Â The cuddly Brazilian will be gutted about the departure of his pointier Israeli chum. Â I am a little too: Benayoun’s commitment to the cause last season was greater than many on far longer-term deals. Â Whichever club ends up signing him will be very lucky indeed.
Another man unlikely to be at Colney is Aaron Ramsey. Â The Welshman flies to Spain this week to train with Team GB ahead of the Olympics. Â He has, however, spoken briefly about the situation with another absentee, Robin van Persie:
“I don’t know and we as players don’t know what is happening so we will just have to wait to see what happens.”
Basically, he doesn’t know. Â With Arsene Wenger now back doing his day job as opposed to commentating at the Euros, I think it’s highly likely he’ll be asked to comment on it sooner rather than later. Â When he does, it should make interesting reading.
Unsurprisingly, since the RVP news broke we’ve been linked with a few forwards. Â I actually don’t think that his departure would prompt a major signing: Olivier Giroud would simply be hurried in to action more swiftly than Arsene had envisaged. Â However, the likely departures of Marouane Chamakh and Park Chu-Young, along with the fact that Joel Campbell has joined Real Betis on loan, mean we could have room for another striker in the squad. Â Someone like M’baye Niang.
Reports in France suggest 17 year-old forward Niang is about to join up with Arsenal for a trial period. Â His club, Caen, were relegated from Ligue 1 last season, and would be keen to cash in on their prize asset. Â Niang is a phenomenal athlete, who started playing top level football aged just 16, and would clearly be an exciting capture for Arsenal. Â You can read a fuller profile of him here. Â Of course, even if he did sign there’s every chance he’d be loaned out again, so I wouldn’t rush out and get your shirt printed just yet.
Pre-season training is upon us. Â The players will be suffering, but for me it’s sweet relief. Â The season creeps ever closer.
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