Let’s take a break for a day or two from the ‘what if Arsenal do not sign anybody’ posts, and indulge in a bit of transfer window fantasy football.
I don’t know what to make of the rumours re Rooney coming to Arsenal. My first instinct tells me it is never going to happen, and so it probably won’t. He would be too expensive for us and he appears to be motivated more by money than playing proper football; so if he is at all to leave MU, I reckon it will be for PSG or maybe even Chelsea or MC.
But the links, however tenuous, continue and it would be worthwhile to discuss how WR could fit into our team next season.
I reckon Rooney would be ideal to play in the hole at Arsenal. He would be allowed to totally enjoy himself there in a similar way as Cesc and Dennis once did. He is the perfect mix between an attacking midfielder – with good ball control, passing (including deadly through-balls) and overview – and can score goals from outside and inside the box. He also has very good body strength, bags full of stamina and a winner’s attitude.
With Arsenal opting for a future English core within the team, it would make sense to get an experienced, quality, fellow English player to lead the way and mentor our talents. WR could become the link player between our biggest talents in the middle and up-front: Jack and Theo, and possibly Ox as well.
The thought of Jack – Rooney – Theo in the attacking part of our spine next season is a mouth-watering prospect to me, especially if they can be supported by the likes of Giroud, Santi and Pod up-front.
Just imagine us starting with this line-up next season:
Tactically, it would make real sense to get Rooney and become the attacking pivot of the team. Jack would blossom working with Rooney and Theo could lead the line knowing he has a physically and technically competent striker behind him in support.
Both Cazorla and Pod would get an experienced, quality colleague who would provide them with some fine service, as well as be able to finish off the chances they create for him. And Ox could become Rooney’s understudy and eventual replacement.
I am also sure that not many will begrudge Rooney his top wages, although Cazorla could claim a rise for himself (which many of us will agree he deserves after a fine first season).
I’d rather have Cesc back though, and I am also very excited about Jovetic, but if they don’t work out and Rooney wants to play proper footie and give his career a new life, and he would come to Arsenal with real desire to make a difference, I would welcome him to the home of football.
There is no “I” in “team” but there is an “I” in “champions”!
It happened a few weeks ago. I was walking down the street thinking about the law-suit I’m about to write and about the possibility that we sign Gonzalo Higuain – a striker who has scored over one hundred goals during his spell at Real Madrid – when it hit me. Has Higuain been just lucky to play for Real Madrid – a great club that always has had a lot of quality players who make their strikers’ – including Higuain – job easier; or Real Madrid should have been happy with the fact Higuain has been in their ranks?
The jury is still out on this one, and will probably come up with the final verdict once Higuain proves his prolific abilities somewhere where he won’t have a supply-line like the one he has had at Real Madrid.
Players like Higuain are rarely considered as the big guns. That category is reserved for world-class strikers like Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Falcao, Aguero and Ibrahimović who have proved that they can win trophies for their respective teams, by banging goals on a regular basis and/or when it matters the most. We had had two of those not very long ago but until we find one or pair of those, we can watch statues of them.
Players like Higuain are side-kicks, those who also score important goals but they are second fiddle to their more established goal-scoring partner (in a way Higuain has been joint second fiddle with Benzema to Cristiano Ronaldo). Only those who like to check statistics will know that Higuain scored a goal at every 76 minutes in 2011-12 title-winning campaign, which means he scored more than one goal per game.
Perhaps the best example from the Premiership is another striker who has been connected with us for a long time. When you think about the Manchester Oilers title campaign in 2011-12, everyone will remember Aguero’s goal that was the championship winning one. Only a few will remember a goal Edin Džeko scored to make it 2:2. Džeko has always been in the shadow of Sergio Aguero’s non-disputable world-class quality, Carlos Tevez’ dance between madness and geniality, and Mario Balotelli’s scandals; despite the fact he had, at certain point of 2011-12, a goal-ratio of more than 1,5 goal per game, as it took him less than 60 minutes to score a goal.
Now, look what happened this season: Džeko was the best goal-scorer of City, but Aguero failed to match his performances from the last season, as well as the rest of world-class players from the City spine (Kompany and Yaya Toure), and City didn’t come anywhere near retaining the title.
On the other side of Manchester, United had a striker that delivered in the Premiership what was expected from him, especially in big matches and when United had to come from behind.
Now, what does this whole intro mean to Arsenal? It means a lot, especially given a war-chest that has been given to Arsene Wenger.
If we want to turn our excellent form from the last ten matches into a title contender team, we need a world-class presence in our attack. It’s hard to find a new Bergkamp or a new Henry – those sorts of players don’t fall from the sky on your training ground with the sign “I’m the world-class striker – recruit me!” on their parachute, land on their feet in the circle very close the ball, make a Zidanesque pirouette before making a run to the goal and putting it past a surprised goalkeeper.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I would be over the moon if we sign Higuain as I consider him to be a world-class finisher with a good variety of skills/goals in his repertoire; and to sign Džeko from the Oilers wouldn’t be a bad piece of business either.
However, if we want to make a serious challenge for the title, we have to aim a bit higher.
Apparently, Falcao is leaving Atletico Madrid for AS Monaco but there might be some problems for Monaco if they’ll have to accept the ultimatum made by other French clubs regarding taxes. I doubt that transfer – if it’s going to happen at all – will be announced before the season in Spain ends, so we can still make a move for him and offer him something that Monaco can’t (at least not this season): Champions’ League football, something Falcao hasn’t had lately (and once when he had, he scored against us!).
Robert Lewandowski is my personal favourite but there are huge warning signs, with the likes of Barrios, Sahin and, to the certain extent, Kagawa who didn’t repeat their impact from Borussia Dortmund elsewhere, which is more proof of how brilliant Juergen Klopp is.
It’s no wonder I mentioned Klopp, as there is a longer way to have a world-class striker than simply buying him, and it is connected with Arsene Wenger. Wenger is a manager who can make players over-achieve, can make them cross the thick line between a world-class finisher and a world-class striker, and the one between a world-class striker and a world-class player.
One might paraphrase that thing: “The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he doesn’t exist” to say: “The greatest trick Wenger ever pulled was convincing his rivals that Adebayor’s and Nasri’s world-class exists.” If you take a look at the players who left Arsenal for greener pastures elsewhere, only Cashley Cole can say he maintained his level of performances from Arsenal (or even upgraded it). Even Van Judas has had a decline of form in the recent period, while also others who were playing in our attacking department haven’t found their level from Arsenal at their new employers: Nasri, Hleb, Adebayor, even Fabregas, Reyes and, yes, Henry, since neither of them matched their level from Arsenal, while Eduardo’s decline started in Arsenal due to an unfortunate cause.
There is no “I” in “team” – that is true, especially when you know a basic fact that football is a team sport. However, there is a reason why the word “champions” has “I” squeezed into itself, as it’s the brilliance of individuals that make the collective raise above the average.
Will Arsenal’s commercial links with Kenya and other African countires make a transfer of Wanyama more likely?
Those of you who have read comments by JM before, will know he is very knowledgeable when it comes to tactics, formations, player attributes/qualities, club strategy/finances and transfer window developments. A few days ago, I (TotalArsenal) asked JM what he believes will happen in terms of players going and staying at Arsenal this summer.
Below you will find his response to my question (please note the response was written as a comment originally and not as a post, which makes this article a bit rusty at times. It is, nevertheless, a very interesting read) :
With regards to Sagna and Vermaelen: it would depend on the situations with Sagna (running into his last year of contract) and Vermaelen (a club captain who is benched), if they were to be around with the team next season. If both leave, the club should recruit new personnel.
The goalkeeping personnel availability next season should also be addressed (Szczesny is staying, though he will be accessed equally if a new long term contract should be given based on his performances; Fabianski is out of contract and likely moving to another club to get regular 1st team games; Mannone’s case is a 50/50, if he would prefer to remain as 3rd choice GK.
The club could promote from their reserves and youth ranks – e.g. Damian Martinez, Dejan Iliev etc). There should be new developments here in my opinion (the club have been linked with so many GKs all around Europe, or spreading red-herrings to the media on potential signings, that they might really get some respectable GK who is not in the media’s spotlight, to provide competition/guidance to Szczesny).
A quick one would be Jovetic: he is a 50/50 case. Higuain is currently agent talk. Fabregas … not next season, but could be a possibility in 2014/2015 (just as Reus could be a possibility, pending on the commercial effect of a certain new sponsorship deal in future – that of PUMA). I will recommend everyone to check PUMA’s website, look under “PUMA althetes- football” and you shall see we have Arteta, Rosicky, Giroud, Sagna endorsing their brand. Also King Henry, Fabregas Clichy. Then the international star players like Kun Aguero, Yaya Toure, Falcao, Buffon, Chiellini, Reus, Vidic, Carrick and more all endorsing their sportswear as well.
PUMA could lend a helping hand to the club with the negotiations on Fabregas, Reus, Marco Verratti and Usain Bolt (if he switches to football/soccer 🙂 ). Under Nike, we shall be always in the shadow of MU and Barcelona; under Adidas, in the shadow of Bayern Munich and Chelsea. PUMA shall be a breath of fresh air. (They have also club sponsorship ties with Newcastle, CardiffCity, Dortmund, Stuttgart, Hoffenheim, Bordeaux, Rennes, Feyenoord, Espanyol, Sporting Lisbon CP, Independiente, Botafogo, the national teams of Uruguay, Chile, Austria, CzechRepublic, Italy, Switzerland, Slovakia, Macedonia, Cameroon, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Gabon, Zimbabwe, Bahrain)
The club is likely to be in for 3 obvious signings, if the candidates are available. (We have 3 outs – Squillaci, Arshavin & Fabianski, so expect at least 3 new ins. Any more would depend on further departures of 1st team players). That does not include new signings for our youth ranks and reserves (a.k.a our youth players).
A lot of negotiations done could be related to our commercial partnership deals (e.g. financial agreement with Imperial Bank, related to Kenya, Uganda and African markets, the Emirates* shirt’s sponsorship – they are shirts’ sponsor as well for e.g. PSG, AC Milan, Hamburger SV, Real Madrid, Olympiacos etc) and the club management’s level of comfort when dealing with the player’s agent/agency (which also informs us why we have recruited/negotiated the signing of more players being represented by certain agency/agent and none by others)
*Emirates Group/ Airline are growing aggressively to become one of the top airlines in the world. They managed to get the shirt deal done for most of the top clubs (even Olympiacos is top in Greece) in the top 5 leagues in Europe, less Germany – as Bayern M (T-Home/Deutsche Telekom – German telecommunications company), B. Dortmund (Evonik Industries – one of the world´s leading specialty chemicals companies), B.Leverkusen (SunPower Corporation – owned by Total S.A., one of the six “Supermajor” oil companies in the world.), Schalke (Gazprom – largest extractor of natural gas and one of the largest companies in the world) are sponsored by equally major companies/holdings in their respective markets. The Emirates group would want their “investments” to the respective clubs to be rewarded in return (clubs winning trophies, signing “marquee” players), in terms of boosting market branding for the company.
As an example, the Emirates group/airline presence as a sponsor might have helped smooth-en the signings of Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic from AC Milan to PSG, during the negotiating rounds between both clubs, agents/agencies, players (where of course the formalities of transfer fees, player wages and contract, agent’s takings are all agreed upon).
I could add on of the club and management direction for investing on more English youths and the shift from recruiting and promoting French youths to Spanish (Miquel, Bellarin, Toral) and German youth players (Eisfeld, Gnabry, Gedion Zelalem, Leander Siemann) for our academy. Taking a look at our 1st team, we are left with 5 and a half French players (Giroud, Koscielny, Sagna, Coquelin, Squillaci, 1/2 of Diaby), where Squillaci is leaving, Sagna and Coquelin are question marks next season, Diaby is out till next year (and likely to run down his contract). At the end of next season, we could be left with only 2 in our 1st team.
Perhaps our new manager after AW could be Spanish? Or German? As the new generation of Spanish, German and English players from our academy go into our 1st team. That is a debate for the future.
With regards to our players’ agency/agents, I would like to add that a number of them share similar agency/agent. (which has been in similar cases with other clubs if we look into the clients/players list under the agency/agent)
Our English lads on “long term contract”:
– Wilshere, Ramsey
Base Soccer Agency Ltd
(Location: 33 Great Portland Street, LondonW1W 8QF)
(which also has Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Aaron Lennon, Tom Huddlestone, Allan McGregor, Bobby Zamora, Joe Ledley, Kyle Naughton, Angel Rangel, Luke Wilkshire, Chris Gunter among their clients list)
(which also has John Obi Mikel, Micah Richards, Joseph Yobo, Nick Powell, Steven Davis, Eduardo, Rio Ferdinand, David Bentley, Liam Ridgewell, “King” Thierry Henry among their clients list)
– Giroud, Cazorla, Jenkinson, J.Campbell (who is on loan)
GoalKick Sportmanagement
(Location: La Rambla, Barcelona 08002)
(which also has Juan Mata, Alan Dzagoev, Keisuke Honda, Igor Akinfeev, Kyle Walker, Joe Allen, Mbark Boussoufa, Jose Enrique, Jonny Evans, Tom Cleverley, Yuri Zhirkov, Raheem Sterling, Lorenzo Insigne, Martin Montoya, Benat Etxebarria, Mario Suarez, Koke, Oriol Romeu, Shane Long, Barry Bannan, Ross Barkley, Cristian Zapata among their many clients list)
Our protracted negotiation with Walcott’s agency/agents
(which also has Phil Jones, Jordan Henderson, James Morrison, Chris Brunt, Ryan Bertrand among their clients list)
on our latest signing:
– Monreal
Bahia Internacional
(Location: C/Marques de la Ensenada 16 of.25, Madrid 28009)
(which also has Javi Martinez, Pedro, Fernando Torres, Jesus Navas, Cesar Azpilicueta, Michu, Alvaro Dominguez, Raul Garcia, Dani Parejo, Ignacio Camacho among their clients list)
And the 3 players mentioned in “the Impenetrable Triangle”:
(which also has Gareth Bale, Joe Hart, Rafael, Fabio, Darren Bent, Glen Johnson, Phil Jagielka, Ashley Cole, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Scott Sinclair, Steven Caulker, Jack Butland, Lee Cattermole, Shay Given among their client list)
These are who and what our management shall have to negotiate with in order to tie down our better players, release fringe players, recruit new signings etc. (Of course, players may change their agency/agents throughout their career as and when situations benefit them).
We choose to deal with some agents/agencies and their solicitors while not with others who offer unfavourable terms to the club (e.g. involvement of 3rd or more parties in securing the ownership of the player, dealing with “super” agents who shall command a high agent fee etc), which is one of the many reasons why some world class or quality players will never play at Arsenal FC. This, our supporters shall have to understand, before ranting.
There is no doubt that 2013/14 is going to be a monumental turning point of a season for Arsenal. With new financial deals in place, hopefully a summer of transfer ins rather than outs, and possibly Arsene’s final season in charge, it will be the season that will hopefully see the return of Arsenal to glory.
But in order for us to achieve that, what needs to change?
1 – Sort out the squad by the middle of July, have a consistent first team and timely rotations
One of the biggest issues that I’ve felt has had a huge impact on the club is the fact that our transfers for the last few years are all over the place right up until August. As a result, in the preseason friendlies the squad doesn’t get too much time to gel in. In 2012/13, a large part of the business was done earlier, but for some reason the first team did not really gel in well till late in the first half of the season. In fact, I don’t think we knew our first choice team till late in the season. TV, being the club captain wasn’t performing and yet was played in the hope that he’d regain some form. Poldi, Giroud, Theo and Gervinho all were tried in the CF spot before Ollie took the role as his own. Similarly, I’m still not sure who Arsene thinks is his first choice keeper, RB and LB. Ramsey came into his own in his correct position late in the season after being played in a variety of roles.
Now of course, during the course of a season, players have ups and downs, and the first team evolves. But I’ve had this nagging feeling that our first team hasn’t been what it should have been. With a consistent formation earlier on in the season, the new players coming in hopefully having had time to gel in through pre-season friendlies, and a clear thought out squad with defined back ups, I am quite certain we can start the season in good stead unlike the first two 0-0 draws this season. Also, the fact that Poldi, Ollie and Santi will be in their second seasons, and Poldi hopefully fitter, we should be stronger.
It’s also important for Arsene to be decisive in terms of picking and dropping form/out of form players. That’s another thing I believed let us down till late this season. There has to be genuine competition where back up and first team players will raise their games in order to be part of the playing eleven.
Finally, rotate the squad at the right time. I believe this season Ollie, Santi, Jack (at times), Arteta amongst a few players have been overplayed. This has partially been because there were injuries and partially because there were no viable back up options. That will hopefully change next season, because we finally have a good base of a squad with the strength of character, and with new players coming into improve the set up, players should be rotated so that form is retained and burn out minimized. I kept shaking my head when I’d hear comments in the middle of this season that so and so player was mentally or physically tired.
2 – A strong vocal performing captain
This point is again vital. Ever since I can remember it has been strong performing example-setting vocal captains who dig teams out of holes with the sheer force of their personality. Look back to Tony Adams, Vieira, even Cesc and RVP… these players believed and that belief shone through.
It’ll be interesting to see who Arsene gives the armband to if TV stays. I’m not sure if there’s been a precedent to a club captain being stripped of captaincy. Personally, my vote would go to Arteta. I wouldn’t want to give the armband to Jack just yet. It would put added pressure on him.
Or perhaps if Cesc returns, give it back to Cesc 🙂
3 – Capture the fans imagination, change the press narrative
Think of Arsenal FC, and the narrative over the last few seasons has been about the club’s financial security, selling key players, lack of ambition, sub standard signings, lack of bottle, manager losing the plot, unhappy fans etc etc. There has been little positive news.
Despite the fact that all of us, as fans, have our own opinions regarding the club, we are strongly and unconsciously swayed by the noise from news media, blogs and social media. The narrative we are being fed becomes vital in this regards, because this narrative plays a huge part in the fans going against the club rather than supporting it through thick and thin. Of course, with modern media, the fickleness of all of us has become pronounced. We don’t have patience nowadays. We need everything instantly.
Because of the above, I don’t believe the fans have been excited about the club or particularly proud of the direction of the club. It is hence vital for Arsenal to capture the fans imagination and change the narrative being spewed out by the media. So, Arsenal must make a statement of intent.
The narrative I would love to see for the next season would be “Arsenal mean business”. For this it is important for something monumental to happen. Hark back to the era of the unbeaten invincibles, did we not get excited about that? Hark back to the battles between Arsenal and Man U, despite winning/losing titles. Hark back to Lehmann keeping clean sheets leading up to the Champions League final and the run itself. Hark back to beating Real 1-0 away. Hark back to leading Barca for 78 minutes in the final. Hark back to the 0-0 FA Cup final vs. Man U when we were battered but we won on penalties. Hark back to winning the league in Old Trafford and Spurs. Hark back to Jose Antonio Reyes and Arshavin’s captures. The 4-4 vs. Liverpool. Even the 3-0 vs. Milan last season.
The funny thing is that the memories become less exciting in the last few seasons, so that has to change. My personal favorite way to achieve that would be Cesc returning. Or, perhaps another marquee signing to show we mean business. Or perhaps another unbeaten run… here’s hoping!
4 – Be strong against the top six, and clinical against lower half opposition
We have been quite abysmal this season against the top six, and I felt that has played a huge part in our struggle. This partially for me has been due to the fact that we have had many new players, and partially because of a general lack of belief in the team that we can compete with the top teams. This in particular was most visible in the first half of the season, and partially has come about because of the massive loss to Man U last season. I believe the psychological impact of that loss still resounds, and it is vital that we show the world that we can beat the likes of Man u, City and Chelsea when it matters.
Interestingly, in some of the previous seasons, we did quite well against the top six, but let in draws and losses against lower opposition. This is again something that needs to be guarded against.
We need to be consistent and clinical, and have that collective belief about us and the bit between our teeth. I was unbelievably proud of how we harried Man U in the first half of the game on the weekend, and that is how we need to play consistently. With hunger and intensity.
No fan will complain if that level of quality remains.
Against the top six, pick up home wins and away draws, and we’re laughing! Against the rest, be clinical and finish them off!
5 – Do the basics right and have clear objectives
Finally, I believe that for a large part of this season, we lost track of the fundamentals. The basics are vital, and even a poor team can get a result if the basics are done right. Solid no nonsense defending, making the right pass while up field, and pressing and harrying are things that we can be good at, but struggle to do consistently. If we get these basics right and don’t panic as we are liable to do quite often, then we will be sure to have a solid season.
At the same time, in terms of the basics, the manager and the squad need to be sure about their objectives and priorities in achieving those objectives. For me unless we don’t make the right buys, we are not in a position to challenge for the EPL, so therefore the realistic bet for getting a trophy can only be the FA CUP or the League Cup. The manager needs to know what he wants for the team, and make the right basic decisions to achieve the said. Buying an expensive quality player is just one of those decisions.
It’ll be interesting to hear what you guys think of some of these points and if you feel there can be further things that need to change!
Over the course of the last week, one particular rumor caught my attention and my imagination (as I imagine it did for a lot of Gooners): Cesc Fabregas might be made available for sale. Initially I took it with a pinch of salt, as the said rumor keeps coming up again and again only for it to be shut down and Cesc to score a couple of goals for Barca. But this time, somehow, it seems a tad more viable. Having said that, it may turn out to be another damp squib, but I’m indulging my imagination happily for now.
So yes, Cesc is unhappy that he is not playing regularly. He’s also lost out on Pep, who’s moved to Bayern, and apparently Cesc is not getting along well with the new manager, who it appears wants to make the side better but without Cesc as the central force. So Barca might look to sell Cesc, and Cesc himself might want that considering that he would want to play regularly keeping in mind the upcoming big tournaments for the national team.
So what can possibly happen? Cesc may go to Bayern to be reunited with his childhood hero, Pep, or Cesc may be go back to Arsenal. Oh and Cesc apparently has been looking for a place in London. So there!
Now before I go on, I would LOVE to see him back. It would be a statement of intent more than anything else, and a statement of intent from Arsenal right now, for me is as good as winning a trophy (hopefully it can lead us to winning an ACTUAL trophy as well).
Back to my train of thought: Arsenal have the first right of refusal for Cesc and if the above situation were to arise, it would be an interesting dilemma for Arsene, Arsenal and Cesc.
The first problem would be the fact that Cesc could cost around 30-35 mn, with a wage of 110k +. If Theo gets 100k, then surely Cesc will want more.
The second problem is the fact that the timing is all wrong. We already have a very talented midfield with Jack doing well, Ramsey coming back to form, Rosicky and Arteta forming a solid experienced base and Santi delighting more often than not. Add to this list Theo and Poldi, and we’ve got an abundance of riches (a few of which aren’t doing as well as they should, but still…). So the issue becomes why would you need a creative MF? Where would Cesc fit in? You’d surely not drop Jack for Cesc. But interestingly we were linked with Gotze and currently being linked with Draxler, and operating from a viewpoint of some smoke where there is fire, as well as Arsene’s continued maintenance of the fact that he’d buy anyone who’d improve the squad, then we can perhaps conclude that Arsene himself has been looking into the creative midfielder scenario. Perhaps he has something in mind in terms of formations or player rotations for next season.
The third problem is the budget of 60-70mn that Arsene apparently has for players and new wages. Add to this the departures of Arshavin and a few others, and perhaps we would have another 4 – 8 Mn in yearly wages (assuming Arshavin is on 80k a week).
The fourth issue is the supposedly advance negotiations with Steven Jovetic, who would cost around 25Mn and have wages around the 90k mark (I presume of course).
The fifth issue is that Arsene supposedly is also on the lookout for a Keeper, a DM and possibly a defender and a forward. Now the money’s starting to look thin.
Finally, the above conjecture can only come into play if we make it to the Champions League, which I’m fairly confident we will (touch wood).
So the question becomes whether we even need Cesc or not? Given that Jovetic is apparently close, and he was being touted as a good finisher and a forward player. Now my issue with the said is that Jovetic, I don’t think is the answer to our goal scoring woes. From what I can gather, Jovetic is a false no 9 player, something of a Bergkamp. It appears that he is better in playing in the hole rather than being up front, or possibly being the second striker in a 4-4-2 formation. If were to get Jovetic, we’d have a similar conundrum as the one spelled out above with regards to our talented midfield.
My take on it is that Cesc needs to be looked at as a false no 9 player as well, rather than a creative MF player in our formation. At Barca and for Spain he’s played that role time and time again, and his finishing has certainly improved. For me, if indeed Cesc is available and if indeed Jovetic is being targeted, we need to choose one of the two, and not both. If we were to get both, we’d be spending up to 60mn in transfer fees alone and not getting the best value out of it.
Given the choice, I’d always pick Cesc. Partly, I speak out of sentimentality, but partly I speak as someone who’s seen Cesc play regularly and have seen the love he has for our club and how he can capture the imagination of the fans. This article here (http://1nildown2oneup.net/the-greatest-goal-makers-in-the-premier-league-revealed-and-is-fabregas-yet-to-add-to-his-tally/) paints a very interesting picture as Cesc being in the same league as Henry and Bergkamp in terms of the all time assists in the EPL. So even though Jovetic appears to be class as well, is 10mn cheaper, will get less wages, is a couple of years younger, I’d put forward the case of Cesc returning.
Now if Cesc returns, then 35 mn are gone out of the 60-70mn kitty. Our player departures will help us in terms of the wages for Cesc, so we’re still left with 25-35mn in the kitty. This amount is just about enough to get a 12mn rated DM, a 10mn GK and a 10mn forward. I’m not going to throw multiple names in the list, as we’ve been linked with everyone and anyone, but I will mention one name. Loic Remy of QPR may be available for 5mn. Now I would love to hear what you guys think about him as I personally haven’t been much impressed, so I’m not sure if he’d be a good intake. We have also been linked with Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin who appears to be a good prospect. There are also the French DMs we have been linked with and Wanyama, so there are quite a few options. Personally, if we can also get in Ashley Williams I wouldn’t be disappointed, although I think that would mean the end of TV which I wouldn’t be too keen on. I think he still has quite a bit to offer us.
My proposed formation/squad for next season is as below:
It’s been a considerable while since I gave my opinion on anything Arsenal (I’ve been incredibly busy), but it doesn’t mean I haven’t been keen on the happenings of the football world. In fact, after watching Barca and Real Madrid get annihilated by the Germans, I became uneasy. Not because I have a soft spot for either but these two defeats brought to my attention a looming eventuality that quite honestly made my stomach turn. This is what I’m going to discuss in this post.
I have to say, the Germans have taken the world by storm. The Bavarians dispatched Barca in a manner that would make a total stranger to football believe that the Catalans were a small town team. A side that, mind you, has been the bench mark for success in the last half decade. Same goes for Dortmund and Real Madrid. On top of that, despite their dominance, Bayern have already secured the services of Guardiola, Gotze and Lewandowski and counting. Scary!
I would also like to point out how PSG have come to birth. Some may argue that it is because of their billionaire backing, but however you look at it, they are now among the elite in European football, and from the looks of it, they’re here to stay whether we like it or not. Juventus and AC Milan are two very curious teams. They may only be dominant in Italy but you get the feeling that with a few top signings here and there they will join the aforementioned lot. Gleaning from all indications, they probably will sign top players this summer which means next year will be absolutely cut-throat.
So what does all this have to do with our beloved Arsenal? I will get there shortly.
Let me turn my attention to the Premier League. United were recently crowned champions with a whooping 15 point lead against local rivals, ManchesterCity. This kind of dominance, however, is a one off. I can attribute it to inconsistency and bad luck on the part of City and Chelsea, who over the season have dropped some unnecessary points. Credit to united where it is due, though; they have shown fantastic consistency throughout the season. My point here is, City and Chelsea will be angered by the manner of United’s triumph and will be looking to take revenge.
Even Fergie and Wenger have voiced concerns about the spending spree being planned by the two: not only for players, but managers too. And with Mourinho, Klopp and Heynckes future in their respective teams in doubt, there is no shortage of top class managers.
The teams in battle for the top 4 tell the same tale. Everton, Liverpool and Tottenham can no longer be termed as ‘mid table’. In fact, depending on what moves they make in the summer (Liverpool and Tottenham more so) they have an outside chance of becoming title contenders.
Which brings me to my whole bottom line for this article: Arsenal are facing a future defining crossroad this summer in various ways.
First of all, in terms of stature. Despite eight barren years, we are still widely regarded as a European giant and are even seeded top in the UCL draws. This can be attributed to our past success and tendency to finish in the top 4 every year. That said, you get the feeling that the goodwill that Thierry Henry and company afforded us with their victories have ran their course. In fact, even among our own fans, we are slowly realizing that Arsenal isn’t the powerhouse it once was. This can be typified by Luca Toni’s remarks to Jovetic, telling him not to join Arsenal as we aren’t a top club. Naturally, as a die hard fan I was outraged by those comments, but you have to admit, he has a point. We are no longer in the league of Barca, Bayern, United, PSG, City, Real and Chelsea.
And this is my second point: our attractiveness as a club – ability to attract top players. There are two things top class players chase and that is money and glory. Currently we can offer neither. Like I said earlier, in the past we’ve been skating on the efforts and reputation of our former stars to attract talent. You can clearly see (with Toni’s remarks) that that door is firmly shut now. With Arsenal notorious for their financial prudence in terms of player wages, you realize that we are in real trouble.
When there were rumours that we were chasing Gotze a few weeks ago, he quickly quashed them saying that he was angling for a move to one of Europe’s finest, stating Barca, Real, Man U and City as examples. You can disagree with me all you want, but these are the facts on the ground. All we have going for us now is Wenger’s reputation to make good players great and with some of his recent purchases (Arshavin, Sylvestre, Chamakh, Gervinho, Squillaci, Santos etc) even that isn’t iron clad.
Wenger is facing a monumental task to remain relevant in European football. This is a summer when his moves in the market will either push us back into that elite category, or banish us into a mediocre mid table dominion. Due to the developments I’ve pointed out above, he no longer has the luxury to gamble on players who will pay off later. If he allows these teams to strengthen while he watches, he will end up having a much tougher task in restoring our status which will take many seasons, just ask Liverpool.
He has no choice but to grit his teeth and spend big money on big players. It’s not all doom and gloom though as for the first time in a long time there is an abundance of talent in the market. There is Falcao, Cavani, Jovetic, Benzema, Hummels, Wanyama, Capoue, Begovic, Mignolet, Isco, Michu, James Rodriguez, Sanchez, Higuain: all on the market.
I hear talks for Jovetic are on going and that is a good start. However, Arsene can’t stop there. We need a DM, a top, top striker (or two) like say Jovetic and Michu; a top CB; and a top Goal keeper. For depth purposes, I also recommend a left winger. We also need to deal with the underachievers in our squad like Gervinho. Let’s face it, a team like Bayern often has Robben and Gomez on the bench, while we sometimes are forced to make due with Gervinho as a starter. City have players like Dzeko, Nasri on the bench. I think you get my point.
We need to assemble a squad with 15-17 top quality players so that with injuries, fatigue and loss of form, it remains business as usual. That kind of consistency is what will win us trophies.
Super Jackie Wilshere’s drive and passion will be key!
Things are warming up nicely for Sunday’s encounter with the Mancs. They might be champions already but we are not in the mood to show any admiration on the pitch this Sunday. We have got to fight for three points and luckily we are playing at the Home of Football rather than in eternally drizzly Manchester.
Jack first on the team sheet
I have no doubt that we can match the Mancs technically and tactically, and that the players will be well motivated for it. But on top of all that we need real, heart-on-sleeve leadership on Sunday. And that is why Jack should be the first player on the team sheet.
I am sure you remember that awful performance against the Mancs at the start of the season. The game was more or less over after the first few minutes when our captain meekly presented the Traitor with a perfectly weighted ball which our former captain greedily put away. We never recovered from that set-back and the team turned into a bunch of hard working introverts.
The only one who was not prepared to let MU walk all over us was little Jack. He fought like a lion and although it resulted in him receiving a second yellow and therefore red card, super Jackie Wilshere set an example to the rest of the team.
We will need more of this fighting spirit this Sunday if we want to come out of this game victoriously. Jack is our man for this, but I am expecting more players to come out fighting with full passion: Ramsey, Koz, Mertesacker, Szczesny, Nacho or Gibbs, Pod etc .
If we can add real, extrovert leadership and passion to our other fine attributes we will beat the Mancs on Sunday, but let there be no doubt that this will be a big test for the team’s mental strength and overall leadership skills.
Let’s respect ‘guard of honour’ for MU
Although the Mancs are of one of our bitterest rivals, and many of us – me included – detest them, we should rise above our feelings on Sunday and show them the required respect before the game starts. Arsenal have always had class and let’s do the honourable thing.
Then, once the game has started, we’ll support the team with all we have and give them hell on the pitch.
Where would Jovetic play?
The rumours re Jovetic are starting to remind me of the way Arsenal captured the Pod last season.
I know the jury is still out for many re Jovetic, and I must admit I have only seen him play a few times. But I like to believe I know a fantastic player when I see one, and Jovetic looks like just the sort of player who would add real value to the team.
I hope we will not use the term ‘the new RvP’ when referring to the Montenegrin ever again. Firstly, because I don’t believe he is a typical nr.9, and secondly, I don’t want him to be associated with injury and treachery.
Some believe that Jovetic would replace Giroud, making the latter a super-sub next season. But I have seen enough of him to believe he will play mostly behind the striker in the hole, or on the wing in our ‘wingless’ or ‘semi-winged’ (only one ‘proper’ winger) 4-3-3 formation.
It is too early to say for definite what sort of player Jovetic is, but, dare I say it, he reminds me of Bergkamp’s skillset. The Montenegrin has great drive and stamina, and fantastic close control, dribbling and passing ability; he is as comfortable in midfield (AM) as in and around the box. I bet he is a fantastic link-up player who will score as many goals as he will produce assists for others. So I would play him in the hole with Jack and Arteta/Ramsey, or ideally a new DM, behind him, and Cazorla on the wing (with a licence to join Jovetic in the centre).
But I invite those who have seen Jovetic play a lot to share their views on him and where he should ideally play within our team.
Obviously, everybody is talking about the ‘Suarez bite’ this morning, and with good reason! Biting an opponent, just like spitting, is totally unacceptable. Kids are not allowed to do this at school and all footballers know that they should never bite an opponent; all that is, including the Uruguayan.
In fact, Suarez knows this better than anybody else, having been punished severely in the past in Holland for a similar cannibalistic impulse. We all know that in boxing, and even in rugby, sportsmen have been known to bite their opponents, but in football this is very rare and there will be no stone available for Suarez to crawl under this time.
I have said a few times in posts and comments that football is emotion, and there are very few footballers who are more passionate and committed than Suarez. I did not realise his nickname was El Pistolero, but how appropriate it is!
If all his emotion is triggered in the right direction, and with full focus, the Uruguayan is a total powerhouse of a player: Top Scorer in the PL and the best all-round attacker this season. He can dribble past opponents with ease, can shoot from a decent distance, is good in the air (despite his lack of height), is a fox in the box, as well as an attacking midfielder or ideal nr.10, and has passion and stamina in huge quantities.
But being in possession of such powerful weapons requires a strong ability to keep your calm in the heat of the fight; to regulate your adrenaline rushes, and not turn the gun to yourself, or cause any ‘friendly fire’.
Suarez clearly is not capable to control himself constantly on the pitch, and he is going to pay a heavy price for his latest fall from grace. It will be hard for the The Reds – both club and their usually extremely loyal and self-defensive fans – to defend him: they did it once, and in my view got that horrible wrong (remember the T-shirts?!), but I am sure they will restrain from doing so time round.
The reason I am writing this post about Suarez is two-fold.
Firstly, despite his preposterous behaviour, he actually did us an enormous favour by never giving up and scoring the very late equaliser that took two very, very valuable points away from the Chavs. As a result, the Chavs stayed a point behind us in the league table, and the game in hand for the Chavs and Spuds, which happens to be against each other, by itself, cannot knock us out of the top-four. It is now up to us to get as many or more points out of our four remaining games as they do and then at least a top-four place is ours.
Secondly, he happens to be exactly the sort of player we have been missing this season, and would fit into Arsenal like a glove, in terms of his technical football skills, which leads me to the question:
Should Arsene go all out and sign Suarez up this summer?
Let me first state, that I believe there is no excuse and place for racist remarks on the pitch – or anywhere else – biting opponents, or constantly diving to get penalties and free-kicks.
But I also believe that players should be given another chance after they have had their severe punishment, and this includes Suarez. I don’t think the Uruguayan is a deeply bad/nasty person, but perhaps very naïve and someone who finds it hard to control his emotions.
The key question is, can he still be ‘saved’ as in coached to become a more responsible and controlled person?
I am also a realist, in that if Liverpool feel they should sell him now to avoid future embarrassments, they are likely to want to sell to a non-PL team. At 26 and at the height of his professional career, he would be a force in any major European team, and with lots of oil-money now sloshing around outside the PL as well, he is most likely to end up outside the UK – if the Reds decide to sell him indeed.
If there is one manager who can man-manage Suarez into a more mature and controlled player on the pitch, it is Arsene Wenger. No doubt his football skills would make us significantly stronger in one go.
But what do you think: should we try very hard to sign him up this summer?
There is a lot of hope, or should I say expectation, in Goonerworld that Arsene/al will go all out and buy five or more top players this summer. I have heard this so many times in previous seasons, and yet, it has never happened. It will also not happen this summer; of that I am absolutely sure.
I am also hoping it won’t happen, and the reason for this is that I am sick to the teeth with ‘being in transition’ constantly. Transition sucks: teams in transition are constantly looking for cohesion, form, consistency, and they don’t win anything. And after two seasons of full-on, consecutive transitions, with a large number of players going out and coming in; what I want most is for all our key players to stay put this summer.
I don’t believe it is possible to buy success, other than winning the odd PL title or a cup. Real, sustained success, is developed and based around solid foundations. Being financially strong and powerful is definitely a prerequisite, but vision and values, long-term planning and consistency in key personnel – managers and players – are just as important. And success is built iteratively; layer by layer, and through trial and error. The best metaphor I can think of are the ‘Russian Dolls’.
The five Russian Dolls, or expanding building layers, of developing and maintaining a successful football club:
The smallest doll – the very core of the club – is all about having a great history, a fantastic stadium and training facilities, and a loyal fan-base. Arsenal have a state-of-the-art, 60,000 seater stadium and a truly fantastic and loyal fan-base, both in the UK and the rest of the world. Without these there simply would be no football club.
The second smallest doll is about having the right people leading and governing the club, with a long-term vision and who want the very best for the club; about running the club in a financially sustainable way AND about setting ourselves high, yet realistic, targets; taking into account the strength of our opposition and the financial and economic realities of a particular period. Arsenal have been, and currently still are, good at this and we should be grateful for it.
There is of course a risk of becoming a bit too risk averse, but I will come back to this later. There is also a risk of our club being sold, at any time, to a new major shareholder who could put the long term future of our club at risk, but let’s park this for another time.
The thirdsmallest, or middle, doll – probably the most important ‘layer’ for short to mid-term success – is about having the right team management in place; not just the manager, but also the coaches and assistants. The manager is key though, and he should be the sporting embodiment of the vision, values and style/character of the club on the pitch. Sustained success at a football club usually goes hand in hand with consistency in team management, which does not necessarily mean the same manager is in place for a long time, as good internal and/or external succession planning can safeguard style and quality of management.
Unless a football club lives outside normal economic realities – soon to become a lot more difficult, thankfully – recruiting and retaining a top manager who remains loyal to the club is key for sustained success. MU, Everton and Arsenal are built around consistency in team management, Man City and Liverpool are now trying to do the same, and I also expect the Spuds to hold on to AVB for a long period.
The only exception currently are the Chavs, but even their owner might now opt for consistency by re-recruiting the self-loving Maureen.
Wenger has stayed loyal to us when he could have gone anywhere else, and by doing so he has helped us tremendously. Arsene has not been without fault in recent years, and it is fair to say that the club needs to be competing stronger now for silverware; and as our financial position is currently a lot more sound than it has been in recent years, Arsene is to be expected to get us now to the very top again.
The fourth smallest, or second biggest, doll is all about the quality of our squad of players. There are three sub-layers to be considered here: the (best) first-eleven team, the wider squad, and the main factor in winning silverware; a super-core of four to six players who are either world-class and/or are total on-field representatives of the values of the club.
I have argued recently that our squad is very good and I also believe that our strongest first-eleven team is close to something special; especially if they stay together for at least three more years or so. I also believe that we are starting to get a core of four to six core players together again around which we can build a super-team once more – and we could have been there now if we still had Cesc, Song and van Judas, but let’s park this as well.
It is of paramount importance to hold on to all our key players now, including Sagna, Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Szczesny: all should not be sold in order to ‘balance the books’ for new arrivals. It would set us back again as we would start another round of transition, which should be avoided at all costs.
I believe the core team of four to six players; who will make the biggest difference in our team going forward is still developing, and hopefully, between now and the start of the new season, we will have we have a strong one in place.
I reckon the core of top quality/Arsenal through-and-through players will consist of: Wilshere, Cazorla, Arteta (at least for one more season), and Sagna; and one or two of Mertesacker (if he improves his role/importance to the team further), Jenkinson, Gibbs, Koscielny (ditto to Mertesacker), Podolski, Theo and Giroud, and possibly even Ramsey or Szczesny or Ox, could further be added to the core.
And that’s why I don’t believe we need to, or even should, get 5 new top quality players this summer.
Instead, I feel that recruiting one or two ‘core-quality’ players is all it takes now: it will improve the first team as well as the core team, and yet leaves a bit of space for the above mentioned players to work themselves right into the core of the team.
Recruiting a carefully selected, quality DM and an additional attacker of real class (ideally one who can play on the wing as well as centrally); at least one of whom could join the very core of our Arsenal team, should make all the difference now.
If we get any more than that it would be, in my view, simply counterproductive.
The biggest doll, or outer ‘layer’ is all about bringing the first four dolls – layers – together and maximizing on what the club has built up; and add a bit of courage, bravado, financial entrepreneurship: taking the bulls by the horn and move forward in a decisive way.
The coming summer, Arsene and the BoD have an opportunity to make that final step forward: not, though, by blowing things up now through buying a large number of new players and balancing the books to some extent by selling some of our current first team players.
Instead, we should keep all our key players, and add two max three (top) quality players, who fit in straightaway. Spend the available money without wanting to balance the books straightaway: simply speculate to cumulate a bit and trust that the good guys always win in the end.
Arsenal have a fantastic fanbase, stadium and facilities; a great history, vision, style and values; a loyal, experienced and visionary manager, and excellent coaching staff and youth development system; and an almost great squad. Two new quality players and a bit of guts by the BoD, and Arsenal will go all the way.
Giroud has often disappointed many Arsenal fans this season.
Every Arsenal fan knows that Wenger will buy a new striker in the summer, but many fans are split on what role they want this striker to have at Arsenal; whether that be playing with Giroud, replacing Giroud from our starting line-up and being our main striker, or being a squad player and rotating with Giroud.
Giroud is our only out and out striker at the club with Chamakh and Bendtner out on loan and likely to be sold at the end of the season. People may point out that Walcott, Gervinho and Podolski have played as the main striker many times this season, and we may see one of these players used there permanently next season, but I feel this is unlikely. They will be needed to play out wide next season, and Wenger has also stated that he feels Podolski plays better out wide, and we know that in certain games where teams defend deep, Walcott can be ineffective as our main striker.
When it comes to Giroud there are generally three view expressed by fans. I will explain these views to you in more detail.
The first is that Giroud is the right man to be our main striker and has the quality, desire and workrate to become a brilliant striker for us but; as this is his first season in the Premier League, he is taking time to adapt and needs to be given time to settle if he is going to become a great striker for Arsenal. Giroud cannot be expected to perform brilliantly in every match he plays in his first season in the Premier League. Another striker is needed at Arsenal in order to take some of the pressure away from Giroud to perform in every match he plays in.
The second is that Giroud is just not good enough to be our first choice striker and no matter how much time he has to adapt to the Premier League, he will never be good enough to be our first striker. He lacks the composure in front of goal which means he will never be able to score lots of goals to become a great striker for us. He is only good enough to be a squad player and nothing more.
The third view expressed by fans, is that, Giroud has all the qualities needed to become a great striker for us but he is not getting the support which he needs. And in the summer transfer window Wenger needs to buy another striker who can play alongside Giroud with the skill set and technical/physical attributes, which will allow this new striker and Giroud, to complement each other when playing for Arsenal.
The question is now, whether Wenger is buying a new striker with the thought that he will replace Giroud from the starting line-up, play alongside the Frenchman in the starting eleven, be rotated with Ollie in the starting line-up, or to deputise for him next season.
I feel when Wenger does buy another striker in the summer he will not permanently replace Giroud from the starting eleven. I see Wenger rotating Giroud with the new striker, although the new striker may be given a slight preference to the starting line-up.
As Arsenal fans we may disagree on our opinion of Giroud, or what role at Arsenal a new striker is needed for, but we can all agree that Wenger needs to buy another striker in the summer, which I am sure he will do.
Taking what I have said in this post into consideration, could you tell us the names of any strikers you would like to see at Arsenal, what you think they could offer to Arsenal (how they would solve our attacking problems) and what role you would like them to have at Arsenal.
However there are three conditions you have to take into consideration when coming up with your choice of striker:
The striker you choose should have an affordable transfer fee that Arsenal would be able to pay.
The striker you choose should have affordable wages that Arsenal would be able to pay.
Your suggested strikers should have good reason to come to Arsenal/have a very good chance of coming to Arsenal. If writing any other comments, I would like you to take this question into consideration.
Do you want a new striker to replace Giroud from the starting eleven, play alongside Giroud in the starting eleven, to be rotated with Giroud in the starting eleven or do you want Giroud to remain as our main striker next season with a new striker being Giroud’s deputy?
Bergkampesque 