The Arsenal Transfer Clockwatch: Nothing Has Changed!

Posted on September 1, 2010 by thegreengooner

I was not disappointed when the Transfer Window closed at 6pm yesterday. This morning I went through previous blog entries from May and June of this year and I realised that most of my conclusions then about reinforcements back then still hold true. I won’t gloat and say I told you so but for me it was interesting to be reminded of the fact that Arsenal are all too predictable.

On the blog post Oh To Write About Arsenal Posted on May 3, 2010, I said;

On our current squad, I support Arsene’s opinion that we only need two or three additions. However, I believe that number should increase should there be any departures. I do not believe William Gallas will sign a new contract as if he wanted to, he should have done so already. Our most pressing area of concern should be that of goalkeepers. I also do not feel that come next season Manuel Almunia will be number one at the club. I am one of Lukasz Fabianski’s biggest critics as I cringe each time I see him step out to the field. Nevertheless, I am reminded that other Arsenal fans were critical of the likes of Diaby and Song in the early days whilst I saw the potential they had in them. Arsene may yet keep faith with him or may decide to cut his losses and splurge on a goal keeper who is proven at this level.

It seems obvious that we will sign Chamakh in the summer so that leaves us with two more positions to fill. The boss isn’t talking about Silvestre or Senderos so I assume they will leave us at the end of the season. Sol Campbell in my opinion has done enough to earn himself another year at Arsenal and with Djourou coming back to full training we will need one more player should Gallas leave in the summer as I expect. The final player I expect us to sign will probably be one of those surprise Arsene signings. On that, I will not speculate.

Nothing much has changed since then. We have signed Chamakh, Koscielny and Squilacci whom I will call the surprise signing. The only thing I did not fathom was the fact that Sol Campbell would leave the club. Now it looks like Arsene Wenger is resolved to keeping faith with Manuel Almunia who has started all three games this season. If I know Arsene at all, I am sure that he would have looked elsewhere more seriously if he thought the Spaniard time at the club was truly over.

In anticipation of the 2010 World Cup, the article Carpe Diem! posted on June 1, 2010 looked at our defensive situation and pondered upon the possibility of losing up to three centre backs as the situation with Campbell had started to look uncertain. With that in mind, I said

…I won’t be surprised if the boss attempts to sign not one but two centre backs. Notice I haven’t mentioned Silvestre who I believe will not be expecting an extension nor Bartley or Nordveit who I do not quite yet rate as ready for the Premiership. The names currently in the bag as of yet are Lorient centre-back Laurent Koscielny and Dynamo Kiev’s Pape Diakhate, the latter of whom Bacary Sagna has claimed would be a welcome addition to the Arsenal squad. Unconfirmed reports claim we had a bid turned down for Koscielny who would probably be a Vermaelen type signing.

So far so good on Koscielny eh? He was blamed by many for the goal conceded at Blackburn last weekend but a great piece by Joel Che on the Arsenal Mania website seems to puts his performances so far into perspective for me. It makes an interesting read. The signing of Sebastian Squilacci proved that theory right. Kyle Bartley has returned to Sheffield United on a season long loan while Arsene Wenger publicly stated that he would play Harvard Nordveit at right back to gain experience.

I also believe that Fulham were well within their rights to turn down our advances for Mark Schwarzer as they were unable to get a proper replacement for him in time before the injury to David Stockdale and the close of the transfer window. On my birthday in June, I pondered what the implication of signing Mark Schwarzer would be for him.

Signing him will most certainly mark the end of Manuel Almunia’s time as first choice and will also provide sufficient time for our younger goalkeepers to build up their confidence. I’m sure Arsene must have been thinking about making Schwarzer first choice for next season with Almunia as back up (even though I doubt if he’d play) and Vito Mannone as the Carling Cup Keeper.

He’d then be able to send out both Fabianksi and Szczesny on loan for a year bringing them back in the summer of 2011 to fight for the number 1 spot. By then Almunia would have probably left the club, Schwarzer would be on the verge of retirement, and James Shea would battling Vito Mannone for third choice.

Since it appears that we have been rebuffed by Fulham, I will be interested to see what our next move will be. Will we return with another bid or look elsewhere. I don’t know whether there are any other viable alternatives to Schwarzer that will tie in with the scenario I have speculated above.

I still expect one of our goalkeepers to be sent out on loan this season as lower league clubs can still loan players after the window has closed. Yesterday, the club announced that James Shea who was mentioned in the earlier post had been training with the England squad after injuries to Ben Foster and David Stockdale. Could Arsene be trying to pass a message across to us?

On the Season Review DVD Arsene Wenger admitted that we need to be stronger at the back. He said;

…in the positives as well is the number of goals we scored because that is quite higher than ever. And when I say that positive I have to go straight away to a negative because of the number of goals we conceded is too high as well to win a championship. So where we progress from there is quite simple – we need to be more steady defensively and concede less goals. The basic improvements that have to be made is defensive and with spending the right money. The right money is not necessarily quantity because you never know how much people want for the players you want. But what I mean by the right money is that we will not be scared to spend if needed

What is clear from his statements and what has happened since then is the fact that while signing a new goalkeeper would probably be a welcome addition to the squad, defensive stability is the greater priority as a goalkeeper can only stop what is thrown at him. While a world class keeper can win points for his team by making great saves, a good defence will not only cover up the frailties of any goalkeeper but their ability to communicate with themselves and with him often makes the difference between leaving him shielded or exposed against the more brilliant attacking sides.

Looking at our current defensive position, whilst you can probably say that Gallas is currently a much better player than Laurent Koscielny, the young Frenchman has age on his side as he is only 24 and can only get better as his career progresses at Arsenal. Djourou’s return from injury can be considered a vast improvement on Mikael Silvestre who signed for Werder Bremen. Sebastien Squillaci in my opinion was signed to balance out the departure of Sol Campbell who unsurprisingly signed for Newcastle. I haven’t mentioned Philippe Senderos as he hardly played last season and we at least have the option of Nordveit or even Alex Song to fill in at centre back should we require it.

My position is for true Arsenal supporters, not just arm chair fans to get behind Manuel Almunia who is obviously a relieved man to find out that he is still number 1 at the club and give him all the support he can get. Some groups have suggested boycotting Arsenal games to protest our lack of major activity in the transfer market. That to me is simply ignorant. Almunia is no fool and he knows that the manager did try to replace him. As a professional his obvious reaction should be and has been to work harder both in training and on the pitch and use the criticism to his advantage and regain the form that forced Wenger to install him as first choice goalkeeper for the club. After all, who would have thought that an unknown Spaniard from Pamplona keep the great Jens Lehman out of the Arsenal team. 

Arsene Wenger has also recognised this fact. He said;

“You can understand that he [Almunia] 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. Jens Lehmann had to deal with that situation because at some stage I took him out of the team and played Almunia so competition is part of our world. We have to accept that. I understand completely that it is not always easy but it is our world.”

From the Guardian Chalkboard below created by OleGunner, it looks like the team is also adopting a different tactic when it comes to the goalkeeper’s distribution.


 by Guardian Chalkboards

He also points the following out in his comments

It appears Almunia has been told not to kick long this season. While it would seem like this is to mitigate what might be considered his poor distribution, it still would have a major impact on how Arsenal play. To start with, the back 4 would have to play out of the back more, and they would have to take different positions when the keeper has the ball. What impact will this have on Arsenal’s possession game? That remains to be seen. Will it make Arsenal more susceptible to the pressing game?

I do hope that the saying “Form is temporary, Class is Permanent” applies to Almunia this season.

Please follow me on twitter here http://twitter.com/thegreengooner as I share my thoughts about Arsenal and much more!

Till next time…Victoria Concordia Crescit

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A Letter to the Youth by Amara Nwankpa RE: RSVP 2011

Posted on August 30, 2010 by thegreengooner

By January 08, 2011, there will be approximately 35 million Nigerians between the ages of 18-35. We will embody the hopes of another generation, a generation neither touched by the civil war nor old enough to have enjoyed the brief period of prosperity that followed the oil boom.

We will represent a generation that cannot remember any cross country journey we undertook without encountering craters in the middle of the road. A generation that inherited broken down schools, discouraged teachers and a confused education system. A generation, forced to compete in a world they were not adequately prepared for.

We, 35 million of us, are an advance guard for a generation of Nigerians who grew up drinking from boreholes, streams and ponds, who lit their way at night, and in the early mornings with lanterns, candles or torches. To whom luxury meant to sleep in your own bed with the, ironically, comforting noise of a personal generator providing the assurance that your home appliances will be useful, for a little longer.

Our generation has been unfortunate to emerge in a time when the HIV/AIDS pandemic is at its peak. Gripping fatally at the lives of our contemporaries, cutting them down at their prime. To make matters worse, we have the added misfortune of being born in a place where the healthcare and social welfare systems either do not exist or are incapable of protecting us from the fate imposed by this or any other ill of its nature.

We remember the police for bribery, politicians for corruption and the public utilities for ineptitude. We will insist that we have survived so far in spite of, not because of, the contributions of these people or institutions.

For our generation, a great Nigeria is a dream or a collection of stories and doctrines handed down by our fathers, read in textbooks or chorused out in the National Anthem. It has never been our experience. We have experienced no greatness from which we can weave stories to inspire our children or grandchildren. Our memories will be of malnourishment in boarding schools; violence debauchery and strikes in University; robbery, rape and death at home and in our neighborhoods.

We have never voted in an election considered to be free, fair or credible. We have never controlled our fate.

But we can rewrite our own story.

We can respond to our challenges together, like the great Nigerians we so desperately want to be. We can shake off complacency and embrace collective action. We can become the heroes of the great stories we will tell our children.

We are doctors, lawyers, engineers, planners, musicians, actors, models, handymen, builders, cleaners and students. We are the minds that will imagine a new dawn. We are the hands that will make it happen. 35 million of us. We can tell a better story than our fathers told. Our children can inherit a greater Nigeria than we were born into.

 Yes we can!

 And we must!

For none of our individual brilliance, or industry will amount to anything if the collective wellbeing continues to be at peril. For even if we attain our individual dreams, our marble palaces will be surrounded by slum, and stagnant gutters. Our walls and shadows will be hounded by robbers, and hoodlums who – having been denied existence by society – will seek to prey on our success. For survival is a basic natural instinct, and when it is not guaranteed, it expresses itself in vice.

Our standing in the world will continue to plummet. We will continue to be treated as lepers – the butt of cheap jokes and scathing satire. And we will not have a better story to tell, to balance any of these.

Unless we say Enough is Enough!

So come October, 2010, just as our nation celebrates 50 year of little or nothing after independence, we will come together as the most numerous political force in its history. We will take the opportunity of this unique anniversary to start a quiet revolution that will spin this country on its head.

We will find the nearest INEC registration center, gather our friends, colleagues and family and go Register. Then we will spend the next few weeks (after registration) scrutinizing the field to Select credible candidates who speak to our issues. During the elections in January, we will come out (with our friends, colleagues and family) – in the rain, sun or sandstorm – and Vote for those whom we have selected. Beyond casting our votes, we will stand firm and together to Protect our vote. Ensuring that it counts for whom we have cast it for.

This RSVP will be the start of our quiet revolution.

For when we have shown our numbers at the polls, we can now collectively demand that our issues be addressed. We would have shown that our generation cannot be ignored. We would have started a journey to take back Nigeria from the mischievous minority that has held her hostage.

And if we succeed, we would be the ones who our children will be singing about in the 5th line of the national anthem: “…the labor of our heroes past shall never be in vain”.

So if you agree with me that “yes we can”, you must forward/share this message to 100 more people within the next 24 hrs. (LOL)

If you are interested in leading the RSVP effort in your neighborhood or vicinity, you can register here:

http://www.enoughisenoughnigeria.com/register/

If you want to find out where your INEC registration center might be, check here:

http://www.inecnigeria.org/election/find_polling_station.php (polling stations are used for registration too)

Start expressing your opinion by partaking in this poll: “What attributes would determine your choice of a President?”

http://twtpoll.com/r/z8gsg2

To learn more about the campaign focused on one of the major issues going into the 2011 elections (electricity) visit:

http://www.lightupnigeria.org/

Yours Sincerely

Amara Nwankpa

                                                                                                                                                                     

In case you were wondering, Amara Nwankpa a.k.a @bubusn is a Gooner! 

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A Masterclass From The Gunners

Posted on August 23, 2010 by thegreengooner
I had a lot to think about after this Saturday’s game against Blackpool. The headlines were screaming Theo this and Theo that, but much credit must be given to Rosicky for pulling the strings in midfield all game long. Most people expected Arsenal to win but a 6-0 scoreline was way beyond most estimations given their flying start last week with a win over Wigan.

Theo Walcott looked very very sharp in pace, posession and thinking. There was a good mix in his game between creating opportunities for team mates and taking chances. I think we need to see a bit more of his selfishly intelligent side this season. I think he has responded positively to the disappointment of not being included in the England squad for last summer’s World Cup in South Africa speaking of staying back after training to work on his technique. I think he can only get better.

On this, the manager was quick to add;

“He is developing still and maybe what happened to him is part of his development. He was too nervous in front of goal, he rushed his movements. Now he is composed, and once a player feels and understands how to be composed and calm in front of goal, it opens their mind.”

It was interesting to see our new 4-2-3-1 formation rear its head again. Arsene has always been known for adapting his formation to suit personnel and this season has followed a similar trend. Unlike at Liverpool, Wilshere sat deep in midfield with Diaby right in front of the back four. Rosicky roved just in front of them with Arshavin and Walcott the two wide men for Chamakh who was down the middle. With the growing influence of Chamakh in the squad, I have a sneaky suspicion that once again, Arsene Wenger might be forced to adapt his formation to enable him play alongside Van Persie in attack. He said;

“They can play together but that will be a 4-4-2. We’ll see, it depends a little bit, one can play on the flank and come in, but at the moment we have plenty of choice going forward – touch wood.”

“I believe he is a player who adapts still to our style but if you look at the impact he has on the game… he got the penalty, he got the sending off, he got the goal and he was involved in the goal last week. He is an efficient player and he has still to adapt to our style. But I am very confident that when you see the header today his goals can be vital in big games.”

Arshavin was his usual self. Anonymous in one game and simply brilliant in the next. Last season he didn’t show up against the weaker teams. This season it seems to be the opposite going by the trend so far. Thomas Vermaelen in my opinion was largely anonymous for most of the game. That in my book is a good thing. Song was the more visible figure when Blackpool attacked although Vermaelen did turn up at corners to give a go at the chance.

Overall, I think it was an impressive team performance although we didn’t exactly play against one of the tougher teams in the league. Still the signs were positive and as StevieGooner pointed out, it was good to see to see Blackpool’s keeper applaud Theo Walcott as he was being substituted. Blackpool Manager Ian Holloway admitted that they were outclassed, he said;

“Thank you Mr Wenger, it was an absolute education.”

“Some of the football Arsenal played was world class and they could have scored more. After the red card it was then damage limitation and the damaged us all the way to the end.”

I guess that’s all he could say as he’s probably a better loser than Arsene.

Last night, news broke that Sevilla had accepted a bid for centre back Sebastien Squillaci from Arsenal and that the player was on his way to London for a medical today. At 30 he’s got enough experience to hold his own so I won’t say anymore till he actually does sign. Till then I just hope he doesn’t pick 13 as his squad number. That’s mine!

I’ll talk about Gallas to Spurs some other time.

Cheers and have a great week!

Victoria Concordia Crescit.

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