July 6, 2009

FLAMINI BACK AT ARSENAL – YES, YES, YES AND YES PLEASE!

The latest rumours are linking AC Milan to a £20m + Flamini bid for striker Adebayor.

If these rumours are true then I would take this all day long. I would take Flamini over Melo. He’s a proven Premiership player, and he would slot in nicely, no period of 6 months to get used to the Premiership.

So, if we had the choice of having £20m and Flamini, and losing Adebayor, over paying £15m for Melo and losing Eboue, I’d take the Flamini/Adebayor deal please. Leaves us with at least £20m to buy a quality striker. Also, I think Eboue is a decent squad player and he seems happy to sit on the bench and do a job when needed.

I would even be tempted to put in a bid for ex-Arsenal winger Aleksander Hleb. I know a lot of fans despise Hleb for leaving Arsenal, but I’ll tell you one thing, Hleb is different class. Hleb and Flamini back at Arsenal would be legendary.

That’s just my opinion though! What are your thoughts on the whole Flamini/Adebayor/Melo/Eboue rumours?

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July 4, 2009

ARSENAL TO SIGN PROVEN WORLD CLASS STRIKER

In a recent interview, Arsene Wenger admitted that he was interested in signing Karim Benzema from Lyon, but missed out to ridiculous-spending Real Madrid.

“There is one who interested me but he (Karim Benzema) left for Madrid.”

“I did not make an approach because I would never have thought that Lyon would sell this year.”

Surely, this would indicate that Arsenal are in the hunt for a world class striker, and that Wenger has money to spend if need be. If we sell Adebayor, we can hope for something in the region of the £15m-£20m mark, and that would go a long way in funding a nice replacement. Chamakh is the player being touted as the replacement for Adebayor, but this is not the player Arsenal fans want. We want a proven, experienced goal scorer. I have a feeling Wenger will try to sign Bafetimbi Gomis from St Etienne. I wouldn’t be surprised if we try to raid the French club for both Gomis and midfielder Blaise Matuidi.

We should have signed Daniel Sturridge too. He’s a great prospect and could learn a lot at Arsenal, and you can guarantee Wenger would have given him games. Not sure if Wenger missed out on him or not, but I would’ve liked us to sign him. He looked good every time I saw him last season.

To be honest, would it really be that bad to sell Adebayor and be left with van Persie, Eduardo, Vela and Bendtner as our major strikers? If Eduardo was fit then I wouldn’t see a problem with them four slotting in. Walcott and Arshavin can operate as strikers too, and we could be best off spending our money on another defender, and a top quality holding midfielder. We never really had a problem scoring goals last season, without Adebayor. Signing a striker is always more exciting than signing a defender though!

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July 2, 2009

GAZIDIS CALLS FOR SALARY CAP

It is perhaps no surprise that a man who spent 14 years within the heavily regulated structure that is the American MLS is calling for a salary cap in the Premier League.

It is also not a surprise that he is now at a club in the Premier League most at threat from the spiralling cost of wages.

Ivan Gazidis’ comments in the Guardian this week certainly made interesting reading and contained valid points, but it is flying in the face of what is happening in football at the moment.

As Man City pick off their rival’s best players, offering wages of up to £250,000 a week, they are rapidly joining Chelsea in every fan’s least favourite teams list. However immoral that level of spending is and no matter how much we bitch and moan the reality is that City will be challenging us for a top four position next season.

Gazidis can talk up our ‘self sustaining finances’ all he wants but if it means we miss out on trophies and Champions League football I doubt it will go down well with the fans.

I personally hope the now infamous ‘bubble’ will burst and the Chelseas, Liverpools and Uniteds of this world will finally pay for their greed, allowing well run clubs like us to finally prosper and gain reward for running a football club responsibly and based on the realities of basic economics.

But will that bubble burst? There is no sign of it at the moment. Are we going to sit there and moan for years, waiting for that ‘I told you so moment’ only to see our rivals clean up?

Or is it a case of if you can’t beat em, join em? The political manoeuvring of Alisher Usmanov suggests he is stepping up his attempt to gain a seat on the board. A share issue would provide us with more cash, but does he have ulterior motives in underwriting it? I am no expert in boardroom politics but I’m sure he isn’t doing it to give Wenger some cash.

Should we stop fighting against the tide, forget our morals and accept a billionaire owner into the Arsenal family? It would certainly be my second choice, but with the Premier League money train showing no sign of stopping, unless we want to slide into mediocrity, I think it is the only choice we have.

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June 28, 2009

BENZEMA TO SIGN FOR ARSENAL FOR £30m? WOULD BE NICE.

NOTW are reporting that Arsenal are about to go head-to-head with Man United for the signature of Lyon striker Karim Benzema. It is the NOTW so I wouldn’t get too excited.

It seems like Adebayor will leave Arsenal in the summer, with AC Milan being the team linked to the Togo striker over and over again, and the Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani admitting that Milan have contacted Arsenal over a deal for the lanky striker.

I’m not really sure where I stand on the whole Adebayor thing to be honest. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that he could become a top player for Arsenal, but his heart hasn’t really been in it since the rumous of him leaving last season. On his day he is unstoppable, and at Arsenal he can improve, but he even mentioned himself that he doesn’t feel loved anymore, so its time to move on. Shame really, because whoever replaces him is going to take some time to adjust to the Premiership.

Onto Benzema. If we sign Benzema, we are getting the real deal, and possibly the most exciting young striker in world football. A lot of people have mentioned on forums and blogs that he won’t hack it in the Premiership and he’s this and he’s that. I’ll tell you right now, this boy is special. I’ve watched a lot of French football over the past three seasons and Benzema is the finest player to grace the French league in quite some time. He is not just a ‘you tube player’. He’s quick, he’s has two great feet, and I mean great feet, he can header, he’s strong, he’s confident, and he has the arrogance to go with it. He is the closest thing I’ve seen to a young Alan Shearer, and that’s some compliment.

I’d say it’s unlikely we’ll sign Benzema, just because of the price tag, but it would be a dream.

A player we seem more likely to sign is Bordeaux’s Moroccan striker Marouane Chamakh. An interesting one, check him out on YouTube and he don’t look that great, but he’s not a bad player. The sort of player Arsene Wenger could turn into a great player, but I do feel that at 25, it may just be a little too late.

Who do Arsenal fans want? Do you want Adebayor? Is Benzema unrealistic? Would you like a bit of Chamakh?

I’m sure we’ll just sign a player nobody is linking us with, and one which nobody has ever heard of.

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June 23, 2009

MELO, IS IT ME YOU’RE LOOKING FOR?

With the recent rumour linking Fiorentina hatchet-man Felipe Melo with a move to Arsenal, I decided to watch the Brazilian in action against Italy in the Con-Friendly-erations Cup, to find out what he was all about.

Admittedly, it’s the first time I’ve seen him play, so I’m not in the best position to comment about the player.

However, from what I saw of him, he looked like the absolute perfect requirement, and the exact sort of player we were missing last season. He can tackle, he can pass, he can block, he can intercept, he can win headers, he has a good engine on him, he can defend, he can attack, and his positional sense seemed to be spot on. I couldn’t find a weakness in Melo to be fair. He plays in the position Gilberto occupied for Arsenal for so many years, and ironically Gilberto played in the same game in a more advanced position. Gilberto also looked like he’d lost a couple of stone in weight. He is someone we need.

I was going to say that he can’t be that bad if he’s in the Brazil national side, but Kleberson made an appearance late on in the game, so if that’s anything to go by, then Brazil must be struggling of late. They absolutely hammered the Italians though.

If the rumours are true about Arsenal signing him after the tournament then I will be very excited.

In other news, Robin van Persie is set to commit to a new 4-year deal worth £70,000 per week. I’d personally like him to prove himself consistently before we decide to pay him that sort of money. That’s effectively £14,000 for every good game he has.

Bet for Arsenal, show some real support for the club you love.

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June 20, 2009

TEVEZ LEAVING MAN UNITED – WE SHOULD SIGN HIM

BBC are reporting that Manchester United have announced that Carloz Tevez is definitely leaving the club.

If we get rid of Adebayor, then we should jump at the chance to sign Tevez. He would be absolutely spot on for Arsenal.

Interestingly, Vermealen has yet to be given a squad number. Could the rumours linking Kolo Toure to a move to Manchester City be true? With Vermealen ready to nick the number 5 shirt? Generally, players are always given a squad number as soon as they sign, so this looks like it could happen.

I would be sad to see Toure leave Arsenal, because of his great attitude, but he has been diabolical for us in the past two seasons or so, and if I had to choose Gallas or Toure, I’d take Gallas all day long. There has been talk in the past about Gallas and Toure not seeing eye to eye, and Wenger may have actually decided that he’s got to sacrifice one, and that one being Toure.

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June 20, 2009

ARSENAL SIGNING COULD JUST FIT THE BILL

Arsenal have finally secured the services of Belgian defender Thomas Vermeaelen from Ajax for an undisclosed fee.

The 23-year-old has already come under criticism from Tony Adams, claiming the player is not good enough for Arsenal, but let’s be honest, what does Tony Adams know? A great player yes, but a diabolical coach and judge of a player. He told Wenger NOT to sign Rosicky. When Rosicky is fit, he is probably our most influential player. Adams didn’t tell Wenger not to sign Rosicky because he is always injured, he told him he wasn’t good enough.

The main concern from Adams was the lack of height, and the worry that we’ve signed another ’small one’. I can understand Adams is concerned with the ariel threat of Vermaelen, but he’s hardly small, he’s half an inch short of 6ft. Two inches short of Vidic, who is probably better in the air than any other player in the Premiership. It’s all about bravery and the spring in the step. Cannavaro and Puyol are both shorter.

When we played Ajax in the Amsterdam Tournament a couple of years ago, I remember him being a proper dirty bastard, and I think that is the exact sort of player we need. He seems to be a no holds barred defender, who can play anywhere across the back four and do a job. I can’t imagine he’ll set the world alight with his football ability, but I have a feeling he could do the job for us, and I’m excited about the signing. If the pictures below are anything to go by, then he’s obviously a bit of aggro, which can only be good.

If we keep hold of Gallas, which I hope we do, we seem covered defensively. Who else is Arsene likely to bring in? I’m hoping it’s going to be a defensive midfielder, but you never can tell with Mr Wenger.

Verm

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June 20, 2009

FIXTURE LIST MOAN!

Everyone else glued to the internet or TV at 10am on Wednesday? Yeah me too!

At any other time of the year the release of fixtures wouldn’t be that exciting, but given we are missing our football fix – the new season is still eight weeks away – the release of the new season’s fixtures is a chance to get excited about the new campaign, plan those away days and generally have a whinge about how our fixtures are harder than the others.

And this year I think we have a case.

A very tough one first up, Everton away. They have had a couple of great seasons under Moyes but I think they have been undone by their small squad towards the end of the season. However first up they will be fresh and ready to go. If it was at the Emirates I would have been confident, we have a great record against them there, but Goodison is a tough place to go – we needed a bit of RVP magic to bail us out last time.

It doesn’t get any easier, the Champions League qualifiers are next up sandwiched between a home game against Pompey before trips to Man United and then Man City, not the best of starts thank you fixture computer.

However it gets worse towards the end of January. We travel to Aston Villa, who nearly upset the Premier League odds by pushing us all the way for 4th last season, on Wednesday January 27, before hosting Manchester United on January 30. Then a week later we go across to Chelsea on February 6. To cap it all off Liverpool come to the Emirates four days after the Chelsea game.

I know there are a lot of complexities involving the selection of the fixtures but come on, that run of fixtures seems ridiculously unbalanced, especially considering there may be FA Cup, Carling Cup and Champions League games piled up on that.

I suppose the only consolation is that the run-in isn’t too bad with Wigan, Manchester City, Blackburn and Fulham. However if it is anything like last season it could be all over by then!

Article written by Tom Mallows.

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June 14, 2009

SAKHO AND VELOSO TO ARSENAL? YES PLEASE!

PSGs young centre back Mamadou Sakho has reportedly been on the radar for quite some time now, but the recent reports are suggesting that Sakho will be staying put, for the time being anyway.

Sakho stated on his own personal website:

I want to formally refute the statements that have been published in the press

I’m not sure what sort of player Sakho is, but if Football Manager is anything to go by then he’s one of the best young defenders in Europe, and they do tend to be right about potential a lot of the time.

Another player I’d like Arsenal to sign is Miguel Veloso, the Sporting Lisbon defensive midfielder, who can also operate at centre back. Reports at fansfc.com are pointing towards Bolton making an offer £10.2m for Portuguese star. Personally, I think it’s absolute nonsense. Veloso signing for Bolton is not realistic, neither is the fee of a measly £10m. If this is the case then Arsenal need to act quick as he is exactly the sort of player we need. He’s tough in the tackle and he can play a bit of football too. I have a feeling Arsene might be waiting for the right time to sign Veloso.

I’m sure this won’t be the first or the last you hear about either of these players during the summer of speculation. Anyone know what’s happening with Vermaelen?

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June 7, 2009

VAN PERSIE TO INTER FOR £25m – YES PLEASE!

According to the Mirror, Inter Milan are considering a £25m swoop for our injury plagued, inconsistent, slows the game down, Dutch star, Robin van Persie.

Don’t get me wrong, I like van Persie, but he is all of the above. Yes, on his day his is a fantastic player who can turn any defence inside out, but how many of them days do we get a season? I’d say six to eight.

For them six to eight games of magic, I’d rather we cash in on him and snap up a consistent striker right now. I’d be tempted to replace van Persie with Arshavin.

It seems inevitable that Adebayor is off, and his replacement could be Wolfsburg’s free scoring front man, Edin Dzeko. The Bosnian looks similar (footballing wise) to Eduardo, with a little extra height. Check the YouTube video out. Obviously, YouTube can make anyone look good, bar Diaby, but his goalscoring record last season speaks for itself – 34 games and 32 goals!

What would you like to see happen at Arsenal in the summer? Yaya Toure in? Michael Johnson in? Diaby out? Lorik Cana in? Dzeko in? Diaby out? Blaise Matuidi in? Diaby out?

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