Perhaps some of our players are still in the wrong place,
having witnessed our performances in the two most recent friendlies. We were
less than impressive against Manchester City and Kitchee, especially
defensively. I hope Arsene Wenger will address these problems, but he says we
have three defenders waiting back in the UK. Those defenders are, of course,
Per Metesacke, Laurent Koscielny and Bacari Sagna. Unfortunately, the latter is
hardly raring to go due to his injuries. And we can only hope that Mertesacke
and Koscielny get some playing time against Cologne in the last friendly before
the season kicks off in earnest.
But even if we read too much into the pre-season friendlies,
it wasn't all bad news. The website called Red London was particularly
delighted that Johan Djourou was made skipper for the last match. The website
pointed out that many Arsenal skippers head for the exit door shortly after
claiming the armband. Personally, I want Djourou to stay. He's a good squad
player with good technique, he's versatile and he has a good attitude. He still
only 25 so hasn't reached his peak yet. I say we should keep him.
One player who everyone is raving about though is Thomas
Eisfeld. I think some of the praises a little over the top, but you have to
hand it to the kid: scoring two goals in two cameo appearances some
achievement.
Other highlights include the performances of Chuks Aneke.
I'm not sure he'll play in the Premier league next season, but I wouldn't be
surprised if he makes the grade based on what I've seen.
Nico Yennaris also looked pretty solid and with Sagna likely
to miss the start of the season, we need someone who can play right back. Craig
Eastman played there and did okay, but I prefer him as a midfielder. Also I
have a funny feeling the 21-year-old be loaned out again, whereas the
19-year-old Yennaris will probably stay put.
After the Kitchee game I felt relieved that Ignasi Miquel is
heading to Brighton on loan. He made a horrendous mistakes against the Hong
Kong side, and so need to build up some experience elsewhere. I still think
he's a great prospect for the future though, so I'm not ready to take back
everything I said!
Kyle Bartley didn't do too badly in the Far East, despite
our defensive frailties so perhaps he will actually get some game time for
Arsenal.
As we await new signings, some people are saying we already
have a new left winger: Andre Santos. Arsene Wenger appears to be trying to do
the same as what he did a few years ago with Emmanuel Eboue. Back then, Eboue
was tried as a right winger in the pre-season. It made a lot of sense to me and
it does again with Santos playing in front of Kieran Gibbs.
Gervinho showed what a real left winger can do that against
Kitschee. He absolutely destroyed them. I'm not sure why in previous games
Wenger tried Gervinho as a striker. Surely the boss realises that Gervinho
lacks the killer touch in front of goal. Also, he risks alienating Theo
Walcott, who wants to play as a striker. Instead, Wenger persists in trying
Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh in Theo's rightful position. It's so frustrating
to watch and, if Theo feels frustrated too, he may elect to run down his
contract and leave for free next year. That would be a tragedy, in my opinion, especially if ended up back at Southampton, as one website suggested! Liverpool would appear a more likely destination, given Theo supported them as a kid. When I say "supported", I imagine he watched them on TV mostly, as Liverpool's a long trip from Southampton, but anyway I won't be surprised if he ends up at Anfield.
We're not really that well stocked in the winger department, as
Ryo Miyaichi doesn't look quite ready to play first-team football for Arsenal
yet, which is why we are still expecting Santi Cazorla's imminent arrival from
Malaga. The Spanish club have to find some money from somewhere by the end of
this month, so in theory we should be hours away from completing a deal.
If we need a winger we could even give Andrey Arshavin
another chance to play wide, as Wenger said: "He could still have a future
at the club." That's good news for me, as I'm a big fan of the meerkat!
I'd hate to see him leave for Fulham with us just receiving £1 million of the
transfer fee and having to cough up some of his wages. That would be an incredibly
stupid transfer deal especially as Queens Park Rangers would pay is a lot more
than Fulham, if their interest is genuine.
Three players will definitely be leaving it seems and those
players are: Nicklas Bendtner, Sebastien Squillaci and Park Chu-Young. Wenger
said enigmatically: "Bendtner, Squillaci and Park will be on their way to
go somewhere." Once some money comes in for those players, it may make it
easier for us to bring in some new ones. Lukas Podolski might end up taking one
of their squad numbers rather than Robin van Persie's, who might need to change
his name to Robin van 'Purse' if he gets £220,000 per week by joining
Manchester United for £30 million. Apparently, Robin wants parity with Wayne
Rooney. I can't see it happening myself, but I can see is doing a deal on
transfer deadline day with Manchester City, as they have a lot of strikers they
want to offload plus Kolo Toure. Before you say "No way can happen", think
about what happened with Ashley Cole. We signed William Gallas in part-exchange,
remember?
Other players we are even more unlikely to bring to the club
include: Celtic's Kenya international Victor Wanyama of Celtic, who will cost
between £7 million and £10 million, when he signs for either Manchester United,
Queens Park Rangers, Stoke City, Liverpool, Newcastle or Arsenal; Brescia's Morocco
international striker Omar El Kaddouri, who will cost €5 million and is more
likely to go to Parma anyway; Marseilles'
Ghana international winger Andre Ayew, who has an €18 million release clause; and
troubled France international defender Mamadou Sakho, who seems incredibly
unlikely to leave Paris St Germain.
One deal that may have an element of truth about it is the
story surrounding Real Madrid's 23-year-old Turkey international midfielder Nuri
Sahin. Apparently, we could bring him in on the year's loan. Now that would be
nice! Not necessarily for Podolsky though, who has a bit of
"previous" with Sahin. All is forgiven now, apparently, so there are
no real worries in that respect. I feel more worried that Sahin will end up playing
for Tottenham, especially if he is offered in part exchange for Luka Modric, who
seems destined for the Bernabeu.
Meanwhile, we hear Benik Afobe is off to Bolton Wanderers on
a loan deal. Perhaps Ryo will join him. I don't think a spell in the Championship
will hurt either player, it should toughen them up.
Until the next time, up the Gooners!
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