Arsene Wenger spoke to the press ahead of Arsenal’s infamous “game in hand” against Bolton scheduled for tomorrow and there’s a ton of news that came out of just a short presser, so let’s get stuck in.
The Match
Gunnerblog is already reporting that the game in hand may actually stay in hand owing to the Winter storm currently canceling matches ‘oop norf’ which is reportedly ready to blow in to London and stop everything there with snow as well. As we all know, whether London comes to a complete halt largely depends on which ‘type’ of snow they get.
I’ve seen a few folks bemoan the fact that we’ll no longer have the game in hand to talk about, plus, there’s the little fact that Bolton see the appointment of Owen Coyle as their new manager as the second coming and personally? I hope it gets snowed out. I’m not scared of Bolton, but let Bolton kick Sunderland all over the pitch with a new manager and full of new found belief on Saturday as their first game.
It’s also a bit of a lucky escape for the whole Fox/Setanta broadcast thing which is brewing here in the States and gives them time to play catch up with whatever it is that they are doing.
And finally, it’s three more days rest and with all the injuries we’ve got in this side, it’s a welcome three days rest.
LET IT SNOW!
Injury Update
First off, Clichy could be back in the squad for the Everton match on Saturday. I suppose this is welcome news, since it means more options for the team and for rotation, but Traore’s been pretty good and could do with a run of a few more games.
Second, Wenger has targeted the away match to Bolton on January17th for the return of Jesus, which is pretty much as I suspected it would be. No need to rush him back into the lineup, let’s get him some rest, we’ll need him for the crunch time of late January/early February.
Finally, Arshavin is back, Denilson is back, both fit for tomorrow, if needed. And Bendtner is eyeballing the same match as Cesc for his return. This is all a patch of good news in what has otherwise been a very rough season for injuries. In fact, I think the argument could be made that the squad is really gaining some momentum from the recent clutch of good results and that having men like Eduardo, Arshavin, Denilson, Diaby, and Cesc fully fit for that crunch run could produce something very special. Especially if we have options like Bendtner to play the hold up man and Traore to give Clichy a blow, though as Wenger pointed out, getting Song and Eboue back healthy and quickly from the ACN is crucial as well.
Transfers
Wenger spoke about the need to bring someone in quickly because of the number of games in the January schedule but depressingly that at the moment he’s not really got anyone. I know a lot of folks think that this is Wenger playing his cards close to his chest but I disagree. In the past he will be forthright when he’s made contact for a player. He won’t always name the player, and he won’t say when they have made initial contact, but he almost always admits when Arsenal have made official contact. So, while I remain hopeful that something will get done, I’m skeptical that anything will: he’s basically ruled out everyone who Arsenal have been linked with this Winter.
That hasn’t stopped the press, with Veloso’s name popping up again as cover for holding mid and for center back. When asked about the rumor linking Vieira to Manciti, Wenger flatly stated that Arsenal will not buy in the holding spot so the Veloso story seems another in a long line of “kitchen sink” press stories. As for the Vieira story I’m very surprised that he’s going to Manciti. I wasn’t aware that they needed cover there with Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry doing a good job at that position. Vieira’s a legend and if he does make this move it won’t diminish his stature for me at all but I do think he’s in for a bit of a shock what with the culture of the City club and with the pace of the English game only getting faster over the years.
Also, I can’t wait to hear what Adebayor has to say about the move.
Speaking of “kitchen sink” stories, expect to see Arsenal linked to Sorensen and Beckford, who have both admitted that they are ready to move and would be available on the cheap. I thought Beckford’s goal against Man U showed that he’s a top quality finisher, though the rest of his game is a bit suspect and well, Sorensen, I’ve said in the past that I would take him in this Arsenal team.
Contracts!
In yesterday’s Good, Bad, and Ugly, I mentioned that Merida played like he was miles away and as it turns out, he actually was. According to several news sources, Merida will be leaving Arsenal this Summer to go back to Spain. The only thing that bothers me about this story is that Arsenal are out the £4m we were forced to pay Barcelona to get him from their academy because now he’s leaving on a free.
The Merida story is a reminder that William Gallas is similarly out of contract in July and has been free to negotiate with other clubs since the window opened. The Gallas situation is fraught with all kinds of problems. Gallas is 32 years old which means that Wenger has traditionally been reticent to give more that 1 year yet he’s clearly one of Wenger’s favorites and just as clearly, based on this season’s performances, still has a lot to offer Arsenal.
Arsenal need to start looking at the future of the center half spot. Johan Djourou is tipped to fill there and at 22 years old, I’d be willing to bet that he will be one for the future. The problem is that Djourou has had a raft of injuries in his career and has never really been able to put together a string of games and now he’ll have gone an entire year without a single match of any sort. If the rest of the team are any indication it will be fully another year before he’s able to get any consistent starts over the expected niggling injuries and that puts Johan at 100% ready to take over the starting CB role at the start of the 2011/2012 season.
Perfect.
Sign Gallas up for two years, get him to play next to Vermaelen occasionally, switching with Johan for a year, then in the second year, when Gallas is 35, Johan takes over and Gallas is backup.
Well, either that or sign another center half and let Gallas go in the Summer. I suppose we’ll know soon enough what’s transpired but it was just a few weeks ago that Arsene made it clear that signing Silvestre and Gallas is a priority, with Gallas the higher of the two. Sign him up!
And finally, Thomas Rosicky signed a new contract. Look, we’ll never know the structure of the contract and we’ll probably never know how much he’s getting paid, but when Rosicky is healthy he’s a good player, so I’m leaving this up to the boss. There’s no one more frugal with the club’s money than Arsene Wenger, so I’m guess that he’s probably gotten some kind of sweet deal here.
Rosicky for his part wants to give back to everyone for their support over the last two years, saying:
The last two seasons haven’t been easy for me because of injuries but I feel it speaks volumes about the club’s belief in me for this to be signed, and I truly believe I have a lot left to offer the club, my team-mates and all the supporters.
That’s all we ever ask for, 100% commitment, and if that’s all he has to offer, I’ll take it.
Whew, that was a huge batch of news today, if you made it this far, congratulations. As for tomorrow’s match, I’ll do a preview then, if the match is still on, that it. See you tomorrow!
Jamie Sanderson on Young Guns reported earlier today that Arsenal would be due a tribunal fee from Atletico if Merida does join up with them. If true, we should be able to recoup some measurable portion of our outlay to Barca.
viva los gooners Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 10:40 am
@TheSKAGooner, 3 million is the sum being aired at present!
Viva!!!
I think Wenger has admitted to the press that he’s “made contact” regarding a couple of players. That to me is significant. I’m not ready to dismiss the Veloso rumour, especially if Senderos has been given up on by LeBoss.
I predict we purchase Veloso and Hazard, with Hazard being allowed to stay at Lille for the balance of the season. Wenger will want to buy Hazard before his price keeps escalating – he’s the type of player Wenger loves, and he’s only 19. Veloso gives us quality cover at two positions – DM and centre back. I would say Matuidi is on Wenger’s radar, but he’s not versatile enough, and Song is a better first option at DM anyways.
Nooooo. No snow please. I’m so sick of this game in hand.
Hey, if Fabregas is Jesus then who’s Wenger? Ooooooh, right.
Also, gotta love Wikipedia for presentation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_African_Cup_of_Nations
Now how do we go about sabotaging Cameroon’s chances? Maybe if we update the Wikipedia entry to say it’s all over and Cameroon got knocked out early. Think that would work? No? Didn’t think so.
Wenger needs to sign a CB anyway. I’m still not a Djourou fan and Gallas’ experience is going to be hard to replace if he moves on. We need to bring in someone quickly so they can learn to gel while Gallas is still with us.
I’m a little sad to see Merida go, I had hopes for him but after seeing terrible display one after another, he’s not the second coming of Cesc. I now have high expectations of Nacer Barazite. Whenever I see him he puts on a show and I hope he can break into the first team.
b Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 10:58 am
@WC, I really think Merida just needs games to show what he’s got. Provided he gets that at Atletico, I’m sure he’ll be pushing for the Spanish team in a few years. Not the new Cesc maybe, but if that’s the standard we’re holding players to we won’t get a whole lot of them through
Gutted to see him go, but I kind of think it’s the best for both parties, i just don’t see how he’s going to see any serious first team play at Arsenal.
And i’m still keeping my fingers crossed for an epic Big Phil revival at CB!
I vaguely remember Gallas stating that this would be his last season with the gunners……. after that he would go play at home (in france) so perhaps he’s still weighing up playing at the top level any longer? maybe he’s just getting bored?
It would be a huge loss for him to leave, perhaps Wenger would trade him for someone like Sakho bearing that in mind…? and sign up Sol for the extra cover and mentoring skills.
I still always pray that we sign David Villa one day, he’d be the perfect scary man to worry our opponents. Could you imagine Cesc ever leaving the Emirates if we did? One day someone will sign him and the opportunity will forever be gone…… much like Wengers delay in attempting to sign Benzema it’d be another missed opportunity espescially as Valencia are so in need of cash.
Since we’re mentioning Gallas, it should be said that he’s been pretty damn good this year. I know we’ve given up more goals than we’d like, but we’ve had some unfortunate own goals, and some of the goals came at the end when we had the match in hand. Vermy’s gotten all the talk from us, which he’s deserved, but Willie’s been a tremendous partner for the Verminator. Wenger shouldn’t hesitate giving Gallas two years from here. Even if he’s crap two years from now, can he be that much worse a backup than Silvestre? Question is if you go out and buy a centre back, do you splash for a starter, creating a problem when this newly acquired guy who’s used to starting, has to now sit behind Gallas/Vermy? While it’d be great to go out and get Hangeland or Subotic or Sakho, would any of these guys be fine sitting the bench the rest of the year? My guess is Wenger goes low profile with a centre back purchase. Someone that will be happy playing reserve on a quality club.
As for the other needs, I know Song is gone for a spell now, but it’d be ironic for Arsene to go out and buy a quality holding middie now after we’ve seen the beast that is Song, rather than this past offseason when all of us were crowing about the likes of Melo and DeRossi and Cana. So really the only position I could see us spending relatively big $$$ on is striker, as it could really only be additive and not really upset any combination of starting two/three upfront. RvP’s likely done for the year, Bendy’s got a groin, Arshavin will continue upfront but ideally not in central fashion, Eduardo’s probably best suited to come in half the matches as a minute 60 sub (not to mention his injury history), and Wenger doesn’t seem to feel compelled to put Theo, when he’s got his rare fitness, up front.
So Arsene, splash on the physical striker, give them Bendy in return if need be, buy some inexpensive depth at centre back, and treat yourself to future stud Eden Hazard if you have to. All in that order of priority.
dani guiza i think is a good player, should be availebl
Arsenal didn’t have to pay Barca anything. A Spanish judge ruled that Merida owed Barca 3.2m. Merida appealed the ruling and it’s still under appeal. Arsenal were going to pay the appealed ruling for him since he was an Arsenal player. But since he’s moving they won’t need to be so kind. The judgment wasn’t against them. I hope he sorts that out with Atletico before moving to them because he doesn’t want to get stuck with a multimillion euro bill when the appeal comes back and no means of paying it.
Re-signing Rosicky is absolutely the right decision for several reasons. First and foremost he still has much to give and his touch and skill are unquestioned. Wenger apparently has seen enough to think that he still has something to contribute and is a player that brings quality, experience, and a winning mentality to the team. Rosicky is an experienced international, captain for his country and a winner everywhere he has played, winning titles with all his prior teams. A great point is that he is great mates with Cesc, so locking up his best friend on the team is always a good idea if you want to keep your captain and best player happy. A very good point made earlier in the comments referring to bobby and paddy for our friend Henry. Another thing above his experience is that he is a consummate professional and a great example for the young players, as well as a calming influence in the dressing room. It is always said that a team needs the right blend of youth and experience to achieve things. I am a firm believer in the concept that class can not be learned, nor can vision. Some players are gifted with these talents and they are special for this reason, and Tomas is one of the few in the squad(and world) capable of this kind of vision. I remember the only good thing I could take from the world cup mach in 2006 where my united states were beat by the czechs was that their architect, little mozart, had just signed for arsenal, and he single handedly dismantled my team. I believe he will still contribute and be very useful later this season, and as long as we can afford to still pay his salary he should stay. If we decide he is no longer worth it at least recoup some money for him instead of letting him walk on a free. Up the Arse!
Just wanted to mention… I’m ‘oop norf’ right now (in Newcastle) and if things were canceled back home (admittedly, home is Wisconsin) using the same weather criteria as here we would just get it over with and hibernate from October to April. And then we would be REALLY fat.
Also, I’ve got a ticket for the match tomorrow so it damn well better not be canceled.
I think we don`t need any new face,cause when we get ever body back on duty no one can stop us,so let us hope we get our boys sooner rather than letter,,when you have up front the likes of big Benty,Da silva,C,vella soon Theo,Arsha and all free scoring evan Wenger can score for us kkk,i can`t wait to see Almunia get on the score sheet soon,,,,,, (KEEP THE FAITH IN OUR BOYS,THEY WILL NEVER LET US DOWN) THIS SEASON LOOKS THE TIME WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR 4YEARS,,,,,,
KEEP YOUR HEADS UP,,,OOOOOOOOOH I FORGOT AAAAAAAAARON THE RAMSEY HOOOOOT THE BOY IS GOOOOOOOOOOOOD
in the last blog when you said you have some fascinating transfer news i thought that was a joke on how all the injured players are coming back… “like a new signing” …. hehehe…
wengers fav. quote!
and i just remembered… can arsenal players take some decent corner kicks? whats up with thattt????
b Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
@munawwar, with both Cesc and RvP out there’s bound to be a drop in set-piece quality…
Remember that Wenger believes Song is a centre-back, long term.
I dont think Senderous will leave unless we get a good offer.
Fran is like Diarra, no patience, no love for the club. Only interested in NOW, NOW, NOW. I’m glad he’s going, and he’ll quickly realise that the grass isn’t greener on the other side/clubs.
Kevin Reply:
January 5th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
@Tiki, second that!
TA6 Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 2:41 am
re Marida
by all accounts he is an Athletico Madrid supporter, if any of us were playing for Athletico and Arsenal offered us a five year contract we wouldn’t think twice. He has little hope of breaking into the first team with at least half a dozen in front of him. Good luck Fran
b Reply:
January 6th, 2010 at 1:49 am
@Tiki, he played more games during his half season on loan than he has in the year and a half at Arsenal since. He sees right in front of him what “loyalty” and “love for the club” (both antiquated concepts in today’s world, but that’s another rant) got Big Phil: comfy seats behind the bench and a struggle to hold on to his world cup place with CH.
Why should he be patient when Wenger shows no intention whatsoever of giving him first team opportunities? All kinds of people are getting bench spots ahead of him. His development is being hampered by lack of playing time so of course he’s going to think of himself before the club. Fair enough if Wenger doesn’t think he’s good enough, but you can’t blame the kid for then going somewhere where he IS considered good enough.
Like i said above, i’m also sort of glad he’s going, but i’m glad because it means he gets to play and we get to see more of him.
@ Tiki. Lassana Diarra is probably not the best example of someone who was impatient and failed to make their mark away from the club. He played well for Portsmouth and has now moved on to be the starting holding midfielder at Real Madrid. Only the most willfully obstinate of Gunners’ fans would say that his decision wasn’t justified.
Regarding Merida, he’s a creative, attacking midfielder. Ahead of him, playing his best position is Cesc. Backing up Cesc are Diaby, Ramsey, Rosicky and Nasri. Ahead of him at the wide attacking positions are Arshavin, Nasri, Rosicky, Walcott, and Vela. He’s competing directly with Jack Wilshire, the future of English football. It’s easy as a fan to say stay and fight for your position. It’s easy as a manager to argue that player development is not an exact science and that you MAY be the starter in a few years time, ahead of the aforementioned players. As a club, Arsenal want as many options and as much depth as possible. Arsene clearly rates Fran as a player, hence the contract offer. If he has the talent and the work ethic, Merida could succeed at Arsenal or any club.
Arsenal made the mistake of not tying him up to a contract earlier. Or perhaps they rate him but not as highly as, perhaps, Wilshire, and their current contract offer reflects that. At any rate, Merida would be an absolute fool if he didn’t look at all his options. My suspicion is that if Fran were a top priority, Arsenal would make it happen. As it is, the club have pretty good options at his position.
merida is really not that good… leaving or not
if he’s good players ‘in front’ couldn’t stop him getting chances… surely there were others ahead of fabregas when he started!
but surely the way he performed against west ham was far from meeting the lowest of arsenal standard… even if he doesn;t play regularly 1st team, merida does train as a pro like others so he is supposed to be able to do a decent job when called upon! can’t excuse his 4 corners short of the near post… that was frankly unacceptable (you saw wenger walked up and got frustrated too straight after the 4th one) and shocking… bet many of us could at least get it, once perhaps!
all in all, we have many of them and one leaving – in this case, merida – wouldn’t hurt… if merida becomes a super star in future he does well then
Well, maybe we should start examining Wenger’s quotes. Today’s suggested that transfer activity now hinges on Bendtner’s health. Could Arsene be discouraged from buying due to Eduardo’s improving form? Maybe he’s encouraged by the apparent lack of talk of Chelsea and Man U buying? We’ll see. I still want a striker, but not on the cheap. If we’re going to take the trouble and spend money, you get what you pay for. Spend 20MM on Dzeko, not 9MM on Cole. Better yet, try to pry Benzema away from Real Madrid this coming summer.
If we buy, I am sure it will come as a complete surprise to quite a few. All will depend on Bendtner who puts it at 50 – 50 for now, according to Wenger.
dzecko dzecko dzecko the only player in our price range who will improve the team villa is to expensive,benzema to expensive aguero to expensive. so wenger buy dzecko we will get five years top out of him then sell him to barca and double our money lol.
merida isn’t sign anything with Atletico.
just rumour as we have been facing 2 years ago.. anyone remember we sign Rodrigo Palacious from boca.. it’s just a paper talk
[...] shock. Color me pleasantly surprised, I think Gallas has a lot to offer both on and off the pitch, as I wrote about yesterday (in showing Djourou the ropes) and welcome him signing a two year [...]