The sound of excited voices bubbles up from the crowd and names appear and burst into the air. Podolski pops like a snap shot off his left foot. Giroud lands softly like a cushioned header. Vermaelen thumps like a flying tackle. Cazorla slips through the crowd of bodies like a snake. And Arteta rattles quick, like an onomatopoeia of his passes. Suddenly the call of “what do we think of Tottenham?” croaks from a hoarse voice and the reply from thousands of Arsenal supporters is loud and decisive.
SHIT!
For the lucky 60,000 who will attend tomorrow’s match there will be an excitement to the crowd the likes of which I haven’s seen since… the last time I went to see Sunderland. That was the match after Andrei Arshavin had just signed for Arsenal and was maybe, just maybe, set for a surprise appearance. The pace on the walk to the stadium was quick that day and conversation lively and bright. The smell of onions from the beef-burger trucks was almost palatable. Even the gods were in good cheer and shone brightly on the emerald green field of The Grove, filling the stadium with summery light in every possible nook.
It’s like groundhog day all over again, except it’s not. With the imminent departure of Alex Song to Barcelona and Man U’s signing of vain Persie, Arsenal have spent a second consecutive summer having their best players poached by a team from Manchester and a team from Catalonia. Even the way that both players have (or will have) left Arsenal is startlingly similar. Robin van Nasri moving to Manchester under a cloud of insane demands and Alex Soler Fabregong tapped up by Barcelona’s players, coaches, management, and the bread lady in the town square. See, groundhog’s day.
Except, it’s not at all like groundhog’s day. Arsenal’s management team have done a great job getting new players on board before the wantaway players actually got away. And unlike last season’s mad rush to get players in, after the cash was available from the sales of Nasri and Fabregas, Arsene preemptively brought Podolski and Giroud in as cover for this eventuality and then sprinkled in Cazolra to add creativity to the Arsenal midfield. And there are more than just hints that Arsene is ready to replace wantaway Alex Song with the Bundesliga’s top midfield enforcer of two years ago – Nuri Sahin.
In fact, the only thing that might have a touch of groundhog’s day is that I have already mentioned groundhog’s day; much like Arsenal’s preemptive moves to replace for Robin, I am preempting that phrase. If anything happens that looks even remotely like anything that has happened in the last five years and if anyone says “groundhogs day” they should now feel foolish in so doing. Because no matter what happens over this season, the last thing that it will be is “groundhog’s day”. That phrase was officially retired when Pat Rice hung up his boots and Arsene Wenger told Song and van Persie that their ungrateful attitude was no longer welcome at The Arsenal. Tomorrow’s match is a fresh start.
Football won’t have changed much this summer. Martin O’Neil will still be a leaping gnome on the sidelines who dresses in track suits and cajoles Lee Clattermole to “get stuck in” so that Sunderland can get the ball back and lump it up field to Sessegnon or Saha. Their corner kicks will still be an exercise in grab-ass with the sole hope of getting away with a bit of holding so that they can bumble the ball over the line in a goal line scramble. And there will certainly be more than enough controversy from the whistle of Chris Foy to keep everyone talking after the game; it’s not like the League has introduced technology or “good refereeing” to the game in any meaningful way.
Arsenal’s football might have changed slightly with the new personnel but it will hardly be unrecognizable. If pre-season is any measure, the team will still play a 4-3-3 with tight little passing triangles and Arsenal probing, poking, and prodding for a goal. But yet, there’s going to be a difference: the new guys. Podolski is built like a fireplug and has a snap shot that will burn the paint off the Caravan if O’Neill decides to park it in front of goal. Meanwhile, Giroud isn’t just a bigger, better Chamakh, the Frenchman has feet and knows how to use them. And Cazorla, should he get a start, is like Arsenal’s human fly, he sees everything and I mean everything: diagonal, up, down, forward, backward, sideways, Higgs-Boson and even forward and backward in time. Ok, that last bit was an exaggeration, no one can see the Higgs-Boson, it doesn’t exist.
There are also going to be familiar characters tomorrow. Arteta might get a game and I am eager to see how he gets on with Santi Cazorla. You also shouldn’t be surprised to see Arshavin sticking around the club this season* and even if he doesn’t start tomorrow, Arsene has options between him, Gervinho, Santos, and Podolski on the left. Running like a flash of light down the right, Walcott has a late test and if he fails, Arsene will have to shuffle a bit but with the attack as full as it is, that shouldn’t be too difficult.
At the back, Szczesny is going into his first season as Arsenal’s official number one and Vermaelen in his first season as Arsenal captain. Familiar faces both, if unfamiliar roles. Baring a setback, Mertesacker’s calming presence and big German frame will fill in the acres of space next to the captain as Koz is out with a calf strain. And then there’s Gibbs at left back, the solid defender who is the mirror image of Bacary Sagna on the right. Sagna won’t start due to injury which probably means that Jenkinson will get the nod.
Who you almost certainly will not see tomorrow is Alex Song. Sometime during pre-season, Song’s britches shrunk three sizes and the no longer fit. So it looks like he is set to depart for Barcelona to find a Spaniard who can taylor him some new bench-sized shorts. I’ve heard the rumors about multiple “training ground bust-ups” between Song and the Boss and I find them incredible, literally. While I’m going to err on the side of saying that the rumors are false until proven true, I am still not picking him to play. Whether there was a row or not is irrelevant, the link to Barcelona is so strong now that I can’t see him getting on the pitch and going head to head with Lee Clattermole. That means Diaby will probably start, unless he pulls a forearm muscle drinking his morning coffee.
But the biggest change of all and the reason this season isn’t going to be anything like the last is down to Arsene Wenger and Steve Bould. The whole team is talking about Bouldy’s refreshing approach to the details of defense and while I’m not expecting a miracle tomorrow, I am expecting some changes. Changes that might not fully gel until next month but changes none-the-less. The changes might not be readily apparent from the start but rather will be set in motion tomorrow. And like a cannon aimed just slightly higher you don’t notice how different the trajectory until the ball finally drops – 38 games later.
*I may know some things.
If Song does not play I hope Le Coq plays instead. Like for like.
Song’s situation is a little strange. Out of nowhere he is just leaving. Just when you through you flushed your toilet clean, there is still that nugget of shit that remains. Whatever! Just get him out of here if he does not want to stay.
Also, Van Per$ie’s press conference with red nose was amusing. The best part was when he said “They are not angry with me, I’m not angry with them”……I nearly fell off my chair.
And finally, it was disgusting to read that some Arsenal fans have resorted to abusing Van Persie’s wife on Twitter. Really, really classless!!!
Tim – the Metro blog is reporting that Van Persie is actually earning less than what he was earning at Arsenal. Even David Ornstein is reporting that Van Persie has agreed for a paycut. Some people are reporting that Van Persie is earning close to 250,000 pounds a week. Any word on what the official salary for Van Persie is? Surely he isn’t earning less than what he was earning at Arsenal. Is he?
It all depends on how you you count salary. He probably has a fat signing on bonus.
ESPN’s Marcotti, as reputable a Journalist as I know, said he is on a salary of 180K weekly which was less than the package offered by Juventus and City, but obviously more than the 130K being offered by Arsenal.
Weren’t we offering a signing bonus of 5M pounds though, effectively making his weekly take 150,000/wk over the life of the contract? So not really a huge difference over 180,000. Of course, you have to add whatever percentage of the transfer fee Robin gets on top of the agreed wages. But every account I’ve seen report his weekly wage to be 200,000 to 250,000/wk and supposedly ManUre offered wage parity with Rooney. Whatever, he’s gone and now every time some English “defender” goes in studs up on him, I don’t have to worry that he’s out for the next 10 or 20 games.
I am confident that going into this season that we have a top 3 team on paper. My concerns is that without RVP, we now need a host of new players to hit the ground running. We’ll know in roughly 14.5 hrs.
When Song departs, we’ll no longer have to worry about the African Cup of Nations. Someone also wrote that Song’s departure means the last the agent Dein’s clients is out the door.
It is annoying to watch how SAF is practically having an orgasm at the arrival of RVP.
How foolish does RVP sound saying that he listens to the little boy inside himself to make a life changing decision. On the other hand, that little boy knows the value of 12mil a yr. Did Man U meet all those ridiculous demands RVP made to Wenger is what I really want to know? He was professional to the end, yeah, right Arsene.
If Wenger wants Sahin then we will get Sahin. Simple as that. Report I read said Wenger applied the old personal phone call touch to recruit Sahin. I don’t know why it didn’t work out at Real but at the time of transfer, I thought it was too soon. Dortmund wins the league with him running the show and off he goes to ‘Hollywood’.
I’ma bit more wry on the matter.
Whilst in theory seeing the last DD client depart may sound a relief, we are jeopadising the mechanics of the team (again) with Song’s possible departure.
Whilst we have covered well for RVP with Giroud, Poldy, I feel we are less so with Song (short term at very least)
I hope Wenger is calling this one right but I personally find it risky and setting poor precedence.
Sahin might want to come here over Liverpool but don’t discount the Mourinho factor. In the battle between good and evil, he’ll always look to take the spotlight, and screw both sides if he can. He’s going to be an obstacle in Sahin choosing us. Does the player want to come to us bad enough to risk annoying his current manager who he might have to play for again? Unlikely.
I waffled a bit for sure, but I’m well over it now. van Persie is gone, and Song is all but gone. They are history. They no longer matter. What matters starts tomorrow.
I agree with ctpa in that we are a top 3 team and that if we can manage to settle in the New Boys, get Wilshere back and in form early enough to make a difference, sort ourselves out in the back with help from Mr. Bould, we are legitimate contenders. Getting the real Aaron Ramsey back would be a bonus as well instead of the confused impostor we had last year. He still gets lots of slack from me, but he really does have to find his form again soon.
Let’s go people! We really can do this…
1NTTA
I don’t know. Wenger mentioned we have plenty of options in midfield…granted. But we only have one player who is familiar with the back 4/Arteta that is sufficiently drilled in the defensive aspect of the game in midfield…Song.
We are losing an important clog in the wheel that cannot be easily replaced overnight and setting ourselves up for more hiccups.
I too feel arshavin is ours this year and I know very little. Looking forward to the game. Been thinking about it all week. Song can jog on to farca. He was too casual at times and clumsy in the tackle for me. He also seemed to really get full of himself towards the end of the season. I want confident players but ones that also are confident in the team.
I wonder if I should start liking Arshavin again? Could it be that he has a great season after last year’s doldrums? Oh, yes! Let it be so! Arshavin and Diaby the surprise packages, stand-out seasons, really stepped up, etc.!
My sources tell me that Sahin will be a Gooner very soon. And by “sources,” I mean the half bottle of white wine I just poured down my gullet.
Happy days!
this article reeks of hope…i like it
here we go arsenal
http://www.talksport.co.uk/magazine/virals/120816/rofl-funniest-rvp-picture-gags-across-web-178751?p=7
Too bad RVP let the little boy inside him take over for the man who made that statement.
Come on Arsenal!
I wasn’t that flustered in all honestly with RVP leaving, there was a sense that much of it was outside the orbit of control of the club and that whatever posturing made was to ensure the best possible price for the playe r considering circumstance.
BUT Song perturbs me.
I consider it absolutely mental that we are even considering selling him on being that :
1) He is the best (ONLY) defenive (ish) midfielder with some durability (Diaby being antonym)
2) He is reportedly well ggoing for a Song @15m unless they are intentionally not telling us that Affelay is part of an exchange deal for the price.
3) He has 3 years left on contract till 2015. I don’t see what’s the rush here.
4) We will find it hard press to find ANY midfielder (Mvila included) who can fill in adequetly being that we are soooo close to season start. NO one can come in and surely be expected to intergrate fluently with the back 4 and Arteta (the way Song has established himself) so quickly.
5) Whilst there are mitigating circumstances with some of the more high profile departures, II ‘m not sure what push factor we have with Song being poached by Barca other than a higher sense of station. We will be thus really enfocring a precdence that will surely encourage more flippant departures shortly down the road.
So I’m not sure what’s going on but clearly there’s more than meets the eye with Song at the moment (Darren dean perhaps?)
IMO we should be holding firm to Song and reminding the player of his obligation to contract.
Even if his desire to leave is more overiding than that to give one Joey Barton a big cuddly hug, we should at very least drive hard bargain to the proccess in our favour less we risk undoing all the good work put in by bringing on 3 good signings and in sequence (yes dejavu) risk our start yet again.
At very least, we could strike a deal with Barca to take him next season if they please for less (That should be 18m). They can signa MOU with some money down and if Song goes through the season meeting performance criteria (say weighs in with 6 goals, 6 assists and a prerequisite number of appearances), they get another slash in the price down to 15m (and Song gets some of that as a bonus in return)…and Affelay.
Just seems completely daft to me that we are reinforcing RVP’s indictment upon us with a move that we should be able to hold firm on with 3 years left on the player’s contract.
Explain this one to me because I’m finding it very hard to excuse Wenger and company on it.
That’s of course ‘if’ it happens.
On the flip side, Sahin in to me (if it carries the sell on clause) should be at very least cushioned by the presence of Song for one more season at least (He’ll only be 25 next summer)
I find it difficult to see how we can risk :
a) an injury prone Diaby
b)a talented but still rough round the edges Coquelin
c) a newly introduced Sahin
to our team as adequete replacement for Song.
Questions also abound upon why the replacement to Song isn’t brought in before his departure.
At this point, we will be hard pressed to realise Wenger discount price as selling clubs will know our plight and up the ante on their prices.
Personally, I feel that there should be a bit of an uproar if Song is sold. Thereshould be no reason why the club cannot club the player round the earrs and tell him to kuckle down to his contractual obligation for 2 of the remaining 3 more years at very least.
Well, there won’t be an “uproar” because at least half of us Gooners think Song is very replaceable. I’m also dubious with the number of doom and gloom surrounding a new signing in this position, as if there’s no chance this player (Sahin, perhaps) could hit the ground running, or at least be well integrated by using Coquelin on occasion. For me, and I think for many others, Sahin is an improvement on Song. I think Sahin is far more disciplined, and far less prone to losing possession, both qualities required to improving our defensive record.
So really, I think the moaning about Song is premature. If we replace him with a better player, the moaning will sound very silly indeed.
That’s not the point :
1) Sahin MAY be better than Song but as you well said, it takes a while to intergrate him. Losing Song, essentially we’re taking out the only midfielder that is familiar with defensive work in and around the back 4/Arteta.
2) We are setting a new precedence in my opinion by sending a signal to players and clubs that we can lose a good player for 15m despite him having 3 years left on contract.
We have recently had the bad experience of a bad start. Perhaps this season we are more prepared but I would argue that taking the midfield lynchpin of the team out so late into start of season is an invitation for hiccups we do not need.
I’m not sure what’s going on but something else must be motivating this situation other than us desiring to get rid of the last client of David Dein. That’s simply not a strong enough argument IMO.
Huh? What’s not the point? You made the point that there should be an uproar if Song leaves, and I addressed that point. Then you ignored my point by making the point that Sahin may take a while to integrate, which, as per my point, is only one viewpoint, the other of which is that he could hit the ground running.
In short, sometimes we say “that’s not the point” when we have nothing to add to the discussion except reiterating what we said in the first place in the fear of looking like a douche.
You’re not a douche, but please, spare me the throwaway comment about “that’s not the point,” unless, of course, you’re able to articulate how my comment completely fails to address what you originally wrote.
Cheers.
Sahin is not a Song replacement. Having watched him quite a few times, he more mike an Arteta with a little pit bull added. Feisty yes, excellent range of passing and combative. However, he does not have that hold up physical strength and ability to maneuver in tight places like Song.
Song was the only member of our MF to provide steel in our lineup and will be sorely missed against the Stokes of the BPL. Effectively, if we don’t replace him with a M’Vila or Capoue type it means we will be playing a 4-2-3-1 without a “true” DM.
Whereas this system would work in almost any other League in the world, only time will tell if it can survive the BPL. here’s hoping it will.
Matchday one……. a fresh start…
With our best two players from last season do depart…
Our captain was a tart….. Who ran away with an old fart…
Our midfield general….. Who wants to be a bit-part….
Then why if its a restart…. I don’t have a heavy heart??
I take heart from Poldi’s little dart, and carzola’s work of art….
Giroud’s right smart,Vermanator’s martial art,Sir Sczeny’s big heart…
The Ox is so state of the art….. can’t think of no weak part…..
All we need is all to take part…. And we will climb to the top of the chart!!
Matchday one..a new start..but with Wenger we will always be set apart!!
Bravo!
Wenger could “run a poker school in Govan” is my favorite line of the year, even if it does come from the odious Sralex. If you’ve been to Glasgow, you’ll see the humor.
I had to google “Higgs Boson” and when I did, the information exploded my brain.
3 years on his contract left, and Arsenal still managed to convince the fans that he was a “nuisance” and most on twitter seem happy to get 17 million for him, an elite, battle hardened, EPL experienced member of Arsenal’s own “project youth”, so that we can sign some unproven French youngster, for basically the same price. the same people who used to moan about Song being “not good enough” now sanctioning his sale to accommodate a youth signing. I am sorry I have become this way, but my club’s transfer policy used to make a little bit of sense. this is madness. rather than a summer in which Arsenal has signed strongly at the beginning and set a precedent of no longer being bullied by bigger clubs, we have sold our talisman, and more baflingly, sold our leading assist maker, and recognized midfield enforcer, a player who had been with us from the beginning of this era and grown before our eyes…with three years left on his contract, for a smidgen of his real worth. The agents of Jack WIlshere and Alex Chamberlain just took note, as did the players themselves: Arsenal can be had, all they care about is money, and nobody good stays here anyway.
Robin van Per$ie needed to go, it was good business. Songo is hard to understand and his departure destabilizes the team somewhat. I agree with you there. But I also think we are a better team for it. Wenger is showing his no-nonsense side. And it’s about time too. If you don’t want to give a 100% commitment you are gone. Only serious candidates need apply
For me, Iceman’s poem is the sort of cerebral stuff one would expect on 7amkickoff.
Iceman, thanks. For telling the truth.
Aha! I await Sunderland.
As to the Song saga, I am indifferent. If one is not committed to the Arsenal, he can go to wherever his “small boy” tells him. No one should hold the Arsenal to ransom; we are not some backwater club. So if Song and Darren Dein wants to leave for Barcelona, we should oblige them. And we have a masterful poker player in Arsene, so no fears.
Aha! I await Sunderland.
My Grandfather always said, “Where their is smoke, there is fire”.
It is a tad disturbing that after we continue to lose our best players and captains every year, the players are always made out to be the villains, even when they have multiple years left on their contracts.
Makes me wonder why we always seem to acquire these players of low moral standing and dubious loyalty. Something to think about.
Almost all players in all sports are like that these days though, of dubious loyalty. Just watch NBA basketball and you will see what I mean
We are being played for fools. the club almost caricatures our departures into villainous personages, whom we are obliged to boo and hiss at. this is a selling club, and they still want the people on their side, so they alienate the players. they’re even more overjoyed when the players (van Persie, Nasri after the deal) alienate themselves. we won’t spend another penny this transfer window, and any business we do next window will be funded by the sale of Wilshere, who by then will have “developed a non-positive temprament” and maybe “[had become] notorious for yelling at younger teammates in training.” all reported by the usual twitter idiots AFC buys and pays for…
Perhaps we need the new no nonsense AW. When you look at SAF (yes I hate to admit it) doesn’t take any shit from players, Staam RVN, Beckham even his right hand man Roy Keane were shown the door, and he hasn’t done too badly since.
We didn’t win anything with them even the Carling Cup which isn’t a big deal, we can’t win anything less without them.
I also suspect alas with no proof that the board and AW don’t always see eye to eye, I hope I am wrong when AW contract ends in 2014.
We all know the answer. Money. The root of all evil, is it not? Players leave us for money. Their character is besides the point. For what its worth we have players who are better characters than the likes at other clubs, or at least we enforce better behaviour.
And like a cannon aimed just slightly higher you don’t notice how different the trajectory until the ball finally drops – 38 games later.
Awesome!!
Regarding Song: if he leaves, I have no anger towards him and it’s not because I don’t rate him. I think we need to accept that Barcelona and to lesser extent Real Madrid are in a different stratosphere to us when it comes to luring players. Barca’s current incarnation might be the best club side of all time, and Real has a glorious history. If those sides come calling, it’s hard not to expect a player’s head to get turned. Even Vieira wanted to ditch us for Real at a time when we were dominating England.
That said, the player should still show due respect. Cesc tried to at least. Vieira was a cock about it, yet when all was said and done he still gave his all on the pitch. Song has not yet done anything publicly that has disrespected the club. So he’s still ok by me. I hope we keep him though.
The youth project would not have seen so much betrayal, had some players got the balls get stuck in…or as a group we did not panic at adverse times..
5 days ago, after the Koln match there was so much of positivity in the side…amongst the fans. Feel that suddenly we find ourselves suffering an inferiority complex of sorts…and starting the season…trying to chase..
I think thats the wrong place to be…
I think we are ready to roll….Just eased out the unwanted weed in the system…ready as a group…to start on positively. Obviously we will face hurdles and we wont have a mercenary coming in to see us through… But if we stick together and go in as a force with the fans behind the team…we will show what Arsenal is made of…
Fuck the traitors….fuck the fears….Let this season be ours..!!
less than an hour to go
hatrick for poldi.COME ON ARSENAL BRAP BRAP
santi is doing well.is it me or is theo playing further upfield?
bloody giourd
A gourd plays for Arsenal?
(Might as well… [weeping] I still love you Giroud. You will always be the handsomest man in an Arsenal shirt.)
Back down to earth, Bollox.
Positives: Clean sheet. Controlled the game completely from start to finish. Gervinho. Still need time to gel, so doom and gloom need not rear their ugly heads just yet.
Negatives: 1) Watching a team as fucking useless, negative, and pointless as Sunderland walk away with a point. 2) Having to read the match reports tomorrow going on and on about how we miss “just that little bit of extra quality” in the form of van Persie.
Still, it could be worse… We could support Liverpool! It’s incredible how much hype they get every summer.
all to true
cleansheet…
Bouldy rocks…I didnt see chesney in first half
Enjoyed watching Santi and happy about the clean sheet. Disappointed in all the upcoming RVP articles about Arsenal lacking that finishing touch… and the official announcement of Alex Song to Barca’s Bench is also a bummer… I really hope Wenger hope some more money is spent this transfer window. And I hope Everton can make Van-Pursie look silly Monday.
My only concern is how bloody quiet the stadium was. It’s the first game back FFS! Get your prawn sandwiches out of your mouths and sing some bloody songs!
And Giroud’s movement behind to get in that scoring position was excellent, you wouldn’t see Chamakh do that! I’d like to see Podolski play alongside Giroud next game, Podolski really would benefit from his link up play.
Not the result we wanted or to be honest expected. I personally didn’t think Sunderland would come out and play so negative. We needed an early goal to open them up. After about 20 minutes it was obvious they just wanted a tie.
Positives for me was the midfield looks more creative. Santi looks fabulous. We had a couple chances that we will convert in later stages of the season, they were just off that slight bit because it was the first game. Gerv looks ready to play this year, hope he sustains it. And wish he would crack a shot once in a while. He won’t shoot from outside the 6 yard box. And if I know that other teams do too.
Theo looked engaged which I think means he stays. Diaby looked pretty good. Game time should only improve his timing.
I think I would prefer Giroud up top with poldi on the left. I think both players would be involved more in those positions.
I feel for these teams that feel playing 90 minutes of defense is the best they can do. It is boring and dull but I guess in this case it got them as much as it got us, one point.
Sunderland did what they needed to do and we did not do enough to win the game. One point is better than no points. End of story.
I have no complaints about anyone. Misses are what they are and hopefully when given more chances, we’ll get more positive results. Gervinho and Cazorla stood out while Arteta was a steadying influence. We need to improve our CK routines starting with beating the first defender.
Arsenal have confirmed the Song move. Apparently he will double his 55,000k/wk salary. No one can argue with that.
Sahin if you were watching this weekend would have been mightily impressed with Liverpool. They are clearly a project that a player could easily win a starting job with