Arsenal FC needs some football players. That much is un-debatable. It is also un-debatable that they need players in every position bar between the sticks, which is just plain weird because until last season, all we wanted was a keeper (well, and a defender)! It is fitting, then, that this post begins with a little ode to the amazing Wojciech Szczesny. I spelt that without looking it up, by the way. Yes, that’s how much I love the guy!
The famous anecdote while he was with the youth team sums his attitude perfectly. As the referee was inspecting the net in his goal, Chezza turned to him and said he shouldn’t bother because the ball wasn’t going to hit it anyway! It didn’t.
The guy has been a revelation since starting for the first team last season after an injury to Fabianski. And there has been no looking back. His run is even more amazing when you consider the fact that he broke both his arms while training in the gym a few years back. That is what you call a comeback. Never short of confidence, with a little bit (well, quite a bit) of arrogance about him, he is the keeper we had all been crying out for.
The defense looks assured with him between the post, something that wasn’t quite happening with Almunia and Fabianski. His performances this season too have been spotless for the most part. The penalty save against Udinese, which, surprisingly, seems so long ago now, was immense – both in terms of quality and what it means for our season in general. It was undoubtedly the turning point of that 25 million pounds tie. He had riled up Di Natale before the kick was taken, and Di Natale put in some serious venom behind the shot. Chezza took a few steps forward and pushed it over the crossbar. Ten minutes later, we had scored and were ahead.
Anyway, with that game done and dusted and the big pay day assured, the focus immediately turns to transfers. Contrary to my expectations, winning the game did not see a trillion credible rumors surface. My hopes of us signing Kaka, Sneijder and Benzema were dashed. At any rate, it did break out today that we had almost completed the signing of Park Chu Young. Erm, who?
He is the captain of the South Korean national team and plays for Monaco in France. He is 6 feet, 26, and we have apparently agreed a fee of €3 million, rising to €5 million with add-ons. He is thought of extremely highly in South Korea, and according to my Youtube scouting, seems to be technically very sound, and loves to take players on. Also, he looks to make passes all the time, and links the play up well. All the ingredients to be an Arsene special!
So with him supposedly at the Colney for a medical (reported by the excellent Young Guns Blog), we have a whopping £87 million in our kitty with Wenger wanting to buy at least two more players. He confirmed that Nicklas Bendtner would also be sold, which would add about £10 million to that figure. Now we’re getting to dizzying heights, as we would have £97 million to spend on TWO players. That’s some serious quality. We could actually bid for Christiano Ronaldo.
Joel Campbell, that Costa Rican sensation who was just waiting to light the Premier League on fire, has reportedly been denied a work permit. What a pity. Wenger had admitted, though, that he was taking “a little gamble” when signing him, and well, he seems to have lost that particular battle. We will miss the 50-odd goals he was surely going to score for us.
Speaking about banging the goals in, Young’s scoring record is not great, but that just might be due to poor service. Also, the last two signings from Monaco have worked for us, and none of us came with a good record. The latter of those two was Adebayor. The other was someone called Thierry Henry. Ring any bells?
It must be mentioned, however, that being a South Korean citizen means that he has to go for compulsory military service in two years. Unless South Korea win a bronze medal or better in the Olympics next year. So is it okay for us to lose him after just two seasons? That whole angle does seem a little strange.
Park was apparently set to sign for OSC Lille, champions of Ligue 1 last season, for the same fee, but did not turn up for the medical at all when he heard of our offer! Lille, of course, are said to be very upset about the affair, and one wonders whether that will affect our reported bid for Eden Hazard.
Hazard is a player I would absolutely love to see at Arsenal, although it looks unlikely by the minute that he will. Also, I do not think that he is worth £25-£30 million. He is still a little raw, and does need to mature a bit. He sometimes seems too eager to take players on when the better option would be to pass. But he does have a certain arrogance about him that I like. He’s good, and he knows it. Wenger could do wonders for his growth, and he could do wonders for the team.
There is talk that we have stalled too long (we never do that, do we?), and Lille wouldn’t sell at this late stage. That does seem understandable, especially when they’ve sold Gervinho already, and have lost Park Chu Young from between their fingers. Next summer would, I’m sure, see his value skyrocket, and we would have missed out.
So if and when Young does join our troops, this would be what are transfer dealing would look like:
OUT: Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Denilson (loan), Vela (loan), Eboue.
IN: Gervinho, Young, Chamberlain, Miyaichi, Jenkinson.
Bendtner, I’m sure, is on his way out too, and it is a matter of time before his departure is announced. We would be two men short in terms of squad strength alone, and in terms of quality…well – Cesc Fabregas is not replaceable is he?
Our squad for tomorrow’s game at Old Trafford looks just absurd. Young Guns is reporting that Wenger is taking Coquelin, Sunu, Ozyakup and Lansbury with the team to Manchester. They will be part of the squad. Our injury list currently reads Wilshere, Diaby, Koscielny, Miyaichi, Afobe, Gibbs, Vermaelen (doubt), Sagna (doubt), Djourou (doubt), and Squillaci (out of favor/calf “injury”). Gervinho, Song and Frimpong are all suspended. One does wonder how we will get eleven players on the pitch!
My predicted team is:
Chezza;
Jenkinson, Miquel/Djourou, Vermaelen/Djourou, Traore/Sagna;
Coquelin, Ramsay;
Walcott, Rosicky, Arshavin;
van Persie.
I have no clue what happens if Vermaelen and Djourou both fail their fitness test. The bench, as usual, is too painful to get into. Also, I have no idea about how good Coquelin is, since I have never seen him play. I wonder if he will actually make his debut tomorrow. I also can’t see who else will fill in that spot, and thus his inclusion in the starting 11. Chamberlain might get some time on the pitch too.
This is probably the worst start we have had to a season both in terms of injuries and quality of the squad. We could actually be in the relegation zone before the match even starts! The chances of getting any points at all look bleak.
I am sure, though, we will play with all the spirit and heart we have shown in the last few games. We will not give up easily and will give United a strong fight. The players in our squad at least know what it really is to play for a club like Arsenal. They bleed red and white.
I will be fully behind the team when they take the pitch at 16:00 BST tomorrow. I believe that if things go our way, and we manage to outclass United’s quality on pitch with our determination and grit, we do stand a chance of getting a result.
Like all Wenger teams, we will go there to win. So for now, let us put the transfer frustrations on hold, and focus entirely on the game. Let us show the crowd at OT what we’re made of. Let’s win!
Follow me on Twitter @goonernish.
The famous anecdote while he was with the youth team sums his attitude perfectly. As the referee was inspecting the net in his goal, Chezza turned to him and said he shouldn’t bother because the ball wasn’t going to hit it anyway! It didn’t.
The guy has been a revelation since starting for the first team last season after an injury to Fabianski. And there has been no looking back. His run is even more amazing when you consider the fact that he broke both his arms while training in the gym a few years back. That is what you call a comeback. Never short of confidence, with a little bit (well, quite a bit) of arrogance about him, he is the keeper we had all been crying out for.
The defense looks assured with him between the post, something that wasn’t quite happening with Almunia and Fabianski. His performances this season too have been spotless for the most part. The penalty save against Udinese, which, surprisingly, seems so long ago now, was immense – both in terms of quality and what it means for our season in general. It was undoubtedly the turning point of that 25 million pounds tie. He had riled up Di Natale before the kick was taken, and Di Natale put in some serious venom behind the shot. Chezza took a few steps forward and pushed it over the crossbar. Ten minutes later, we had scored and were ahead.
Anyway, with that game done and dusted and the big pay day assured, the focus immediately turns to transfers. Contrary to my expectations, winning the game did not see a trillion credible rumors surface. My hopes of us signing Kaka, Sneijder and Benzema were dashed. At any rate, it did break out today that we had almost completed the signing of Park Chu Young. Erm, who?
He is the captain of the South Korean national team and plays for Monaco in France. He is 6 feet, 26, and we have apparently agreed a fee of €3 million, rising to €5 million with add-ons. He is thought of extremely highly in South Korea, and according to my Youtube scouting, seems to be technically very sound, and loves to take players on. Also, he looks to make passes all the time, and links the play up well. All the ingredients to be an Arsene special!
So with him supposedly at the Colney for a medical (reported by the excellent Young Guns Blog), we have a whopping £87 million in our kitty with Wenger wanting to buy at least two more players. He confirmed that Nicklas Bendtner would also be sold, which would add about £10 million to that figure. Now we’re getting to dizzying heights, as we would have £97 million to spend on TWO players. That’s some serious quality. We could actually bid for Christiano Ronaldo.
Joel Campbell, that Costa Rican sensation who was just waiting to light the Premier League on fire, has reportedly been denied a work permit. What a pity. Wenger had admitted, though, that he was taking “a little gamble” when signing him, and well, he seems to have lost that particular battle. We will miss the 50-odd goals he was surely going to score for us.
Speaking about banging the goals in, Young’s scoring record is not great, but that just might be due to poor service. Also, the last two signings from Monaco have worked for us, and none of us came with a good record. The latter of those two was Adebayor. The other was someone called Thierry Henry. Ring any bells?
It must be mentioned, however, that being a South Korean citizen means that he has to go for compulsory military service in two years. Unless South Korea win a bronze medal or better in the Olympics next year. So is it okay for us to lose him after just two seasons? That whole angle does seem a little strange.
Park was apparently set to sign for OSC Lille, champions of Ligue 1 last season, for the same fee, but did not turn up for the medical at all when he heard of our offer! Lille, of course, are said to be very upset about the affair, and one wonders whether that will affect our reported bid for Eden Hazard.
Hazard is a player I would absolutely love to see at Arsenal, although it looks unlikely by the minute that he will. Also, I do not think that he is worth £25-£30 million. He is still a little raw, and does need to mature a bit. He sometimes seems too eager to take players on when the better option would be to pass. But he does have a certain arrogance about him that I like. He’s good, and he knows it. Wenger could do wonders for his growth, and he could do wonders for the team.
There is talk that we have stalled too long (we never do that, do we?), and Lille wouldn’t sell at this late stage. That does seem understandable, especially when they’ve sold Gervinho already, and have lost Park Chu Young from between their fingers. Next summer would, I’m sure, see his value skyrocket, and we would have missed out.
So if and when Young does join our troops, this would be what are transfer dealing would look like:
OUT: Fabregas, Nasri, Clichy, Denilson (loan), Vela (loan), Eboue.
IN: Gervinho, Young, Chamberlain, Miyaichi, Jenkinson.
Bendtner, I’m sure, is on his way out too, and it is a matter of time before his departure is announced. We would be two men short in terms of squad strength alone, and in terms of quality…well – Cesc Fabregas is not replaceable is he?
Our squad for tomorrow’s game at Old Trafford looks just absurd. Young Guns is reporting that Wenger is taking Coquelin, Sunu, Ozyakup and Lansbury with the team to Manchester. They will be part of the squad. Our injury list currently reads Wilshere, Diaby, Koscielny, Miyaichi, Afobe, Gibbs, Vermaelen (doubt), Sagna (doubt), Djourou (doubt), and Squillaci (out of favor/calf “injury”). Gervinho, Song and Frimpong are all suspended. One does wonder how we will get eleven players on the pitch!
My predicted team is:
Chezza;
Jenkinson, Miquel/Djourou, Vermaelen/Djourou, Traore/Sagna;
Coquelin, Ramsay;
Walcott, Rosicky, Arshavin;
van Persie.
I have no clue what happens if Vermaelen and Djourou both fail their fitness test. The bench, as usual, is too painful to get into. Also, I have no idea about how good Coquelin is, since I have never seen him play. I wonder if he will actually make his debut tomorrow. I also can’t see who else will fill in that spot, and thus his inclusion in the starting 11. Chamberlain might get some time on the pitch too.
This is probably the worst start we have had to a season both in terms of injuries and quality of the squad. We could actually be in the relegation zone before the match even starts! The chances of getting any points at all look bleak.
I am sure, though, we will play with all the spirit and heart we have shown in the last few games. We will not give up easily and will give United a strong fight. The players in our squad at least know what it really is to play for a club like Arsenal. They bleed red and white.
I will be fully behind the team when they take the pitch at 16:00 BST tomorrow. I believe that if things go our way, and we manage to outclass United’s quality on pitch with our determination and grit, we do stand a chance of getting a result.
Like all Wenger teams, we will go there to win. So for now, let us put the transfer frustrations on hold, and focus entirely on the game. Let us show the crowd at OT what we’re made of. Let’s win!
Follow me on Twitter @goonernish.
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