Tuesday 5 August 2008

Ruben de la Red Army?


The Telegraph reports this morning that Arsenal are stepping up their interest in Ruben de la Red, whose progress we have apparently been tracking. There are no quotes or any firm information whatsoever in the article, so whats more likely is that his agent is seeing whether any of the Premier League clubs want to make an offer.
Apart from having a good name, he is 23 years old, was in the Spain squad for Euro 2008 and is said to cost about £9.5m. His chances at Real Madrid are thought to be limited this season, especially after Van de Vaarts arrival in Madrid this week.
I vaguely recall watching him play for Spain this Summer and he seemed to do ok. I think he played in the Spain v Greece game and scored, but I won't pretend I know anything else about him. However, Wikipedia (that ever-so reliable research tool) reports that he was a playmaker on loan for Getafe last season, but had to make a comedy appearance at centre back in a UEFA cup game against Bayern Munich, which lasted 6 minutes until he was red carded. I have therefore taken an immediate liking to him.
More seriously, the fact alone that he will cost a relatively reasonable fee and is young makes this rumour look more plausible for a Wenger signing than the over-priced and over-rated Alonso or Barry. However, I wouldn't expect much to happen quickly, especially given our recent habit of deadline day signings.

16 comments:

Ali Ratcliffe said...

Ha. Comedy appearance indeed. Any footage of that?

I worry that if we bring in an experienced DM then all our efforts with Diaby and/or Denilson will be in vein as one or both will buckle and leave in Jan or the summer. I'd hate to see that but do recognise a 26 yr old would be a good thing.

I like this blog mate, you seem to appreciate how bad the majority of the footy blog community is. Getting decent info is pretty much impossible.

Keep up the good work.

1979gooner said...

sounds like a beardy story to me.

reading a lot of frenetic arsenal related specualtion on the internet, one gets the impression that some people never learn from history and always see the grass as being greener on the other side.

by this I mean that so many people are calling for a centre midfielder to be brought in, and a lot of the calls are for players that are arguably no better than people we already have.

we already have fabregas who selects himself, that leaves one place free and up for grabs.

we have denilson who has looked great in his last two games, solid defensively and a good all rounder.

we have diaby, a great talent and a great athlete, but I share some concerns that he is a tad dodgy with his use of the ball and in his slightly lethargic tracking back.

we have alex song, who has done very well with charlton on loan, shone when he appeared last season and has already a decent amount of international experience.

plus remember we have ramsey, lansbury and others waiting for their chances.

like ted, I haven't seen much of several of these supposed targets like 'de la red', however I am very sceptical that we will gain much by bringing in a talented young CM in their early twenties in, given the talent we already have in our squad in that regard.

I am also very scpetical that players like Alonso would do anything to improve our first team.

I do not rate Alonso and do not want him to sign for us.

As normal I trust that Arsene has the situation in hand, he has seen what our current players are capable of, and he will know who is ready to break through and who is not up to it.

Maybe he'll bring in a CM and I'll be made to eat my words, especially if it's Alonso, then I'll have to eat my words twice.

Still I reckon there's too much speculation in the 'grass greener' manner of thinking.

There were calls to sign a CM when fabregas came into the side, he may never have developed if some experienced older player had blocked his path to the first team.

The same could be true for many other players in recent history, for example Clichy, Cole, Anelka etc.

Obsinho said...

I am belligerent today, and I do not think that Denilson/Diaby/Song are good enough to compete against Essien/Ballack/Hargreaves/Anderson/Gerrard/Mascherano to name possible pairings from our top 3 rivals in the Prem alone.

Yes they have great potential. But they are not good enough now. And may never be.

I don't think the grass is greener everywhere, but our grass needs a bit of re-seeding.

We don't need to blow £18m on a "name" to keep morons happy, but we do need to get someone who has experience of;
- playing a full season
- playing under pressure
- maybe even winning something.

I am not Wenger, and don't play Football manager, so i won't make up some fatuous links to sound knowledgable. But I am sure there are players who will improve the areas we are weak.

Ted said...

If winning a trophy was as easy as reaching for the chequebook every summer, then Spurs would win the league every year.

Likewise, there is a cost to pay in buying ready-made, off the shelf players from elsewhere, namely (1) the high transfer fees and (2) the obstacle placed in the way of our youngsters.

I think ali and 1979 are both correct in what they say above.

But lets take the "we need to sign someone" to its logical conclusion.

Who is the best centre midfielder in the world at the moment? Thats a tricky question. Maybe Essien. Maybe Gerrard. Its not Carrick. Who knows the answer. However, even if we could identify and sign the best player in the world to play alonside Cesc, and spend whatever it takes to bring them in, does that mean we would win the league next year? I think the answer is obviously "NO". As thats exactly what Chelsea and Manure are trying to do as well. Its also what Real Madrid tried and failed to do with their Galacticos project.

My view is that I would rather watch Diaby, Denilson, Song, Ramsey etc fight it out. Frankly, I would rather bring Giles Grimandi out of retirement than sign Alonso.

Obsinho said...

I don't believe that by spending we will guarantee winning anything.

I also believe the players we have are exciting young talents that I look forward to watching, and hopefull developing into proper players.

Although this is sounding like a mission statement, I also do not think a "Galactico" project is either sensible or progressive.

But there are undoubtedly players out there who will improve the squad. We have the money to do so. If that means we sell Diaby (who let's be honest is shit - I know for a fact that Ted/K-man and 1979 agree as we have watched his inept displays at the emirates together) or Denilson (who has NOT progressed from the kid of 2 years ago) then so be it.

Likewise if in 2 years time Ramsey hasn't progressed then do the same if necessary.

SO if we do sign Gerrard/Essien, would we improve? Yes. Would Fabregas improve? Heavy odds on. Would we win the league? Fuck knows, but it would be more likely than it is at the moment. How much more likely is a bookies' domain, but I would suggest you would agree.

Obsinho said...

I am NOT saying we should sign Essien/Gerrard, as the prices are moronic.

I am saying that there are players out there who will improve the squad, and they should be purchased. Deciding who is the manager's job, and I think from what he has said I am happy he will make the right decision.

But my personal feeling is that the squad is too small and too inexperienced to compete. Let alone win. It will entertain, but these days I am not sure how much that counts for.

Ted said...

Obsinho - a lot of what you say makes sense.

Diaby is incredibly inconsistent and I do think he is reluctant to pass the ball. He does however, have the ability to do something special with the ball. A real Kanu in midfield.

I really don't mind if we sign someone like de la Red. I just really hate the idea of signing someone really shit like Alonso for a ton of money.

Obsinho said...

I win.

Can I manage Arsenal now?

1979gooner said...

you've got the job obsinho, can I be your track suit wearing assistant?

I see your point.

For me I just don't think we'll know if Diaby, Denilson and Song are good enough until they get a decent run.

Wenger has a much better chance of predicting their chances than we do, however even he doesn't know the answers.

If I rated Alonso, then at 10mill and at age 26 it looks a decent deal.

However de la red is a f*cking pointless signing when he adds nothing to what out other lads can do.

Ted said...

Obsinho doesn't know what the feck he is doing. We have a ton of money and he hasn't signed anyone. I want trophies now now now. Sack the cretin.

OBSINHO OUT
OBSINHO OUT

Obsinho said...

I resign.

Obsinho said...

I think we do know how good Diaby, Song and Denilson are going to be this season - but are doing our best to not let it worry us.

They're not good enough at this point in time to win either the Prem or the Champions league.

Denilson is my choice. Or even Ramsey. Just think Diaby is too erratic and lazy. I think I'd rather have Eboue in there.

Ted said...

Stop being so pessimistic Obsinho.You would have said exactly the same thing about Flamini 12 months ago, but look how well he played (which was good but nothing world beating).

We bloody nearly won last season and I don't see why the current squad can't get us there this season.

Obsinho said...

They probably can.

Just don't feel it myself.

Didn't feel it last year either mind.

.abc said...

Hello everyone,
If we are trophy less from previous 4 seasons and yet to win ucl there are some reasons for it and we should acknowledge it and not just inculcate that we have got strong pool of youth. The kernel of the ‘invincible’ is missing. Because we are not winning the players are leaving the club and arsenal is developing into a feeder club.


You can’t replace Henry but adebayore - give me a break. Talking about strikers Eduardo is injured , rvp has lost its peak rather he has gone astray , bendtner I wonder if he is in same league. We should go for a world class striker , someone like huntelaar,villa,berbatov I mean real class in front and not a nincompoop like adebayore.


In midfield we lost flamini and hleb and we got in nasri. We should at least buy one more experienced midfielder and not start them making once again. Experience matters and you have to replace experience with experience. Arshavin might have been pedestal but the young guns ,they have to be tested and trained .


In defense clichy and sagna are best but man I don’t like toure . He always gives penalty at the crucial moment. I mean we lost season and the ucl semi due to defensive errors and some sort of diligence should be put in their else it can have pernicious effects. We miss someone like Campbell with huge physical presence who can work steadfastly all day long.


At the nets both almunia and jens were eccentric. Fabianski there are doubts on him too. We should also have someone with safest pair of hands at the back.


Also we should work at set pieces that have been sombre problems both in attack and defense.


The captain is the player at which players look to be most pious n devoted towards the club. No disrespect to gallas, but our captain is a player who played with one of our biggest rivals the season before.


I know I am being too pessimist but for sure there are positives like theo ,cesc . As I live in india and we do not get the pre seasons matches here and reading the blogs I came to know that there are some very great future prospects but when the results don’t show you have to believe something is wrong.

Arsenal should be a club with silverware all around but instead season after season we look forward to the next season with same frustration.

Just hope that this year gunners will rock them all
Go gunners :)

Anonymous said...

To confirm in case you dnt really know who Veloso is. browse> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jNp1CoLoMw&NR=1

make sure you give a comment if Flamini or Barry/Alonso will be better at DM?