I didn't expect anything interesting Arsenal related to happen and it certainly didn't, another transfer deadline passes uneventfully. This was not the case elsewhere and some big money was thrown around by Liverpool and Chelsea. Torres heads south to Stamford Bridge for fifty million, while Carroll is added to Suarez to form Liverpool's new attack, at a total cost of about sixty million.The Torres move smacks of desperation for me. Chelsea now have Torres/Drogba/Anelka and it will be impossible to keep them all happy. Torres' form for the last twelve months has been poor and his injury record dodgy, maybe he will rediscover his best form, I still feel that fifty million is a lot. Andy Carroll's fee is also extortionate, it seems Newcastle were keen to get rid and fill their pockets, this is precisely what they have done. He's a very talented powerhouse but he has a lot to live up to now.
Arsenal have bizarrely confirmed the Miyaichi transfer today and he goes straight out on loan to Feyenoord. Giles Sunu has joined Lorient on loan, Barazite has left permanently to Austria Vienna, while Kyle Bartley has terminated his loan with Sheffield United in order to move to Ranegrs on loan. It would be interesting to know the exact terms of Bartley's loan deal and whether he can come back to us at short notice should we get a run of injuries at centre back.
Arsene has already spoken on the possibility of bringing some players back from their loan deals. Ramsey is due back at the end of February anyway, I just wonder whether Arsene will be tempted to recall Henri Lansbury from Norwich given Denilson's woeful form and our lack of cover for Song and Wilshere in terms of midfielders who can get stuck in.
Finally let's have a brief laugh at Tottenham, a great result for them at the weekend against Fulham has been followed up by their failure to sign Blackpool's Charlie Adam, they made a last ditch bid to sign him but unfortunately couldn't get the paperwork sorted, great shame that. There has been a bit of discussion recently about Tottenham and the amount of money have been spending. From what I can gather their spending is rather unsustainable and the club accounts are no way near as healthy as their owners would have us believe.
Essentially if Tottenham cannot sell on their polished turds for profits (Keane etc) and they cannot increase their income significantly they may be in a bit of trouble. The majority of Tottenham shares are owned by the ENIC group, while Joe Lewis owns a majority of the ENIC group. If I were a betting man then I would guess that Lewis and Levy are keen to sell on Tottenham for a massive profit, and to do this they need to make the club look as healthy as possible financially, this will require them to increase their income by increasing stadium capacity. If they cannot do this, and if the transfer market continues to slow, meaning that they cannot continue to make big profits from player sales, then they may well see Tottenham struggle and their debt increase to dangerous levels, here's hoping anyway.
15 comments:
I think it negligent of the club not to go out and get CB/DM cover. At least to help us during the run-in.
Don't get me wrong - I had no hope of this happening. We've been in good league positions in other recent seasons, only to falter during the second half of the season due to injuries and player fatigue.
We never learn. Or are just that miserly.
No reasonable Arsenal supporter is looking for the club to drop 50m on one player. Just a solid player of proven quality for 5m-10m would suffice.
Thanks Rhinogooner. You show how thick-headed is a lot of the criticism of Arsenal.
Negligent, is it? Negligence would be not trying. I guess you think Wenger didn't bother, just spent the whole time checking with Vermalen's docs and sending boys out on loan. Sure, why not? In the past, he's done squat in January -- oh, yes, sorry, there were those minor acquisitions of the like of Arshavin and Adebayor, to name just two.
"Just a solid player of proven quality" -- not really sure that guy existed at 5-10m, ever think of that? Yes, I know: you know that Denilson, Bendnter, Almunia, and now Chamakh and Arshavin are crap, lazy, unmotivated, untalented, not fit to wear the shirt, so you have no problem with creating imbalance in the squad -- Wenger worries about these things: how does he handle five CBs? You, with your Championship Manager experience, know the truth.
What rubbish.
Why is it thick headed to label Denilson crap?
I thought it was pretty obvious!
I would not criticise Chelsea- at least they have their priorities right as a football club.
Arsenal are a glorified youth development programme for aspiring players from around the world.
They are not a football club that competes in the transfer market for experienced players.
The club is not bothered about winning - it is bothered about looking good, playing pretty football and most of all making a profit - none of which is invested in the team. Arsenal is a selling club- the only club in the EPL which uses the transfer window to make a profit on the sale of players.
I would like to see Arsenal become a football club again.
Rhinogooner is veery right!
And those of you in support of Wenger (they call you the Wenger Knows Band or something like that) lets wait and see what your opinions are about him at the end of February, or say mid March after we have been knocked out by Barcelona in the champions league, lost/drawn to teams like Sunderland, Everton, Newcastle and the likes in the league, lost to Birmingham in the carling cup and probably knocked out by Stoke in the FA cup!!(Now we dont even have our magician in the team, Super Sam)
All of that because Wenger thinks that we can play Song at center back and Denilson can cover for Song at the midfield!! EFFING DENILSON!!!!!!!!!!
You can save this comment and get back to me in March if any of my predictions are wrong!!
+Let me also predict what Wenger gonna say after this run;
We lost our important players to injury…Why the hell wouldn’t you act on it when you had the opportunity????
Either we have some of the thickest supporters known to mankind, or we have sp*d invaders stirring sh!t.
Time and time again our “supporters” line up punch bags like Denilson.
It’s been going on for far too long, Lauren, Cygan, Stepanovs, Grimandi, Eboue, Song, Denilson, Clichy, and yes, even Dennis Bergkamp when he first arrived, to name just some.
Recently an extremely ugly edge has been added, namely, when a foreign player is seen to be “in the way” of a “local lad”, then he comes in for “the treatment” – Eboue when he was seen as a “threat” to Walcott, Clichy when the xenophobes thought Gibbs could get a go, Denilson now that Wilshere and Ramsey are around.
Denilson is a skillful and disciplined player.
Unfortunately, most of the children criticising him have very obviously never played the game at any decent level (please don’t claim you have when you very clearly haven’t and don’t have a clue – silly computer games don’t count either), and just have no understanding of the game as a whole.
You’d think some of the clowns might have learn’t after the Song debacle, but apparently they’re just too stupid.
We don’t have players who are not good enough for Arsenal, we have too many “FANS” who aren’t good enough for Arsenal.
MikeSA
Well said...in arsene we trust..
Well lets wait and see when mid march arrives...I dont see the chavs getting any closer to winning the league...manure have not lost yet...which only means they are gonna lose soon....cant believe their luck could get them an unbeaten run for this long...when they start losing they will crash...and crash heavily....between..isnt it fun to watch arsenal provide a nail biting 90 mins...id rather watch a hard fought match rather than an regular easy thumping ...aint we gonna get bored if arsenal was to beat every one just like tat...which is precisely what makes AW and AF the best managers in the league...they get something out of nothing or very little...it would not make any sense buying players all around just cause you have(or not) the money...just ask the manc fans...their current POA is to make it europe...
True and practical fans - Greg and MikeSA.
Just wonder why a great club like Arsenal has so many "crybaby fans"!?
GUNNERS FOR FOUR!
Thank you Greg, MikeSA and others who are beginning to stand up. It is time that we rid Arsenal of the moaners and fake supporters. As long as anyone is a member of the squad he should be supported like family. The manager (Wenger or who else at the time) with his support team which is one of the best in the world, knows better than any of you moaners. This goes for the negative bloggers too. Just get behind the team 100% and you will see the difference.
If you think Denilson is good you should go back to your Tottenham-blogs!!
We don´t want you here...
robin
Come on people.
This does not need to turn into a stupid polarised argument.
You don't have to support Arsene 100% to the hilt in all he does, but to claim all the players we have are currently good enough is simply deluded. There is a happy medium here.
I am sorry MikeSA but Denilson is not good enough, don't give me that played the game stuff, I have played the game at a decent level and he is not up to it for many reasons that I have documented numerous times on this site.
He has been given lots of chances and lots of time, he has not develooped and he needs to be moved on.
The stuff you say about local lads is nonsense, if Denilson was good then I would have no problem with him! It's just he is consistently a liability.
The cover at centre back and in central midfield is not good enough.
I accept it can be hard in transfer windows etc but it may have been wise to bring in some short term reinforcements in these areas to ensure we are not gambling are season away.
Say Djourou and Song both get injured, we are then down to the absolute bare bare bones, we would have no further cover at centre back and we would have no robust central midfield cover.
Bring back Lansbury and Bartley must be an option, one would hope we won't have to do it.
So Gary et al,
Pointing out some problems in terms of sqaud cover does not mean one does not support Arsenal 100%, it is bizarre if not stupid to equate pointing this out to not getting behind the team!
Polarising the debate either way is stupid in my opinion, it smells of the AKB tag stuff and that's just plain childish.
Don't just slag the likes of Rhino off, he's entitled to his views and he has a good point in a lot he says.
The problem in terms of battling midfielders has been there all season.
It is no coincidence that when Song/Wilshere don't play we never look the same side, a side that can beat anyone on their day.
Arsene signed Suker,Henry,Kanu,Overmars,Sol Campbell.....all proven internationals, enroute to winning all laurels he's won so far without ruining the club's finances,jst don't know where he's got all this youth crap from(probably from the success with cesc).I dont think he's really as worried about the club's finances as he is about his ego(he wants to be right).reality check Arsene.....you're wrong...
And in addition to the above I think Harry is gonna leave the spuds exactlu where he left portsmouth.........IN ADMINISTRATION,great job Harry......
No '79, he IS good enough, it's just that many who criticise him don't have clue what his role actually is.
Right now he's getting barracked from all sides, do you genuinely think that helps?
Do you or anyone else think that that behaviour makes the Cesc's, Nasri's, and yes, Song's of the world love us and our club and want to stay?
I don't for a second think that AW is infallible, but his track record on knowing what talent is viable is a lot more sound than the cry-babies who throw their toys out the cot every time they don't get "bragging rights" (WTF!!!!! - if that's someone's criteria for supporting football then I just plain give up, that's not even moronic, that is actually indicative of oxygen theft).
I also have no qualms about criticising the team if I think I see feeble effort.
However, over and over I see comments like "he's the most un-brazilian brazilian", which says a lot about the judgment levels of the people who make those kind of comments.
The same used to be said of Gilberto, but anyone who actually bothered to watch would have seen that Gilberto pulled some moments of sublime skill, but not for show, only when it was necessary.
Likewise I have seen Denilson do similar on several occasions, but people are too blinkered to actually watch and know what they are watching.
Denilson is the metronome of the team, and despite all the claims, his stats very clearly demonstrate exactly that.
As far as the xenophobia goes, it's very clear to anyone looking objectively in on it, unfortunately people just don't like the light being shone on the dark, unpleasant secrets, but it's very obvious, sorry.
I saw someone comment that Song had "upped his game" since he got "the treatment" from the fans.
Actually, he always had what it took, he just developed, just like many other players, it's just that the bed-wetters didn't know what they were looking at at the time.
Likewise we have the same situation with Denilson.
What really makes me sick is that these same clowns will forgive any transgression by one of their favourites, whereas a similar mistake will be seen as a hanging offense by one of the punch bags.
This IS becoming polarised because a sector of fans don't know, and don't know that they don't know.
Fans who do know are getting tired of the ignorant abuse being doled out by these clowns.
This is damaging the club, and it has to stop.
These "fans" are useless to the club, they do far more harm than good, and should be driven out, they deserve no place.
I'm not going to apologise for being blunt, because quite frankly, those that see fit to dish out abuse to our players shouldn't cry foul when they get the same treatment in return.
MikeSA
MikeSA,
with respect you are way way off the mark re Denilson and if you cannot see how deeply average he is then I think that would make me seriously question your ability to read the game,
you make some good points about fans getting on the back of players at games, this never helps, I agree
however a lot of what you say about Denilson is so far off the mark it isn't true
comparing him to Gilberto is nonsense, he is no athlete like Gilberto, Gilberto was a fantastic defensive player, a real athlete who could shield the back four like a titan, great in the air, fast, great tackler and very disciplined
Denilson may have good passing stats but that's about it I'm afraid
If one sits deep in the midfield and plays a lot of sideways balls then one will have a good pass completion rate, it hardly makes him a good player though does it!
He doesn't attempt many ambitious balls which would make his stats worse, someone like Cesc probably has a lower pass completion rate, does this make him worse than Denilson? apples and pears, meaningless stats
Denilson is poor defensively, he is no athlete, he is slow off the mark, easily beaten by opponents who breeze past him time and time again as if he wasn't there, poor in the air
Offensively he is slow, his passing no more than reasonable and he does have a decent long raneg shot
There is nothing good enough in Denilson's game to make him a future Arsenal regular and there is nothing in it that makes me want to see him as our first back up for Song and Wilshere
Look at the way our midfield crumbles as soon as Song/Wilshere are gone, Denilson playing invariably coincides with a midfield that disappears, as has been shown time and time again recently against very average lower league opposition
Your comments about xenophobia made me chortle, it's nothing to do with it, he's just not good enough for Arsenal FC
'Metronome' of the side, don't make me laugh again, if he is the metronome of our side then it is time to worry, we are probably without Song/Wilshere and struggling to contain an average lower league side at home!
He isn't developing, he hasn't made progress in the last couple of years. He has about 100 starts for us and he should be coming on by now.
Frimpong's injury was a reall blow as he would have probably ousted Denilson as defensive midfield cover by now, the fact that he plays so many games for us shows that our squad is just not good enough in defensive midield terms.
Denilson is not athletic enough or fast enough to ever be a decent midfielder who can defend, you can't develop pace and acceleration overnight or on the training ground I'm afraid.
I'm sure he's a lovely lad, he tries hard and he deserves our support at games, but good enough?
Never.
By the way you seem to think that every player that Arsene has stuck with has come good, in fact this is definitely not the case.
Players do need support and patience, I agree, but there comes a time when, if they are making no progress, they must be jettisoned.
Arsene's great strength is his loyalty but it is also one of his great weaknesses, he has given some very average players far far too long before chucking them in the past and this is the case again for me with Denilson.
He's just not good enough and I can understand why fans are getting frustrated at this, he is not developing, he is not up to it and he keeps to get chance after chance after chance. The time has come to get rid.
Failing to see Denilson's weaknesses and his failure to progress does make me call into question one's ability to read the game of football.
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