Isn't it hilarious to hear the media ramble on about how we can now come out of a troubled summer, when it was their constant fashionable talk of a 'crisis' that allegedly made it troubled in the first place?
In reality, there never was a crisis. There is a young side here growing together, and showing the same massive potential that excited us in patches last season. It is so easy to forget how good they were at times because the season ended so flatly, but every supporter who has said all summer that Van Persie can be the top dog next season must feel vindicated today. What a goal he scored yesterday to win the cup, dragging the ball unfathomably with his left foot to score powerfully with his 'weaker' right.
Two 2-1 wins, over PSG (who looked phenomenal in hammering Valencia yesterday) and Inter, were enough to clinch the tournament, but instead of reviewing the matches themselves, I wanted to pick out a few individuals who, for good or bad, require a special mention. And where else to start, but with
Robin Van Persie
After a very quiet game against Salzburg last week, the mercurial Dutchman was everywhere this weekend, and his post match interview yesterday was telling - he talked, seemingly genuinely, about the wonderful spirit in the side and playing 'the Arsenal way'. There are huge expectations on him this season, but something about the man tells you that will inspire him.
Alexander Hleb
One of the candidates for our man of the tournament, he was lively, skilful, incisive, and he even scored. Sitting behind the front men, rather than coming in from a wide position, suits him, and this was how he was deployed in the Bundesliga, but when the season starts, it remains to be seen whether he could be accommodated there. It's an option, not a likely one to start with, but it allows for tactical tinkering in the game - add him to the list of players who can change position and confuse the life out of the opposition.
Emmanuel Eboue
He was superb yesterday, playing on the right wing ahead of Sagna (who was also much improved). Perhaps there really is life in the idea of him further up the park. He has pace, he can cross, he can shoot, and his defensive lack of positioning hurts us less there. But even in a friendly yesterday, he made the most of some challenges, completely unnecessarily. Promising, but his attitude is still a worry.
Niklas Bendtner
I've been impressed so far. His link up play is excellent, his determination to prove himself is equally good, and he isn't overawed. He also can't take a penalty to save his life, so he'll fit it up front for us.
William Gallas
There is a simple reason why Gallas has become disliked in the eyes of Arsenal fans after his continual commenting - his performances are not good enough. Ljungberg will be forgiven his parting shot, Vieira and Henry were allowed the luxury of calling for ambition, because they had all established themselves as passionate Arsenal stars. Gallas has still left his good performances in West London, but brought his big mouth with him. He was at fault again for the goal yesterday, and I'm getting very tired of saying those words.
All in all though, the tournament has created waves of optimism. Wenger and various members of the team have been making the right noises for a while, but over the weekend we began to see why. There is still the worrying susceptibility at the back, but sharpness will hopefully resolve that.
One final point - why are all the papers going on about the complete non-story that is da Silva's work permit? He has had his initial application turned down, and now faces an appeal. But this always happens with players who don't automatically meet the work permit criteria. Another pathetic media attempt to portray something standard as a disaster?
So, a 1-0 defeat to Salzburg last night seemed to highlight a lot of our failings from last season, but I thought there were plenty of positives to take.
Eduardo had a decent game, he will be criticised for taking extra touches in front of goal but for me, it's good to see him not snatching at a chance - he looked calm and with time will get used to the pace of the Premiership. I can see him being eased in with RVP and Adebayor starting the season (although Robin had a very poor game last night).
The surprising star was Alex Hleb, who not only showed directness and accuracy in his passing, but his determination and workrate really impressed me. This appears to be a man with a point to prove, and if he carries on in this vein, he will be dangerous. Let's hope it isn't a one off.
Abou Diaby was strong and powerful but his passing needs a bit of work. There again, he was driving the team forward at times and his sharpness will improve.
Gallas was poor. Toure wasn't much better, but our self-appointed defensive leader needs to perform much better than this, especially having been given the captain's armband for the evening.
All in all, despite the result, an evening that showed a lot of promise. Rosicky's hamstring is a concern, as it appears to be a perpetual injury, so we'll have to wait for news on that. An injury free Tomas could have a superb season - in the first half an hour last night he showed that.
Emirates Cup at the weekend, and some proper opposition.
It'll be strange seeing Freddie Ljungberg wearing West Ham's colours next season, I can't imagine it'll look right or that he'll feel that happy there. To me, the club is full of big time charlies, and players looking to make as much money as they can with no thought to loyalty (step up Lucas Neill).
Of course, they could make him captain. I'd certainly consider it.
In any case, it isn't that relevant to us anymore, but I certainly hope that the comments he made at the press conference don't affect how he's remembered by Arsenal fans everywhere. There is a small section that seems to think he's a traitor, and to me that is utterly ridiculous. He's been a wonderful asset to the club, and one who's attitude can only have set a fantastic example.
Speaking of excellent attitudes, who does Fran Merida remind you of?
“I would love to play in the Carling Cup, I know it’s going to be difficult but I’m going to work hard for it. Players like Cesc Fabregas and Johan Djourou have broken into the first team through the Carling Cup so I look to them for inspiration."
"I still have to improve a lot, especially the physical and defending sides to my game. But when I came I think I learned a lot of things and I hope to continue learning at this rate. I’m just hoping to show people what I’m capable of next season."
"I especially want to win the FA Youth Cup. It was hard to lose in the way we did last season and I want to put the heartache behind me by winning the trophy."
A willingness to work hard, a refusal to accept defeat and a determination to come back and do better the following season? Do they train that attitude at Barca's youth academy? Welcome, Cesc II.
Note to Freddie Ljungberg - you will be remembered fondly by all Arsenal fans, try not to ruin it by making such bitter comments.
So the Swede's left for West Ham, for what probably consists of a couple of million upfront, plus a lightening of the wage bill. In truth, he probably knows his standards have slipped over the past couple of seasons, and for all his talk of Arsenal's lack of ambition, the reality is that the club needs to move on now. At 30, with his body creaking badly, he isn't going to get any better.
That's not to say it isn't a sad day though. He's provided us with an array of wonderful memories, and genuinely seemed to care about the club. He had big game mentality, fighting spirit, and it is perhaps this that drove him to make the comments, if only to not accept he's a beaten man. Good luck to him, I won't be holding it against him.
He could hardly have started his Arsenal career better, scoring against the only real rivals we had at the time:
And then, his wonderful cup final goal against Chelsea
There are many more, but these two always stick out for me. Good luck Freddie, and thanks.
A 3-0 win over the Turks last night was, by all accounts, an excellent workout for many of the players, with the most notable performers being Van Persie, Adebayor, Walcott and Denilson, the first three of which will certainly be expected to play prominent roles this season.
Not a lot was seen of Sagna, who played a half against a side not likely to trouble him too much, and da Silva, who played the last twenty and showed a few neat touches and a potential ability to provide assists as well as continue his well known scoring record.
Potentially more revealing was the news of the signings of two more South American starlets, Angel Di Maria and Pedro Silva (is the name Silva a South American equivalent of Smith or something - how many do we want?), as revealed by Salamanca, who the pair are apparently joining on loan in order to get their passports sorted, in much the same way as Carlos Vela, who is due to get his in January.
Pedro can play anywhere up the left channel, while Di Maria has been starring in the Under 20 World Championships for Argentina. The question this poses is - does Wenger buy starlets out of habit, or is he planning on extending his contract? If this were his last season with Arsenal he'd never be able to utilise these players, and while I imagine he wants to look after the club in the long term even if not here, I can't help but think this is an indication that he sees his work as unfinished.
I'm sure many will be frustrated at the signing of more youths, but in reality this does not affect potential first team signings, all this youth policy guarantees is that every year there are players capable of making the step up to become first team regulars. Last season Clichy was the main demonstration of the success of this approach, while many more in the Carling Cup especially showed that if required, they could do the job. It is important to be able to improve the squad without buying - it provides a quicker growth of squad strength.
Some will succeed, some will go quietly, and some will leave moaning that they never got the chance. But the point is with enough raw talent in the youth squads, the long term future of the team is much more assured.
And how much more satisfying is it when you get a crisis in one position and you can bring in a starlet who turns out to be pretty darned good than do a Chelsea and cry that when you've lost two centre backs you've got no-one left despite spending sixteen trillion pounds and selling two of your centre halves in the summer?
Finally, Stan Kroenke gave his clearest indication yet that he wants to step up his takeover plans, with a representative saying he wants to meet the rest of the board as soon as possible. It's time, I guess. I feel a certain inevitability about this, and I'm still extremely uncomfortable about it. We'll see.
Apologies for the large gap between articles, an extended moving weekend meant that not only did I have no time to do anything else, but I also know just how removal companies earn their money. We didn't use one.
It's been nearly a week since my last post, and to be honest, not an awful lot has happened in that time. I've seen the highlights of the Barnet win, but I can't read much into it, as a) Youtube can make even Julio Baptista look good, and b) pre-season friendlies are quite unreliable anyway - after all, I remember Hleb scoring within a few minutes of his debut in one this time last year, and he hardly turned out to be prolific in front of goal.
That said, tonight's game against a Turkish side I have no chance of pronouncing correctly may give us the first sightings of da Silva and Sagna on the pitch, and perhaps some indication of where exactly Sagna especially will slot in.
In other news, Cesc has been talking about his hopes of being an Arsenal captain in the future. If I'm honest, I think this is just the PR machine in operation - after the flak he took earlier in the summer for allegedly courting a return to Spain (which he will do sometime in the future), words that define his loyalty simply aim to reverse that problem.
He talked recently about Arsenal being 'his club', and now about how he'd love to be the captain, and I think a lot of this is making a point to the press that he's going nowhere - a none too subtle hint for them to cut out the rumours they like to spread. It's working too, because now these words are the flavour of the month. Who said journalists were fickle?
As for the captaincy issue, I'd be surprised if he was at the club long enough to take the role on. Delighted, but surprised. However, with Gilberto missing the start of the season after having a rest, a stand-in is required. Toure strikes me as a much better candidate, but there we go.
And finally, we turn to potential signings. The universal belief is that we still need a winger, but the futures of Ljungberg and Reyes still need to be resolved, which both affect the quantity and quality of the player(s) signed. I vote for watching this space, as second guessing doesn't appear to work.
Just over three weeks to go. I can't wait - can you?
One of the more public Arsenal signings was finally confirmed yesterday when Bacary Sagna (not Bakari, or Bakary, apparently) signed on the dotted line for a fee reported to be anywhere from 6m to 7.5m, which is quite a price for a position in which two players who have just signed long terms deal play.
A lot of eyes will be on the Barnet friendly tomorrow to see where the puzzle clicks together - will Eboue be pushed forward? Is he now a reserve? Is Hoyte now Clichy's understudy at his weaker position of left back? Is he in fact completely out of favour? Or are there other plans for the dynamic new Frenchman?
It all makes for an interesting debate, but can you name another team in the Premiership with such a flexible defence? It seems most of them can play in multiple positions across the back, which is great for covering injuries although a settled back four will have to be established. If, as has been suggested, Sagna is more in the Lauren mould than Eboue, then he'd be most welcome, especially if he did something like this:
A winger is now the only essential signing, while any other additions would be simply to improve the quality of what is there already, which I can only assume is the rationale behind the Sagna deal.
To add to the feelgood, Cesc has again confirmed he is staying, although he also claims Real have been in talks with him, which as Arseblog points out, is completely illegal unless Arsenal gave them permission, which they plainly didn't.
In other, aren't you glad we have nothing to do with the Tevez nonsense?
There's been more rumblings about Gallas' comments over the past 24 hours, with reactions either being that he is absolutely right and it's about time someone said it, to accusations of disloyalty and people saying he should keep his ever increasing mouth shut.
I don't think anyone truly believes that this squad will win the Premiership next season without strengthening in some key areas. But having arrived on deadline day last season, Gallas should know precisely when that day is. It isn't today, or tomorrow, it's eight weeks away. That is the time to judge a squad's strength, not early in the summer when Arsenal rarely do business. Moreover, there is a way of getting the answers you're after, and it isn't by stirring up the media through your personal website.
As I said yesterday, I really wouldn't mind if Gallas was moved on now. His partnership with Toure looked poor last season, and I know which one of the two I'd keep. Would you rather have a younger fighter who inspires the team and would be an excellent captaincy candidate, or a moaning one who has never shown the club his true ability, any signs of leadership and responsibility, or, for that matter, stopped talking about his old club.
Did I load that question enough?
In any case, I, like many fans, have now had enough of him and his constant wittering. But I also suspect that he knows exactly what he is doing. He can probably see two ways this will end.
One. Wenger will sign the sort of player that would make him happy, and he will smugly stay.
Two. This is the beginning of him muttering enough to earn him a move.
The first one may happen, but it would be purely out of coincidence, Wenger won't buy to pacify his players, he didn't with Vieira, he didn't with Henry, and he certainly won't with Gallas. He will bring in the players he believes to be the right ones, and not give two hoots who agrees.
I suspect the second option will come about. Probably not this summer, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Wenger try out a few more defensive options this season and move Gallas on in a years time.
And unless he buckles down, shuts up, and commits himself to the Arsenal, I'd happily contribute a kick out of the door.
Do players never realise that continual moaning endears them to precisely no-one?
Case one. Jeremie Aliadiere. For years he's been a squad player at Arsenal, showing flashes of potential interspersed with a lot of inadequacy. In short, he could look the part, but only once in a while. After many years and many chances, injuries meant he played a large chunk of first team football last season.
It only served to highlight his deficiences. Even playing alongside the clumsiest Brazilian to ever walk to planet couldn't help disguise his failings. So, he was shipped off to Middlesborough, at which point most Gooners wished him luck. He'd always tried, after all, he just didn't quite cut it.
And then it all went wrong.
Suddenly he started to moan that he didn't get the chances, that he did fine but never had extended opportunities, etc. Now, if he were English, the media would be running with this, claiming that Wenger refuses to give home grown players a chance. In fact, his moaning puts me in mind of one Jay Bothroyd (remember him?).
Back in 2000, Bothroyd was shepherded out of the door after a combination of his poor performances and even poorer attitude. He had this to say:
"Arsenal want to buy success but Coventry are bringing up the youth."
"The first team are not interested in youth at Arsenal."
"The manager's job is always on the line. He needs success now."
Wenger now has some of the finest young players at his disposal, and it sometimes even criticised for concentrating on youth. Bothroyd, who claimed his nationality held him back amongst the foreign legion, moved to Coventry, then Perugia, then Blackburn, where he showed his stupid side, then Charlton and finally Wolves.
He has never settled and never regularly scored goals. I wonder if he still thinks he was good enough to make it at Arsenal. And I wonder if Aliadiere will two years from now.
Case two - William Gallas, who is already demanding Wenger brings players in, claiming he will request talks with the boss to find out what's going on.
Point 1 - There are eight weeks left in the transfer window.
Point 2 - Wenger does not report to Gallas, no matter how much the defender calls himself an uncontested leader.
Gallas is finding himself getting more unpopular with fans, as he hasn't performed on the field in a way that allows him to be this candid with the media. Henry was getting restless, but through his performances and love for the club had partially earned that right. Gallas has done nothing for Arsenal yet, apart from play far below his best and moan.
I would not be adverse to Wenger making a disciplinary stance and moving him on if he could find a replacement. Yes, Gallas is an excellent centre back at his best, but he is also a major pain in the backside. Chelsea have a siege mentality, how can we have the same if players like Gallas continue to bang on like this?
More than anything, it is disrespectful to the current players. He is essentially saying that they aren't good enough, and that is absolutely out of order.
I posted a comment over on Gunnerblog in response to a poster who claimed the team needed a complete overhaul. I had said that we only needed one or two players to be competing for the title, if they were the right players, he rejected that claiming the gap was too large for tweaks to fix it. I wanted to share my reasoning:
Look back to last summer, where United had just finished their third season in a row without the Premiership, and never looked like getting close to Chelsea. They then sold their top scorer, and flourished without him, after being written off.
I truly believe we only need a couple of signings to challenge for the title again. They need to be the right signings, which does not necessarily mean big names, but my point is that if you sign the right two players, you can extract more than two players’ worth out of a team, if those two players complement the rest of the team and make the other nine raise their game.
With me so far?
To take a simple example, imagine us last season without Cesc, but fully fit otherwise. Say we signed Cesc at Christmas, and he flourished after that. Not only would his individual contribution add the value of one player, but he would extract the best out of others, e.g. Henry’s fine runs would be rewarded by the pass they merited.
In that way, you sign one player but improve more than one player in your team.
That’s what I mean by subtle improvements. This team does not need an overhaul, it is a puzzle with a couple of crucial pieces missing. It isn't the wrong picture.
Feel free to agree or disagree, I welcome all comments.
