News broke yesterday that Thomas Vermaelen won’t play another game for Arsenal this year, in fact he won’t play until well into 2011 which is dreadful news. Also, suggestion is that Koscielny is out until then too.
However, as much as I wish both of them, especially Vermaelen, were fit and healthy enough to face the Mancs next Monday, maybe this news isn’t as bad as we all think, well not long-term! Johan Djourou is in my opinion a better defender than Koscielny right now so he’ll be straight into the side tomorrow night. He and Squillaci seem to have a good understanding together and playing a few more games will only see them get stronger.
All through the summer we cried out for just one more CH, Wenger said he wouldn’t buy in January unless we ‘lose some’, and that lose some doesn’t have to mean selling a player.
With these two out surely Wenger will dabble in the January transfer market. Even he can’t believe we can survive a January which will see us play an FA Cup toughie against Leeds and a Carling Cup semi-final, on top of our Premier League and Champions League fixtures. January is a busy month and if we are to get to the end of it still being in all three competitions and around the top of the league then he needs to be looking a centre half now and get his man on the opening day of the transfer window!
For me the player needs to already playing in England and he needs to be used to the speed of the Premier League. This may mean the cost will go up but do we fans care? I don’t!
Seriously, Wenger may tell us he is not going to buy in January but I bet he does and long-term that can only be good news, especially if he buys a proper centre half and not a ‘Silvestre’ kind of player. Then we will be able to really challenge in all competitions!
One thing though, if he doesn’t bolster our already frail looking defence, we’ll all know just how seriously he wants us to win something this season.
Talking of outs, Nikki B is a wanted man, reports are coming out of Holland that Ajax are expecting offers for their striker Luis Suarez in the transfer window and should any of these be too good to refuse, suggestion is they’ll come knocking at Arsenal’s door with an offer for Bendtner. My thoughts on that one are let’s get in their first and do a player/cash deal. I know the Uruguay striker is not as tall as Nikki but he’s already a great player and he’s only going to get better.
What do you think about that then?
That’s it for today folks, have a good day, I will, especially as England have gone 1-0 up in the Ashes series
morning all….
Somewhere recently Wenger was quoted as saying that JD was still recovering from major injury and 16 months out of the game. He said that he was not yet ready to play twice a week.
I’m sure many gooners would rush out and buy Jagielka or Cahill in January but I’m not too sure Wenger is of the same mind. Ignoring injury Wenger currently has four good central defenders and I think the manager is happy with that number.
All of which opens another debate – is our defensive frailty down to personnel or tactics or training or coaching. Or, having seen some of Man Utd’s and Chelsea’s recent games, are we that much worse than the others ?
hi steve, exactly, thats why i think he could very well buy a CH, JD may have been out and if wenger believes he’s not ready to play he should not have relied on him being fit…
wenger cannot have it both ways…
i have another busy old morning, catch up a little later on…
“if he doesn’t bolster our already frail looking defence, we’ll all know just how seriously he wants us to win something this season”
In reference to the above winning to AW is important we can all agree on that.. however breeding players for tomorrow is something he is also obsessed with and thats why the fans are/should be pissed off.
We (and righty so) want success today, to stay in touch with the big fry, where as AW is happy to buy..breed..buy..breed and the classic example is Koscielny.
Hes not up to speed with the premier lge but he keeps getting selected ahead of Djourou (who is). The reasons are simple he is sticking with him until HE IS up to speed but in the meantime another championship title could pass us by.
Call it sensitive/stubborn or what you will, but if he had gone out and spent an extra 5million pound on a premiership experienced player (jagielka) we would not be fighting for our lives to beat the fulhams and birminghams of this league at home.
reg Bendtner’s rumour.. imagine if Bendtner doesnt want to sit on the bench will Suarez ??
All these people crying for world class strikers where are we going to play them ??? We have to keep Nikki .. We need to invest in the defensive area.. maybe a backup or a player similar (but taller) to Song..
@bops… We will play a world class striker were Chamakh is playing.Chamakh is frustrating and what striker looks to pass when yu are thru on goal? I dont count RVP as he is always one tackle away from missing the rest of the season. So there is a case for a striker.
AS for the defence, we needed addditiions b4 Koscienly was injured and we desperately need them now. I honestly dont now hat Wenger was thinming when he bought Squillaci and Koscielny coz they are really poor defenders and will not make it into the line ups of any of the top clubs.Even Senderos looks a much better defender than these two guys.
I accept your logic Rico but I’m not sure Wenger does.
I can’t help but think back to this time last year when we didn’t have a fit striker. Wenger’s stubborn adherence to the long term policy arguably cost us the league title.
Morning all, well said Jack, Wenger always makes an excuse that what when everyone is fit… And when exactly have we had everyone fit Arsene…? His ego not to buy and to wait on unfit players has possibly cost us 2 titles or at least the ammo to fight til the very last game to of won 2 titles and yet he has failed on both occcasions when we were crying out for just one maybe 2 players and now it’s exactly the same. No centre half in Jan as quality to come straight in and we are one injury away from being in huge shit..! Oh i see Diaby has also vanished off the face of the earth, why persist with players who are perpetually injured however good they may or may not be..?
ashes ? who cares.
For once i think we might have successfully replaced one of the invisibles Nasri for Pires(just still have the goals replaying in my head)
Playing with Johan Djourou alone is a big risk(he is injury prone too)
January fixtures might be too much for us, i suspect FA cup will suffer for it.
Wenger will not buy , he will promote somebody from the reserves.
You are right, he will need to buy from the PL but that will be too expensive .Wenger wouldn’t do that.
So i say Wenger will prioritise winning the Carling cup and pushing for the Premier league.
By the way forget Bendtner leaving, Wenger will not sell him.
morning all. no interest in suarez. we have other positions – particularly cb and reliable cover for sagna – that arsene needs to address. forward is not so urgent in my mind.
Agreed Oliver, look after the defence and the forwards will take care of scoring its the back we need to tighten up desperately. I think I agree with you SD noway will AW buy it’s back to him being to stubborn yet again…! Maybe he’ll shock us I hope so cos if he don’t we will just be waiting for the wheels to fall off again..!
Afternoon all,
Anyone else heard Almunia might be heading to Athletico in January?
http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/849566-manuel-almunia-offered-to-atletico-madrid-for-cut-price-january-move
Fingers crossed….
Well that will be less headache for wenger
T-B all that paper stuff I’ll only believe when he’s actually gone and then I’ll celebrate lol
it sounds like true news , at least it is not from Star , Sun or Daily MAil.
Afternoon all.
This paragraph really interests me in today’s post
“For me the player needs to already playing in England and he needs to be used to the speed of the Premier League. This may mean the cost will go up but do we fans care? I don’t!”
Wenger somewhat contradicts himself when he buys a foreign import.Normally he says that a player needs a six month settling in period to adjust to the pace of the PL though the two exceptions lately have been Sagna and Vermaelen.Now as a top side always at some stage of the season top or near top,he is taking a huge gamble to expect players to be at the standard required from the off,so why doesn’t he go for players already in the PL.
I accept with Chelsea and now City paying astronomical money for many players who may barely last a season, the inflated prices today makes it difficult to get a “bargain”.
Djourou had 14 months off, so he can only play so many games at the moment.I am still to be convinced about Kos, to me he is a latter day Senderos,every game he makes at least one dreadful decision.
vermaelen has seen two surgeons so if he does come back in say mid to late january it will take at least 6 games for him to get back to where he was.
This is a huge issue for us,even allowing for the fact that the other top teams are not as fluent this season as they were.
We can all play championship manager but players like Parker,Given,Bellamy and even Ireland and hageland could have been affordable if we stepped in,at the right time.
In the last 5 years who have we bought from within the PL.Silvestre,who if he was any good,Fergie wouldn’t have sold him.Campbell came on a free and served us well and is there anyone else.
We have an abundance of small attacking midfield players some better than others,but how are we going to accomadate all of them.Rotation is fine,but it doesn’t alter the fact that whichever combination we play, we always lok likely to concede.
Just a few tweeks are needed,but I feel that this has been said time and time again these last few seasons.
I have a theory that the break up of the invinsibles and the departing of David Dein has given Wenger just too much for one man to carry,and his stubborness may now be becoming more of an obsession that he is blind to the obvious.
The papers say Almunia has an english wife, yet i understood she was spanish,and you may remember last year,he had compassionate leave when his mother-in-law died in a car accident.
He will go back to Spain for sure,but maybe not until the summer.
car accident in spain.
His wife def not English kelsey….! Don’t kno where they got that from
Predictions can make a fool of us all,but when AW says he won’t be buying in January,what do you expect him to say.Advertise the fact who he wants ?. Of course not.
Depending on Vermaelen, I can see at best a centre back coming in.No keeper or forward.
To leave in the summer,Vela,Rosicky, and possibly Bendtner.
With a run of games Theo should play more central, but will he get that run of games.When you consider we payed 5 million rising to 17 million depending on appearances for club and country,how long will he be used as an impact sub, even allowing for the fact he is still only 21.
Opinion is divided about him and to be frank,I had thought he was definitely showing improved form earlier on this season, but he has regressed.
Kelsey ! i can’t believe you actually said we will have too many players or midfielders .
Have you being following Arsenal in the past 5 seasons ? How injuries to just maybe 2 or 3 players has killed our prospective seasons ?
I don’t care how many he buys as long as we can get maybe another Wilshere kind of revelation or Fabregas kind of Revelations . It is fine by me.
Song can play CB when he is required but do we have a replacement?
Arsenal is using a sieving method, buy as many as possible in their youth and keep the best later.
Oh! you just wait for the team to form properly , those who were not patient enough will regrete for life (Adebayor, Gallas,Toure, Henry, Pires, Ashley Cole just to mention a few)
Wao you are already making me sound like Wenger himself. i know you get my point.
I said an abundence of small midfield players 🙂
Many appear to have their natural instincts taken away from them to fit into the system,Rosicky being a prime example.This may well be intentional on Wenger’s behalf,but it makes us that more predictable IMO.
I don’t think you read all of my comments properly.I am fully aware of the situation.
Hola. rico, where are you?? Whatever you’re doing, don’t forget my photos. 🙂
I agree, kelsey, We haven’t the faintest hope of getting a new keeper or a forward. But surely, another CH and a DM are required. 🙂
SD, all players who left us have regretted the fact. 🙂 I am glad.
i get you Kelsey,
No keepers but we we do well to buy a CB.
Bye
Boo, afternoon folks…
agag, i left the camera at home 🙁 but the good news is i’m going to borrow one and try get some photos, the snow has gone but the dunes are still white with frost 🙂
centre half and DM have to be our priority…
Wenger has declared Kozzer fit for tomorrow’s game.. looks his injury scare was a lil’ premature. Even to me he looked more jaded than actually injured after Squillaci’s headbutt. Regarding JD not starting enough games, Wenger has explicitly allayed his fears that it wouldn’t be prudent to play him regularly after his long layoff… Seems like there is some method to his madness 🙂
Hi Rennie, thats quite bizzare isn’t it, earlier reports suggested he was out for 3-4 weeks… Much rather see JD start tomorrow though…
Re JD, the only way he will build up his strength is to play 😉
hi rico and rennie…i would also prefer to see djourou in defence tomorrow night. i suspect that arsene wants to ensure that he is fit and available for monday night at old trafford. he is taking a risk here, as we have not yet secured qualification for the cl knockout round, but i understand his thinking – and appreciate that he has a difficult decision. with all things being equal, i cannot fault arsene’s decision – i think i would do the same. we just have to hope it will not backfire on us tomorrow…
with that said…should a match-fit djourou not return to the starting eleven at old trafford, then i will view these events much, much differently…
Hej Rico & Oliver, I too believe that Wenger wants to preserve JD for the Ol’Trafford game.. But I don’t think Kozzer’s a liability if he plays against Partizan, he should be able to cope. It’d be freakin’ travesty if we don’t win that, not just bcoz it could mean our elimination, more to do with the fact that this Partizan team don’t travel well at all
Hi oliver, sorry i had to pop off for dinner..
Thats a good point, JD against the mancs is essential, do we risk him tomorrow? saying that, we just know wenger will start with kos against the mancs…
Reg. Suarez (or any other big name striker) even if we were interested I can’t see them accepting the role of a 3rd choice.. If we could entice Bendy to stay here and play the supporting role (& then take over from Chamak later) that would really set us up in the striking dept. Don’t forget that JET could also make the grade as a 3rd choice striker possibly from next season
hi rico and rennie. not only do this partizan team not travel well, they are poor at home – five matches, zero points tells the story well enough. however…our arsenal side need to be careful and not look at this as a foregone conclusion. that is the cost of that pitiful effort against a pitiful team at braga.
i also think koscielny should be ok against partizan. we racked the goals up in both our home cl matches this season, and this is another fixture that we should rip the opposition apart. but those two fixtures seem almost a season ago – our side now seems to lack confidence and assertiveness at home.
spuds just went 1-0 up in the netherlands. as much as i cannot stand them, i have to concede they are doing well so far in this cl campaign. they may well win their group, but knockout cl football is a whole different animal…
anyways, if our players can just go out, play with intent and concentration, i think they will be ok. if there was one thing we saw in beograd, it is that partizan have a poor defence. if our players can concentrate and focus – and if arsene can, for once, have our defensive midfielder concentrate on his defensive duties – then we should be fine.
i would really like to see jet make the breakthrough. i think we can grow strikers easier than defenders, and i think highly of jet. i think he is still at least a year away from a regular first-team squad place, but i would like to see him make it arsenal.
regarding suarez, no thanks. we have some areas in our first team which need urgent attention – forward is not one of them. suarez’ name should not even come up for discussion.
Rennie, i guess the point i was making re nikki is, if ajax want him lets make a deal and get a player in who’s good already…. not let him go and replace him sith a 16 year old with potential….
oliver, we will batter them tomorrow, and with style…
well…twente just equalized versus the spuds.
we should, rico…but our last couple of home performances – while wins – have been stuttering at best. i think confidence is not quite there. and i am starting to wonder if all our players really understand where they are expected to be, and what they are expected to do, in certain situations. there were times in the fulham game – notably while we were under pressure – where it looked like we had eleven players out there with no clue about what they were supposed to do…
Rico, I think that Wenger would only even think about going in for a quality striker if AA was sold next summer…
if arshavin can maintain his current form, we would be crazy to sell him. however, that is a big if…
oliver, i think this game is at the right time for us in a strange kind of way, our home form like you say, has not been the best and should we play well and batter them, it will do our confidence wonders…
Rennie, i dont think AA will go, he’s just getting used to the UK and his game is coming back, add to that, he’s getting on a bit 😉
the problem, however, is what happens if we don’t batter them? or, if the unthinkable should happen, and we find a way to lose and not qualify for the next round? what of our players confidence then? especially heading to old trafford.
as it is, man united are losing at the half with a shadow side. they have not played particuarly well all season – the blackburn result clearly an abberation, and against a “cooperative” fat sam side, no less. we will feature a much stronger side against partizan, than man united are fielding tonight – our circumstances demand it. so an unfavorable result during this week is more likely to effect our side more than united’s.
don’t get me wrong, rico…i fully expect us to take care of business – and thoroughly at that – tomorrow night. but i remain mindful this is a proverbial double-edged sword: a thumping win should boost our confidence, but should the unthinkable happen, i fully expect that it will have the reverse effect on our confidence, and we will be in trouble heading into monday’s fixture.
oliver, i cannot let myself think about anything other than a win tomorrow, should that happen, we don’t deserve to be in the knock-out stages… i’m thinking about how we get a great result tomorrow to progress and then take that to manchester….
as am i. but i don’t quite trust our players yet. if they don’t get a result, it will be almost as bad as the spuds (who are now 2-1 up in the netherlands) loss, especially considering the very poor quality of our opponents tomorrow. i am already irritated that we are making such hard work of qualifying from a very, very poor group. we should have secured qualification in donetsk, but because our players still have too much immaturity and irresponsibility, we find ourselves heading into tomorrow with much at stake.
hmmm…spuddies cannot seem to hold leads tonight. ok, enough on them – our side plays tomorrow night and here is hoping for a convincing win and a clean sheet. i won’t particularly mind if we fail to score a copious amount of goals. we should save some of those for united – we really, really owe them!
oliver, i don’t trust them at all but Partizan have nothing to lose, they’l try and have a go at us and play right into our hands… i’m pretty confident, but that confidence is in PB mucking it up ….
here here with your last oliver 😉
we’ll see what happens tomorrow night. signing off for now, enjoy the rest of your evening.
Right, thats me done for the evening…. see you tomorrow sometime…. enjoy the rest of your day oliver….
night all
sppoky oliver 😉 see ya….
new post up