The Adebayor saga continues with reports of a £25m bid being turned down. It is now a case of chicken to see who blinks first, Arsenal or Laporta who is up for eviction on July 6th. An irony bypass was given to Adebayor’s agent, Stephane Courbis, who said,
Since the beginning, there has been a love story between Adebayor and Arsenal and his relationship with Wenger is based on trust and respect. Emmanuel is a man of heart, not of money. He is not greedy
Sky Sports News reported this morning that Hatem Ben Arfa signed for Olympique Marseille yesterday which should mean that Samir Nasri’s transfer might be finalised soon although the long-drawn out nature of the deal means he might only be offered a one-year rolling deal because he must be in his thirties by now.
Nothing really new on the transfer gossip front; Amaury Bischoff has some legs on his story with the player having left Werder Bremen whilst Pascal Cygan seems to think that Marcos Senna would be good for the club. Without the slightest hint of irony, he said,
That proves how good he is, as they rarely make mistakes
Hmmmm…
Gael Clichy is this weeks focus in the Player of the Season poll, second place the least that he deserved for his consistency last season; I cannot think who the winner is? Two of his predecessors are effusive in their praise for Clichy and the improvement he has shown over the past season.
In yesterday’s comments, he was touted as a potential Captain of the future. To be honest, I cannot see any change in who wears the armband this coming season. Gallas is unlikely to be replaced given that this would potentially create another problem for Arsene. However, it would be no surprise if this is his last season as captain on the basis of his age and that it would be likely that Arsene would promote or buy a younger centre-back next summer. He has already identified Song as one potential replacement in the long term and others have a shout at the spot.
One argument put forward was whether or not the captain is important to the team. If anything, the role is crucial to Arsenal and Gallas must learn from last season. When leadership was needed post St. Andrews and at Anfield in the Champions League, little appeared to be forthcoming. In particular, he did not get his message across at Anfield after the second equaliser went in, failing to regroup the troops to closedown the game.
Whether Cesc is ready for the role is another matter. There are instances to prove either side of the argument but simply handing it to your best player to keep them happy is not the solution. Henry was Arsenal’s best player but I do not believe that he had the personality to lead the side and his was a time of personal distraction. Too often his emotions manifested themselves in negative terms - a frown, sulk or look - when the best quality of a leader is to put aside their own feelings to recognise the method of encouragement best suited to a colleague.
Age should not preclude Fabregas from taking the armband but I have yet to see the consistent signs of leadership that marked Tony Adams out as the most suitable candidate for the job. That may become more apparent this coming season and whilst a captain may lead by example, there are others on the pitch who need a forceful personality to deal with them. Whether he has the experience yet to cope with those as well as focussing on his own game, only time will tell.
Eduardo is the subject of paparazzi lenses and the initial signs are encouraging but before I get my hopes up, I will wait for the medical assessment when he returns to the club. Whatever the state of his fitness, it is important that nobody gets carried away and he is not rushed back.
Finally, Bob Wilson received his OBE last week and this is related on the official site.
’til Tomorrow.
