AW On Transfers & West Ham Preview

Arsene summed it all up neatly:

I do not like it [the transfer window]. Every press conference is a bore about players who might come in than about the players who play and do something for the Club

Hear, hear dear boy. It was obviously a quiet news day yesterday when Sky Sports News fell hook, line and sinker for a jolly japester’s wheeze that Arshavin had been granted a Work Permit, denied later by Arsene at his press conference. Even so, his statement was rather more bullish about the deal:

Whether we are close or not has little meaning – it does not matter how close you are, what is important is that you agree. At the moment, we have no agreement with anybody for any transfer. But we have not applied for a work permit yet for anybody. Not for Arshavin or anybody else.

Which pretty much puts the mockers on this morning’s planned early headlines like “Ars-havin him” or some such pun. Any further dealings are being kept quiet in the usual Arsenal way, hinted at in the final sentence of the above quote but any hopes that were held of others coming in were, not extinguished, but certainly dampened:

We are always confident, we try our best but we respect our budget. If we can find an agreement, we will do it, if we cannot we will not overspend what we have planned to do.

Another brickbat with which he will be beaten next week by those who demand that we sign someone and ‘an extra £3m is not that much, so why not just give it to them‘, the latter part of which I won’t even dignify with an acerbic comment.

Wenger also re-affirmed his faith in the squad, for the umpteenth time this season:

Finishing outside the top four does not worry me at the moment because we have a very good opportunity to be in there. I am very positive and believe very strongly in my squad – why should we consider all of the negative aspects of the season? I do not want to prove everybody wrong, I want to prove that I am right to believe in my players and in my squad, that is all.

He didn’t quite have a ‘seagulls following the trawlers‘ moment but was on dubious ground when comparing it to burning buildings. He left himself open to a tough summer when he said:

I try to give my best and put my players in a condition where they believe in their strengths. We have a very young team who are doing well, but why should we always face a catastrophe? We have all the positive reasons to believe in our future. If at the last day of the season, we are not in there, then I will take all of your questions, and [accept] all of my responsibilities.

It is, of course, the only time that he should be judged; the final points will have been counted and the roads to Wembley and Rome ended. To some though, failure this season is going to require that he be tarred and feathered, dragged from Traitor’s Gate to the stadium where he will be hung, drawn and quartered. And that is just for failing to get the team to Wembley in the Carling Cup…

Onto West Ham. A positive result this afternoon is required against a team that has turned itself around from the time of the Arsenal win at Upton Park back in November. I am not sure that I am overly concerned by the performance either; three points is king and if that is as a result of the ball ricocheting into the West Ham net for the winner, via the referee’s arse, I’ll take that for the decisive goal. Villa enterain Wigan, United have their traditional three points against Everton whilst Liverpool and Chelsea meet – the points simply matter more.

The proximity of the Cardiff replay means that Arsene is going to shuffle things around. It is widely accepted that Toure will come in for Gallas in the heart of the defence but I doubt there will be any other changes there. It is tough on Toure for his form with Djourou has been no worse than Gallas’ with same defensive partner. I suppose JD could be rested with Song dropping back but that seems unlikely.

I suspect Arsene is going to put more emphasis on this result than Tuesday’s so midfield will most likely contain he usual culprits. If he is going to change it around, I would suggest resting Denilson (not for any other reason than I quite like the following notion) and moving Nasri into the centre with Vela on the left. It won’t happen so I suspect it will be Denilson and Diaby in the middle as the defensive requirements are not as crucial as in an away match. You need to protect your back four but expectations must be that West Ham will sit back.

The line-up will be something like:

Almunia; Sagna, Toure, Djourou, Clichy; Eboue, Denilson, Diaby, Nasri; van Persie, Adebayor

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it.

Credit Crunch Time

Aah Friday, four days ’til the transfer window closes and no arrivals being met at Heathrow with nobody being dropped off at departures either. Apparently ‘Moneybags‘ City are offering £12m for Kolo Toure but it simply won’t happen in the current climate. Wenger does not have the cover within the squad to deal with the slew of fixtures about to descend upon Arsenal nor with any injuries. Maybe in the summer but even then I have my doubts.

According to Lord Peter Wimsey, failure to qualify for the Champions League would not cause the club to sink into a Leeds-like spiral:

There is no denying that it would be a real financial drain on the club if we didn’t qualify for the Champions League next season. Even if we were in the UEFA Cup and enjoyed a long run in Europe, that would not come close to making up the shortfall. But although missing out on the Champions League for one year would be a big disappointment, it would not mean financial armageddon for Arsenal.

When we worked out our budget, and did our fund-raising calculations in respect to the new stadium, we did not assume we were going to be in the Champions League every season. That may be an assumption at other clubs, and it’s not for me to comment on the way they are run, but we did not want to get out of our depth in terms of paying our bills.

So although it would certainly hurt us in the pocket to finish outside the top four, it would not be a huge shock to the club’s finances

Which is a different interpretation to that which was expounded in the summer. Well, not different but perhaps more expansive. The club can afford to be without food from the top table for a season but I would suggest that his words hint at much longer being a bit of a problem.

The assumption that goes alongside that is top players leaving. Anecdotally, there is little to suggest that there would be a mass exodus although no doubt there would be substantial speculation about that being the case. If you take the events surrounding AC Milan this summer, they have taken the opportunity to clear the decks of the dead wood whilst bringing in new blood. Obviously, the risk is that continued failure to hit the top four spots puts a different complexion on matters but that is some way off, just as there is no guarantee that Arsenal will not qualify for the Champions League this season.

Much will depend on the personal loyalty that the players feel they hold to the club (or perhaps more importantly, the manager). Many have been given their chance at Arsenal when other clubs were not so forward. Many have previously stated that their futures and that of Wenger were intertwined so that is something upon which the manager can play if the need arises.

Personally, I think that the squad can get back into the CL placings and perhaps even surprise a few (or many?) by getting into the top three. It requires a return to consistently winning ways starting tomorrow at home to West Ham. With Liverpool and Chelsea meeting on Sunday, it is an opportunity to recover some of the ground lost in midweek.

’til Tomorrow.

’til Tomorrow.

RvP Rather Than RIP

Everton 1 – 1 Arsenal

1 – 0 Cahill (61)
1 – 1 van Persie (90)

A point is better than the none which seemed likely with the full-time whistle looming. With other results this week, it is a gap opener between the top four and Arsenal, five points to Villa and six to 2nd and 3rd.

Arsene said afterwards that it was a ‘must not lose‘ match. That was putting a positive spin on the outcome; hindsight is always the easiest (and perhaps laziest) judge to use but events elsewhere meant it was a ‘must win‘ match if there were genuine hopes of winning the title. A top three finish will look a lot more realistic provided West Ham are smited this weekend, the fixtures meaning that at worst, we will be four points behind Chelsea and Liverpool but could be three points adrift. That is a big ‘provided‘, granted.

Ultimately, it was a night when Robin van Persie’s critics were made to eat their words. His finish proved he is the pre-eminent Arsenal forward this season, cushioning Diaby’s lofted pass with his chest before letting fly with a rasping drive across Tim Howard. The Dutchman’s temperament has been questioned in the past but to produce that type of finish, that late in the game answers more than answers any criticism.

For the rest of the team, it was a night to forget. Other than van Persie, no-one ‘starred’. They may have shown character but that alone will not elevate them into the Champions League placing. They may have found a run of form that is now nine games unbeaten but the consistency that Arsene has been driving at in recent times will only come when the talent that they have shines through in matches such as these.

It was a match of few chances. van Persie’s freekick early on was blocked by the wall and Denilson went close-ish later in the half. Equally, Everton were not at all creative, Felliani having their only effort even vaguely on target that I can recall. It was a dour display by both sides.

The second forty-five showed a touch more life; Denilson opened the sparring with an effort over the bar before Cahill reciprocated, sending his shot wide. It proved to be a warning. Baines found himself with a free cross, Sagna on the right undone by good movement and passing around him rather than going past him. It was as good as a corner from the positioning, likewise the delivery that enabled Cahill the relatively simple task of outjumping Clichy. His header was as good as he would have hoped, allowing Almunia no chance as the ball came back across him. The Spaniard denied Cahill again when a vicious shot hit his chest that Djourou turned behind for a corner.

The lack of inspiration in Arsenal’s midfield is an indicator of the task Wenger has in replacing Walcott, Fabregas and Rosicky. Arsene mentioned that Rosicky could return in eight weeks. I wonder if that aspiration is driven partly by the perspiration that the midfield is showing, requiring more guile. Even so, I treat news of Rosicky’s return sceptically, no matter how much I look forward to seeing him on the pitch again. It happens when it happens and we can ask no more than that.

With attention being focussed on Walcott’s contract – presumably because it is up rather more sooner than van Persie’s – the Dutchman should not be forgotten by the Powers That Be. He is proving to be rather more important that anyone else to the team. With Wenger saying that Arshavin’s signing is 90% completed but that the remaining 10% is the most difficult, last night’s match showed why Wenger wants a creative player. Whether that ambition is realised remains to be seen.

’til Tomorrow.

Ars(not)havin Any Talk Of Him & Everton

Arsene summed up all we needed to know in his press conference yesterday:

There’s no news about Arshavin and not about anybody else. That’s why I cannnot give you anything at the moment. It’s all quiet. We are not close to concluding any transfers at the moment. I’m sorry to disappoint you but that’s the reality. I’m more focused to win the game tomorrow.

Excuse me if I give his words more credence than those of any others. Talking of which, where’s the bugger’s Mr20% these days? He had plenty to say when it was ZSP who were dragging their heels…

Onto Everton this evening and a tricky little encounter. It might work in Arsenal’s favour that The Toffees have had two tough matches at Anfield in the past ten or so days but I somehow doubt that will have much impact. One thing those games did show was that the defence will need to concentrate this evening as Everton pose a considerable threat from set-pieces but little else from open play.

Gael Clichy and William Gallas are widely tipped to make their returns in the media but reading into Arsene’s words, I suspect that Gallas will be a substitute:

Gallas is likely to be involved tomorrow. I have not picked the team yet but he will be with us of course. It will be at the expense of who it will be. That depends on the games and what kind of opposition we have

To me that suggests he is likely to use the Frenchman as a substitute at some point rather than disrupting the pairing of Toure and Djourou. Given the latter is just about the only Arsenal defender who can win a header, any change is likely to be between Toure and Gallas. Equally though, it was a warning that neither of them can be certain of their place in the side. It is something that has been sorely missed in recent seasons with the number of injuries and losses of form, competition between centre backs for a starting berth rare indeed.

In midfield, I would expect Denilson to be restored to the line-up at the expense of Ramsey but it will be a toss-up between Diaby and Song. I suspect the former will get the nod but an equally good case can be made for either player. It is Diaby though who carries more of an attacking threat if he is on his game and is equally adept at defensiv

No doubt there will be more observations surrounding this game, rueing the missed ‘chance’ to sign Arteta in the summer. Yet at the time Rosicky was expected back in the autumn, Arsene perhaps relying on his return rather than spending on another attacking midfielder. The Spaniard is, though, the only Everton player whom I would like to see at Arsenal.

The team I expect to start:

Almunia; Sagna, Toure, Djourou, Clichy; Eboue, Denilson, Song, Nasri; van Persie, Adebayor

One player not making any comeback tonight will be Eduardo:

He needs one or two more games. We will maybe organise a game behind closed doors next week and he should also play for Croatia in an international friendly. After that, he should be ready

Initially I presumed the part about Croatia was a joke but then Arsene did not grin when he spoke. Frankly, I find it some respects a bemusing, international friendlies are always a risk at the best of times so it will be a concerning time for Wenger whilst the Croats play. Presumably Eduardo will be carrying written instructions over the amount of playing time he gets. Yet Eduardo needs to step up the pace in terms of competitiveness and an international friendly will be as punishing to him as one played for the club behind closed doors. Indeed, Wenger would probably struggle to find any opposition with the internationals so perhaps it is the best of a bad lot.

Arsene spoke of the need for consistency in order to remain in contention for the title:

If we are consistent we can come back. We are six points from Man United, who have a game in hand. But if you look at the six points we dropped it is unbelievable how easy we dropped them. That is why it is important to be consistent now.

I suppose that I could be facetious and observe that actually we have dropped twenty-five points this season which would lay myself open to accusations of nitpicking. An indication of that is the League table which shows that only Manchester United have taken more points at home – 28 v 23 – of those higher but away from home, Arsenal have the least points of the top five: Chelsea 26, Villa & Liverpool 24, United 19, Arsenal 18 (before last night’s games).

Consistent at home, inconsistent away. It is that element Wenger needs to grab by the scruff of the neck and instil into the team. The signs are there that he is doing so – eight points from the last four away games and an unbeaten run fast approaching double digits are baby steps in the right direction. Little paces often become big strides and keep confidence growing.

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ’til Tomorrow.

Ars-Dragging On And More

And it was only 24 hours to Everton…sorry, woke up in a Gene Pitney kind of mood today which is vaguely disturbing. So, Zenit St Petersburg believe that they have reached an agreement with Arsenal over the ‘services’ of Andrei Arshavin. To be honest, this one has dragged, twisted and crawled over the rocks of transfer oblivion, I’ll wait until the club confirm it before getting over-excited. Zenit, meanwhile, are doing that:

A fundamental agreement over the fee in the transfer of the player has been reached between the clubs, subject to a medical. But, at the moment, the basic obstacle preventing the transfer going through are Andrei Arshavin’s personal terms. The player and his agent have made it clear to Arsenal that they will require a higher wage, which the management at Arsenal are not prepared to pay. At the moment, Arsenal will only satisfy those demands at a lower transfer fee. This puts the whole deal in doubt.

So, the clubs are happy but the player is not, according to his spurned ex-lover of an employer. Yea Gods, if a scriptwriter turned up for work at Eastenders with this sort of stuff, they would be marched from the building, having cleared their desk, had their access card taken from them and be handed a brown envelope containing their P45. Mind you, in this technologically advanced age, an email telling them, “You’re fired” would probably be the preferred medium for such a task.

Just to confuse matters, reports have emerged that Arshavin has entered the real world to get his move. Frankly, it just about sums up the current scenario as far as the media is concerned. It is nigh on impossible to get any semblance of the truth when a throw-away comment from Martin Skrtel is blown out of all proportion as if it is some kind of inside track. The hint to the Skrtel opinion was his use of the phrase “I understand“. Hell fire, I understood exactly the same thing from the media coverage in the summer and I have not an ounce of inside knowledge on Arshavin’s preferences for which league he played in. During the summer, his agent had him linked with every major league in Europe so presumably his client did not mind him being hawked around like some sort of footballing tart.

The news of Tomas Rosicky‘s return to training is also treated with some scepticism. Not that I do not believe the story, more that it is perhaps a longer return tio full tiness. Mixed with the missed deadlines over the past twelve months, I simply hope that he gets through this period without breaking down. Certainly, a fit Rosicky would give Arsene the nicest possible headache as far as selection is concerned and also the squad would possess perhaps the most creative midfield in the Premier League.

Right that’s enough of my cynical, bitter and twisted world for today. ’til Tomorrow.

Cardiff, RvP, PHW Gets Real And A Bit More

FA Cup Fourth Round

Cardiff City 0 – 0 Arsenal

If Arsene was raising valid concerns about the fixture list, he will be less than enamoured with a cup replay against Cardiff. At least the bean counters will be happy. The hosts started quickly as you would expect, creating chances but the finishing was any combination you choose to pick from high and wide. Indeed it set a pattern for the game as I can only recall Fabianski making one save of note although the woodwork intervened late on to deny Cardiff another improbable cup victory over Arsenal.

In the opening spell, the Arsenal defence had several moments that they will not want to remember, McCormack finding space readily during the opening quarter of the game, Djourou and Toure not picking up their ‘man’ as diligently as one would expect. Curiously, Cardiff found a lot of joy on the right in this time, Bacary Sagna having an exceptionally rare off-day. Inevitably, Arsenal took a foothold in the game and before the half finished, Nasri, Bendtner and Gibbs had forced work out of Enkelman. Nasri’s miss was perhaps the worst of the quartet that the trio forced, similar to the position that he found the back of the Hull net from, he gave the Cardiff custodian a relatively straightforward save.

The second half found Alex Song becoming the dominant midfielder. Ramsey and Eboue offered little in the way of attacking options, the decision to rest Denilson not looking the best that Arsene has made in recent times.  The second half though continued as the first half ended, Arsenal looking increasingly like breaking through. The best chance to fell to Adebayor who made a complete pig’s ear of a volley following RvP’s excellent cross. It is easy to criticise from the comfort of the armchair but expectations of the Togolese international are lot higher than the final product on this occasion.

Overall, a draw was a fair result, no complaints from Arsene on that score in his post-match interviews. Disappointing from the supporters point of view but the carrot of a home tie against WBA or Burnley is incentive enough for them to finish the job at The Emirates.

Away from the FA Cup, the ever-reliable and not in any way sensationalist, News of the World informs us that Arsenal have been shocked by the wage demands of Robin van Persie, reporting that because the Board have not already agreed to £65k per week, the Dutchman wants £80k per week to bring him to parity with the top earners, at least until Cesc gets offered a new deal. The shock felt by Fiszman was not seismic as they are going to agree to it, so the Bastion of Truth tells us. Which probably means that was the offer he was given in the first place. No doubt reeling from PHW’s decision to make Daily Star back pages the official club mouthpiece, NotW hacks went into overdrive, telling us that Micah Richards is Emirates-bound for a mere £7m. Richards has subsequently denied this so it must be true then. If the transfer market took 2% of Arsene’s time last week, the coming seven days will see him spin like a whirling dervish headfirst into action, 98% of his time signing all those we are linked with.

Much as I missed Florentino Perez bringing a smile to my face with his outlandish pre-election claims, Peter Hill-Wood does not share those sentiments. PHW, a stickler for Old School Manners and in no way associated with derogatory comments about Stan Kroenke in the past, claimed that Perez was being a tad rude and disrespectful, although he fell short of claiming that Wenger was being ‘tapped up’. Lord Peter took comfort from the fact that Arsene has never walked away from a contract before, had one with the club until 2012 and that Arsene would be a puppet in the political games played in Madrid rather than the puppetmaster that he is at Arsenal.

Oh, and apparently there’s been a breakthrough in the Arshavin deal.  This is presumably in no way related to previous breakthroughs that promised to seal the deal by the weekend.

And on that rather cynical note, we end today. ’til Tomorrow.

Cardiff Preview

TGIF is normally associated with two days ago but in blogging terms, it’s Thank God It’s Football that is being talked about today. The FA Cup is rapidly losing it’s lustre, especially when those hopeless inadequates from up the road are talking about putting out their Under-12′s to face Manchester United.

Anyway, the trip to Cardiff presents an opportunity to progress, likewise the same chance to slide into the Hall of Shame that is reputedly the source of the competitions romance, accompanying the Class of ’92 when Arsenal last visited the home of a Welsh club in the competition.

It strikes me that this tie is comparable to the visit to Burnley in the Carling Cup; one where Arsenal should dominate but must take their chances whilst being wary of the threat posed by a decent Championship side. Changes will be afoot, perhaps more than Arsene would normally choose with the visit to Everton coming on Wednesday. Gael Clichy is suspended so it seems likely that young Gibbs will get the opportunity at left back.

With Fabianski replacing Almunia, the scope for change in the back five is still limited, too many will rock the boat. Despite William Gallas‘ return to fitness, I suspect he is going to be held back until Everton, perhaps then only getting a place on the bench as Arsene seeks to ease him back in to what is a busy period of time as far as fixtures are concerned.

Arsene has preferred to use a stronger line-up in midfield for the FA Cup so perhaps little change there. Nasri might be the most obvious candidate for a rest, Vela dropping into that slot or maybe even Ramsey, despite it being the ‘wrong side’ of the quartet and Arsene’s reluctance to pick a player on sentimental grounds. Alex Song is available and will probably get a game ahead of Diaby, saving the latter for midweek.

Up front, Bendtner’s multi-coloured boots have found the back of the net in the last couple of games so that should fill him with more confidence in front of goal than he showed on the visit to Turf Moor. It might have been temptin for Wenger to recall Eduardo, especially as the player is chomping at the bit to get back into first team action and an appearance this weekend should not be ruled out, especially since Arsene changed his mind in the space of two sentences:

I believe he needs three to four games, at least three. But what he did on Wednesday was encouraging. Gradually he gets more free in his decision-making. He showed he was physically ready and, of course, intelligent, but he needs one or two more games.

So, 1,2,3, or 4 then Boss? Arsene was obviously having a Feist-y moment by the looks of things. I suspect the team will be not much different from:

Fabianski; Sagna, Toure, Djourou, Gibbs; Eboue, Denilson, Song, Vela; van Persie, Bendtner

Cardiff should not be taken lightly. They have only lost to Birmingham, Plymouth and Wolves at home in all competitions this season which should be respected. That said, it indicates that when they are faced with ‘quality’ opposition, they are there for the taking.

Arsene commented that the fixture list favoured the defending Champions:

You can say that Manchester United have been extremely advantaged, unexplainably advantaged. But that is what we have to cope with. It is difficult to explain why one team plays on Tuesday and the others are all on Wednesday. It is unfair competition. Next week the fixtures are advantaged for Manchester United, who before had a point against Liverpool – I supported them when they had a case. But this week, I think Benitez has a case.

Pretty obvious that a replay would be a bad result from that viewpoint. More than anything else though, you get the feeling that Wenger is missing his old adversary, Darth Ferguson. Having been a bit too pally with him in recent times, perhaps the Frenchman is just looking to wind him up a bit, a sort of “coo-ee, I’m still here“. No doubt Ol’ Red Nose will have something to say, perhaps leading to a spat questioning who has the prettiest wife? I miss the old days…

Enjoy the match wherever you are watching it. ’til Tomorrow.