Tom & Bob: All In, All Out

Remember the TR7? No, not Tomas Rosicky but the Triumph TR7, a fine example of all that was wrong with the British car industry in the ’70s. Promised so much, delivered for a while and then invariably ended up in the knackers yard. The player is somewhat more refined than his namesake car yet the same problems have arisen. However, unlike the car, Rosicky is apparently on the verge of rising from the ashes. Well, the end of next summer if reports are to be believed.

According to comments attributed to him this morning, Rosicky has the 2009/10 campaign to prove himself worth a new contract. The regard that his manager holds him in shows through in the one quote:

If I find the form I had before my injury then I will play. Wenger was frustrated when I told him I would need to undergo more surgery. But he has not tried to kick me out so he has faith in me.

For Rosicky it must hae been infinitely more frustrating to be on the sidelines than it was for us as supporters to know the talent was laying idle. His form before injury was excellent, one of the major reasons for the title challenge in 2007/08 with 7 goals in 25 games, a more than decent return for a midfielder. If, and it is a big IF, he is fully recovered the prospect of a midfield containing himself, Fabregas and Arshavin is indeed a mouth-watering thought. Should he prove his fitness, there is little doubt he will be offered a new contract. It would be an interesting test of loyalty if a wallet-bulging amount of cash were to be put in front of him in January.

One contract that is being resolved soon is hopefully that of Robin van Persie. Reports from unreliable sources say that a meeting is to be held this week to resume the negotiations. That is not good enough for a contradictory Charlie Nicholas, short of a bob or two now that Soccer Saturday is over:

Van Persie’s playing a daft game saying he wants to know what the future holds for him. Who the hell is he to ask Wenger or Arsenal that? To be fair…he put in a good shift last season. But that doesn’t mean he should start throwing this stuff at the manager’s door – wanting to know who’s going to be coming in before signing a contract. He’s had plenty of chances, just like the rest of them, to do something about it – and, at the end of the day, it just hasn’t been good enough.

Nicholas knows a thing or two about underperforming Arsenal teams, having been a key member of the 1980s version. I am sure that Charlie never held a club to ransom and in no way played silly buggers over his contracts at all. And to be fair to van Persie, he is not playing silly buggers. As far back as three months ago, he made it clear that these negotiations are not about money since the club’s offer was more than satisfactory. He has a desire to win and wants to know that the club can achieve that.

The same issue which Rosicky may face can also be said to exist for van Persie. During his time at the club, he has missed more than one season of games through injury, the major ones being caused whilst on international duty. Should he sign simply through loyalty or some debt that could be said to exist for supporting him through the bad times as well as good? It probably does but at the same time, he has to be happy within himself, that he can achieve that which he desires, that which drives him on, with Arsenal.

Nicholas ranted that Adebayor, Eboue, Djourou and Gallas – “If he is not up for it” – go this summer. It always amazes me when people want wholesale clearances of players. One of the reasons Wenger has been successful in the past and will be so in the future, is that his sides evolve. They do not turn up with the flourish of a chequebook. Bergkamp last week observed that new signings pep up a squad. No argument with that but when the areas of the squad that need strengthening have their heart ripped out, it strikes me that the opposite effect would occur.

The weakness of Nicholas’ arguments are shown with his assessment of Adebayor:

If you’ve not got a striker scoring 25 goals a season with the number of chances they create, then there’s something wrong. He’s not fitting in.

So Adebayor should have scored a goal every game last season then, eh Charlie? Never let a fact get in the way of a populist rant. No doubt Nicholas would criticise the fans for displaying an “I want it now” attitude if they espoused the same theories.

Hot and sunny this morning so play nicely. ’til Tomorrow.