PHW informed us that Alexander Hleb would be the most likely summer departure; the Byelorussian made sure of that by “slating” (in media-speak but not that of you or I) the newly-crowned Player of the Season and the boss - the timing appears to be not entirely coincidental if the information provided to Arseblogger is correct.

Even so, it was quite an illuminating outburst for in it Hleb probably proved that he does not have the mental aptitude to become one of the great players of the game, destined to be pushed to the sidelines. He also holds himself as a key reason for his own failure to score more goals.

Speaking of Fabregas,

When we get scoring opportunities, Fabregas is much more selfish than me. Given a chance to shoot, he always goes for it - unlike me.

Hleb identifies why Fabregas has received personal accolades this season; he has a more all-round game, beneficial to his personal reputation and the team. The object of the game is to score more times than your opponent. To do so, you must take the scoring opportunities. If that is Hleb’s philosophy, he needs to find a manager who will indulge him because his goals tally each season ought to embarrass a man with as much talent as he has been born with.

The comment also brings into question whether his preferred destination of Barcelona is correct. In the political pressure-cooker environment that surrounds that club, there is little doubt that he will not be able to be as parsimonious on the goal count. Iniesta and Xavi both score more frequently than Hleb which puts him at a disadvantage. It is said to say but unless he changes his mentality, he will be relegated to the bench by the end of his second season.

It all gets rather more curious when he talks about Wenger,

My view of football and Wenger’s didn’t coincide at all

Again they are strange but perhaps the remainder of the comments would be more illuminating because if anything Hleb typifies Wenger’s style fo football to a tee; close control, speed of passing, good movement off the ball and above all, intelligence on the pitch. There will be aspects that he struggles with; chasing back which despite having a good work-rate is not a facet of the game he would prefer to be involved in. He is a reminder of the days of players such as Alan Hudson who were deemed a luxury. Hleb is a better player than that but has an updated outlook on the pitch.

Aaron Ramsey explained why he opted for The Emirates and it was not the chance to buy an authentic bar of Toberlone,

I will try my best to get in the starting line-up at the beginning of the season against West Brom. I am joining one of the biggest clubs in the world, one which always gives young players an opportunity at the highest level. I thought about where the best place would be for me to develop as a player, and that was Arsenal

He went on

I don’t think too many people wouldn’t look forward to coming under the guidance of Arsene Wenger and playing next to someone like Cesc Fabregas. Arsene is a great manager and Cesc can make something happen out of nothing on the pitch.

If nothing else, he is displaying the modesty that marks out the Wenger-era. There is an allowance for one or two egos in the dressing room but for the most part, the remainder of the squad are carbon copies of each other in terms of media personality. For Ramsey, I hope it works out and that he is proved right in the assessment of the club being the best place for him to progress his career.

On the rumour mill this morning is Miguel Veloso once more, desperately seeking a new home since Juventus pulled out. Arshavin is either going to Arsenal or Chelsea since Barcelona have now told Zenit that their €15m bid is of the ‘take it or leave it’ variety according to Spanish daily, Sport, whilst AC Milan are back in for Adebayor despite not having the cash last week to pay £30m. Maybe Galliani had a good hunt round and found a few Euros down the back of his designer sofa.

’til Tomorrow.

Peter Hill-Wood has been speaking to the Daily Telegraph, following on from the weekend’s Arsene comments in the News Of The World, specifically about Adebayor and Hleb.

Of Adebayor, he said

We want him to stay, definitely. Adebayor still has a long time [three years] left on his contract, and we have absolutely no intention of releasing him from that contract. You want to keep your best players and Adebayor is one of those

From a footballing point of view, it would be good for the team were he to stay. Despite the personnel issues he might bring, next season ought to see some improvement to his game on last especially as he will (hopefully) be under pressure from a fully-fit Eduardo and Robin van Persie. Last term, due to injuries, Adebayor was relied upon too much at times for goals. If Arsene can have a fit forward line to choose from, the dependency shown in the latter stages of the season could be eradicated. Once more though it will be up to the midfield to contribute more goals than they have for the last few years.

Hill-Wood reinforced Arsene’s view that the number of football mercenaries is increasing

I’m afraid that’s the way of the world. It’s annoying, but it is modern football. The idea that you are going to have a number of your team playing for you for 15 years, as one used to have, has disappeared.

The situation with Adebayor is nothing new in terms of players wanting to leave with seemingly substantial amounts of time on their contracts remaining; it is the sport itself that is unique in how it handles transfers and registrations. It seems that this anachronism is heading for a Bosman-style challenge in the not-too-distant future except this time, instead of two minor European clubs, it will probably involve one of the bigger clubs such is their voracious appetite for having the star players wear their shirts.

Despite its protestations, football is not a unique industry in itself other than to charge new employers a fee for securing their employees services. With European policitians and bureaucrats intent on harmonising the law to level the playing field for all workers, they may well target transfer fees in their next foray into the footballing world. Other than perpetuation of the system, there is no real rationale for keeping these fees. To some extent, there is an argument for allowing the retention of the formulaic system applied to young players, required to ensure that the Academy system flourishes rather than dying on it’s feet. For older players? Football puts no more effort into training them skills-wise than other industries so why the fees?

Back to PHW and Arsenal. He appears to have given up hope for Alexander Hleb though, at a time when his Agent has decided to follow The Four Seasons advice and believe that “Silence is Golden”,

Hleb has made it clear he wants to go. I think maybe he will go

A pity for Hleb that the initial interest in him has, publicly at least, been subdued by the Adebayor headlines. One for the Adebayor-bashers though,

According to Arsenal sources, Wenger feels Adebayor became increasingly big-headed following his run of success last season, and the manager worried that the striker could become a disruptive influence in the dressing room. There is also concern within the club about the 24-year-old’s footballing intelligence, after he was flagged for offside more than any other player in the Premier League last season

Away from that, a major surprise in the top fifty with Pat Jennings coming in at Number Ten. There’s a political joke in there somewhere but alas time precludes its inclusion.

’til Tomorrow.

Arsene went to war on players who are disrespectful to the club and their contracts. Pictures of Adebayor and Hleb adorned the article in the News of the World and a headline of ‘Mercenaries’ gives away the tone. Before you get excited, it is was not much of an exclusive interview with the paper. Despite taking up the majority of the back three pages, about three paragraphs were new quotes set alongside opinion of the journalist in question and most of the Adebayor interview last week with Arsene commenting on his loyalty and the lack of the same quality from the players.

He is then featured in a link with Huntelaar, supposed replacement for Adebayor if he leaves, valued at about £18m. According to the News of the World, Robin van Persie has been selling the club to him. That signing though is dependent upon Adebayor leaving, a situation that is apparently no closer to being resolved and may be open to some doubt with reports that Barcelona are now looking at bringing in Shevchenko on loan if Ade is not signed. The sensationalist part of the interview,

The strategy of the club is to sell every year and to buy less expensive players. We manage at Arsenal to maintain all our football ambitions, national and European, while having to free up - for 17 more years - an annual surplus of £24m to pay for our stadium. The club’s strategy is to favour the policy of youngsters ahead of stars and to count on the collective quality of our game

Which contains nothing new at all and is a matter of the interviewer’s interpretation. The club’s ’strategy’ has been Wenger’s ’strategy’ since he joined, in that he has always bought cheap and sold expensive. Anelka, Overmars, Vieira, Henry out for big fees whilst Campbell, Ljungberg, Henry, Adebayor, van Persie, Rosicky, Fabregas, Toure, Sagna all came in for more modest amounts or nothing at all. The list goes on and you could add who you want to that. The change came when The Emirates construction started and the youthful element became more prominent yet he had been moving towards this plan anyway as it takes years to develop an Academy system to pick youngsters who can come through to the first team.

For Wenger, he ran out of time when the ‘Invincibles’ broke up and key personnel left or suffered injuries. The weakness of the strategy shone through as inexperience came into the first team. Yet in the rebuilding phase the team finished fourth twice and third last season. The absence of trophies was exacerbated by what had gone before but this summer has seen less of the demands for big money names and more shoring up the squad in key areas, as well as replacing departed and unsettled players, a mix of recognising that buying big is not financially possible or Wenger’s M.O., along with tacit acknowledgement that the rebuilding was heading in the right direction but not yet the finished article.

The most disconcerting part for some will be that Wenger has stated we are a selling club. Perhaps the definition that you and I have is different. To me that is one where a club sells its players at the peak of their powers, something Wenger has not done although that is a heady mix of luck and judgement. The latter for Henry, the former for Overmars and Anelka (for example) as he could not have known the Dutchman would suffer with injuries at the Camp Nou nor that Anelka would land in more cities of Europe than British Airways.

His comments though contradict those of various Board members over the past months but should they be taken at face value or be looked upon as PR? For me, they have elements of both. The selling aspect I have dealt with above but the financial results last year propelled the club into the European riches stratosphere and this year the sensationalist headlines will emphasise that further. Wenger may already be suffering from this, being quote exorbitant prices already. He needs to bring those expectations down and his words seem designed to do so.

The summer though has been marked by interminably drawn out transfers, Hleb and Adebayor out with Nasri in. To some extent, that will be reducing Wenger’s ability to sign any others that he may desire. However, the man himself has said that he will not be bringing many in players. Nasri meanwhile will apparently sign this week but that was the case four weeks ago so if and when it happens, I’ll believe it. A shame the player was not so keen to sign that he would not interrupt his holiday.

’til Tomorrow.

The ever-dependable Emmanuel Adebayor saga is brought kicking and screaming back into your living room by reports this morning that Barcelona will be back today with a £30m bid that Arsenal will accept just in time for Joan Laporta to announce before Sunday’s motion of no confidence is held.

However, the player is not so sure of this according to his agent, Stephane Courbis who has had more mentions on these pages in the past weeks than many have in the previous two and half years of the blog’s existence,

It is vital for Arsenal show their motivation to keep him

And why is that Stephane? For the love of the club he has shown or perhaps so he can save face should the Catalans not come running back with another bid and Adebayor is left with no other options but to sign the £45k per week deal that is reportedly on offer from Arsenal, claiming that it was the desperation of Arsene to keep his services that persuaded him to sign when everyone will know that his suitors have been priced out of the market? Never mind, eh, because as Arseblogger points out this morning, all Barca want to know is that you love them

No doubt that the fast and the furious will be idealising their replacements - Arshavin, Villa, Podolski, Gomez, Santa Cruz, Santa Claus - but it will not be the ones Arsene buys, simply because we know about them. One problem with selling for big fees is that purchasing becomes more of a pain with prices rising because everyone thinks you have cash falling out of every pocket on your suit; a £15m striker now becomes £20m. That’s the problem with recessions, inflation goes up.

If he stays, Adebayor will not be joined by Pascal Cygan’s recommendation, Marcos Senna, on the basis that he is 32 years old and too old for Arsene, he will cost £25m if reports and to be believed and more to the point, the player does not want to leave Villarreal.

It is one of two positions where Arsene has to do something by his own admission. Obviously Flamini leaving is the more immediate source of concern but there are sufficient replacements in the squad already; Diaby, Denilson, Song and Djourou are most likely with Gilberto there to bring some experience. The key for Arsene though is how much of a change in the team’s style of play will be required. Flamini brought more energy to the team than Gilberto, very much in the style of the old ‘box-to-box’ midfielder whose absence is much lamented in the media. Diaby is in that mould whilst Denilson and Song are more Gilberto in their approach, Djourou bridging the gap. Personally, I would prefer to see Diaby there rather than on the wings. He has of course been troubled by injury in recent years, some wear and tear as well as the victim of an outrageous challenge. That assumes Arsene does not buy someone as a direct replacement

The second position? Centre back…

Onto other matters, the televised games for the UK have been announced so the following kick-offs have changed [a health warning on these; they were 'leaked' and as of yet are unconfirmed]:

Sat Aug 16 12.45pm Sky – Arsenal v West Brom
Sat Aug 23 5.15pm Setanta – Fulham v Arsenal
Sat Sep 20 12.45pm Sky – Bolton v Arsenal
Sat Oct 18 12.45pm Sky – Arsenal v Everton
Sun Oct 26 2.00pm Sky – Everton v Man Utd (West Ham v Arsenal if blocked by police)
Wed Oct 29 8.00pm Sky – Arsenal v Tottenham
Sat Nov 1 5.15pm Setanta – Stoke v Arsenal
Sun Nov 9 4.00pm Sky – Arsenal v Man Utd
Sat Nov 15 5.15pm Setanta – Arsenal v Aston Villa
Sat Nov 22 12.45pm Sky – Man City v Arsenal
Sun Nov 30 4.00pm Sky – Chelsea v Arsenal

Quiet times before the squad return to training on Monday and much as I cannot be fussed by friendlies, they cannot start soon enough because it means the season is nearly upon us…

’til Tomorrow

Andrei Arshavin has rejected the offer of a new contract reportedly worth £3.9m per annum from Zenit St Petersburg which has brought forth some interesting comments from Dennis Lakhter, euphemistically described as a club ’spokesman’,

Arsene Wenger is a cunning fox. In the morning he says Arshavin will play all the time at his club and during the day he says he doubts the capabilities of Andrei to play three games in a row at the highest level

The doubts arose after the semi-final of Euro2008 when he was shackled effectively by the Spanish midfield and defence. Despite this, Zenit claim that Arsenal have been the ‘most active’ of Arshavin’s pursuers. We shall see.

Presumably much will depend on whether or not Adebayor stays or goes. Milan are out of the running, their pot of Euros on the fridge is not quite big enough to house the £35m that Arsenal are said to want according to Rent-A-Quote, Adriano Galliani,

There are continuous requests for Adebayor, but Arsenal are demanding £35m and that is impossible for clubs in Italy. That’s why the top footballers in the world don’t come here anymore. When big clubs like Barcelona and Chelsea arrive it is impossible to compete because they are in a very advantageous fiscal situation

Which is a polite way of saying that the Italians are on a canoeing holiday in a well-known river without any method of propelling themselves forwards when it comes to money

The same is true of Barcelona to a lesser extent, with Berguistain admitting that selling players will fund new purchases although to what extent that is true remains to be seen. Mark Ingla returned to Barcelona having failed with a £24m bid for Adebayor although an improvement to that bid is expected. Hleb meanwhile is in the same boat, refusing to make a written transfer request which makes it easier for Arsenal to pick the Catalan’s pockets on his sale as well.

Adebayor meanwhile has not yet signed a new deal which is believed to be £45k per week, about £75k lower than was mooted as being his desired salary at the weekend. If he read the reports of Cesc’s new £5m flat near Hampstead, he will no doubt be even more assertive in his desire to get a six-figure weekly salary. But hey, when Stephane Courbis says this wrangle is not about money, who are we to disagree other than to ask the question, If it isn’t about money, why was your client continuously banging on about it at the weekend?

Options are running out for Miguel Veloso as Juventus have apparently found that their pot of Euros on the fridge doesn’t contain enough for Xabi Alonso and Veloso. Hardly surprising given that they are the same sort of player. Veloso probably won’t be coming to Arsenal either, purely on the basis that speculation is linking him to the club.

One curious thing that perhaps someone could explain to me is how the hell Kanu is rated the thirteenth best player in the clubs history? I would have said that he was pushing the Top 30 to be honest, somewhere between 49th and 50th best. It is indeed a curious list that has come together. I guess that the top ten will be something like Adams, Henry, Bergkamp, Fabregas, Seaman, Brady, Ljungberg, Vieira, Toure and Theo Walcott as the No.1.

That’s your lot for today. Just a reminder that those who would like their daily dose of Arsenal via email, click here or go to the section on the right entitled, “ACLF by email, Click Below”

’til Tomorrow.

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.

Cesc returned to Madrid to be part of the parade following Spain’s Euro2008 triumph. As well as the squad’s success, it has been a tournament that saw his skills recognised on the international stage. Despite not being a regular in the starting line-up, he was included in the ‘Squad of the Tournament‘.

On top of that, he further cemented himself as the ‘Fans Favourite’ with his conduct in front of the media in sharp contrast to two of his clubs colleagues whose behaviour has frankly been unbecoming and tiresome. Reading the blogs in recent weeks, it is hard to see much love for Adebayor or Hleb being extended. In particular, with Adebayor, I have to say that if he stays he needs to change his goal celebration away from anything that gives any indication that he loves the club.

Back to nicer things, Cesc said,

This was the happiest day of my life as a professional footballer. But this is also for the Arsenal fans that have been suffering a lot this year. For them, at least one player has won something. It is for them.

Well that’s nice and we are truly happy for you to have won something but this is something for the Spanish people, not a club

It also makes up for Paris

It does for you but not for me.

I can see there is a massive difference between losing and winning in a final. Even if they say being a finalist is important, there is no way you can replace the feeling of winning. I finally made something at a young age, I never expected it to be with Spain. Now I want to do it with Arsenal. I haven’t seen in a long time a team playing such beautiful football get a trophy as big as this. Now at Arsenal we have more or less the same quality of game so hopefully the football will also get better and better for Arsenal

Let’s hope he is right but what is striking was the contrast between the connection he has to the club compared to others. Obviously for Fabregas the roots are stronger having joined at a young age and having been here coming on for his professional career - before anyone says anything he did not sign any professional terms at Barcelona - compared to those who have been here two or three seasons. Formative years form strong ties that are not so easily broken.

Jens Lehmann officially joints Stuttgart today and his parting shot in the employ of Arsenal was to be as irascible as ever, chastising the referee in Sunday’s final,

What was disappointing in my opinion was the performance of the referee, who didn’t really fancy us Germans. He was very arrogant and in my opinion he was biased. He clearly saw a head-butt from a Spanish player towards Lukas Podolski - he didn’t book him or give him a red card

Probably old Chap because Podolski initiated the confrontation by putting his forehead against Silva’s before the Spaniard motioned to butt the German. It would have been no surprise to have seen both get dismissed but a rare outbreak of commonsense hit the officiating during Euro2008. No doubt FIFA and the PGMO will put a stop to that.

Back to Lehmann, he still found time to offer a backhanded compliment to Fernando Torres,

He scored and that’s what you have to do as a striker but you’re asking someone who played together for years with Thierry Henry and he was a God, performance-wise, when he was in England. So when you take him and compare him to other strikers, there’s a difference and Torres is definitely still not at Thierry’s level.  Yes he could get there - but it will take him a while

He will be missed more off the pitch than on although he did roll back the years at times during the tournament. Good luck to him in twilight of his career.

For Arsene though, the key to success is patience, something that can be in short supply on and off the pitch. In the club magazine, he said

In life you need to patient to get to the very top, and don’t forget some players do not start to win until they are 28 or 29 and we have many players who are still under 25. I still believe we have created something special here, through the vision we have for the game, through the vision we have for the club and through the togetherness we have in the dressing room. Yes, maybe we have the feeling that we deserve something this season and we did not get reward for our work, but when you are a winner you come back. If you really share the kind of vision that the club has, you come back and say, let’s show that we can win it

There is a point though when the mantra becomes stale. Arsene has been rebuilding for three years and last year proved how close he has come to the finished article. It is important that complacency does not creep in and ruin the hard work. The step between third and first is a huge one, particularly with the last two months of the season taken into account. Consistency is the keyword this season and the players must ensure that they are getting the points before and after Christmas in equal measure. Playing well is not necessarily the crucial aspect; when the team are on fire, few can keep up with them. For this squad, it is when the chips are down that they have to pick up the points to give themselves the belief that they are champions.

With Adebayor hogging the headlines in his ‘Team Adebayor’ t-shirt in Vienna, a few things to catch-up on. Obefami Martins rumours persist for some reason and with Adebayor supposedly off to Barcelona, Milan or Chelsea for a fee of anything from £24m to £32m, Martins contract dispute make him an easy link.  Some believe they have the inside track, don’t you Guillem Balague? One target not coming to The Emirates is Mauro Zarate about whom I seem to recall Arsene dismissing rumours previously, he has his eye on a move to Lazio. Amaury Bischoff seems to think that he is coming to The Emirates but his is a well-trodden path with players previously claiming to have been in talks with the club not coming to the stadium unless they have a membership card. Oh, and Marcos Senna is to replace Mathieu Flamini.

That’s it all up to date, I think, although there are no doubt others that I missed over the weekend. ’til Tomorrow.