In the 2010-11 season, Giroud only managed 14 goals and 3 assists in 43 games in all competitions for Montpellier. Before that, Giroud scored 38 goals in 69 games during two seasons with FC Tours in the second division of French football. And in 2007-08, Giroud notched 14 goals in 33 games for Istres FC, again in Ligue 2. If stats were anything to go by, then the simple maths states he gets 1 goal in every 2 games. So what is the problem? We have a striker who scores according to his past figures. But unfortunately, football isn’t as simple as black and white. His final season with Montpellier provided elements of optimism for Giroud and of course, we would expect the big Frenchman to start slowly as he adapts to the rigours of English football. A majority of us were intrigued and anxious at the same time, at how Giroud would fit the Arsenal “style” along with signings Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla.

The 6 foot 4 frame gives off the impression we would be playing with a big front man leading the spike of the attack, in contrast to van Persie’s slightly smaller frame. The likes of Theo and Podolski would play off from the hold-up play and flick-ons, whilst van Persie would drop deep, collect the ball and create space for our wide players and central midfielders and provide assists. The two styles clearly differ. Throughout the season, opinions amongst Arsenal fans, as well non-Arsenal fans and pundits have been fair, extreme, justified, or fans have backed Giroud to flourish in the coming years. Before he kicked a ball, Giroud was labelled the “new Chamakh”. When the season finished, I’ve heard Giroud “flopped”.

17 goals, and 10 assists in his first season playing English football does not sound like someone has flopped. Yes, he has been frustrating to watch in certain games. Yes, he has not provided match-winning performances. Yes, he has missed clear cut chances. Yes he should have scored against Sunderland. He should have also scored in the home game against Chelsea very late on. The away date to Chelsea, and the home game to Everton spring to mind. We can analyse how important his goals actually were, and whether he will make it at this club. However, some of the negative criticisms have been harsh. As awful as it sounds, Marouane Chamakh “flopped”. We barely noticed Chamakh in games, and we barely saw him try to get the ball as he finished his first season with 11 goals in all competitions. No matter how many chances Giroud missed, he would continue to get into those goal scoring positions regardless if he scored or miss. Of course, I understand that our patience is running out during this trophy draught, as well as seeing our star players leave the club in need of success. I understand we cannot be patient with certain players, as we expect instant results as it has been a downward slope of the heights we, the Arsenal, created.

But let’s look at the positives. We have also seen the qualities and attributes Oliver can offer. The first league goal of the season came in the away game against Liverpool. Cazorla picked up the ball in midfield, and was running at the Liverpool defence. Giroud cleverly went one way, and went the other way, drawing the centre-backs out of their positions and creating the space for Podolski. A match thread on GoonersWeb claimed Giroud played a very vital part in that goal even happening. Giroud played a “Bergkamp-esque” pass for Podolski’s stunning volley against Montpellier, and almost a carbon copy pass for Kieran Gibbs against Swansea. In the FA Cup against Brighton, Giroud wonderfully controlled Diaby’s long pass and finished aplomb, as well as scoring a lovely curler in the same game. For all the misses, and frustrations, as well as the glimpses of his qualities; the French international will become stronger, and we will see a completely different Giroud in the next couple of years. He has also had a better first season than Didier Drogba (16 goals), and scored his first goal earlier than Thierry Henry (7 against 8 games), although the latter went on to have a wonderful debut season. However, the argument with Henry, is that both Henry and Giroud took similar games to score but also received the same doubts in how they would adapt the English style of football.

At the end of the day, Oliver Giroud has contributed for the club reaching double figures in goals and assists, his best feat yet. He has many areas to improve as he needs to become more clinical in front of goal and we can be optimistic in watching Giroud grow into a complete striker for the club. He stated himself: “I will become a dad for the first time, which will be an enormous change. I also really want to establish myself with Arsenal and make a name for myself here” (arsenal.com). As the club currently search for a top-class striker; we will have healthy competition and great depth in the striker departments as we aim to bring success back to the club. The likes of Podolski and Giroud have a season under their belt, and Theo has had a wonderful season in front of goal. In Arsene, we trust.

Written by Joe Anwar

Twitter: @jo3anwar

LinkedIn: Joe Anwar

The post Oliver Giroud – Divided opinions appeared first on Arsenation.

To be fair I believe that we have the best manager in charge to take the club through this stage of progression. Someone who is not going to spend the money just because it is there! I do though hope that he has learnt from his mistakes. The one’s which have just freed up £12.5 million pounds a year in wages from releasing three and selling Bendtner. (The world’s greatest Striker)

If asked who I would bring in:

I would say that I would be looking at signing James McCarthy from Wigan a defensive midfielder who (it has been quoted) has the passing vision of players like Steven Gerrard. With Wigan being relegated I would say that we could sign him for between £5-8 million.

Next I would be looking at signing Cesar on a free on a one year contract. He will offer the right type of competition for Szczesny and help with his development for the season. I believe Szczesny has what it takes to be as good as David Seaman but he needs competition to play on his ego and drive him on. To be fair our keepers recently have not been good enough to provide this.

This moves me on to the more exciting part of the signings… The forward…

For me it can only be one of three people, Lewendowski, Higuain or Cavani. All three would signal a huge sign of intent, one that would show that Arsenal are ready to mix it with the cream of World Football. We have found that where RVP would generally need only one chance to score Giroud needs three. Giroud had a good first season last time round but he is not clinical enough, not to be leading the line for a side looking to challenge for top honours. For me Giroud worked best coming off the bench as an impact player. Example of my reasoning is, the game against Chelsea when he had a one on one chance to score, missed Chelsea went up the other end and scored within 30 seconds. There are other examples of this but I am not going to bore you with them now.

The above named players are all players who have that eye for goal, which are a constant nuisance for defences and from what I have seen only need that one chance to score. Higuain has moments where he can take four or five chances in a game to score and this is why I believe he would be the cheapest to sign at around £25mil. Lewendowski would be available for around £30milion (despite going in to the final year of his contract) He still has a lot of potential for a profit if sold in the future.  The way he ripped Real Madrid apart proves the boy can play. Cavani for me is the best of the three but might just be a little too expensive for Wenger and Arsenal. We would have to quadruple our record signing to get Cavani but it would show a huge intent for us and the rest of the premiership.

With Carl Jenkinson looking to make the right back role his own this season I believe we are looking strong in defence with at least two good players for every position.  Ramsey, Arteta, Wilshere, Ox, Carzola and McCarthy rotating the middle, Walcott, Podolski, Gervinho, Ox and Carzola on the wings and with Giroud and either Lewendowski, Higuain or Cavani up top we have a squad ready to compete.

Does this put pressure on Wenger to succeed? Maybe a little but any manager worth their salt will relish the chance to take the club on to the next level. Wenger has been asked to work with a limited budget and achieved to stay in the black in terms of transfer dealing over the last 5 years whilst maintaining champion’s league football. I have faith that Wenger will be the man to drive us on to competing with the best that Europe has to offer.

Time will tell…

Follow me on Twitter @duckford10.

The post Where do we go this summer? appeared first on Arsenation.

However, Arsenal is in the search for a new keeper, as we have witnessed in Szczesny’s form what a little competition can do.

Julio Cesar

The 33-year old Brazilian international and keeper for Queens Park Rangers has been the talk of the town for a while now.

Though QPR was eventually unable to avoid relegation, Cesar had an impressive debut season at Lotus Road. Throughout the season, he had an approximate catch success rate of 98% and saved an estimated 74% of shots, making 97 impressive saves. His strengths primarily lie in his quick reflexes and ability to stop both long and close range shots. Coupled with his experience from playing abroad, and his 69 international caps, Cesar has certainly piqued the interest of many clubs, especially Arsenal’s.

It is reported that Arsenal are willing to match Cesar’s salary of reported £90,000 a week and offer him a two-year contract.

Between Harry Redknapp confirming that Cesar is likely to leave this summer and SkyBet recently suspending all betting activities on Arsenal’s move to sign him, it is clear who the frontrunner to compete for the No. 1 spot at the Emirates is.

René Adler

Another popular name in the Arsenal rumour mill is 28 year old German international and current Hamburg SV goalkeeper, René Adler.

Adler was Germany’s first choice keeper in the World Cup qualifying rounds until a rib injury prevented him from traveling to South Africa in 2010. His recent impressive performance at HSV, saving many close range shots thanks to his quick reactions, earned him a recall in a friendly against Netherlands in 2012. He has since then been back in contention for Germany’s No. 1 spot.

However, he has put the incessant rumours to bed, promising to honour his contract at HSV which is due to run till 2017. Speaking to SPORT-BILD, he admitted that he “has not thought about leaving or considered a transfer since [he] joined Hamburg (a year ago)”.

Though, who knows?

Victor Valdes

There have been varying reports with regards to the 31 year old Barcelona keeper’s future. Spanish newspaper Marca reported that Valdes has made a decision to leave this summer, although Barcelona has trying to persuade him to stay instead.

The paper also suggests Arsenal to be one of his possible future destinations, should their efforts to change his mind fail.

Despite some blunders this season, Valdes boasts 19 club titles,and currently holds Barcelona’s record of goalkeeper with the most appearances in the league and official competition. His experience at a world class club and playing alongside top flight players could prove to be beneficial to Arsenal, especially to the younger players on the squad.

Other targets

Other targets include Sunderland’s Simon Mignolet and Stoke City’s Asmir Begovic. However, the former’s agent has denied claims of his client leaving this summer, although stating that Mignolet will likely not extend his current contract that runs till 2015. As for the latter, Stoke City chairman Peter Coates has confirmed that they are “not looking to sell him” and they “expect him to be [their] goalkeeper next season”. Coates, however, did not rule out the possibility of a move for Begovic, wherever the destination may be.

Personally, I would like to see the arrival of Julio Cesar since his is the most likely as 1. QPR will be looking to lessen their wage bill after relegation and 2. he will be looking to remain playing in the Premier League and preferably in London. Additionally, he will cost Arsenal about £3.5 million (as he is currently listed on transfermarkt) a small sum if reports of Wenger having £70 million to spend are true. The competition against a proven keeper could boost working rates and aid in individual improvements, and his vast experience could teach the Gunner’s young keepers a thing or two as well.

Feel free to follow me on twitter @hqafcfcb

The post A look at Arsenal’s summer targets: Goalkeepers appeared first on Arsenation.

Some will argue that Fabregas will never be labelled as a club “legend”, winning only the FA cup in 2005, however, come post-Wenger, the Spaniard will be one of those names that will stand highly as one of the players that Wenger nurtured, produced, created and one that flourished. Some fans will also never forgive the way Fabregas went on “strike” as he sneaked his way out of the club back to the only club he was always going to go back to. But there will be a majority of fans that loved Cesc as much as he loved us. He proved his love and commitment on the pitch, and denied each and every speculation that linked him back to Barcelona and it was only a matter of time until he felt it was best time to move on. However, personally, I have always blamed the club for not doing enough for Fabregas after being appointed club captain. It has been a frustrating trophy drought for all concerned with the club, including Wenger, and we may never know what went on behind the scenes, but the team was never able to reach the standards of the heights we created for ourselves during the 01-05 years. How long could Cesc really wait until we were able to compete with the continuously changing Premier League teams fuelled with money, becoming better and attracting “star” players whilst we remained stationary, unable to compete with other teams? We didn’t have to follow the money trend, but the changes that had to be made during his time, are being made now. And maybe Cesc couldn’t have waited for now. But is there a possible return for him amid rumours circulating in the last few days? But enough of my personal rant.

Watching the departure of this gifted midfielder led to major fears of how manager Arsene Wenger could fill the gap left by the player he nurtured. Cesc had always said Wenger was like a father to him, and I’m sure we can all agree that if anyone was hurt most by the departure, it was our great manager. Arsenal had gone throughout the 11-12 season without a source of creativity, relying on Robin Van Persie’s 30 goals, Alex Song’s 11 or more assists, and the collective team effort that did enough for a 3^rd place finish in the league. We were in need of summer signings to build the team and bring Arsenal back to its glory days. On 7^th of August 2012, almost one year on since the departure of Cesc Fabregas; Arsenal fans were introduced to Santiago Cazorla.

“Santi” Cazorla, who transferred from Spanish side Malaga, was bought to fill the space left by the Catalonian. Santi played with elegance; through his magical vision, delightful passing, the touch of brilliance and the artistic style that Arsenal fans were so use to. The Arsenal player of the year for the season 2012-13, racked up 12 goals and 14 assists, finished second in the Premier League for the assists tally only behind Juan Mata (according to espnfc.com) and became a club favourite amongst the fans. The excitement of signing this Spaniard could not be contained by us Gooners, as we were all eager to see how the Spanish world cup winner would blend and fit in with the Arsenal. The first real taste of Santi came in a friendly match on the 12^th of August 2013, against FC Cologne, winning 4-0 and playing only the first half. We would then soon fall in love, as Arsenal’s first league game of the season against Sunderland took place, as Santi was at the heart of the performance. Although the match finished in a goalless draw; the ambidextrous midfielder linked up play between midfield and attack, and should have got his first assist as he delightfully fed in Olivier Giroud. Elegant performances against Stoke, Liverpool, Southampton and his beautiful long range effort on his “weaker” foot against West Ham United showed us what a player we have in our hands, reminding us of what it felt like to have that source of flair and creative influence to provide for our attacking players. And who could forget THAT pass he provided for Olivier Giroud against West Ham, where he slid a reverse through ball which turned the opposition. On Match of the Day that night, a pundit who may have been Martin Keown as I vaguely remember, had stated: “He is probably the only player on that pitch who could see that pass”. These are the qualities we fell in love with during the Cesc days, and Santi proved throughout the season he can fill that creative role and work his Spanish magic. You could say it was a trend to have a Spanish playmaker, with the likes of Mata at Chelsea, and David Silva at Manchester City, but I for one would not swap Santi for any of these players.

Arsene Wenger could not hide the sly smirk on his face, followed by a pause, when asked about the brilliance of Cazorla after the away date to Liverpool when questioned about the Spaniard by the BBC reporter: “He plays football like how you would want everybody to play, it’s just a pleasure to watch him and we are very lucky to have him”.

The season may not have finished of how we all wanted it to be, but we can take positives from this season. We have seen the rise of performances from Theo, an improvement in Ramsey, and a glimpse of Wilshere, but Santi deservedly won the player of the year and cemented his trademark amongst the fans. You can only love the way Santi plays and after a successful debut season with Arsenal; he can only get better.

Written by Joe Anwar

Twitter: @jo3anwar

LinkedIn: Joe Anwar

The post The Cesc and Santi effect. appeared first on Arsenation.

Fellaini has no doubt impressed this season, and speculation around his future at Everton has lingered for months. He’s a player who, although doesn’t seem to possess great technique, can turn a game on its head in a matter of minutes. Standing at just over 6 ft 4 inches, he has surprisingly good feet, and also has the ability to make bursting runs in front if the opposition back four, and has particularly useful aerial ability to boot…or to head. Him, Mertesacker and Giroud could work wonders from set pieces. As well as his aerial and physical presence, he is also a clever passer and reader of the game. He seems to rarely make rash decisions when picking a pass, and gets others involved in the game, working off them to push forward when necessary.

However, we’ve seen Fellaini, over the course if last season, become somewhat predictable, and was man-marked out of the game on several occasions when teams recognised his attacking potential, and his ability to change the game. This occurred most notably against Manchester United at Old Trafford, just after new year – Manchester United have obvious reasons to be wary of Fellaini, having suffered defeat after a Fellaini goal at Goodison Park on the first day of the season – Phil Jones was on him all game, stopping him from becoming a game changing force.

But to assign a player to man-mark someone for almost an entire game highlights Fellaini’s huge ability and danger. Other players who are often picked out to man-mark are individuals such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Xabi Alonso. We’ve also seen Cazorla fall victim to similar treatment this season. To be considered dangerous enough by Ferguson to man-mark, a player has to have huge ability. Fearing teams would do the same if Fellaini was at Arsenal? Perhaps they would, but it would be far less effective man-marking an Arsenal player than an Everton player, considering Everton’s other players: if Fellaini were to play for Arsenal, and was to be picked out for special treatment by the opposition, we could counter it, maybe even turn it into an advantage, as more attention on a single, central figure by opposition players would give other players such as Cazorla more room to work their magic (as well as preventing Cazorla from being man-marked himself) – Everton don’t have that kind of option. Fellaini drawing in others could also provide more space on the wings for Walcott and Podolski to run. Arsenal would improve Fellaini greatly, it’s become evident this season that Fellaini’s probably not going to go anywhere or get anything with Everton.

All things considered, it’s becoming harder and harder to put a negative on Fellaini… Oh, I’ve thought of one: his head-butting of that player this season…who was it? Oh, it was Ryan Shawcross? I think we can let that one slide…

Yours,

Intellectual Gooner

The post Fellaini – a dream signing? appeared first on Arsenation.

Hi folks,

Welcome to my debut piece here at Arsenation,  do enjoy.

Wenger is a known admirer of the boyhood Arsenal fan, and there is no doubting that he’d add quality, and also contribute to the “British Core” being developed at Arsenal. Many believe that Williams would help consolidate a huge improvement made by the back four in recent weeks.

Yet, in my humble opinion Williams would be no more than an unnecessary luxury. Here’s why:

Firstly, Vermaelen is highly unlikely to leave. Foremost, he is our captain, and is without any debate a very capable centreback. Despite, having a disappointing season, Vermaelen is the same, majestic, imperious centre back as he was in his earlier years at Arsenal. A good pre-season, coupled with a few wise words pre-season from “Le Prof” himself could easily see Vermaelen shoot back into irresistible form. Therefore, should Williams join this summer, in my opinion, he would have to settle for fourth-choice centre back. This is neither cost efficient nor wise, as you would have an expensive new signing sitting on the bench, or even in the stands.

And whilst, at  long last, Squillaci has left, there is still an abundance in centre-backs at Arsenal. Ignasi Miquel would be a useful and homegrown option for fourth choice centre back. The Spaniard in his rare first team opportunities this term, failed to show his obvious quality, yet I believe Miquel possesses great qualities, and in my view, becoming more associated with the first team would do wonders for the 21 year old. Ignasi deputising on the bench would be no bad thing for Arsenal and would certainly aid his growth.

Should the injury crisis hit Arsenal next season, Bacary Sagna is more than capable at filling in at centre half. He did a sterling job of it this season against Sunderland, and Jenkinson coming into the right back position is no bad thing.

So, is Ashley Williams needed for Arsenal?    No.

Williams, would most likely, be Wenger’s fourth choice centre back. Coming with a large price tag and with prodigal youth such as, Miquel, in the squad, this is not a necessary nor worthy option for Arsenal.

I demand all credit for Williams’ signing, should I have jinxed this.

Yours,

Intellectual Gooner

The post Ashley Williams: Necessity or luxury? appeared first on Arsenation.

Okay let’s get straight to the point the majority of us arsenal folk want to see that big name player come to our club and prove to everyone that Wenger really does know how to unlock this alleged  arsenal treasure chest and we still have that pulling power in Europe  But having said that do I really want to see us spending close to 30 million on Higuain or Jovetic? Defiantly not.

Don’t get me wrong there both quality players and your always gonna have to fork out in this over inflated transfer market,  brought on by the oil money that has put a huge tear in modern day football. But the sort of money being thrown around for unproven players is ridiculous. I’m proud of the fact that while all these teams (man city, Chelsea etc) are spending like there’s no tomorrow, we are keeping our heads and realising its just bad business in the long run!!

Up until about 5/6 years ago the mention of paying around 20 million for a player meant you were something pretty special. These days Andy Carroll can fetch over 30… Something just isn’t right there.

I for one  are glad we don’t throw around our money on mediocre players and inflated egos. I’m all for spending but not just for the sake of it. A big money signing doesn’t guarantee trophies it just guarantees expectation and pressure!

lets not get caught up in this money mad world and realise we have an amazing stadium more or less paying for itself and are one of the most financially secure clubs in Europe.

I know as a fan sometimes this just isn’t enough but I truly believe we will achieve great things as a club, spending ridiculous money isn’t always the answer.

So to answer the title of this article…. In my opinion as you’ve probably already gathered 100% genius.

I’d love to hear any of your feedback good or bad. Follow me on twitter @NathanJohn_

Here’s  just a few big money flops:

Torres – Chelsea

Javi Garcia – Man City

Samba – QPR

Carroll – Liverpool

Henderson – Liverpool

Veron – Chelsea 

The post Wenger’s transfer policy: foolish or genius? appeared first on Arsenation.

‘Fan Frames Limited own the legal licensing rights with eleven football clubs to design, develop, import and distribute official eyewear products.The team have developed a unique range of quality products that appeal to the love, passion and lifestyle of over 20 million football fans in the UK and over 1 billion fans in more than 200 countries.’

‘The inspiration came when one of the founding directors was offered a partnership opportunity within a group of Opticians; he was asked to create areas inside the store that would channel different customer groups to certain areas inside their practices to improve sales. He decided to design simple backdrops using local football & rugby club imagery to attract local supporters to specific frame stands. During the design process the Eureka moment happened; the idea was born to combine football club branding with quality eye wear products including, spectacle frames, sunglasses and reading glasses.’

RT and FOLLOW to WIN a pair of official Arsenal sunglasses from @Fan_Frames there will be 3 WINNERS by Sunday! #RT pic.twitter.com/loNp4jirL4

— Arsenation (@Arsenation) June 5, 2013

The post WIN a pair of official Arsenal sunglasses courtesy of FanFrames! appeared first on Arsenation.

Gino Peruzzi vs Neymar (quarter-finals of the 2012 Copa Libertadores)

Bassedas says that no contact has been made from either Inter Milan or Manchester City. “Inter Milan want Peruzzi? I don’t know, you have to ask them,” he told fcinternews.it.

“Officially, there has not been contact but there is definitely an interest from their part.

“The interest of Manchester City? Right now there are only rumours but there are no official negotiations.”

It seems Arsenal might now be interested in the young right back who gained recognition after his performances against Santos in the home and away legs of the quarter-finals of the 2012 Copa Libertadores, in which he effectively kept Barcelona’s new boy Neymar quiet.

Personally, I would love an attack minded full back but Andre Santos & Kolarov’s defensive performances in the Barclay’s premier league scares me. Zabaleta (Manchester City Player of the Year) a fellow Argentine did excellently well in the recently concluded season so maybe Gino Peruzzi might end up at Manchester city after all.

Well this sounds believable to me, I can’t say I’m convinced he’s the kind of player we should be targeting though, well what do I know.

The post Arsenal Targets Argentine Right Back appeared first on Arsenation.

The Arsenal youth academy is full of promising young stars waiting their turn to make the big step up, but we were lucky enough to be able to ask Chuba Akpom a few questions about his rise from schoolboy to Arsenal academy member. For those that don’t know, Chuba is a striker who is well known for his power and speed up front, he is currently a regular in the Arsenal U21 side despite only being 17 years old! He has also represented England at U16, U17 and U19 levels with a total of 22 matches and 11 goals.

He has had what appears to be a solid domestic season this year with 19 goals and 4 assists in the 29 games that he has played and this certainly looks positive for the future if he can push on from here. Anyway, here is a short Q&A with his view on how this year has gone for him, enjoy:

It has been a busy year, overall how do you think you have performed this season?

Yes, I think I’ve done really good, much better than i expected [as I] thought id be playing U18′s, but i’m a regular for the U21s so the seasons been good

Who would you say you look up to most in football today?

Most probably jack wilshere because of how he’s been at arsenal for a long time like me, and [he] came from the youth team.

Who would you say your favourite player was as a child?

Brazilian Ronaldo and Thierry Henry

Who would you say is currently your best friend at the Arsenal academy?

There’s age but i’d say Alex Iwobi because I’ve known him the longest and played with him [for a long time].

Well he certainly looks to be a bright prospect for the future and hopefully can keep progressing through the ranks and make a Wilshere esque breakthrough, it’s always comforting to know there is hope for the future as an Arsenal fan! His only asset (or lack of) that could be questioned is his physical build, but I am sure he will bulk up as he ages probably with the help of whey protein shakes!

Anyway, thats all for today, remember to follow us on twitter @Arsenation and Chuba @cakpom9 and dont forget to like us on Facebook.

A big thanks to @Thehotprospect_ for organising and conducting the interview.

The post Arsenal youngster Chuba Akpom talks to Arsenation appeared first on Arsenation.