2012 Archives - Arsenation

There’s Somethin’ Abou-t Diaby

RVP Still bleeds Red & White

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Jul 262012

In 2010 Lebron James for those who don’t know him an NBA player became a free agent. Prior to that he was playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers whom he had given a lot of great years. One thing that Lebron hadn’t managed to do was win a Championship with the Cavalliers. Always rated to be one of the best players in NBA who hadn’t won a Championship. When Lebron announced his decision to Join The Heat who were planning to become the Manchester City/PSG of the NBA. His decision was met with heavy criticism and a media frenzy, thousands of virals of angry fans, burning of jerseys and the old classic death threats. Fast forward now Lebron was voted NBA finals MVP and has now won his first Championship.

I don’t want to educate people about the NBA here as I don’t think theres a lot of interest in it and after all this is a football blog. As a fan its difficult to understand why a player can just move without the motivation of money. For example our old Togolese friend is refusing to sign a contract at sp*** because they cant offer him the amount of salary that he is being given to by the sheikh’s in bucket loads. Samir Nasri, we understand Manchester United were first in for him and wanted him more than Manchester City but he choose to dab his ink where there was more zeros. Is it any coincidence that the biggest players in the world Zlatan, Thiago Silva, Aguero, etc sign for the clubs that offer the most money? Is this trend because they feel there is a better chance of winning things at these money rich clubs or is it because they want a better pay package?

As a fan I like nothing and sitting with friends and berating how Chelsea, Manchester City and PSG are ruining football by injecting unrealistic money into clubs thus corrupting the whole system. Its all fair enough But we Arsenal ourselves have been just as guilty in doing this just like Manchester city albeit with less zeros but its like stealing someone stealing a TV and another one stealing a toaster there might be less value on the toaster but its stealing none the less. Let me expand, Arsenals policy was to sign a lot of young players from mainly Europe taking them from the best academies around and offering twice/3 times the amount they earned at these clubs. When these players join they say things like ‘I’m glad to be joining Arsenal because they give young players the chance’ None of them ever say I’m joining Arsenal because I can now earn 4 times more than my former team mates. In a way maybe some of these young players view Arsenal as a stepping stone or a booster seat to their career even though history proves that for the most part the young players that leave Arsenal never really make it. Why do you leave the club you grew up at and come to a different country? Is it because you get a chance to play more or maybe the nice pay package made the decision easy

So the curious case of Mr Robin Van Persie, there is a famous picture of him sitting in his room decorated in red and white and also wearing a JVC Arsenal shirt. The boy has always been a gooner, , ‘why would he leave his favourite club?’ is some of the words fans mutter. Yes Van Persie might be a gooner and he has played for his favourite club but does that mean he has to stay and potentially not win anything and miss out on that last big payday and a sack full of trophies that comes with it? What Van Persie and Mr Kees Vos had planned is that They plan a beautiful exit plan where Robin gets fan’s pity and people turn on the board and he makes a sweet escape and stays an Arsenal Legend. WRONG! Arsenal fans are not to be underestimated and this beauty of twitter, facebook and blogs means that there is a lot of exchange of information , analysis over and over again meaning the truth or some of it will come out. The backlash was spectacular, I don’t think even Robin himself was prepared for it. Now it has left him in a situation where perhaps he doesn’t have control of it as he wished. Arsene and the board wont have it, No one wants to pay over £20 million. I am not going to speculate on if Robin refused to go on tour or not because Koscielny, Giroud, Podolski and a few others also didn’t travel. Was this done to protect Van persie or the club just had planned it? Why did Theo and Chamberlain go they were at the Euros? are all the questions people have but at the moment its all speculation.

I for one hope Robin does the right thing, show faith in the man who showed him a lot of faith and stood by him through those rape allegations, the petulance and red cards and all those injuries and the club that made him a truly world class performer. Its funny because reading Robin van Persie’s statement theres is a whiff of hypocrisy. Arsenal could have cashed in on Robin and signed a more experienced striker when the likes of Henry left. Yet the club showed faith in him and allowed him to develop. The club is changing its wage structure, investing in ready made talents. I just want Robin to reciprocate the faith that the club and fans have showed him. This summer will decide weather Robin van Persie will become an Arsenal legend or another good player that played for Arsenal.

Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment and follow me on twitter @mista_mani

UPDATE: Silva, Walcott, Lansbury, Bartley

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Jul 162012

Wellington Silva to be loaned again, Walcott to hold vital talks and Kyle Bartley and Henri Lansbury’s return from loan.

Wellington Silva

“Wellington (full name Wellington Alves Da Silva) will again spend this season on loan at Levante – in the Spanish top flight – with the club confident it is the best approach for developing Wellington’s future with Arsenal.“ – Arsenal.com

Last season, Wellington, the promising Striker from Brazil was loaned out to Levante. Ever since Wellington Silva joined the Gunners, I’ve been watching him closely, hoping that he will make a break for the first team. He is a young, fast and very talented player. He plays with flair and pace and can pull defences apart.

Brazilian wizkid Wellington Silva

On January 20, 2012, Wellington Silva Joined Segunda División side Alcoyano on loan until the end of the season. Not only did he score in 3 of 16 appearances, he also netted on his debut. At the age of just 19, he has a bright future at Arsenal.

When questioned about his future at Arsenal last season, he responded:

“I am working hard to prove that I am able to play for Arsenal´s first team. That is my goal.”

Wellington returned back to training with the rest of the squad

The only problem with Wellington Silva is we have to wait for him to get a work permit. Just like with Joel Campbell. Hopefully we can see him ripping apart the Tottenham defense in a few seasons time! In addition to this point, it was rumored last season, that Wellington fell out with managers for bad attitude problems and an unhealthy diet.

Theo Walcott

Now to talk about Theo Walcott. It seems that Walcott, who is already on £70,000 a week, would like a better contract, earning around £100,000 a week instead. In my opinion, I feel that the club should offer him the new contract, with at least a 4 year deal.

Arsene can easily raise the money to pay Theo’s wages, as he plans to offload both Vela and Squillaci, with Squillaci reportedly earning around £60,000-a-week sitting on the Arsenal bench.

Walcott scores a screamer Vs Sweeden

Although many slate Theo, labelling him as just a “Sprinter”, I feel he is a brilliant addition to the Arsenal side. Although it would not be terrible to lose him for the rumored £15 million to Liverpool, I feel an extra £30,000 a week, is worth it.

Last season, the 23 year old contributed to just under 20 goals for Arsenal, with both 8 goals and assists in the Premier League. I don’t want to go on about statistics too much, because they aren’t everything. Walcott can also be a frustrating player yes, unlike Chamberlain he does not possess amazing skill to beat players. But he is quick and also wants to play upfront this season.

Overall I feel that Theo deserves a long contract extension, people forget that he is just 23, to let him go now would be a big mistake, look at Van Persie, he has just had the best season of his career at 29. Give him a chance, remember what he produced against Sweden for England in the Euros? 1 goal and 1 assist after coming on as a substitute. Not bad!

Walcott tears up Sweden after coming on as a sub (video)

I think Wenger should give Walcott a new contract and the chance to play upfront, especially during pre-season. It would be good to see what he’s capable of, in the position he aspires to play.

Kyle Bartley

Just a quick update on the not so new players to make the first team this year. Bartley, the English CB, standing tall at 6ft 3in, made 18 appearances to his loaned team Rangers, where he impressed the coaches.

Although, I can never get over the fact Bartley scored an own goal in the Emirates cup last season (84th min) after coming on for Koscielny, knocking us out of our own cup! The 21 year old is also one for jumping into tackles, which we saw a lot last season at Rangers, receiving 5 yellow cards in his 18 appearances.

6ft 3in Kyle Bartley

“He is fast becoming a regular fixture in the Rangers starting eleven and adds reliability and steel to the full-back slot.” – Rangers.co.uk (Last season)

Therefore I’m looking forward to Bartley as an extra addition to the squad, he adds security to the back four, but can also play a defensive midfield role too.

Henri Lansbury

Last season, Lansbury took a season long loan to newly relegated Championship side West Ham. On his debut against Portsmouth, Henri scored and received the man of the match award. He also showed throughout his loan spell his passion to play for the team and contributed to them being promoted back into the Premier League.

Lansbury, the solid midfielder

In more recent news, Lansbury tapped in a goal against Belgium league winners, Anderlecht, to help Arsenal secure a 1:0 victory and to win the Markus Liebherr Memorial Cup.

Lansbury told ArsenalPlayer after the match “”It’s always nice to play for the club you have been with for so long, and hopefully I can put on the shirt many more times,”

In my opinion I feel he will be able to replace the loss of Yossi Bennayoun and also Rosicky, who only has a couple of years let on his contract. At just 21, Lansbury is also an exciting England prospect, playing central Midfield and captaining the U16 England side when he was younger, he also has a bright future ahead.

Although, I don’t feel he will have a massive part to play within this season, he may have to step up to the role of Centre Midfield if some injuries occur. But, I do feel he will have a big part to play in Arsenal’s future.

Contracts

Talking of contract talks, Van Persie is also set to have more contract talks this week, after it has been rumored that Arsenal rejected Juventus to speak to Van Persie about a possible move to the Italian side.

In addition to this point Walcott will also have vital talks with Arsene about an increased wage, which I mentioned earlier. Another contract that I feel needs sorting is Alex Song who only has 2 more seasons left on his contract. I feel he has had a massive impact on the success of the team and at just 24, he deserves a better contract with the amount of potential he has.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the post and any feedback would be brilliant, also follow me on twitter for more up to date information and articles: @CallumAFC14

Robin Van Pursuit!

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Jul 102012

When news broke out, via Robin Van Persie’s twitter, that he would not sign a new contract, fans around the world reacted in several ways. Some fans sent him good luck messages, thanking him for the brilliant season he had and his important 36 goals he scored for the Gunners this season. Other reacted by sending him abuse, informing him that Arsenal had stuck with him over his seven injury-prone years, therefore he owed everything to Arsenal. Whereas a minority of fans, like myself, were to shocked about the whole event to even comment.

The flying Dutchmen, who contributed to over 40 goals for Arsenal this season, convinced me that he was a Gunner at heart with his comments back in 2009, thanking Arsenal and its supporters for the support. While signing a new contract Van Persie added:

“My heart is with Arsenal and I just can’t picture myself in a different shirt. I just can’t see it now because I love this Club so much. If you look at the last five years, look at the steps I have made every season, if you look at the support the Boss and the whole Club gave me, the fans gave me, my team mates gave me – this is the right decision.”

This is what really confused me, as a passionate fan, there is nothing better than having the reassurance that your top players’ love their clubs and can’t picture themselves in “another shirt”. Although, Van Persie was not the star he is today, back in the 2008/2009 season, he scored just 13 Premier league goals, compared to his 37 this season.

Robin’s wondershot Vs Everton

During the 07/08 season, Robin played just 8 full 90 minutes of football for Arsenal. Injury problems to say the least. This season he has played 45 full 90 minute games. Proving that Wenger stuck by an injury-prone player for 7 years, because he believed that he has talent. which Robin has proved. But, for how long can this spell continue?

On the other hand, to say that Robin only had seven terrible seasons and this is his first good season, would be a tad bias. Van Persie has always shown a subtle hint of talent to the fans, his perfect volley against Charlton is just one example of many.

Van Persie’s volley Vs Charlton

Another Gooner theory going around twitter is “the curse of the captains armband” this also interested me, Gallas, Henry, Cesc, etc have all left after a season of being captain of Arsenal. In my opinion it is a case of over-inflated ego’s. When a player receives the captaincy they are supposed to the pressure, as they have an important role of keeping the team together. In these cases, at Arsenal, it seems to make the players feel like they are bigger than the club. This is reflected in RVP’s statement:

“My goal has been to win trophies with the team and to bring the club back to its glory days. Out of my huge respect for Mr. Wenger, the players and the fans I don’t want to go into any details”

Thiery Henry, former Arsenal captain, celebrates his goal against Leeds

So, in short, Robin is saying that he does not think the current team, can win trophies. Which, I think is a bit of a kick in the teeth, when like I said earlier, the team have supported him over several years that he has not been the first choice striker. In addition to this, the players now have to go into pre-season training, (with Robin) with the mentality that they are not good enough to win trophies at Arsenal.

Although, when I heard this news, I decided it was not all doom and gloom as it would be much better to sell Van Persie, overseas, before his contract ends, so that Arsenal can bag some more cash, to invest further into the team. This, would be beneficial as we can gain some more money as a team, buy new players and begin building a new squad for the new season, instead of having Robin rotting on the bench, losing value and bringing down the teams mentality.

The further good news for Arsenal is that Wenger had already planned in case this happened, unlike last season. I’m confident that Giroud can develop into a confident number 10 for us. Giroud will also add more support to our growing attack force. This will give us several options next season. Although, we must sort out Walcott’s contract, pretty soon. We do not want a similar situation to the one we have had with Robin Van Persie recently.

Arsenal’s new signing Olivier Giroud shows off his new shirt

Therefore, I feel that if Robin does leave, we will bring in another, well proven striker to replace him. Twitter rumours have linked a move from FC Barcelona, for a swap, plus money deal for David Villa. I would welcome this deal, but see it as unlikely, as I can see Wenger looking to buy someone younger than Villa (30) with more potential, like he did with Robin.

For me, Lewandowski would be the perfect replacement, the 23 year old had a brilliant last season, contributing to over 30 goals for Borussia Dortmund, in a competitive league. Sadly, I doubt Dortmund would sell another young star, with Kagawa already gone and Piszczek receiving high interest from several clubs.

Lewandowski equalises against Greece

Overall, in my opinion, I feel if Robin makes it clear in his next meeting (this week) that he definitely wants to leave Arsenal, then Arsene must work hard in the early stages of this transfer market to sort out a new, proven, striker. Also, I feel we must sign a DM, who plays the majority of his game defensively, to help let Arteta and Song, continue to be creative in the Centre of the pitch, or Wilshere, who is expected to be back at the early stage of next season.

Hopefully, Wenger is still interested in M’Vila, as he would be the perfect man for the job, in my opinion. Making over 100 successful tackles last season and with a passing accuracy of 83%, he seems like the perfect player to step up to the position. I also feel that Wenger should aim to sign a RB, who can also play CB. Although Sagna is consistently brilliant, he doesn’t have many strong back ups, with Jenkinson, who I don’t feel is ready for first team football yet. In my opinion, a player like Micah Richards, would be perfect as he plays both, centre and right back confidently.

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Is 2012 our year? – England Euro 2012 Preview

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Jun 102012

So, another tournament is on the horizon for Europe’s giants to contest and establish who the best is. England has had a somewhat underwhelming build up to the tournament with the majority of fans accepting that the likeliness of England achieving great things is very slim.

England kick off the campaign against France on Monday 11^th June, in what you would expect to be England’s toughest opposition threw out the group stage, despite including potential banana skins in Sweden and Ukraine. I won’t go into great depth about predicting what I think will happen during the tournament other than England as I will soon be composing a separate article based on that at a later date.

So, onwards to the England squad, and although I don’t harvest massive hopes for England’s prospects, I don’t think Roy has necessarily done anything particularly wrong in his squad selection. (Shown below)

Goalkeepers: 1. Joe Hart (Manchester City), 13. Robert Green (West Ham), 23. Jack Butland (Birmingham City).

Defenders: 12. Leighton Baines (Everton), 5. Gary Cahill (Chelsea), 3. Ashley Cole (Chelsea), 2. Glen Johnson (Liverpool), 14. Phil Jones (Manchester United), 15. Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), 6. John Terry (Chelsea), 18. Phil Jagielka (Everton).

Midfielders: 19. Stewart Downing (Liverpool), 4. Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), 8. Frank Lampard (Chelsea), 16. James Milner (Manchester City), 20. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), 17. Scott Parker (Tottenham), 7. Theo Walcott (Arsenal), 11. Ashley Young (Manchester United).

Forwards: 9. Andy Carroll (Liverpool), 21. Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), 10. Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), 22. Danny Welbeck (Manchester United).

On the goalkeeping front, other than Joe Hart who is by a mile the established number one, the other two are just the best of a bad (but available) bunch. Robert Green has never fully filled me with confidence and he seems to be buried in the shirt and not wear it as you would expect of an International goalkeeper. Jack Butland is a somewhat unknown quantity for a lot of people, however barring anything untoward, he won’t be included at all.

As for the defenders, it is a mixed bag. I think we are blessed in the left back department. Although Ashley Cole will never win personality of the year, he is certainly one of the best left full backs around, and Leighton Baines is very unfortunate to have competition in such a strong fashion as the Chelsea fullback. At the heart of the defence we have a good mix of people who can double up in other positions. John Terry, Gary Cahill and Joleen Lescott are three exceptionally talented central defenders who provide a real assurance for England. The colossal that is Phil Jones can play most positions on the football pitch and could in time become England’s jack of all trades. Right back is a strange one, in my opinion Glen Johnson isn’t even one of the best 25 players at an average Liverpool, let alone England. So although everybody expected his name to be in the squad, as did I, but it still baffles me how he can keep out someone who possess the quality that Micah Richards does.

Onwards to the middle of the park, and the decisions that could make or break Roy’s campaign. Roy has opted for a good variety, I would suggest. James Milner is an essential; he has undeniable gifted qualities and can play Right, Left and centre. Steven Gerrard and Tottenham’s Scott Parker will likely pair up in the midfield, and Arsenal duo Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will fight for places in the team. Chamberlain offers something different, he is the wildcard; his direct and pacey attitude brings something different to the England set up and provides a huge threat to strong opposition. I was massively surprised and disappointed to see Stuart Downing selected ahead of Adam Johnson. England have been crying out for a left footed wide midfielder for a long time, and when they finally get one in the Manchester City winger, they opt for Downing instead. Okay, it can be argued that Johnson hasn’t had enough playing time to warrant a place in the squad, but at the same time that can be used to say he has impacted when he has played, were as Stuart Downing failed to register a goal or an assist in the Premier League for Liverpool threw out 2011/2012, and also cost the best part of twenty million. The prospect of playing Ashley Young behind the central striker is one I really fancy and think could prove to be key to any chance of success for England.

Perhaps the biggest decision for the former West Brom manager is who to start upfront in Wayne Rooney’s absence against France. Andy Carroll’s late season form saw him beat off competition from Norwich captain Grant Holt to register his position in the party. The former Newcastle number nine hasn’t exactly repaid his mega transfer fee but all that will be forgotten about should he hit the heights his fee represents in the upcoming Euros. Wayne Rooney isn’t available until the last group game against Ukraine on Tuesday June 19^th, so until then his club team mate Danny Welbeck has a huge chance to lead the line. His impeccable finish against Belgium in England’s 1-0 at Wembley on Saturday was enough to make people believe that he can lead the line, and fellow United man Ashley Young linked up really well with Welbeck on a number of occasions threw out the match. Jermaine Defoe made the squad basically on a default as he hardly earned it over the course of the season whilst he spent the campaign kicking his heels on the bench behind the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, and the recently released Louis Saha at White Hart Lane. I think Defoe could be a real threat to the opposition threw out the tournament as an impact player.

Overall, the tournament should be a great occasion, so lookout for my preview in the coming days. But as for England, we can do it, can’t we?

Written by Michael Humphrey ( Follow Me on Twitter at @HumphreyGooner )