Tough to know where to start with this one?
The first half was one of the worst performances from Arsenal this season… and somehow we managed to come out of it with a clean sheet and the lead.
The second half was slightly better in terms of football, but very familiar with regards to the outcome.
Once again we blew our chance to catch up with the leaders and once again we demonstrated how incredibly wrong Arsene Wenger has got it this season in terms of personnel.
The first half was so dire I could hardly watch. A very average Villa side managed to out perform us because they were disciplined and played with a plan.
Compare that to Arsenal, who were disorganised, tactically inept and woefully low on confidence. Our passing was terrible, the understanding and cohesion of the team was almost nonexistent and the mistakes just pilled up. I don’t think there was one player on the pitch worthy of praise after the first half.
Our first major error of the game came when Song managed to lose Steve Sidwell in the box… who put a header onto the bar from six yards. Song is about 6 second behind everyone else on the pitch. He specialises in lapses of concentration, passing to the opposition… and my favourite… the tactical body check… for which he received his customary yellow card for.
Villa were exploiting our weaknesses very well… they were hitting the flanks and pinging balls into the box and we were truly suffering. Almunia had a particularly poor game between the sticks. Ok… so he made a few great saves, but what’s the point in being a good shot stopper if you can’t claim a cross or command the respect of your defence? One of his flaps did lead to an exciting moment in the match… Calamity Al came bounding out the box… missing the ball completely… Aggy got in the end of it, looping a header towards the goal… Sagna was alert to this and amazingly performed an over head clearance off the line.
Arsenal were still playing poorly… Diaby was too interested in the tricks and flicks when he should have been playing the simple ball. We were still being run ragged by Villa and if I am honest, Arsenal resembled one of those teams whipped together for Charity games. They honestly looked like they’d never played together… without Cesc, they were nothing. Villa put Arsenal fans on the edge of their seats again when Milner managed to lose the static Nasri at the far post and half volley only for Almunia to tip the ball onto the post. Then a few minutes later, Curtis Davies of all players managed to turn the ball over Almunia’s head onto the bar.
Almost immediately Arsenal broke free… Denilson passed to Eboue, who lost it… but Denilson followed in, won the ball back, knocked it into his own path…then buried it.
Arsenal’s luck continued shortly after the goal when Song managed to pick up a knock. Rambo pulled on a shirt and Arsenal held out till half time. How many times have we gone in 1-0 up undeservedly? If I was to describe how I felt… it would be similar to how you feel when you treble the black to win a game of pool… you’re pleased, but a bit sheepish.
The second half kicked off and Arsenal started to play some football. The passing became a lot crisper and Rambo worked well in the middle of the park. It’s nice to have someone there who can actually craft a pass… and actually has the pace to make a fair tackle.
Our second goal came from a piece of Diaby magic. He back heeled the ball and turned his marker, laid it off to Eboue who made a terrific run… timed his pass back to Diaby with perfection… which allowed the Frenchman to bury with clinicalness (sic) and precision.
2 shots, 2 goals. Un-frigging-believable.
Villa were shell shocked and didn’t really have an answer. It was a similar reaction to the one we saw after the Spurs game. Arsenal controlled possession and nearly squirmed a second… RvP was unluckily denied by the post after some good work by the midfield. You did have a feeling that we might pay for that and sure enough we did.
Agbonlohor was played in with a beauty of a pass, Gallas allowed him to get goal side… made a slide tackle and clipped the Villa striker inside the box. Penalty… Goal to Villa. Oh, and some comical handbags from Arsene and Martin… it was like watching your granny rucking it out with her best friend.
Arsenal fans across the world knew what was coming next… ball into the box, scrambled clearance… no holding midfielder sitting in the hole… bang… Villa score in the 91st minute.
Once again, Arsenal fail to hold onto a lead. Once again Arsenal demonstrated why they wont win the league.
The BBC commentator said he asked Wenger before the match if he’d sign anyone… Arsene said he was 50/50. I hope he was kidding, because I am getting a bit tired of Wenger’s now clichéd answers to questions about transfers… it’s very noble to back the kids, to believe in them and to effectively reinvent the football wheel with a new vision…but lets be honest. It’s not working…
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. “
-Albert Einstein
I’m not saying he is insane, but we’ve been watching him do certain things over and over with similar results… then you hear him say he might persist with these idea’s till the end of the season?! WHAT!
I know Wenger keeps trying to sell us into this idea that buying isn’t always the solution… well, buying seems to be the only solution he hasn’t tried yet… and if he doesn’t try something new soon, we could find ourselves in real trouble.
Wenger said this last week…
“In sport you have to accept that nothing is guaranteed.
“It is only because we are in the Champions League so often that people expect it to happen every year.
“AC Milan did not qualify this year but did not die!”
What a terribly negative thing to say? If the manager of the club is okaying the prospect of missing out on 4th, what must the players be thinking? The club seem to be disappearing up their own ass lately… football is a sport, in sport, you play to win. Anything else is disappointing… and any manager saying things like the above needs a serious kick up the ass.
Values and pretty football are great… but not as important as success… and success is what the managers legacy has been built on. Without titles and cups, Arsene would be a nobody… let’s hope he remembers that this coming January.
Have a great Saturday Grovers.
P.S. Just for fun…
Diaby poses for pic's after his superb goal
P.P.S. I still have a spare ticket for Pompey going for best offer!
David James doesn’t need to have the game of his life…with the number of chances we created against Villa, two saves should do it.
I think that was it Stu – I wa sickened so didn’t pay much attention. Bentley’s and Geovanni’s were def two…
I went in a sports shop the other day and looked at those carbon fibre vapours.. and I don’t see how shiny slippery boots can help anyones game!!
. . . . . like passing the ball to someone in a different colour shirt
so much for wenger trusting his young players eh?
Pink boots vid
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=OuJ0E1gpPTo
Apparently we had up to 9 shots against Villa. That suprised me.
Traore won’t be allowed to play against us will he?
Ave, There’s a bunch of misogunistic jokes that come to mind at the thought of how pink boots can create mayhem in the opposition, but in deference to Peaches, I will leave them to your imagination.
Of course Traore will play against us. With the luck we have been having, he will score too!
PDT.. against the pompey defence you have a point..
Peaches no he cannot…
Its a shame we missed the easiest of the chances to go 3 up against Villa – that should have been enough…..but oh, I forgot about the spuds debacle. Who was it that chose to hoof the ball towards the Villa box instead of passing back to Almunia that led to the extra time goal. I was screaming the TV to just keep possession. My guess is it must have been Eboue or Diaby, but I’m hoping someone can enlighten me….
Ave – are you still turning into hugh at midnight? PDT might need you to, I won’t look promise
I think it was worse that that rasp – wasn’t it cesc? or was that for their third goal
Ave, I wonder at Tony Adams’ defensive record. How have Pompey let in so many goals? As a potential future Arsenal manager, that record has me worried. I was a huge supporter of Adams coming in to help Arsene as defensive coach, but he doen’t seen to have done a good job.
Traore cant play against us because FA rules say that a loanee ccant play against his parent club. So Krancjar will be on their left instead.
sorry, spouting rubbish rasp, thought you were harping back to the spuds game
Not on here peaches .. but I might see how much she liked her pressie ..
Rasp, I think it was Clichy..
Keown seems to be a better defensive coach. Keown worked with us and was brilliant, Adams worked with and is now the manager of Pompey but seems to be getting it all wrong, especially in defence. James is usually reliable (at club level) but has been so bad under TA.
ooh avenell, sir, excellent timing I’m sure – what with the washing-up too
With reference to Tony Adams, defensive players always seem to be attack-minded coaches lol.
Only coaches who were shite players have decent defensive teams.
PdT … I was listening to moose on talk sport and he has been interviewing Adams and I think he has lost the plot..
When he was asked why his players played so bad he said ” at least no one will won’t to buy them”
Years ago in 98 he asked adams how great does it feel to have done such a achievement tone said “bless you” lol
go hugh go hugh go hugh its your birthday.
It can’t have been Clichy, this player was on the right of midfield?
Sion, good point – I guess we all think we can do the other guy’s job better than them….
The irony was unintended…
BTW, is Valdimir a direct descendant of Ras Putin?
Ave – TA has got a point if he wants to hold onto his squad but I’m sure he doesn’t send them out to defend badly. D’you reckon Arsene has the same plan?
Clichy slipped at the halfway line when there was no options available. Clichy slipped, Jenas ran about 40 yards unchallenged and curled one home from 20+ yards. CUNT!
He couldn’t give Senderos away, he’s coming back like a stray..
I don’t think the defence is that bad though.. I blame the midfield and the attack as they cannot retain the ball…
PDT, you are aware Tony Adams has been incharge for 2 months, not nearly enough time for him to get his ideas across, and none of them players are his signings, plus their defensive mf has been injured.
I agree Ave, would be nice to have a really good back four but if the midfield could hold onto the ball it would make a huge difference.
Who is their DM Gambon? Richard Highes has been their DM for a while now.
gambon, that’s what gives me hope that he may be able to turn this around. He was a legend for us as a player, and I hope he will be a legend for us as a coach.
I’m looking forward to having Senderos back – at least when hes playing theres someone shouting and trying to take charge at the back. Everyone makes mistakes – his have been very costly, I don’t think hes nimble enough to be an arsenal player although now we have no pace it might not matter
Stu, Erm Lassana Diarra?
I want to see Adams, Keown and Bergkamp back as part of thr coaching staff before Arsene gets kicked upstairs. Arsene isn’t going anywhere – he will probably be kicked into management, so the next coach will have to live and work in his shadow.
Peaches, agree completely. Senderos is the big, strong CB we have been missing all season. And he is a proper leader who always gives his all.
I’d even give him the armband ahead of Almunia. A defensive spine of fab, JD and Phil- lovely job!
Midnight xxxx have some frankie golden showers… lol….
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qUsa3xmb6m4
pft Lassey! Hardly a DM imo. Hughes and Diop are their DMs.
Diarra is the most natural defensive mf in the PL (for 4 more days)
They were saying on Soccer AM that us fans are being impatient by calling for drastic change. I’d hardly call waiting 4 years for proper consistency being impatient.
Not really though. He runs forward and sometimes jogs back. Not a proper or natural DM at all.
avenell
golden showers thats it, and i was there thinking that woman i seen in that video had atheletes face.
JJ you never get hard skin behind a camels toe…
Nite nite grovers
Catch up tmoro, sweet dreams, 6, I’m going for 6 xxxxxxxx
Nite nite peaches sleep well….
nite nite peaches we’ll all dream of 6
people i have just read the news of the world and they reckon wenger wants n’zogbia,given and taylor all from newcastle lollllllllllllll
BBK… What time does your paper boy get up? lol
given yes
nzogbia maybe
taylor fuck off
hahaha avenell go to the site and read it for your self
LMAO
its so comical jon jon
if that happens i will be majorly suprised
given
sagna taylor toure clichy
walcott cesc diaby n’zogbia
adebayor van persie
hahahhahaahahhahahaha
We have a whole month of being linked to everyone, Oh god!!!
given
eboue toure taylor silvestre
denilson song diaby nzogbia
bendtner ade
JJ I’m just putting Beachy Head in the sat nav… HELP!!!!!
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aLGbXHc-Ce0&feature=related
Ignore that me clipboard has gone as tits up as wengers team selections ….
they reckon wilshere merida and ramey will all start tomorrow
ramsey
hahahah just read that wenger has inquired about da court from inter it just keeps getting better and better
great so we can expect the title then after jan. lol
im out of here guys ill speak to you tomorrow
one love peeps.
Were gonna have a squad of 150 can you fit 3 no’s on the back of a shirt.?…
Yea I’m off too.. goodnight BBK and you JJ……
you can fit wenger knows on the back of three shirts tho avenell
latersssssssssssssssssssssssss
CCCCCCHHHHEEEEERRRRS!!!!!
yooooooooooooo
le grove is deadout right about now………
Morning Grovers!
Avenell… when are you going to join me for a game?
BBK, what’s with the addition to your name?
Guys… too pissed for a reply!
Have a good one!
hey pedro its an old name thing m8,
hows your crimbo been apart from yesterday’s events
pedro the news of the world reckon we are going to raid the geordies for three of there players
given,taylor and n’zogbia
i’d take given but taylor and n’zogbia are a no what exactly would they bring????????????
I probably wont be awake early enough to come on before kick off tomorrow so i’ll give my team choice now.
Fabianski
Sagna(c) – JD – Gallas – Clichy
Wilshere – Denilson – Merida – Nasri
(2 of) Bendtner/RvP/Ade/Vela
Obviously that depends on the fitness of certain individuals and the sanity of Wenger come 1pm.
stu wenger would never put that team out are hi or something??????lolllllllllll
Are you Hi ???????or sleep wrighting????????
Personally i’d rather bring Connolly back, buy Michael Turner of Hull or even bring Phil back instead of Steven Taylor.
writing
big phil is as bad as taylor
Well i’d rather that than Almunia, Silvestre, Song(if fit), Diaby wide, and RvP alone up front.
we need better then this f,f,s wenger needs to get his head out of the clouds and his arse in the summer and act accordingly
stu is adebayor back today
we definitely need a new goalkeeper,cetre half holding mid and maybe a new striker
also a massive clearout is a must all this dead wood we have is too much we need quality not quantity,maybe quality quantity tho
BBKS, he should be back from his suspension and is likely to start. Given that the players only had 1 days rest there will probably be more than a few changes. RvP out, Denilson (maybe), Toure surely if someone else if fit. Ade, hopefully Vela or Nik in. and why not throw Fabianski in goal. Almunia needs to be dropped like Lahmann was after fewer mistakes.
yeah almunia needs to be dropped for sure he’s shit,i reckon ade and bendtner will start upfront
Fabianski, JD, Sagna, Clichy, Cesc, Wilshere, Nasri, Denilson (not as a DM), Ramsey, Walcott, Vela, Nik.
These are the players with first team numbers that I would definately keep, not all as starters of course but the young ones shouldnt be exected to be so important in such a high profile club.
All of the above bar Cesc, Sagna and Clichy should be understudies to top quality players, whom they can deputise for when necessary.
take jd and denilson out i can’t see them being world beaters also add fabianski to that he seems to edgy in goal reminds me of almunia a couple of years ago and we all know how almunia has turned out
oh and bendtner aswell
stu did u go up to villa park????
BBK I think Bendtner, JD and Fab will certainly come good but they are in a bad situation right now.
Unfortunately financial and locational constraints prevent me from going to any matches. Im lucky if i get to 1 mach a year. Only been to Highbury and the Grove once each.
nah i can’t see them coming good what so ever
I think they will. All 3 of them have the raw, natural talent to succeed(sp), they are all held in high regard and shouldnt be ina a situation where they are regular players in a failing team. They need top players around them to bring the best out of them. Cesc would have certaily developed differently if he was coming into this team. imo its unfair how they are being treated when they are so young.
where’s the le grove crewwwwwwwwwwwwwww
no way by the ime they grow up i can’t see them being at arsenal so its no point there here now not very good and fucking us up with there shite they bring to the team
Lets just agree to disagree because neither of look like changing.
I would keep them just because o their raw ability. They are still very young and have definately shown glimpses of brilliance. Whether or not they will make it here is up for debate but imo they will surely make it somewhere but I just hope its with the great Arsenal.
But there raw ability is not helping us in our quest for trophy’s tho i will leave it at that.on the other hand you got a prediction for today m8
i reckon we can win i will go for van persie and adebayor 3-1
They wil surely score because everyone does and we will score too because they are doing woefully.
I’ll go for 3-2. Ade, Nasri,Gallas(dont know why). Crouch (X2) or crouch and defoe
yeah true we cant help but not concede
Better be off to bed, need my 10hrs+ is im to wake up in time for kick off.
Have a good one BBK!
cool stu you too
For January…since Ade is coming back. I would play.
………………Almunia(No other choice)…………….
Sagna……Gallas………Toure/Djourou………Clichy
Diaby…….Denilson………..New Excellent DM…..Nasri
……………….RVP……………Ade…………………..
Diaby is best centrally behind the striker as we have seen. But if you look more closely, he executed too pieces of magic from the right wing…
Once against Fenerbahce and then against Villa in the last game.
He totally bamboozled his markers in those cases, so I think he can work on the right…not the left. He can sometimes interchange with Denilson with Denilson going wide and him pushing up through the middle.
I think we would have to play like this until the other injured guys come back.
If wenger don’t try to get some adequate replacements in jan i think we will struggle to make 4th,the time to start buying is in the summer.As for jan i doubt we will get anyone of any class as no one will be willing to sell
we need to try and scrape thru till the end of the season with what we have then have a major overhaul of this squad
outs in the summer should be denilsong,senderos,eboue,bendtner sadly i can’t see wenger selling them.
Since we leak so many goals, maybe Arsene should consider changing formation to 4-2-3-1.
I think this is more secure….
……………………Al………………………
Sagna…….Gallas…..Djourou……..Clichy
………Denilson….(New excellent DM)….
…..RVP………..Diaby…………..Nasri…..
………………….Ade………………………..
This way the front four can concentrate on attacking. Denilson should help out Sagna when we are under attack from the right and the specilist DM could help Clichy and also back up Denilson.
When we attack he can lay off to Denilson to start the attack. Denilson has shown he is more comfortable attacking than defending.
DENILSONG has shown he is capable of being a cunt that’s about it
or should i say comfortable
we can’t replace him with cheap imitations.That should be the new MOTO
HUGE BLESSINGS THAT SONG IS FUCKIN INJURED !
Morning/evening all,
read through the comments last night and found many interesting.i don’t expect a wholesale clearout,but if one is to believe half of what wenger is quoted he is thinking of off loading toure and gallas either now or in the summer and has realised bedntner is not the answer for the moment and would sell him as well.i advocated signing given,months ago but if that happens,almunia who thinks he could play for england will either go or fight for his place.i feel the former would happen.
with regards to injuries sicknote and revp missed most of last season and eduardo was only slowly being bedded in.so apart from hleb,flamini,lehmann and gilberto the squad is the same apart from nasri.no one could see the injuries to theo and cesc,yet we have the second highest wage bill yet we can now barely assemble a decent side to play today.
2 weeks ago wenger said we could win the league,now he is insituating that finishing 5th wouldnt be the end of the world.
their is no conspiracy,but the pundits feel that if the top 4 was broken up it would be better for the game,and we look the likely candidates to drop out.next stage down is that villa,us and even everton are the focus for fighting out forth.We are hated by many as being a foreign team,yet at the same time many neutrals appaud our beautiful passing game,whivh hasn’t been very evident this season.
on current form we are at best a mid table side,with no consistency,no leadership and a manager who is beginning to run out of ideas.we must act now,players have to e bought in,the new c.e.o. needs to do his job,otherwise our frustration will continue to increase.
Its almost 2 in the morning here in the States, and the game starts at 8. I can’t sleep these days because of the Arsenal.
And if we don’t qualify for CL next season, no players will want to join us.
I know Bayern and Milan didn’t qualify recently, but we’re not as “big” of a club as those 2.
What a great article:
Christmas Shopping: Who Should Arsenal Buy?
Many hope for Christmas to come early, but in football, it comes a little late. What should Arsenal do in the January transfer window? Goal.com’s Alan Dawson investigates…
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Christmas Shopping: Who Should Arsenal Buy?
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Obscure and uncelebrated recruitments are often synonymous with transfers to N5. Arsene plucks youngsters from the world’s most esoteric regions so that he does not need to spend large amounts of the board’s money on players like Luka Modric (£16.5 million), or Robbie Keane (£20 million).
Summer signings such as Amaury Bischoff and Francis Coquelin would have had opposition fans smirking at the thought of Arsene Wenger replacing experienced heads like Gilberto and Mathieu Flamini with either raw French teenagers from Ligue 2, or crocked Portugal U21 internationals who can only muster a handful of games in a number of years.
In a similar manner to how Flamini emerged in the 2007 Emirates tournament, a young gun from the current squad was expected to stake a claim for a starring role this year. Denilson is one of the current Gunners who has received the wrath of an angry and frustrated Arsenal army this term, whose side, they feel, are not yet firing on any of their many cylinders.
The Brazilian though is one of the stand-out midfield performers of the current Premier League season, according to the Opta index. Opta – Europe’s leading compiler of sports data – have consistently ranked Denilson as one of the top five passers in the league, based on his total passes after 18 league games bursting through the 1150 mark, together with his 86 per cent accuracy rating.
Despite his ability to find a team-mate, he is not the partner that Francesc Fabregas requires. In fact, his presence has been to the detriment of the influential Spaniard’s most dangerous talents. In order to accommodate Denilson into midfield, Cesc has occupied a deeper position, and has thus not been able to score as many as he had done this time last season, and has instead focussed on his ‘quarterback’ role.
Chinks In The Armour
Arsenal’s no 4 will be sorely missed over the next four months. His injury though may spur Wenger on in the winter window. When the Gunners were at their most recent dangerous they played swift, one-touch, attacking football. But that was when Flamini would anchor a defensive four while Tomas Rosicky, Aliaksandr Hleb, and Cesc Fabregas could combine so efficiently and supply Togolese targetman Emmanuel Adebayor with balls that every forward dreams of.
Currently, Arsenal are without all four. Two have moved on: to Milanese ventures or pastures Barca, while the remainding pair will ensure that the club’s doctors have a busy new year. Adding a body in midfield must therefore be considered a mandatory requirement.
Problems in defence are also prevalent. Arsenal previously lacked height in central defence (Both William Gallas and Kolo Toure are no taller than 6’0) and struggled with balls over the top. These were facts not lost on Wenger who tried to rectify the problem by testing Swiss international Johan Djourou (6’3) with added pitch time.
While a Gallas and Djourou partnership (0.71 goals leaked per game) has been the most efficient in terms of aiding Manuel Almunia’s first port of call: minimising goals, Arsenal’s most recent concession arrived in last weekend’s tie with Liverpool, where Robbie Keane capitalised from a propitious over-the-top pass lobbed in route one style by Danish centre back Dan Agger. But this was more down to a further fault Arsenal’s rearguard have developed over the duration of the current season.
The backline play too high up the pitch and their collective positioning is not tight enough. Legendary right-back Lee Dixon recently affirmed that Gallas and Djourou do not play as close to the other as they should, and as such leave gaps. Couple this with playing a high line and you are begging for opportunist balls either through the middle, or over the top, so that a pacey striker like Robbie Keane can run in off the shoulder and take on Almunia mano e mano.
The defensive frailty is a tactical one, and something that Wenger will be stressing onto his players on the training ground. As such, the more pressing area to reinvest in the squad must be midfield.
The same position that Wenger should have supplemented last summer: defensive midfielder, should be top of the agenda, especially as Denilson can slot into Fabregas’ creative role.
Arsenal’s Christmas Shopping List
Likely List
In: Only Wenger knows.
Out: Simpson (One month Loan), West Bromwich Albion.
It is near enough impossible second-guessing Arsene Wenger in the transfer market because the Frenchman operates so shrewdly and secretly, while his extensive scouting systems scours this green and blue ball of ours for the next ‘who?’, or ‘huh?’
While the newspaper press linked Wenger with a possible move for Valencia’s David Villa, or Zenit’s Andrei Arshavin last summer, the Gunners boss instead opted to bring in Coquelin. When whispers about Gokhan Inler were first mooted, Mikael Silvestre was snapped up.
Samir Nasri’s transfer to north London was a special case. It was the deal you knew was going to happen, a month before it was finalised. But this was mainly down to Olympique Marseille’s inabilty to keep quiet over the whole affair, as opposed to Arsenal TV, or arsenal.com broadcasting every detail of the ordeal.
Over the past ten days, the following footballers have been linked with an Emirates switch: Arshavin (Daily Mirror, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph); Inler (The Express); Steven Mouyokolo (The Sun); Giorgio Chiellini (Daily Telegraph); Gervinho (Daily Telegraph); Phillippe Mexes (The Express); Steven Defour (News Of The World), none of which are likely to come to fruition for reasons either: too costly; unlikely to leave current club due to professed loyalty; or finally, it is just that: a ridiculous rumour.
My List
In: Marc Janko (Red Bull Salzburg), Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), Rafael Carioca (Gremio), Brede Hangeland (Fulham).
Out: Nicklas Bendtner (Loan).
At the recent draw for the knockout stages in the Champions League and Uefa Cup in Nyon, Switzerland, Arsenal board member Danny Fiszman confirmed that there would be money for Wenger to spend, but iterated that it was up to Wenger if he would spend it.
I would spend it.
Arsenal are three or four players short of possessing a world class team. They had one two seasons back, and even arguably last year, but have regressed twice fold since. I would try to honour the traditional Red and White recruitment policy, while adding some much-needed experience, and proven quality.
Gareth Barry could do a plum job in partnering Fabregas, and the Villa midfielder can even provide fine passes of his own. His versatility would also be an asset, and the fact that I would be weakening the club’s biggest threat for the fourth Champions League spot (Villa) by adding one of their best players would make the transfer crucial in both the short term, and the long term.
Marc Janko and Brede Hangeland would both add height to the team. The former is currently Europe’s most prolific goal scorer, albeit in the Austrian Bundesliga. Nicklas Bendtner recently opined that he wanted regular first team football. I wouldn’t get rid of him completely, but the big Dane may benefit from a further loan spell away from the pressures and hyper criticisms that playing under the Ashburton Grove floodlights can bring.
Janko is a tall striker (6’5) who is currently scoring an average of one goal every 44 minutes. His total for the season thus far is 30 (five hat tricks), and he has set up a further three goals for his team. While Bendtner is away, Janko would be the perfect understudy for Adebayor. And the transfer could also have a positive effect on Manu knowing that there is a proven beast of a targetman with good off-the-ball movement vying for the role that he offers the club. His aerial presence could also benefit the back four while defending set pieces.
To further shore up the first third, Hangeland (6’5) could also be a good bit of business as he has constantly helped Fulham’s cause, and has helped maintain one of the best home records in the league with consistently assured performances at the back.
Honouring Arsenal’s ethic of buying promising young talent would be achieved with the purchase of Gremio’s Rafael Carioca, who is sure to burst onto the world scene over the next few years. He is again, a central midfielder – in the box to box fashion – and has been hailed as the new Dunga. His high energy levels could go a long way in replacing the running man himself; Mathieu Flamini. Even though an agreement is in place with Russian giants Spartak Moscow, a watchful eye on the lad for the rest of the season may be a good idea, with a view to purchase in the summer.
Both Barry and Hangeland would also provide Arsenal with something they seriously lack: leadership. The former has much experience wearing the armband for Aston Villa, while Hangeland is the national captain for Norway.
morning pat, i think that carioca has recentlty signed for spartak moscow.
Morning all, new post!