Superstar Arsenal player set to move on in shock departure…

Goooood morning sports fans!

First up, Denilson is off! The best news I”ve heard since yesterday when I was invited to one of my German suppliers sales expo’s.

After many years of being subjected to his pathetic style of crab football, his weak attitude on the pitch and his painful lack of pace… the Brazilian has finally made up his mind to leave for pastures new.

‘I am so upset. I am a winner and I came here to win trophies but I’ve been here for five years and won nothing.’

Interesting he cites not winning trophies as his reason. I’d say it’s more to do with him not playing any games, which has more to do with his painful lack of ability on the pitch. So there we have it, much like Senderos, a player who divided opinion, was given 160+ games in the first team despite never showing any promise, has upped and left because he’s not winning trophies.

Well played Arsene, you’re a genius, even Denilson thinks he’s to good for us. That said, I’ve heard all season that he’s an odious muppet in the dressing room.

I thought I’d tell you that I’ve been reading the Economist. I could just leave it at that and it’d be pretty impressive, but I’ll give it some more context. They published an article yesterday outlining where Barcelona’s success has come from. They point out that much of Catalan clubs improvements have come down to growing their own players. This isn’t based on Arsenal’s model of buying in kids from around the world at 16 and passing them off as your own, this is based on training your kids from a young age who are properly localised.

It says that during the growing stage, huge emphasis is place on team values and working for each other. This is ingrained into their education at La Masia (the Barca academy).

It also talks about the two-way relationship with the fans and the success that has brought. Arsenal are on their way with the Fanshare idea, which is certainly a concept that if used fairly could give the supporters that feeling of inclusiveness that has perhaps eluded us over the past 4 years. Anyway, if you have time, it’s well worth a read, if not just for the fact they call Arsenal the ‘United Nations’ of Football due to our transfer policy!

Talking of fan relationships with the club, how about a little from the Where Has Our Arsenal gone movement so you can form an opinion of your own?

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGwPOXuZRpo&hl=en_GB&feature=player_embedded&version=3]

Wenger and the kids…

Well, it won’t come as a surprise to you that Arsene Wenger is already talking up the next great hope of Project youth. 18 year old Japanese sensation Ryo Miyachi has been raved about online for the past 6 month, now Wenger is talking up his chances of being in the first team next season.

“I have only [heard] positive reports about him, he will be with us in pre-season. I think he is good enough but if he is ready enough to have a place in our team, we will ask for a work permit and try to get him in. What I like about Ryo is that he has good timing with his runs and understands when to go and where to go. That is something very important. He knows how to use his pace and he is an intelligent player. He is a boy who went straight from school football to professional football and straight away was the best player in Feyenoord.”

Now, I never want to write off any player, but the simple fact here is 6 months ago he was playing for his school team. He’s still not a full national with the Japanese squad and he IS ONLY 18 YEARS OLD! There is no way we should even be considering him for our first team next year. Send him out on loan to Feyenoord again, lets see if he can play a full season. If you think he’s too good for that, send him to Everton or Bolton for a year. Don’t bring him straight into our team, allow him to be useless for a 3 years, then crow about how clever you were in year four when he scores 20 goals and decides he’d like to play for Madrid with Denilson

Wenger and his skills in deflecting the idea of spending money are legendary. If he wants a winger, he should go out and sign the cut price Ashley Young who has Premiership pedigree, can cross the ball, is a Gooner and gives us many ingredients we don’t currently boast. We really shouldn’t be playing up the potential stock of an unproven player, it’s unfair on the fans and it’s unfair on the kid.

I thought we had a deal?

Wenger has been talking about fighting to keep Cesc Fabregas.

‘I will fight very hard to keep him here. You have always to fight when you have a player of that quality, you must always fight to keep your players, of course.’

‘What guarantees you that if you go somewhere else you will win trophies? The biggest pride for a captain is to be committed to his club and deliver trophies with his team. A player who changes his club every time he is frustrated or when he doesn’t win a trophy, goes nowhere. I believe the quality of sports life is to be committed to your club and not just to move out when it does not go as well as you expected.’

A few things wrong with those comments boss. If my wife is contracted to me and I keep her a cupboard under the stairs, it doesn’t matter if she wants to leave. She’ll be in that cupboard until the contract expires. Which in her case is never. Cesc signed up for four years. There is no fight to keep him. He’s stuck in the metaphorical Arsenal cupboard until we decide to sell him/let him out, which could be in two years time or three.

As for the drivel about the guarantees. Well, it sounds like the drivel some fans spout about keeping you in the job. You can spend your whole life fearing what might happen if you make a bold decision to change, or you can make and intelligent move which bears fruit and improves your life immediately. Cesc has been with us for many years now, he’s not won any trophies, it’s clear for the whole world to see why that’s happened, so why, if he had the choice, would he stay on for more of the same?

The life of a football star is about being committed to their career. After you’re rich beyond your wildest dreams, it then comes down to your trophy cabinet. It comes down to your legacy. What would Cesc’s legacy be? The poster child of project youth? Player of the year? Gypsy Rat tail Appreciation Society gong from 2006?

Cesc

Guilting Cesc into staying is pathetic. Why don’t you match his commitment by giving him the tools to succeed? That’d be a start…

I conversed via skype with Pam yesterday. She’s bought herself a smart phone. She reckons that Wenger’s insistence on seeing the project through next year may have taken a massive knock after losing out on 3rd place to City. I didn’t really find out anymore than that, but I’m guessing pressure maybe more easy to exert from board level if you have a ‘no progress’ stick to beat with. John Cross wrote an article for the Mirror yesterday stating that Arsene wouldn’t change. Large elements of that article tie in exactly with what I was told prior to the game on Sunday… so don’t count your chickens for an overhaul, unless of course 4th is an issue with Stan and Ivan.

Good news is Andrey Arshavin is staying…

“Yes, I expect him to be at Arsenal next season,”

Twitter might be on the way out…

“We are thinking about how to use it the best way, at the moment we allow it. It can be very positive because it can be a good communication for the players with the fans which doesn’t exist anymore. It can as well have negative repercussions for the clubs if it is not well used. So we are thinking about it and we will see what kind of direction we will go.’

Personally, I don’t really follow the Arsenal players. They’re all too boring for my liking. I mean, I’m not asking for Wayne Rooney style, ‘let’s meet up for a fight’ tweets, but please, surely there is something more exciting to talk about than which branch of Nando’s you’re eating in?

Wenger has been making his point clear to the press about Jack going away. He’s not happy. He’ll be even less happy if Andy Carroll is omitted based on fatigue issues. I really wish somebody from Arsenal would step in and kick up a massive fuss on Jack’s behalf. He’s knackered, he’s only 18 and he’s well on the road to burn out if he goes. Whatever happened to a good old-fashioned fake injury?

Before I leave, a Grover I know was at an Arsenal players bash last night and reckons Robin was clearly the leader amongst the players and the vibe is that Cesc is off. He hardly spoke a word all night. Now I don’t have many player contacts, but I did hear from a very reliable player go between that the first teamer’s don’t see Cesc being here next year… Let’s hope Wenger has a nice cupboard!

Anyway, plenty for you to digest this morning… looking forward to hearing what you have to say in the comments!

Adios!

P.S. The amount of people who think Song is a superb player is incredible! The guilt of Portsmouth still a bit too much for people? The same people probably thought Senderos was the next Tony Adams and Denilson’s stats merited a place in team of the year!

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