Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Arsenal Update

So Arsenal has finally made some signing including striker Park Chu-Young, central defender Per Mertesacker and left back Andre Santos. Each was a good deal, but each continues Wenger's trend of signing players from outside England, which worked at first with a number of stars from France like Viera and Henri, but has been failing of late (or backfiring when they leave). For strikers, I think there were better choices than Young, though I think we could very well shine at the Emirates. He is the captain of the South Korean national team and could bring some flair to the front line. Also supposed to be good in the air, which has long been an Arsenal weakness.

Mertesacker, at 6'6" is also good in the air, and clearly a strong player, but has been known to be slow in getting back -- a problem for Arsenal in recent years for anyone who doesn't happen to be named Vermaelen. He is tall and imposing, disciplined and is also a leader in Germany -- so I think it's a good signing. I think most, including many players at Arsenal, would have preferred Cahill, and am troubled that this appears to follow the trend of chosing price over quality. We shall have to wait and see, but I do remain hopeful. 

Santos is a late bloomer and could work out well. He was certainly a value and as a left back had an impressive 1 to 5 game goal ratio in Turkey. Of course Turkey is not the EPL. There were a few others that might have been better to replace Clichy, but I think it might be a nice addition given our need in moving forward at the moment and the Brazilian flair he will hopefully bring to the team. Clearly a good value again and maybe a smart choice giving us more money for the most important signings -- midfield. 

So the rumors continue about Hazard, after the prospect had seemed to die yesterday. If I hear tomorrow that they signed him, it has been a great few days and we can thank the blow out for finally waking up Wenger and/or the board. Other options that would be welcomed are Martin, Arteta or Clint Demsey (who I really love for his grit, determination and proven track record in the EPL). It also looks like we may close on M'Villa as a really nice holding midfielder, possibly allowing Wilshire to move forward and better utilize his skills and hopefully improve his shooting and goal scoring record). Questions still remain about why we waited this long. Is it Wenger's fault, a cheap board or a combination of the two? Clearly the departure of Dein has hurt, as he had the sort of contacts and record to bring in top talent and not make ridiculous blunders like the attempt at Cahill or the failed effort to get Mata.

Hopefully two more signings tomorrow will put this squad back on the road to winning and I think my fellow Gooner fans have been a little ridiculous with their apocalyptic response to us losing two tough matches with seriously depleted squads (obviously much worse against Manupoo). Don't get me wrong, Arsenal should have admitted defeat on Nasri and started getting active more quickly in the transfer period. Arsene needed to do more to help the team recover from the heartbreaking Carling Cup loss and his tactics have been suspect in some important games of late (lest us forget the Barca second leg). It is clear that losing Dein has cost us dearly in the transfer market, but Wenger should have stepped up. Now he finally has, but tomorrow will determine if this was a successful late surge or not. Football is a business, but when the fans turn on the team, it's time to do something to reassure them. I don't believe firing Wenger is the answer, but do believe he has to show us something this year. Unfortunately, it could be that the gentle genius might just pack it in based on the outrage, but a surprise push back toward the top 4 could be a beautiful way to shut the doubters out either way.

On a final note, good riddance to Nasri. He is clearly an incredible talent, but I have always questioned his tendency to disappear and his failure when the pressure is on. I don't have access to the data, but how many late goals has he had in games where we were either a goal down or tied? How has he done in our biggest games? Couldn't he have done more to help the team when other youngsters were clearly down? And do we really want a player who can't just shut the F up when he leaves? What is he accomplishing by piling it on a team that is clearly in disarray? Here are the latest two stories on his continued attacks: Daily Mail and 2. Independent. It's odd, but I wonder if he really wanted to stay and is just upset at all the bad press and having to constantly come up with excuses for taking the money over the prestige of the cross-town rivals. I will say one thing -- it would be a miracle if Man City doesn't win silverware this year and it would be a near miracle if Arsenal wins anything (though I have hopes Wenger will again push for the Carling). Anyway, tomorrow will be huge!

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