Unsung.
The naughty kid will always get the attention. The quiet, well-behaved, conscientious, clever student will be lumped to the side of the classroom and largely ignored for the entirety of his or her school days.
Being quiet, well-behaved, conscientious or clever really doesn’t get you very far in school. It gets you ignored by the adults and written off as a geek by the kids. Meanwhile, the naughty kid will get attention heaped upon him or her. In some extreme cases, the lessons will actually be skewed toward the enjoyment of the naughty kid. God forbid little Callum be distracted and make a show of the teacher and his/her utter incompetence at controlling a child who, let’s face it, basically needs a thump. Essentially in school, if you try to be a basically acceptable human being, you can only lose out.
Until of course you leave school and that naughty kid, that kid that once took you hostage in a classroom when you were too scared to do anything in case they killed you, that kid who nicked your first mobile phone then brazenly asked you about it the day after in Food Tech all innocent-like, ends up in prison/pregnant/in prison and pregnant. Then you win, because you’re carrying on with your life in the very same way you always have, sans criminal record and restrictions on your holidaying destinations and sans unsightly stretchmarks. And, well, sans screeching, squishy faced kid.
The same is true of footballers. Throughout this summer so far, the only headline story for the Arsenal has been a headline story involving the captain, once again. So much was made all season about the Club doing everything they could to keep him. On the pitch, he was an A* student all year long. In fairness, off the pitch he was as well, being exactly the kind of captain anyone would want for their team. But then this summer, the focus remained with van Persie. His international team bombed at the Euros and he headed off on a (well-deserved, domestically) holiday while everyone else associated with the Club worried themselves green as to what the next move with him would be. He has dominated every single story about Arsenal this season. The signings of uber-capped German Lukas Podolski and Ligue 1 top-scorer Olivier Giroud were marred with a big fat question mark hanging over the entire situation as to whether their arrivals meant the superstar’s departure.
It’s quite unfair really. Neither of them are proven in the Premier League, but for the first days of their time with their new club to be overshadowed by the departure of a would-be teammate must be frustrating. No doubt media-gagged to infinity and beyond, they’ve kept their gobs shut while all around have been losing their heads. But they’re here and they’re committed and they’re diligently preparing for next season.
Then you’ve got the ‘good kids’. Or, in football, the unsung heroes. The players who were just as important in last year’s league campaign as Mr. Dazzly Dazzly Woopdewoop, but who never get a shout out because, well, they’re supposed to be good aren’t they? I’ve always had a real fondness for defenders in general. While I think you must have to be an absolutely classified looney tune to want to be a goalkeeper, choosing to become a defender says to me you’re a solid player, a trustworthy one and, vitally, one who is not all about superstardom.
In October 2011, Thomas Vermaelen signed a contract extension at Arsenal. If I remember correctly, there was very little hoopla surrounding the signing. In fact, I think there was actually quite a lot of complaining that a ‘permanently injured’ player should be given yet another hefty contract with no real guarantee as to whether he’d be of any use to us. He went on to have a mixed season, performing like the tempestuous brick wall he’d been throughout the 2009-2010 campaign for some matchdays, but getting a little hot-headed in others and being found slightly wanting and slightly out of position in others. Having spent a large portion of the season playing out of position, he eventually retreated back to his favoured role and scored some important goals while getting back to his best in terms of his general game.
And who could forget Newcastle at home where he saved the day with a last-minute goal to win the game? And then, while hilarious in the moment, when he went on to captain the captain, who was at that very time throwing a wobbly all over the pitch? It looks almost set in stone that Vermaelen will be our new captain. I’ve no doubt in true Arsenal fashion, he’ll become protagonist for 2014’s bidding war between Manchester City and Manchester City Slightly Prickier (Now With Added Cash!), but for now he’s keeping calm and carrying on while the naughty kid continues to hog the limelight.
And so to today’s news, and the confirmation of Laurent Koscielny’s contract extension. It’s funny that in recent days, while there were absent-minded whispers that Barcelona were interested in him, no one really got all that anxious about the possibility of losing him anywhere. Because let’s face it, on the back of the season Koscielny’s just had, and given the shocking defensive displays of most teams last season, almost anyone would want him. But still, none of us were all that bothered by the rumours. While his (former? Yeah…) captain muscled his way into almost all of the sporting column inches, I bet Koscielny’s new deal will barely be bothered about tomorrow. And if it is, it’s maxi-guaranteed that Robin van Persie’s name will be mentioned in the same article.
And finally, to a point that fellow Arsebloggee Tim Stillman has touched on on a number of occasions in recent weeks. Johan Djourou is the most loyal player currently at Arsenal. He had some shockers last season (mostly when, like Vermaelen, he was being played out of position), but he loves Arsenal and while the bad matches still linger, memories of the good matches ring bells more loudly in my head. God, anyone would think I was one of those positive people or something. He signed a new deal this season too. And once again, little or no fuss was made about it. Oh, and in spite of having been at Arsenal for 10 years now, he’s still just 25 years old, four months younger than our new signing Olivier Giroud.
It feels as though this season has been a bit of a turning point for many fans. There’s an acceptance that big fat ugly vomit pounds are going to be ruling the roost even more than they already have done for the past twenty years, for the foreseeable future. Pissy bastard players like Luka Modric finding it acceptable to just tootle off whenever they feel like it. Other players thinking it okay to release a statement without the permission of the club to which they are contracted, elbowing shitty little digs into the ribs of the said club’s manager of 16 years in the meantime. They think they know it all these days.
So here’s to the quiet kids. The kids who do their homework in spite of knowing they’ll never get called on it, as Disturbey Dave will hog the teacher’s attention for the entire 50 minute lesson. The players who, in a time where players get to control everything, just get on with it and sign while a pantomime plays out around them. They’re underappreciated now, as others flap around them like Cinderella at the Millfield Theatre, and I love them even more so for it.
Anyway, the summer drags on. I reckon I know which Dutchman will be all over the back pages tomorrow morning. Nevertheless, let’s all raise a toast to a Frenchman, that most Arsenal of Arsenal nationalities.
Congratulations Laurent Koscielny.
Alan
304 days ago
Here’s to the good kids, Siany. Some good news for us Gooners and I, for one, am quietly looking forward to the new season.
FunGunner
304 days ago
Hear, hear, Sian! And here’s to another Frenchman – Bacary Sagna, another one who just gets on with the job of giving the club loyal, outstanding service.
Sian
304 days ago
Yes! Of course Bacster too. I think we’re destined to always be ruled by the French.
joa1313
293 days ago
Yes! Bacary Sagna! I was sure this article was going to be about him. Unnoticed most of the time, but solid — and that Spurs goal and how he reacted …
iceman
304 days ago
I love your blog….. Your writing style is amazing and funny everytime…. Plz publish sumat everyday as you make me smile everytime….
Gunner4eternity
304 days ago
And here is to the unsung Song who made most of the beutiful goals scored by that ungrateful per$ie and to the maestro Arteta without him we only won 1 game.
Lee Marvin Gaye
304 days ago
1st time reading your blog. You’ve got it spot on. Enough time has been wasted on RVP. A little praise is well overdue for those wanting to wear the shirt. Bring on Sunderland!!
Johnlanser
304 days ago
Well written and good to hear something other than rvp
irishgray
304 days ago
Sian – Nice little write up there and I have to agree with you, there will be next to nothing in the press regards LK’s contract extension when compared to Double Dutch himself.
While the game V. Malaysia 11 may not have been our best ever performance, it was nice to see the team coming from behind to get a win. I have to admit to being pretty excited about the coming season.
Sian
304 days ago
Yep, I didn’t write about the match as I saw precisely not a second of it! Thanks as usual IG.
RGG`
304 days ago
So naive.
Why did Djourou sign a new deal?No one else would be mad enough to pay him what we will! I mean, no-one quite pays the wages for rubbish like we do. Just ask Chamkh!
As for Djourou’s good games ringing louder bells than his bad ones, I suggest you either go find another sport to follow, maybe one you might learn to understand, or go see a doctor….
G
304 days ago
well aren’t you a happy chap.
Sian
304 days ago
Hey Rich, thanks for stopping by! Appreciate your comments on the matter, always nice to have a spot of discussion on the posts. Clearly our views differ on this one, though you surely only disagree with that one paragraph, as you obviously don’t think the same about Laurent Koscielny. Anyway, thanks again.
Oh, and I’d appreciate less of the condescension next time, you top top weapon.
Little Dutch
304 days ago
Actually if you compare the 4th choice defenders from the clubs around us, Djourou’s terms are comparable. Savic, Jonny Evans, Sebastien Bassong, (who even is Chelsea’s 4th choice centre half? Ferreira?) are very, very likely on the same sort of deal or higher that Djourou is on. Of course his quality is a matter of subjective opinion, I happen to think he stacks up pretty damn well in terms of back up defenders.
gunnie
304 days ago
I am Dutch, and I don’t know what happened with Robin. He was lousy in the Euro’s, had only one good season, and then publish such utter shit (probably his agent did). Hopefully he is of to Juventus.
And there is enough quality to replace him.
Sian
304 days ago
Fingers crossed. And fingers crossed!
GiantCalGunner
304 days ago
Agreed and AMEN.
Selling RvP to a Manchester club is tantamount to giving up on a PL title and accepting a possible third or fourth place. Arsenal should not actively better a team that is remotely challenging for the PL title, even if they are willing to pay 10-20M more. I think you hurt your chances more by empowering your chief rivals than you improve your chances with the incremental funds. Let alone all the “having to watch him…” angle.
Juventus I say then! Even if the transfer fee is far less… Make it happen.
Nice post Sian! But how did you know my real name (Mr. Dazzly Dazzly Woopdewoop)??
The Waffle Mafia
304 days ago
Honest fine read as always. I laughed out loud at “Mr. Dazzly Dazzly Woopdewoop.”
With (soon to be Captain) Vermalean, his contract was completely worth it as soon as he knocked in that goal against Newcastle. I will never forgot dancing around the office after he did it and then watching and showing the video to coworkers the next day. Sure, he had some groaners, but so did Former Captain Baron Robin van Persie, Lord of Tallybottom, Esquire.
And let the whiny gits complain. We’ll know the good guys, we’ll cheer for them, and hopefully they’ll play for Arsenal, too.
merkin
304 days ago
I’d take RVP back if he apologized to the fans and to Le Boss. I’d even give him the fourth year in the contract. If Rosicky is actually only 29 because of the time spent injured RVP is actually only, what, 22?
But I wouldn’t return the armband to him. As far as I am concerned it should be given to Vermalean and the assistant’s to Arteta.
Sian
304 days ago
Ha, good point. It would take a serious turn around though, one I’m not sure will happen. Ties pretty much severed. What a douchey PR move that was.
Agree on captain’s armband, Arteta would be excellent as vice capt.
ExTha
304 days ago
Good stuff, Sian. Cheers to the players that actively want to play for Arsenal, and fuck off to the ones that don’t.
Ninootje
304 days ago
In football is like with horses, you have shiny fancy ones, everyone want to buy, and you have workhorses. Workhorses has to do their job in field so you could muster your parade ones. And parade ones shine as much as good preparation is done by work ones.
We are about to lose parade one… who care, all workhorses are where they are supposed to be.
With all respect, but RvP didn’t make Arsenal shine, than other way around.
@Sian
dont waste your time replaying to morons.
Maddo
304 days ago
Hi Dumpling… great write up Babes. Congrats on your Graduation and obtaining your Degree. You worked hard.
Also welcome to our world of tube trains and sweaty folks with the occasional Eye Candy on the daily journey to the office.
I’m so disappointed in RVP and that dreadful unauthorised statement offered to the world. If he wanted to leave we the supporters would have been angry (as we all are) but in submitting that statement he has devalued the price we could get for him.
Foolish Boy
I think his Contract Team had vision of grandeur and persuaded him that his form of last season and all the accolades he received would enable him to press any button and get whatever he wanted at Arsenal to include changing the Board and Management structure to include the Club medium to long term strategies. I thought the statement had maliciousness in it. And yes he approved it.
Alas the opposite consequences come to pass. Manchester City offered Arsenal less than Adebayor and even Miller is valued higher (how painful that must be) … and suddenly he has aged (grey hairs) and wants to be “out of there “sharpest
In terms of Kos… I started a project in August 2010 using him and Frimpong as examples of their individual progress at Arsenal. I collected as many Tweets and Blogs mentioning both players in two years and I can tell you there are folks out here who cursed them (in case of Frimpong they carry on being rude); but Kos turned it around… the said same who wrote vitriol against him… now laud him.
I think Kos is my third favourite Frenchman at Arsenal… and there have been a few.
Michael keeps returning because using an American accent “he loves you” and wants your attention.
Have a great day xx
Matt (@MattDVale)
304 days ago
Hey, hey Siany Mac.
Great blog as per.
Must say the first three paras led me to believe that this whole blog was going to be about our very own little “Unsung hero” who had gone from geeky, phone-less, quiet girl at school to BA awarded, fancy London-commuting intern, bundle of loveliness. BUT you confused me and steered it towards Kos. Who has less of an academic degree and slightly less loveliness but is super talented nonetheless.
Anyhowz. I’m sure all those cool kids from school are now enjoying their time posting crap on facebook whilst their eight kids run riot and their waistline (and hairline) continues to grow. They thought they were uber cool whilst the nice human beings were busy getting themselves qualifications and jobs and money and stuff. (£5 a day isn’t it?!)
I digress. Arsenal (and Wenger) are better off without anyone who doesn’t want to play for the club. I don’t think Djourou is good enough to be in the First XI every week but I’d much rather have him at the club than troublemakers like Nasri or RVP. And the others should take a leaf out of Koscieleny and Vermaelen’s book when it comes to signing contracts. It’s quiet easy. Paper, meet pen. Done.
Oh, and ignore the idiots who post vitriol. They’re probably the ones yearning for the reputation they once had in Year 7.
I’m waffling. Cheerio.
Dave
303 days ago
great read as always
Alex (WindAFC6)
303 days ago
Sian, somehow you take the wisdom of Goonerholic and the wise-crackery of Arseblog and combine them into a fluid flowing blog post everytime that resonates with life in general.
You are my favourite blogger, long may you continue to blog love
Daniel
303 days ago
Brilliant.
Blessed with arguably the best teacher in the subject of football over the last two decades, one who gave him more attention, guidance, care and (let’s face it) love than most people – nevermind players – could wish for in a lifetime of work with any form of manager, Robin has still managed to end up acting like a classless brat. It must cut Wenger deep, there’s no doubt about that, but Robin now is essential pregnant with triplets and married to the chav lottery winner, in footballing terms. It’s sad really, because he’s a nice guy and I’ll miss him so much, but he’s just gone to the wrong side of the tracks.
Hats off to everyone you mentioned and within such a fine analogy, if I may say so. The Koscileny to Barca rumour frightened me, only because I know the prospect of a career playing in defence for Barcelona is less likely to be impeded by Messi, Xavi etc. All he’d have to do is hide that mophead Puyol in a broom cupboard somewhere and he’d be set for life. But really that was paranoia and sod’s lawlessness whispiering in my ear. I could never doubt that loveable man. You know he never missed a scrap of homework that lad.
I don’t think Djourou feels particularly loved at AFC. I think our fans far too often look at the bad performances. Yes, he’s had some ‘mares – last seasons these were mainly at right back, which isn’t his position – but as you point out, he has also been great at times. He got injured versus United once and we all lost our minds. He is someone Wenger also has stuck with and this kind of faith is something we have to also get behind. I just hope he reads this blog, anyway. It would make his day, I’m sure.
DTMFJ
Daniel
303 days ago
Typo’d on Koscielny there. *goes away for a while*
sons_of_pitches
303 days ago
John Terry to join Arsenal on a One Year Loan….FACT!
Diaby is in talks with Manure – for a reported fee of Threepence Halfpenny and a Luck Bag. FACT(ish)
Carlos Tevez deal done – No! he’s not joining Arsenal, but he’s done a deal !
Craig Bellamy to Arsenal – Wenker wants someone to do a lot of talking on the pitch – apparently the Arsenal Players need how to learn to communicate more….and Bellamy is seen as the man to show em how to do so!
Jack Wilshere’s son has signed on as an Arsenal Apprentice – rumour has it he’ll get a game before his dad.
The M’Vila deal is back on…OPh! wait Hold ON … Nope it’s off again
Eboue to re-join Arsenal on a 6 month loan as back up Right Full Back – due to us having so many injuries in that positio
irishgray
302 days ago
@ Sons of Pitches – LOL That brought a smile to my face, funny cos its true!!
Siam – congrats on graduating, now go make millions girl!!
Toby
302 days ago
Sian.
I regret that I most of the time have ignored this blog. Not for the fact that it is bad. Just because the day only has so many hours and life is full of things you want and need to do. I have found my home in ‘Holics bar, and my time reading the many other arsenal blogs are limited.
But in the future I will make sure I find the time to pop in here on a regular basis as well.
Great post, and even if I haven’t been an avid reader, I’ve seen some gems earlier as well.
Keep it up, and by the sound of the other comments, it sounds like you’ve archived something outside of the world of blogging as well, congratulations on that!
Again, cheers for a great post.
/Toby
sons_of_pitches
297 days ago
Man City are the only Premier League club that has bought no one so far this summer – and in terms of sales they haven’t brought in any major money either.
Just to summarise the countrywide scene: Arsenal have bought in two players, Villa four, Chelsea four, Everton one, Fulham three, Everton one, Man U two, Newcastle two, Norwich four, QPR six, Reading six, Southampton four, Stoke two, Sunderland one, Swansea three, Tottenham two, WBA three, West Ham six, Wigan one. (The figures come from soccernews.com – they might not be 100% but you get the general picture.)
Of course these players range in price from £80m or so by Chelsea, to £27m by Arsenal, £19m by Man U, nothing by Fulham (frees and a loan), etc etc. Again some figures are guesswork (by soccernews not by me).
So it is approximate stuff, but still, at the moment of writing I don’t think Man C have signed anyone. The boss blamed our old pal Brian Marwood for not getting stuck into the market – and of course there is a long way to go. As we found last season, you can do a lot on the last day.
But surely Man C, with all the money, can’t be hanging around can they? Well… they are on the sales front for they still have Adebayor, Santa Cruz, Tevez and Dzeko, and that suggests that they are trying to sell these unwanteds before they buy. Which might mean that they are actually looking at the Financial Fair Play regulations, or it might mean that the wily old head-scraper-with-the-boot Adebayor is demanding that he continues to get his Man C salary when he moves.
The trouble is, when a player gets used to £4 million a year plus bonuses, he can find it hard to take less. Santa Cruz cost £18m and is on goodness knows what of a salary, so who wants to match his salary even if Man C give him away? No one really – and for two reasons. One is he isn’t that good, and the other is that the whole of the football world is changing beneath our feet and it is starting to look like transfers, wages and bonuses might have peaked.
And at such a point the market in footballers can look exactly like the market in shares, diamonds, personalised number plates and fine wine.
To some degree some of these items have a value through their use – but even then that value can be highly inflated because the market believes the price will rise forever. But it never does, and so suddenly people think that personalised number plates are actually rather prattish, the stock market is probably fixed by bent bankers, and fewer people are getting married so fewer diamonds are being sold.
Who is to say that Robin van Persie is worth £5m or £50m? The value in fact is just what someone will pay, and now, leaving aside the special case of Chelsea, everyone is starting to look a little uncertainly at these prices and think, “Did we really pay that much for one player?”
That doesn’t mean the market has stopped, but I think it has just had its first wobble in many a long year. (It won’t be the first time – in the early days of the transfer market at the end of the 19th century, player values just about doubled every two years as the clubs got the hang of the idea of transfers. Then suddenly there was a dip around 1905, and all the prices went down again. It happens.)
But why now? Why should football destabilise at this point?
There are so many reasons that when one starts looking at them, they seem obvious. Each one of these reasons could cause some wobbling in the system. Stick them all together and you have chaos. Probably now, but if not, next year.
FFP is one reason for the crisis. No one knows if the big boys can ignore it, or if something actually might happen. The huge escalation in prices for not-that-special players is a second. And third, the fact that a player can be poached or can announce in year three of a four year deal that he’s off, suddenly makes the value of players meaningless.
Fourth, the advent of the billionaire clubs has meant that the non-billionaire funded sides know they can’t keep up, so they need to turn away and try and look for bargains and indeed seek to start running a decent youth system. Worse some of the billionaires turn out to be money launderers, and some are just plain incompetent dodos. Even some players are waking up to the fact that virtually every top player Arsenal “lose” actually makes Arsenal a packet, and costs the buying club a fortune, while the players ends up in no-man’s-land.
Fifth, the manipulation of the market by agents, the media and non-participating clubs means the market is utterly unstable anyway. I’ve mentioned it before, but agents will tout a player even if he doesn’t want to leave just to get the media to show an interest, which in turn could get the club he’s with to improve the contract. Tell the world Arsenal are after some obscure player in the French league and his price goes through the roof overnight – with other half-baked managers buying the poor sap just because of the rumour that Arsenal wanted him.
Finally: Rangers and Portsmouth. Those are just two examples from Britain – scout around Europe and there are many more. Somehow clubs thought that it wouldn’t happen, couldn’t happen here. Fraud, false contracts, financial disasters, bankruptcy, quadruple relegation, no players… no, that’s Italy isn’t it? Actually no, it isn’t. Suddenly football clubs don’t look like the place you might want to have your money.
In summary, a bent, over-inflated system, with crooks and unstable billionaires involved, and players and their agents seeking salaries so large that they are beyond obscenity: it is amazing the system has lasted this long!
It is like the Emperor’s New Clothes or Barclays Bank, Nat West, or Royal Bank of Scotland, or Northern Rock, or Lehman Brothers. Anyone outside the industry could see the whole system was as sane as a bunch of baboons running Britain’s political system… and then kerplunk.
Man City could of course have Agüero, Balotelli, Silva, Deko, Tevez, Santa Cruz, Adebayor and RVP – with each one expecting to be first choice each week. But one day someone is going to say, “can you actually play all those guys – even with rotation?” And suddenly the club think, oh, we don’t need eight forwards. And then the players start to cry and stamp their feet and say, “But I want to play every game! You told me I could!”
So the alternative for Man C is – let’s sell some of these guys. Except no one wants to buy at anything like the crazed amount Man City, Chelsea, PSG and the rest are paying. And no one wants to pay the salaries that are asked. RVP is said to want about £50m across the five years of the contract he is demanding – with the knowledge that long before the end he’s going to be worth next to nothing.
And all this before Man City revealed that they paid over £6m bonus to their players for winning the league.
Markets sometimes fall apart suddenly, dramatically and with one hell of a crash. But markets supported by billionaires can come down more gently, or have the appearance of being quite stable when they are not. How this will shake out I don’t know.
But the one thing that all false markets have in common is that just before the collapse, no one believes anything is wrong. So the clubs with big name players to sell hold tight, still demanding their insane transfer prices, as the players hold tight while demanding 5 year contracts at £200,000 a week irrespective of injury and form.
(I’m reminded of a time when around 1997 I was looking to buy a house near Rutland Water – a lovely part of England. I went from house to house where retired couples looking to downsize were asking around 50% more for their houses than they were worth at the current market rate. The reason was that two years before house prices had been at their peak – but these poor saps had not sold. Instead they had waited for the market to go even higher before so they could make more profit, before they moved to their retirement cottage in Cornwall. And when the price collapsed they simply couldn’t accept that they had screwed up by holding on, and so kept on asking for prices that no one would pay – at least not for another 10 years).
In the midst of all this we have two clubs sailing on serenely. Chelsea who act as if nothing has changed – no FFP, no inability to sell players once bought for crazy prices, no financial collapse in Spain making it hard for clubs to borrow money, nothing. I have no idea what they think they are doing, but presumably when you have that much money and you see another billionaire looking over your shoulder, well, no one is going to tell you that you are a semi-skimmed nutter who needs to be taken out in a wheelbarrow.
And Arsenal – profit making, amazing youth system, best stadium in the country, and ready to leap up another level financially as the old marketing contracts come to an end and Man U finally find they have a rival when it comes to squeezing money out of sponsors.
Of course you might not believe a word of this. And why should you? One Arsenal season ticket holder sitting here spouting the same old stuff for four years now.
And maybe I’ve got it wrong and nothing will happen. OK, so we carry on. But if something is building up to a big bang, I’m still sure there’s only one big time club that is going to sail through it all.
sons_of_pitches
297 days ago
As Reported from Beyond The Stars
Breaking News…Deet…Deeet…Deeet ….Deet…Deet…Deeeet!
Joe Cole will FINALLY sign for us (Someone in a brown suede tracky told me- and apparently He Really DOES Know)
Arsene Wenger has said: Wulll urrrrrhhhh we ave been watching Joe for some time….since ee wuz at west Ham…and now we feeeeel ee iz reddy after his move to france which now qualifies eem to play for uss.
Andre Arshavin has had some liposuction on is once extremely Large (and Lardy) posterior….he now wears shorts three sizes smaller and can actually run….Arsene Wenger has said: Wulll Urrrrhh we ave been watching eem for sum time now…and ee az finally made the next step up to becoming a regular teem playurr…so we will offer eem a new contract with an increeece in wages and zurr chance to runa leetle fasturr nexx seezon.
Deet…Deeet…Deeet ….Deet…Deet…Deeeet!
This latest breaking news was brought to you by the one and only football journal for the man in the street:
irishgray
297 days ago
The worst part was that after writing “In summary” he then went on for another 12 paragraphs!!
Deet…Deet…Deet is right!!!!
sons_of_pitches
297 days ago
I still can’t get my head around the Park signing. At least, with the likes of Chamakh, Squillachi and Bendtner, they have each been given a fair chance to perform in and around the first team before we concluded that they would not be able to make the cut with us. But the poor lad just never got a sniff! I like the way he took his goal against Bolton(?) in the Carling Cup match, and he seemed to work hard enough whenever he was on the pitch. On paper, he was coming to us as a potential bargain – a mobile and intelligent striker who scored goals even with a relegation-level midfield behind him, who has shown consistent goal scoring form for his national team, and is no slouch over set pieces. Now, I certainly wasn’t expecting a world beater, but I was definitely expecting a handy squad player. The lad has barely played four games for us, and now we deem him not good enough, having scuppered his move to Lille where he might have had more of a chance. I just feel sorry for him, and it would be such a low move by the Board if this signing was always about merch revenue potential in the Far East. I don’t even know whether I want him gone or not – I mean, most people take some time to get used to the PL but, considering the calibre of some players that Wenger has given a chance to in the past (Jeffers, Aliadière…), how bad could Park possibly be in training?!!
sons_of_pitches
294 days ago
Like many Gooners out there in the universe I have been keeping an eye on the Robin van Persie situation.
When he first released his statement I was very surprised. In fact I looked more surprised than Sharon Osbourne after a Botox orgy.
I genuinely believed that RVP would sign a new deal at the club.
To be honest I was so sure that he’d sign a new contract at Arsenal I wagered several bets he would. As it stands I owe about £1323 to several people. Dangerous people. So I could be gone soon. For good.
At first I couldn’t get my head round his statement. It was full of self-righteousness and reading through the lines it appears that he doesn’t think his Arsenal team-mates are good enough to challenge for trophies.
Because apparently that is the reason he won’t sign a new deal. Trophies.
Now don’t get me wrong, we all want to win things. I’ve had my eye on the Footscray Social Club Snooker tournament for several years now, but surely RVP must realize he is part of the reason we haven’t won silverware recently?
If he had spent more time on the pitch, and not getting horse placenta injected into his muff, then surely we would have had a better chance of winning a bit of silver?
This trophy winning thing doesn’t convince me. It’s all about the money plain and simple.
Imagine being in van Persie’s position. Loved and worshiped at Arsenal by everyone, but not only that, being a Gooner too.
Surely the biggest challenge in the world would be getting Arsenal back to the top. I know that’s what I’d want to do. Look at Steve Gerrard, he’ll be known as a legend for ever at Liverpool.
That could have been Robin. Still could be in fact.
All Robin has done is make a rod bigger than Rod Stewart for his back. By saying, after talks, that Arsenal don’t match his ambition he’s made things difficult for himself.
Arsenal have signed Lukas Podolski, a man who has scored for Germany more times than John Terry scores with his team-mates birds. We’ve captured Olivier Giroud, and look to be on the verge of bringing in Santi Cazorla. A class act.
The standard of players we have brought to the club has been more unreal than Nicki Minaj’s big booty. And if the signings of players with this type of quality doesn’t show ambition than I don’t know what does.
If RVP released a statement saying, “I’m 29, I’m injury-prone, and this is my last big pay-day” then I would respect him so much more. Instead he hid behind this ‘AFC don’t match his ambition’ excuse.
Well, the problem is now with Arsenal bringing the quality of Podolski, Giroud, Cazorla and possibly Nuri Sahin to the club we have shown a LOT of ambition so unless RVP signs a new contract then it’s clear money is his main priority and not trophies.
Of course if van Persie stays then it would be a good thing. He is a world-class player and I’m sure that if he does a Rooney-like U-turn then it wouldn’t take long for Gooners to forgive him.
If he doesn’t stay however it won’t be the end of the world. Arsenal will survive like Gloria Gaynor. We always do.
Like many Gooners I’ve got used the idea there is a huge possibility the Dutchman won’t be at the club for a lot longer. Like many Gooners I’ve got over it.
I just find it a shame that someone who apparently loves the club would leave for money but hide behind a different excuse.
There is still time for Robin to stay at the club. If it happens, it happens. Whatever the case I can’t wait for next season.
Exciting times.
irishgray
293 days ago
Dear God!! Has Sian been usurped by Sons of Pitches!? Somebody!? Anybody!? Say it ain’t so!!
Sian
283 days ago
hahaha
sons_of_pitches
290 days ago
A German international with 100 caps for his country, the top goal scorer in France last season and now, an experienced and talented Spanish international who surely would have won more caps for Spain had it not been for the exceptional talent of their current midfield. Not bad for a club lacking ambition and unlikely to challenge for honours, eh RvP!
levan
289 days ago
The photos of Robin van Persie tell a different story. First, he’s almost always alone and when with the group he runs at the end of the line and not the middle of the line like last year. He’s training with the club but he never seems to be actually doing anything with any of the other players.
Worse, his smiles seem to belie a man who is not at all happy with the way his summer has turned out. Why would he be? He’s gone from the heart of the team, the captain who led the club on the pitch and whose wife led the team’s social life off the pitch, to a player no one wants to talk to. While Koz and Vermaelen are pictured in groups laughing or practicing together and Song and Santos are having a penalty shoot-out, van Persie is off stretching on his own with an inane winsome grin on his
Maybe Stuart MacFarlane is only capturing those moments – like stats, pictures don’t tell the whole story – and maybe the Arsenal.com is manipulating the photos to make it look like he’s more ostracized than he really is. But I see a lonely man who believed he was better than the club and his teammates and through his own foolish actions is now forced to practice with a team that no longer wants or needs him.
Hubris is a hell of a drug.
sons_of_pitches
288 days ago
I guess a lot of fans are pleased with this transfer window. After all, 3 established internationals coming in, giving the squad a major boost is not to be scoffed at.
And largely, 99% I am very happy too. I’ll explain why I am sad at the end. So I wanted to do two things in this article – one was to see how many were replacements in the true sense and how many were additions.
I’m taking into account history, injuries, African nations, load .. pretty much everything to check if we’ve done well. The other thing what I wanted to look at was, have we changed? Will youth no longer have a chance? Lets look at that.
Tony did a piece earlier about the 25 players and fitting all the men on our books into that 25 list by the end of the month. Who is going to come in and go out, so I will keep this piece to writing about the players themselves?
The first buy was Lukas Podolski. He is a left sided forward who can play up top. I think he will primarily be a left sided forward and compete with Gervinho for a first team slot. Is it a replacement or an addition?
If Arshavin goes, it is a replacement as those wages will get freed up as well. If he stays, it is an addition. And frankly, I think Arshavin will go. On loan at least and released on a free next year. Based on that, Podolski is a repalacement.
Giroud? If Chamakh and Park both go, it is a replacement for the 2nd striker role. If RVP also goes, Giroud is going to start a lot of games this year as a first choice centre forward. He will rotate with Podolski who will play up there at times. Afobe and Campbell both have gone on loan so I think we might see Niang or another youngish unknown striker come in.
There is a high chance that RVP, Chamakh, Park, Bendtner and Vela will all be gone by the end of the transfer window. Whoa…. The entire strike force would have been changed all around.
Vela has gone and Park and Bendtner almost certain to go; I think it is between RVP and Chamakh. While some might call me insane, I hope it is Chamakh who stays, I cannot stomach RVP staying after that infamous letter. I know AW will say he is professional and all that and I don’t doubt that … but it makes me feel sick, the whole saga. I know people will talk about Rooney and his U Turn and how RVP could do the same; quite possible, but the thought still makes me sick.
I wonder how I will feel when he knocks in another 15-20 goals, which he will if he stays another year. Another thing that might happen is Walcott getting a few games up front, in which case, we might not buy anyone. But to round it off, Giroud is a replacement. No doubt. We will recoup what we paid for him through the sales of a few of our other strikers.
Cazorla? I haven’t seen too much of him so I’ll wait for the league to make my judgement. On the face of it though, he will play where Rosicky and Ramsey played last year. Or where Wilshere will eventually play or where Diaby can play.
I am happy about Cazorla coming but still a little puzzled is this. Rosicky just had a great second half and signed a new contract. Wilshere is earmarked by most to play behind the strikers eventually and played there as a kid. Ramsey spent all of last season playing there. If Diaby is fit he will start a few games as well; some of them up there although he has a different skill set. Now all of those players bar Diaby (coz of his injury worries) will be back to fitness by October/November. So who is going to sit on the bench? Cazorla..nope. Wilshere..nope if he is fit. Rosicky ..maybe although it’d be unfair after that run he had towards the end of last year. Ramsey ..yes as he’d be totally burnt out after the year he has had.
So effectively you now have 4 or 5 players who can play behind the strikers..and that’s not counting Eisfeld who is doing so well for the reserves and youth team. So why has Cazorla come? You could say, because we have very little creativity and Song was our main assist maker last season. You might have a case..yes, but the number of guys who can start but are on the bench..worries me a touch. So as of now, I say Cazorla is an addition.
The other point I wanted to get your thoughts on is – the squad seems full of talent right now and everyone at the right age from a maturity standpoint. So really which young players, if all the ‘stars’ we have bough perform..can break through? Is this the slow death of the youth policy? Don’t get me wrong..we will still recruit and the academy will flourish and all that. But are the days of seeing a youth star break through..numbered? Do youth really have a chance here..to break into the first team..I mean? They will get a great grounding,play a few games, go out on loan..all of that..yes. But make it as an Arsenal player?
I don’t know..honestly. Look at the first team. Seriously. Look at it. I cannot see any kid breaking through and getting many games. And that leads me to my conclusion…as to why I am sad.
Szcz if he keeps his head on the ground is going to be here for a long time. The back four and their replacements are all between 25 and 30 or even younger. The midfield is heavy with talent and some first teamers last year will find it hard to get a game. And we’ve just refurbished our entire strike force. So can you for example see Afobe, Eisfeld or Miquel breaking through? I can’t.
And it saddens me. Really. Of course someone from the first team might have a terrible season or get injured and these kids might break through. And maybe that is how it is supposed to be. But it saddens me no end, that these kids whom we have developed don’t play for us but go away and play elsewhere.
So, what are your thoughts? Who are our replacements and who are our additions? What about our youth policy? Would like to hear from you.
pilan
287 days ago
What players would be good signings for Arsenal? And I’m not talking about their talent, I’m talking about what type of player they are.
The first player that comes to mind is Inter Milan veteran, and the most decorated Argentinian player of all time, Esteban Cambiasso. Now, I am not talking about signing a player who is 32 years old this month, but I am talking about his style of play, a Cambiasso-like player.
What I see him doing for Inter Milan, is running non-stop. Firstly, he will become the third centre-back, or cover for an out-of-place full-back. Then he will suddenly pick up the ball, and charge forward, with the ball or without it. He can then slot the ball into a winger or striker ahead of him. If the Inter team have just attacked, and are now having to defend, he stays in the centre of the park, and he is almost a defence by himself in front of the actual defence. If he is beaten, which only happen about four times out of ten, he then tracks back and attempts to win the ball back or position himself in a area where he will win it back.
Wilshere reminds me of his style of play, essentially a box-to-box player, although he is not as strong, and does not have as good an eye for goal as Cambiasso. For example, he scored against Chelsea in the Champions League, and they went on to win it. One problem with this, though, is that Jack is injured, and every day that goes on, and he isn’t back in training, I worry he may never play again.
Song also plays like this, although he is much more defensively minded, but when he comes forward he can give some amazing assists. He finished the season with twelve, some almost winning us the game, for example against Everton, Liverpool and Tottenham, and he provided a great one in the Aston Villa game at the Emirates.
Arteta is also very capable of doing this. He was bred to become a central defensive midfielder, was turned into an attacker at Everton, and was then put back into that more defensive position at Arsenal. He is talented in attack, and can score from distance, like he did against Wigan and Man City.
But Arsenal don’t have anyone trained to be a box-to-box player, one who is as good at defending as he is at attacking. Song is arguably better in defence, and Arteta is better in attack. The reason Arsenal need a player like this is that Premier League players are some of the fittest in the world and run at full-pelt right up to the 90th minute. If we bring on a substitute who can attack and defend from midfield, then, if we are drawing, they can score, and, if we are winning, they can help prevent a goal – something every football team needs, in my opinion.
The next type of player who would fit into Arsenal’s team, possibly the starting line-up, could be a Sergio Ramos. Once again, I am not saying that we should sign Ramos, as we could never match his wages at Madrid, and I personally think that we have a good enough right-back, but that isn’t where I would play him. I would play him on the left. He was talented at centre-back as a young boy, but was told that he was too small to be a centre-back, even though he is six foot, so he was played at right-back and was an obvious talent. During the Euros, all of the Spanish centre-backs were unavailable expect Pique, so Ramos played centre-back and Arbeloa replaced him at right-back. We have versatile players in defence who can play at full-back, but are really centre-backs (Vermaelen and Koscielny), but we don’t have a full-back who can play at centre-back if needed.
This is something I believe Arsenal need, because we still don’t have a full-back who can defend as well as attack. Sagna and Gibbs are not the greatest defensive attackers in the world and Santos is not the greatest defender. A player who has been converted from a centre-back to a right-back has proved that he can defend, but he will also have the innate ability to attack which Sergio Ramos does. Wenger has been playing a system where the wingers sometimes come into the centre of the park, and that means that the full-backs then have to replace them when we are on the attack. Santos does this and can’t get back well enough, and Sagna gives good assists but can’t score.
After the purchase of Giroud, and – hopefully – van Persie staying after hearing the news of Cazorla’s purchase, and hopefully Şahin’s arrival this week, Wenger may now play the team in a different formation from last season’s 4-3-3. A 4-2-2-2 may be a better approach, and, if the wingers cut into the middle, then the full-backs are going to have to replace them as I have said. We need a Ramos-like player as he has been proven to be able to score goals and his Euro 2012 performances quietened anyone who claimed he couldn’t defend, and as Arsenal need a player like that in both full-back positions.
But really, who knows what Wenger is plotting in his head? Maybe he will buy Cambiasso or Ramos, or maybe even Heskey?! Let’s just wait and see. The summer window is a long way from closed.
patrick
286 days ago
It was in all the papers so it must be true. Sir Alex F has said his club “have hit a brick wall in their attempts to sign Robin van Persie from Arsenal.”
“We have made a bid and they [Arsenal] have been trying to negotiate with other clubs. I don’t have a gut feeling on it at the moment, I must admit. We’re not getting any breakthrough with Arsenal. It’s difficult to say why they’re operating this way. I don’t know what their thoughts are because they’re not giving anything away.”
So perfidious Arsenal – talking to other clubs.
Err, what other clubs would that be? Juventus whose manager has just been banned from football for 10 months? Man City whose manager is waging a very public war against his own Director of Football for not bringing in enough new players and moving the old riff-raff like Adebayor on fast enough. Oh and paying Wayne Bridge’s salary while on loan at Brighton.
The papers have been full of RVP flying to Manchester for a medical. Then when it didn’t happen the papers were full of the report that “Some papers have suggested RVP is flying to Manchester for a medical”. Not them of course – other papers. It is always other papers.
“We are trying our best,” said the old trade unionist, “and hopefully it will come our way but there’s no progress at this moment in time. We just have to persevere.”
Part of Sir F’s annoyance is that Lucas Moura went to Paris Saint-Germain for €45m rather than Manchester! Paris instead of Manchester? Who ever would have thought!
“I find it quite amazing that a club can pay €45m for a 19-year-old boy,” said Ferguson getting into the swing of things. “To tell everyone that PSG are here they’ve signed Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. They must have spent about £150m in the last month.”
Goodness, who ever would have thought a billionaire funded club that utterly failed to win the French league last season would spend the dosh.
Anyway, the fact is that Arsenal are annoying Sir F and that surely is a good thing. In fact the one very good thing that has come out of the Billionaire Clubs issue is that Sir F and Man U are slowly coming to realise that while clicking your fingers might have all the media running up behind you, it doesn’t mean every other club will lie down and say, “yes please take our players”.
What Arsenal are doing with RVP is clever. One more year out of him at his old salary is undoubtedly worth a gamble. He might get injured, but that doesn’t matter since we’ll get nothing for him in the new year. And if we re-signed him at his reportedly current demand level of £200k a week plus £10 signing on fee – that will be £20m – which is about as much as we would get if we sold him which is still an option – a good trade if we can get it.
Screwing Man U around is always good for morale in north London, and keeping RVP for his final year of decent football is a good move, since it is at the old salary.
But there is also the question of whether Man U really want him at the price he is demanding. Sir F can’t say no, because the fans expect him to be dealing, and Sir F has repeatedly said that the Glazers have never once held him back in terms of transfer money.
Maybe by the time this is published RVP will have gone, but if so it is because Arsenal will have got what they wanted out of the deal.
But even if RVP does go to the northlands, there is the point that slowly Arsenal are moving away from the image of a year ago that clubs just had to click their fingers and Arsenal players would go running. First, it is clear that some clubs are thinking about FFP. Second it is clear that there is a turn in the mood against clubs that buy everyone and then loan them out. And third, very, very slowly I think players are recognising just how many ex-Arsenal men have screwed up by leaving.
In fact I think the Arsenal ought to hire a few ex-players like Hleb, Bentley, Flamini and the like to talk about what happened to them when they left Arsenal in order to get a better deal, more playing experience and the like. Or if our beloved club won’t do it, perhaps we could persuade Billy the Dog and Sir Toby Belch to interview these beloved gentleman of the winter game, and talk to them, man to man (or in Billy’s case, canine to man) about life in the world beyond Arsenal.
I feel an interview with Nasri coming on.
And the news that with Man U hooping to sell shares for between $16 and $20, but cutting the price just prior to kick off to $14 – (effectively reducing the income of the Glazers by $100m before they started). Shares have risen by 5¢ after Wall Street describe the venture as “merchandising” rather than anything serious.
In later trading shares fell back. No one wants last year’s shirt.
sons_of_pitches
285 days ago
Round up and my take of the most recent rumours. M¿Vila being linked to Spurs. Fine with me, its only an issue for us if we lose Song. I sincerely hope the Bendtner Mexes swap is a bad joke. Mexes is old, tired and another Squillaci in the making. He has the look of someone who would do a Carragher in the PL, making up for his lack of speed by commiting fouls, collecting yellows and giving away penalties. The Christian Tello rumours are nonsense although I do rate the youngster from what little I¿ve seen of him. Finally, Miyaichi to Wigan on a loan would be great, with Moses out of the door (his performance against Sagna last season probably making Wigan an extra few mil!), Ryo would get a lot of game time in the PL, good for both clubs and the player.
sons_of_pitches
284 days ago
On June 25th, 2001 Arsenal’s combative midfielder Patrick Vieira unleashed a volley aimed straight at the Arsenal board and Arsenal’s double-winning French manager, Arsene Wenger. Speaking to the Sun, Vieira tread what are now well worn boards demanding a trade “not for the money” but because “the club lacks ambition.” He lashed out at Arsenal’s parsimonious transfer policy, claiming the club’s £25m transfer budget, which was spent on Franny Jeffers and Gio van Bronckhorst, virtually guaranteed that the famous London team would finish outside of the top five. Savaging Wenger’s new signings and dismissing comments from teammates Thierry Henry and Robert Pires as losers who have “won nothing with Arsenal.”
People should know this is nothing to do with money. I need to leave because I want to win more trophies and I just cannot see that happening at Arsenal. Certainly not over the next few years, anyway. Comparing Arsenal to the big clubs in Europe this season is going to be quite ridiculous. I do not honestly see Arsenal finishing in the top five in the league – and you can forget the Champions League.
It was an amazing interview and you can read the quotes in full in this archive.
I have seen a number of people try to draw a comparison to Vieira’s statement and Robin van Persie’s. These folks especially like to draw comparisons between that statement and the subsequent never ending transfer saga which surrounded the Senegalese midfielder until he finally signed for Juventus, earning Arsenal £20m in July of 2005. And further draw a line between Arsenal signing Giroud and Podolski near the time that Robin released his statement and Arsenal signing Sol Campbell just eight days after Vieira’s interview.
But there are a number of problems with this comparison.
The first problem is that Vieira was not Arsenal captain at the time of his statement and Robin van Persie was. Vieira wouldn’t be captain until Tony Adams retired at the end of the season. Not taking anything away from the harshness of Vieira’s assessment, and in fact his interview is far worse than Robin’s measured statement in many ways, but there’s a difference between an important player giving an interview and a captain giving a similar interview. The captain is the person that everyone looks up to for guidance. In this case, Robin’s guidance is to shout “abandon ship” as he climbs into a lifeboat and sets himself to sail.
The second major problem with the two players is that Vieira had actually given “100%” to the club as he said in the interview when telling Henry and Pires to shut up. In his first five seasons, Vieira had already played 222 games for Arsenal, averaging 44.4 games a year. Moreover, he played those games with a massive target on his back with the likes of Roy Keane kicking him at every turn. In contrast, it’s harder for Robin to say he’s given 100% to the club. He’s been at Arsenal for eight years and has played just 277 matches. That’s a difference of -10 games a season over Vieira’s commitment. Arsenal carried Robin for three major injury hit seasons out of his eight. He owes the club, the fans, and the manager more respect than that.
The third difference is that Robin van Persie released his statement on his web site. He took time to craft exactly what he wanted to say and in doing so got in some petty digs at Ivan Gazidis. Vieira’s interview was actually a 180 on his statement of just a few days earlier that everything was fine with the club and he was happy. The difference is subtler here in that Vieira was later able to use the old “taken out of context” retort and also to hide a bit behind the Sun’s tarnished reputation. Vieira also manged to blame his agent, Marc Roger, for his interview.
And the final difference is how quickly Vieira reversed his position. In 2001, many places reported that Marc Robert, Vieira’s agent, basically lined up a deal for Vieira with either Real Madrid or Man U around mid-June of 2001. After that there was a face-to-face meeting between Vieira and Robert, and Dein and Wenger in which Vieira expressed his desire to leave and the club apparently refused. Vieira then gave his interview to the Sun on June 25th and everything blew up. Eight days later, Arsenal sign Sol Campbell and that very day there was an interview in the BBC with Giles Grimandi in which the Frenchman said that everything was basically smoothed over between Vieira, his teammates, and the club.
Vieira apologized almost immediately after the interview hit the streets, privately blaming his agent Marc Robert for the mixup. In fact, it was in Vieira’s apology where he basically blamed his agent for the interview with the Sun which in turn led to the FA looking into the matter — finally concluding that Man U did not tap up Vieira. By July 17th, Arsene Wenger was already saying that there was nothing to talk about and though the press persisted with the rumors all summer, Vieira played for Arsenal that season as the Gunners did the double.
In contrast, it’s been over a month since his Independence day rocket and Robin van Persie has not yet issued any statement, much less an apology. This summer, Arsenal have arguably shown a tremendous amount of ambition, signing three top players from three of the top leagues for around £35m. I’m more inclined to believe Vieira’s statement that it was about ambition and not about money because he changed his mind so quickly. But with Robin his silence in the face of Arsenal clearly showing their ambitions speaks to me that it was always about money and never about ambition.
In the end, Patrick Vieira’s time at Arsenal, and especially the years after he took captaincy, will always be marred by him and his agent’s summer disruptions. Vieira even further tarnished his Arsenal legacy by getting involved in the Nasri transfer last summer, earning him opprobrium from many Gunners faithful. But just as equally, he will be remembered as the heart and lungs of three title winning sides and the captain of the greatest team to ever grace the Sceptered Isle, the Invincibles.
I’m not sure that Robin van Persie will enjoy such absolution but it’s all down to him and his ambitions.
sons_of_pitches
283 days ago
Legend has it that Arsenal have “given in” over selling Robin van Persie to Manchester United, according to The Sun. Van Persie scored a lot of goals last season and that is eye-catching but frankly I am surprised that United want him. United narrowly lost the title to City and they were miles off in the Champions League. On paper, RvP and his goals should fix that problem. But football is not played on paper, solutions are not always that straightforward.
Was a key reason that United ‘failed’ last season that they did not have an effective partner for Rooney? Possibly so, but if they think that signing van Persie will solve that they may be barking in the wrong forest, nevermind up the wrong tree. Is United’s problem more that Wayne Rooney has become such an inflated football figure that he is unpartnerable? If United are after RvP to partner Rooney, they should consider a very basic question: how recently have either van Persie or Rooney shown – at club or international level – that they are an effective strike partner? Both are more effective as a lone ranger. This could be a forced, unhappy marriage.
United have often shunned their other strikers, to play Rooney in a lone role. Van Persie and Rooney have rarely shown that they can partner someone of an equal nature, just lesser players, happy to accept an assistant role. The season before last, Berbatov scored a bunch of goals, but where was he last season? After Rooney’s contract strop, Berbatov disappeared and Rooney has only partnered Chicharito or Danny Welbeck, both of whom rank lower and both of whom are grateful for the chance to play.
You can understand why van Persie may want to play for United – their history, a chance to play for their manager, a greater chance of success – but it’s a gamble for him. RvP would be throwing out his Arsenal history and burgeoning status to chase a United future that may never amount to much. He could become an Arsenal legend if he was to remain at the club, rising high up our all-time goalscorer’s list, but he will never be a legend at United. He would be just another striker that they had. I am convinced that van Persie would play less at United than he would at Arsenal. Is that what he wants? You can look back wistfully if a transfer does not turn out to be quite what you thought it might, but once you are gone you are gone, there is no way back to what you had, especially in a transfer of this nature.
Van Persie could, yet, if he wanted to, rescue this situation and rescue his Arsenal career. It would be hard for RvP to redeem himself in the eyes of the fans but it is not impossible, not with a carefully-worded statement and a demeanour where he holds his hands up and shoots from the heart on how he has balanced a tricky dilemma and made a decision to stay. “I put my hands up, it’s been a difficult summer, it’s been difficult to know what to do for my future and I’m sorry that I released a statement that was maybe a little bit impetuous, but I’m excited for our future and I want to stay, to become an Arsenal legend.” Such an apology, coupled with a clearly good attitude on the pitch, would smooth things back towards an acceptable normality.
Arsenal have made some excellent summer signings so far and more may yet come. There is a buzz. That is quite something to leave behind. Podolski and Giroud look to be getting on well and I fancy them to link nicely, dovetailing quite naturally. Both can be stunning successes for Arsenal. RvP could yet form part of a very exciting Arsenal strikeforce, which would allow for players to be rested, rejigged and kept fresh in a credible pursuit for honours. Isn’t that what van Persie wanted? Yes we could do with some further signings and they may yet happen. Or is the bottom line that he just wants to leave anyway? Is it enough that United would pay him more money? Has he dug himself such a hole that he feels too embarrassed now to climb back out of it?
As I’ve said before, don’t love the players, love the club. Enjoy what players you have between the transfer windows because they are fair game during them, even someone like Robin van Persie, your goalscoring badge-kissing Arsenal-supporting-since-a-kid captain.
Sian
283 days ago
Methinks you would be a good blog writer, SOP!
Gf60
283 days ago
KNOCK KNOCK on the front door of Sian. “Any one alive?” shouted through the letter box. Time to get out of bed Sian…you’re missed.
Sian
283 days ago
Sian has got out of bed and written a small blog. She is unshowered though, her bad.