Andrey Arshavin can follow in Pires’ footsteps

What a fantastic feeling it is for your football club to splash out on a big name, big money signing. For all the mention of thrifty, intelligent spending that Arsenal get, of a club with a conscience and living within our means, isn’t it great to see Sylvain Wiltord’s fee smashed to pieces by a Russian superstar?

But he isn’t just a marquee signing to please the fans who gaze at Man City and Chelsea with their Football Manager binoculars in awe. He could well become one of Wenger’s very best aquistions for the club. It has been plain for a good few years that Arshavin has had something special, but Gazprom-backed Zenit made him rich, they won titles and he was willing to stay. This all changed when his talent finally caught the eye of a more global audience in the Uefa Cup. Cutting through balls, great movement and fantastic balance made him stand out amongst a very good team who went all the way in Uefa’s 2nd biggest club competition.

Then came the Euros. Suspended for the first and second games, Arshavin proved exactly why he was included despite being eligible for only 1 of the 3 group games against Sweden. Involved in the first goal, and applying the finishing touch for the second, the diminutive Russian inspired his country to victory. It was a brilliant display but more was to come in the next game against Holland. He terrorised the Dutch defence time after time with one of the best individual performances I have ever seen, with some pundits suggesting it was as dominant a display as they had seen since the great Platini.

Of course, I am, much like many other Gunners, not a massive fan of the Russian Premier League and so do not know what to expect from him on a weekly basis, but what I do know is that in the games I have seen him, the big games, he has been superb. Which leads me onto my main point.

With the North London Derby on Sunday, memories of Robert Pires coming to Arsenal in his late late 20’s and becoming the scourge of Tottenham despite often only coming on as a substitute bring a smile to my face even as I type, and who’s to say our new record signing, with his match winning capabilities and big match attitude, can’t do equally as well at Arsenal?

And if he does do half as well as Robert Pires did here, that £15m will look like a bargain buy in the current climate, believe me.

How to resurrect our season – Part 2

Time for the second part of my article looking into the current Arsenal team and analysing what we really need to have a title winning squad at the Emirates once more. Having looked into the goalkeepers and defence, it is now the turn of the weak midfield and the strikers to pass under the microscope.

 

Wingers: Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky, Emmanuel Eboue, Abou Diaby

 

Now a massive part of our problems have been blamed instantly on the centre of defence, and the lack of a defensive midfielder. But I am starting to believe in another source of our problems. Under Wenger we haven’t always had the most reliable defenders, especially when you consider the Champions League run we had in 2005/06 with the record breaking defence that consisted of Flamini at left back and two very young Swiss centre backs alongside a young and erratic Eboue. So maybe, just maybe, it is our offensive and defensive midfielders that should take the blame. Remember that back four I mentioned had Pires, Reyes, Ljungberg and Hleb to take possession and push the opposition backwards constantly.

Nowadays we only have three (already) quality players in Rosicky, Nasri and Walcott but when you factor in Rosicky’s awful injury-hit career, and Nasri and Walcott’s inexperience and inconsistency there is definite room for improvement which could help other areas of the pitch as well.

 

Rating: 6/10 – Another experienced, high quality signing in this area could push us on massively. Arshavin please….

 

Central Midfield: Cesc Fabregas, Denilson, Alex Song, Abou Diaby, Aaron Ramsey

 

The list above, bar Fabregas, reads like a list of potential midfield stars. But that isn’t enough for us at the moment and there is no doubt a partner for Fabregas needs to be found. However, with Fabregas’ injury one central midfielder is the minimum requirement for January in my opinion. Denilson has been pressurised into being a partner for Fabregas when they are too similar and he wasn’t ready for regular football at Premiership level, and this has battered his confidence. Diaby has no consistency or footballing maturity, and Song could be a great partner for Fabregas – in 3 years time.

 

Rating: 4/10 – We need an ageing stop gap measure and a competitive, energetic midfield battler – players in the vein of Jimmy Bullard and the midfield-playing twin of Bacary Sagna is what I’m hoping for.

 

Forwards:

 

Finally a more positive area of the field to talk about. Emmanuel Adebayor and Robin van Persie have scored 21 goals between them already this season and unbelievably the Flying Dutchman has even managed to keep fit thus far. But even if the worst was to happen and another forward needed to step in, Carlos Vela has looked fantastic in the games he has got this season, scoring 4 goals in just 5 starts, and on his day Bendtner is more than capable of linking play and providing a challenge for defenders.

 

Rating: 9/10 – Definite improvement needed to be as good as the other top four defences.

 

 

 

So looking through the 2 part analysis of our team, I have created a shortlist of what we need and would like to become as good as the sides we once had.

 

We NEED:

 

1^st – Defensive Midfielder – Energetic with a competitive spirit

2^nd – Creative Midfielder – Able to play wide, experienced and clever

 

Ideally we also WANT:

 

1^st – Central Defender – Someone who can battle in the air and is a reliable performer.

2^nd – Central Midfielder – A great pro with real experience to fill a gap for a while and provide cover when Cesc returns.

 

In the next few days I will create a run down on all our possible targets analysing how well they’d suit us, where they’d fit in, their cost and whether we will actually buy them.

How to resurrect our season – Part 1

Now that January begins to loom large on the horizon, just a day away, what do you think Arsenal need to start to ascend the league table once again, to hold off Villa’s challenge while simultaneously pulling ourselves closer and closer to Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United?

 

Well, here is my answer (Stage 1):

 

What do we have at the moment?

 

First we need to analyse what we already have in place, and for that we need to look at our current squad, starting with the defence.

 

Goalkeepers: Manuel Almunia, Lukasz Fabianski, Vito Mannone

 

I am of the opinion that a goalkeeper is of course a crucial piece of any teams’ jigsaw, but is heavily reliant on the strength of those around him, and this is definitely something that needs to be considered when studying this position. Almunia has proven himself a decent enough goalkeeper who makes few mistakes, and for a second choice ‘keeper, that is ideal. For a top four team who wants to challenge for trophies, it isn’t really enough. Meanwhile, the two goalkeepers behind him are inconsistent but potential stars, so I certainly wouldn’t sell them next month, and we cannot afford to promote them either. So maybe we do need a new first choice goalie? But we are not Manchester City and cannot afford to strengthen every area which needs attention, and in comparison to the backbone of our team, I would keep with the same goalkeeper until the summer unless a bargain presents itself.

 

Rating: 6/10 – A new goalkeeper would be nice, but it’s probably a luxury.

 

Right Backs: Bacary Sagna, Emmanuel Eboue, Kolo Toure

 

Although Sagna, the best right back in the league last season, hasn’t had the same sort of start to this years campaign, his performances against Chelsea and Villa in particular showed exactly what he is made of and I wouldn’t swap him for any other right back in world football. Behind him we have Eboue, who is immeasurably better in his natural position, and Kolo Toure who is more than capable of doing a shift on the right flank if needed, providing he stays at the club. And even if he left, a right back is certainly a position we won’t look to buy for in January.

 

Rating: 9/10 – One of the few areas we have strength and depth in already.

 

Centre Backs: William Gallas, Johan Djourou, Kolo Toure, Mikael Silvestre, Alex Song

 

 There is really no end to our problems in the centre half position, and one or two acquisitions are needed to really improve things. William Gallas can be a fantastic defender still, and I admit that even though his actions as captain mean he will never endear himself to the Arsenal faithful, and rightfully so. But I wouldn’t sell him in January now my anger at his stupidity has now passed. It looks like Djourou is now first choice centre back now as well, and the young Swiss international will become a great defender even though consistency and injuries are a problem. And so I think we need a more experienced player to share his place. In fact, even if he was already world class I think a central defender is key because we have only four natural centre backs for 2 positions, something which could easily cost us.

 

Rating: 4/10 – Definite improvement needed to be as good as the other top four defences.

 

Left Backs: Gael Clichy, Mikael Silvestre, Kieran Gibbs

 

One of my greatest fears is that Gael Clichy will get a lengthy injury, because the cover for him is terrible. Silvestre can do an OK job for the odd game, but can’t act like an Arsenal full back should act in the fine tradition of the position under Wenger – full backs at Arsenal should roam forward, take players on, deliver crosses, link up with the strikers and creative midfielders – he can’t do that. Kieran Gibbs has the potential to do that, but defensively is very shaky still. But like the goalies, we probably can’t afford to buy a decent 2^nd choice left back.

 

Rating: 7/10 – Great first choice left back but the cover isn’t anywhere near as good.

 

 

So to summarise, our defence is largely acceptable, with the first choice full backs excellent by anyone’s standards, and the goalkeeper decent enough to get a top four finish with. But it the central area that we will need to focus on in the transfer market to avoid giving up easy goals when under pressure.

 

In the next article I will take a look at the midfield, an area of the pitch massively affected by injuries.

How long should Wenger get?

Of course, this is almost a knee-jerk reaction to the bad results we have had throughout this season, and I can almost hear most Gunners shouting at the computer screen in indignation at the very thought that tere could be an end for Arsene Wenger, our most successful manager ever.

But hear me out. It is not that we have a terrible team. We don’t, no matter what it might seem like, have a bunch of players who are only mid-table standard. Denilson has got awful stick this season, as has Eboue. But surely the reason for this is not that they are bad players, but that Wenger has put them in a position where they cannot win. Since he joined the club everyone has recognised the talent Denilson has, he is a great passer, he can dictate play excellently and there is the odd goal in him as well. The problem he has had this year isn’t that the talent he once had has disappeare, but that he is a victm of circumstance that he needs to be rescued from. He is not a player who should be on he right wing, or a partner fo Fabregas, but this wouldn’t matter very much if he was only a bit-part player, he is a fully capable substitute for Fabregas and can even do a temporary impersonation if a winger ifhe is really needed. But asking him to do it every week, at the age of 20, in a team not performing, has crippled Denilson as a player and for that we can only blame Wenger.

The same applies to Eboue. The Ivorian was a good right back, and could have been a fantastic understudy to Sagna. That duo at right back is easily Championship-winning quality in depth. But instead he plays wherever and whenever Wenger wants, messed around constantly. Of course he’ll give the ball away when you want a half fit right back to play left wing against Premiership opposition – again it isn’t Eboue’s fault – the lack of confidence he must have it is fortunate he keeps the ball as much as he does.

Wenger, you see, has made crucial mistakes in the transfer market every year since the last time we won a trophy. Vieira was let go too early, that much is obvious. But give Wenger credit, he did manage to rebuild the team despite that, even Henry leaving didn’t affect the improvements we were gradually making, and it all came together last season. Flamini had come out of nowhere to become a fantastic defensive midfielder, Gilberto was on hand with his experience, Hleb kept the ball and helped create chances, Walcott had improved enough to become a real threat, while Adebayor was looking  like a striker we could rely on for goals once more.

But in the summer Wenger threw it all away. We sold Diarra, Flamini and Gilberto in just 6 months, and bought no replacement – pure madness in football. All three had their bad points, but they are also all committed, intelligent and willing to do the dity side of the game in order to win. If we had kept just one of those, or we had bought a similar player to replace them,  we’d be far closer to the top of table. The comes the winger situation that is very similar to the DM one. Hleb left, something he wanted to do and perhaps wecouldn’t have prevented. But towards the end of last season it was proven that we were a man short on the flanks with Rosicky’s injuries, Walcott’s inexperience and Eboue and Diaby simply not being good enough on th wings for a top four club. But despite this there was only one player to come in to replace Hleb, Samir Nasri. He will be a star for Arsenal, I am confident of that, but lacks the experience to know how to win, and the strength to fit in to the EPL without any adaptation.

Wenger has of course done a lot for the club, more than possibly we even know about, but all managers have pressure to perform or hey are kicked out. All, that is, except Wenger and possibly Ferguson. It is not on that that is the case, everything is all too easy for Wenger to have  years and years wihout success to rebuild a new team each and every year. The frustration is that we are only a few quality, experienced players away from a real title challenging effort, but Wenger refuses to spend. I think there has to be pressure put on him from the fans, not pressure on the players but on our manager, before he will finally splash the cash we need to spend. I certainly think if we are not any stronger by summer there may come a time that Wenger will have to accept his principled ways are not suited to the everchanging, money grabbing world of the Premiership.

Why Gallas should be sacked

And I’m being serious. As Arsenal fans it is rare that extra money will make an actual difference to our signings in January, if indeed Wenger decides we need them, so therefore for the so-called football club with principles, it is time to make a stand against footballers saying whatever they want, whenever they want while still picking up their £80K cheque each week.

Gallas is a disrespectful, complete moron of a man and simply doesn’t deserve to ever step into the Emirates again. This is not just about the latest ridiculous, morale murdering comments tat he has come out with in the last few days, it is merely the latest in a long line of concerted efforts to put pressure on his team mates, diverting the attention from a captain who has very rarely done the Arsenal shirt proud since his move to the Emirates in that infamous swap deal. The first thing he did was to complain and to criticise and instead of punishing him for his antics, he was given the captaincy following one injury hit and form-less season with Henry leaving the captaincy spot clear for someone else.

You could see that move as an atempt to appease Gallas and maybe channel his anger, but it has done the opposite. Despite an excellent team effort last season overall, the real leaders were Flamini, Fabregas and even Adebayor, Sagna and Clichy, certainly not the Frenchman with the perpetual chip on the shoulder. He criticised Theo, questioned the team’s average age before finally going all out to embarass the club with an unbelievable show of pathetic stropping at Birmingham which would signal the start of Arsenal’s problems in the run-in to May. A toddler would have seen himself on the naughty step for a good while for the same behaviour, yet Gallas was still captain.

He has become an old, senile and grumpy excuse for a man, whose best days were very much behind him and whose relatives are only praying for the day when he leaves them for good. Sure, he has the so called “will to win” and has the odd very good perfomance this season, but has still been some way short of being our best player or indeed leader, yet he felt the need to complain further and really stick the knife in with his latest gripes.

He picked upon Nasri in his autobiography for his lack of respect towards Gallas. Well, maybe Samir believs, as I do, that respect needs to be earned, and that a pathetic, mentally unstable 31 year old who cried over a penalty decision when we were clear at the top of the league deserves very little, if any, respect at all.

Then he turned his attentions to the Arsenal team and had a go at an unnamed 25 year old who also annoyed him recently, before revaling disputes and arguments at the Tottenham game, before moving on to complain about his treatment as captain, that he is blamed for everything and that he is overall just a good egg who is misunderstood. Boohoo.

 

Well, I for one have had enough. Stripping him of the cpataincy is the bare minimum that should happen. If he feels he is so mistreated then he should just walk out shouldn’t he? He doesn’t need the money, he’ll no doubt get a decent enough deal at another club anyway, so go on, Mr Gallas – LEAVE. It’s just about possible that it’ll be the first time that you actually do us a favour.

Nasri will be vital this season

Watching the Porto match on Tuesday made me realise exactly what had been missing on the flanks for the last month – Samir Nasri. He wasn’t spectacular by any stretch of the imagination, yet without him I feel the team would have struggled that bit more.

He took Eboue’s (newly-found) place on the left wing, and this is no swipe at Eboue, but instantly the team looks a much better unit. On the other side I believe we are fine – in fact, more than just fine – Walcott has really found his confidence this season, little wonder why after his England heroics, and so he and Sagna, although not always the best going backwards, will cause defences problems all season long. And with Theo’s fairly robust injury record (Shoulder injury aside), the right flank is of little worry for me this season.

But the left hand side has been a problem ever sine we let Pires go and got in to replace him possibly the most frustrating player in World football. Poor old Tomas Rosicky has stumbled into injury after injury, which is bad enough, but what makes this ten times worse is how talented the guy could have been if he had played week in, week out. Then we let Hleb go this summer and things are starting to look bleak for us, great for Eboue’s first team opportunities. Luckily enough Hleb was replaced though, in the form of Samir Nasri. Instantly announcing his arrival with great finishes against West Brom and FC Twente, we were laughing our way to the top of the league. However, he got injured on the dreaded international break, and having returned just short of a month later on Tuesday, I can clearly see how much we missed him.

Clichy, a great friend of his and his partner in crime on the left wing, has struggled in the intervening period without Nasri, and I’ve noticed despite Eboue formerly being a right back, the work Nasri does defensively is greater and so its not just going forward we miss him. He’s not afraid to get stuck in as some Arsenal fans thought he might be, and this is a fantastic bonus as long as he stays fit this season. Going forward he is ice cool, playing it simple, creating chances and committing defenders throughout. Nasri also has the same awareness that Fabregas has and although I’d expected a certain rustiness after a injury break, I can only recall him giving the ball away once in the time he was on the pitch for.

If we are to finally win something this year, I have a feeling we’ll be relying on our new found number 8 more than many thought we would be.

Arsenal top, Spurs bottom – Life is good….

Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS 1 Arsenal 5 2 0 0 4 0 2 0 1 7 2 9 12 2 Chelsea 5 1 2 0 6 2 2 0 0 4 1 7 11 3 Liverpool 5 2 1 0 4 2 1 1 0 1 0 3 11 4 Aston Villa 5 1 1 0 4 2 2 0 1 6 5 3 10 5 Man City 5 2 0 1 10 3 1 0 1 5 4 8 9 6 West Ham 5 3 0 0 9 3 0 0 2 2 6 2 9 7 Hull 5 1 1 1 4 8 1 1 0 3 2 -3 8 8 Sunderland 5 1 0 2 2 4 1 1 0 3 2 -1 7 9 Everton 5 0 0 2 2 6 2 1 0 7 5 -2 7 10 Blackburn 5 1 1 1 2 5 1 0 1 4 6 -5 7 11 Fulham 4 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 2 1 3 0 6 12 Middlesbrough 5 2 0 0 4 2 0 0 3 2 6 -2 6 13 Portsmouth 5 1 0 1 2 2 1 0 2 3 10 -7 6 14 Wigan 5 0 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 6 2 3 5 15 Man Utd 4 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 3 3 0 5 16 Bolton 5 1 1 1 4 4 0 0 2 1 3 -2 4 17 West Brom 5 1 0 2 5 6 0 1 1 0 1 -2 4 18 Stoke 5 1 0 1 5 5 0 1 2 2 5 -3 4 19 Newcastle 5 1 0 1 2 2 0 1 2 2 7 -5 4 20 Tottenham 5 0 1 2 2 4 0 1 1 2 3 -3 2

Haven’t written an article for practically years due to other commitments, but despite the lack of my  inspirational (okay, maybe not..) articles, Arsenal are doing alright if you ask me.

OK, we failed to get in an experienced defensive midfielder and if you had asked me on the 2nd September, I would have said we will drop points while Denilson, or Diaby, or Song gets a run of games, but it seems to be working out perfectly thus far. We had a blip at Fulham that made me worry, because Denilson had a ‘mare and besides, we simply looked like we weren’t willing to fight for the cause. But maybe that was exactly the warning the team needed to wake up. Since that match Denilson has been brilliant, we’ve thrashed Newcastle, FC Twente, Blackburn Rovers and although we didn’t get the luck away in Kiev, Saturaday’s response in the North West was superb.

Denilson looks brilliant going forward although needs to toughen up a bit, possibly the reason for Song’s inclusion in the last two tough away games, while we’ve managed to score 15 in the last four games proving just how lethal we are as an attacking threat. Adebayor is putting in exactly the effort that I demand from a player who messed with the fans as he did in the summer, and the full backs are clearly top class. Theo Walcott was fantastic for England and has brought that form back to Arsenal and is looking exactly like the player we had hoped for and have only seen glimpses of since he signed for us, and the shaky partnership of Toure/Gallas isn’t being caught out so far, although I’m still not totally sure a proper strikeforce with a little/large pairing wouldn’t trouble them.

However, the best sign of how good we can be this season is this: Our two undoubted match winners, Robin Van Persie and Cesc Fabregas, haven’t even began to impress yet. When these two get going, and Eduardo, Bischoff, Silvestre and Rosicky one by one return to action, it could be hard to stop us this season. My gut feeling is that we’ll come up just short yet again, but it will be fun watching the free-flowing Gunners play Wengerball this season to see if they can prove me wrong.

But very nearly the biggest positive of all is the fact that the Mighty Tottenham Hotspur are propping up the likes of Stoke City, Hull, West Brom, crisis-hit Newcastle (no offence to fans of those teams) along with the rest of of the Premiership. Millions and millions go into our neighbours transfer excursions year on year only for them to fall short and it is nothing short of hilarious to watch them suffer! 

TheArsenalWay.

Arsenal in crisis? Arsenal to win the EPL? The truth is somewhere in between

I have watched a lot of football since the season started up again, not only Arsenal’s matches but the other title contenders as well as highlights of every match. And it seems to me, having watched these matches or at least highlights, that Arsenal fans are overreacting.

Now Manchester United drew against Newcastle at home in the first game, but other than that every game the other top teams have played has resulted in wins. Fair enough then, they must be doing better than us.. But that isn’t the case at all. Chelsea demolished Pompey admittedly, but other than that game the top four have struggled in every game. Chelsea SHOULD have lost against Wigan, Liverpool SHOULDN’T have won any game so far this season, and Man Utd SHOULD have lost against Newcastle.

But the fact is they didn’t, and unfortunately for us, we did. That’s how it works out sometimes, had van Persie scored moments before Fulham did and Ade had put his header slightly more to the left we’d be talking about winning 4/4 games this season. Man Utd had a similar start last season, and so while the Fulham game highlighted a few problems that we undoubtedly have, I am not too worried. In fact, I strongly believe we’ll end up winning our first trophy for 4 years this season, and you can quote me on that.

The Fulham game was simply a game where we didn’t manage to scrape a win in the fashion we did at the beginning of last season. We move on. I mean, the shocking passing we were treated to by Denilson and co. looked like Argentina compared to Liverpool’s performance last night, so God knows what your reaction would be to a performance like that against a team just as poor as the FC Twente outfit we beat 6-0 on aggregate. 

And on the subject of the FC Twente match last night, my personal opinion was that it was a solid and very professional performance from the Gunners. FC Twente were so scared of getting hammered the kept the ball to their back 4 the entire time they had possession, and when they eventually grew bored of that and lumped the ball forward we immediately take advantage, showing the sharpness lacking from the weekend’s display in west London. I will focus on the attakcing problems we have in another article either today or tommorrow, as none of our strikers look particularly sharp at the moment, while I will have to get around to gloating about how right I was that Nasri can be easily more effective that Hleb as well.

So just to finish - Gunners fans, have some realism, you are able to watch possibly the best football throughout the world week in, week out, so start to believe and give your support to our talented players’ (even Adebayor, despite everything that happened he will still be an important player for us) push for trophies and don’t throw your toys out of the pram on week 2 just because we lose to a rapidly improving Fulham team after (crucially) an international break.

Silvestre – Hmmm…..

I’ve got to say, out of all the many weird and wonderful rumours I have encountered as an Arsenal fan, I cannot remember a much stranger one than this morning’s rumour about Mikael Silvestre, Manchester United’s long time injury prone squad player, is wanted by Arsene Wenger.

There are many strange thingsa about this whole proposed deal. First of all, and most worryingly, is these quotes I have found in many of the sites reporting the story:

Wenger wants to integrate Silvestre into a defensive unit that already contains Frenchmen Gael Clichy and William Gallas. The arrival of Silvestre — if the transfer goes through — would also probably spell the end for Arsenal’s unreliable Switzerland centre back Philippe Senderos. (Daily Mail)

Wenger does not regard the former Internazionale defender merely as a squad player, or as a back-up for Gaël Clichy at left-back, but as a first-choice centre-half alongside William Gallas. (Guardian)

Arsenal will expect to pay United around £750,000 for a player who moved to Old Trafford from Inter Milan in the 1998-99 season and will offer him £50,000-a-week. (Daily Mail)

Now call me suspicious, but Wenger refused to pay the wages that Adebayor wanted for large parts of the summer until coming to a conclusion that his wage demands were eaier to accept than losing our top scorer and one of our few non-injury prone players to boot. We did not want Arshavin, because of his wage demands. We have NEVER paid ridculous sums except to one Thierry Henry, probably the best player Arsenal have ever had. So £50,000 to an injury prone player Man United, our benchmark, do not want or need seems a terrible waste of money to me.

The rumour about us wanting Sendeos out is also stupid, and can’t be true. Why would be buy extra cover for the defence, something most would like to see, only to then sell a younger, better, and less injury prone player to make our defence light on numbers once more….?

Then the whole “first choice centre half” rumour crops up….. WHAT??! No way, if Wenger is to buy Silvestre, there is no way he could then decide he is better than Kolo Toure, or Senderos, or even Djourou as a center half for a club of our quality.

 

Now I would welcome this rumour to an extent, but only if most of the above rumours are false. Having lost Hoyte, to gain Silvestre would be a step up. Silvestre is versatile, can play all along the defence and is undoubtedly more solid as a full back as the departed Hoyte, as well as the very raw Traore and the out of position Kieran Gibbs. So yes, he would be a step up for squad depth and with that I can accept his signing.

As a first choice centre back it is a joke, at £50,000 a week it is hypocritical, and to sell Senderos due to Silvestre’s signing would be nothing short of pathetic. I can’t see any reason for around £2m or less, we could find a better, fitter, slightly younger and in the long term cheaper back up for defence, complimented by the signing of a Gokhan Inler or Xabi Alonso.

Nasri, Bischoff, Ramsey and Vela – First Impressions

So far Wenger has brought in four new players into the club, including Carlos Vela returning from on loan. Each have their own different qualities, and, having seen each one play now except for the mysterious Bischoff, I will now give my first thoughts on the players.

Carlos Vela (£2.5m – back from loan):

I have followed Vela’s progress ever since his loan period at Salamanca in the 06/07 season, and have always been impressed with what I saw from him. He has always had explosive pace and trickery, and as a result has been played mostly on the left wing for both Osasuna and Salamanca. He also was played mostly on the left of a three for Mexico in the U20 World Cup. But he was originally a central striker, and recently has been brought back to play in that position for his country in the qualifiers he took part in. He has also been played there for Arsenal thus far, and the partnership he has made with Nicklas Bendtner, scoring 4 goals and creating several goals, proves that he was made for the role. I really think we will see quite a bit of him impacting off the bench, while a partnership up fron with Bendtner in the Carling Cup is a mouth watering prospect.

Amaury Bischoff (Free Transfer):

Bischoff is strange even for Arsenal’s standards. An injury prone, French born Portuguese U21 International from Werder Bremen’s reserves. Hmm… However, Wenger must have seen something special in him, something worth a punt that is fairly low-risk given the free transfer and almost certainly short contract and low wages he will have got given. I know nothing about him really, so I can not be excited by the signing. I will watch on with interest to see how he progresses though.

Aaron Ramsey (£4.8m):

I am really impressed with Ramsey. He looks fantastic when he has the ball, with good mobility and work rate. Ramsey is a very technical player, exactly like Cesc in many ways, and from what I have seen so far in friendlies, he looks to have the talent at 17 to be able to get several chances in the first team this season. Certainly he will add creativity that we missed last season when Fabregas got injured and we were stuck with Flamini, Diarra and Gilberto as midfield options. He is still very young but he is a signing for the first team squad, and I think he will slot in nicely at the Emirates.

Samir Nasri (£11.9m):

The only first team starter we have got in so far, Nasri looks like he will only improve the team in terms of goalscoring and creativity. For all Hleb’s technical ability, he was not the most consistent nor the most productive player – and the latter I can see being improved no end by Nasri’s arrival. From the glimpses we got at Stuttgart, added to my knowledge already, Nasri is a direct player who makes things happen. He has pace to burn and an eye for a pass, but is not afraid to shoot on sight if necessary, as we saw with a volley against Stuttgart. I think he will make big strides this season.