Will Arshavin save Wenger from selling Adebayor?

Interesting reports from Spain today suggest a number of things regarding top scorer Adebayor’s future at the Emirates Stadium.

Marca claim that Arshavin could join Barca instead of Arsenal, Chelsea or the other possible destinations for the highly creative second striker. It is Arshavin’s favourite club and he has stated that it is La Liga where he sees his future, not the Premiership. This would mean that they would no longer make a bid for Adebayor and Arsenal, providing Milan do not tempt him away, would have won the fight to keep the Togolese man in North London.

Obviously coming from a Spanish newspaper, large pinches of salt are needed with any transfer story, but I can see how this could fit together. Firstly, Barca need to sell in order to buy, having already spent a net price of around £45m+ this summer on other players. But Eto’o, Deco and Ronaldinho will fail to fetch very much purely because Barca are in a rush to sell, and so prices will drop as a result. I would guess the three of them will get a total price of £45m, more than enough to buy Adebayor, but with Barca hesitating on the Daniel Alves deal as well, finances are clearly tight. Therefore the reasonably priced Arshavin could do just as good a job, even if he isn’t the number 9 Guardiola is after. This would leave Arsenal with only Milan, a UEFA Cup team, to fight off in order to keep Adebayor.

El Mundo Deportivo predictably disagrees with Marca, saying a deal worth between £25m and £30m will be done today for Adebayor, who has apparently told Ken Friar and co. his future is in Catalunya. I seriously doubt any such deal will be conducted just yet, as Arsenal can hold out to see what Milan are going to do in order to raise the price further.

Meanwhile, Wengers comments about keeping his players at the club being his main objective this summer may also come to light as perhaps he will decide that despite his principles tell him £80K a week after one good season is a bit steep, the price of losing the Togolese forward may be even greater. So far it has been reported that only £60K has been offered, but I would be very surprised if we haven’t offered more than that and Adebayor has just decided he wants to leave.

On a side note, Adebayor has been voted the third best player this season for Arsenal, with 20% of the votes on Arsenal.com. This shows his incredible rise in popularity this season, and the reason why Wenger wants to keep him. My current thinking on Adebayor is that if he wants to leave and there is nothing we can do about it, there is definitely other layers who are capable of coming in and doing just as good a job for the team as he has done. Knowing Wenger, that replacement could even be someone promoted from within! Adebayor got 30 goals this season, an incredible feat, but my gut feeling is that anyone leading the line by himself for as long as he did, with only the goal-shy Hleb behind him n the hole, could have got a hat full of goals as well. He missed more good chances than he scored and while he is a brilliant foil to any good striker, with movement and workrate, his quality has been emphasised by the absence of goals coming from other sources. We should keep him, but if we had had Eduardo and van Persie in form and alongside him throughout the season, he would have got less goals, but the team would have got more overrall. And so if he leaves, I have complete confidence as long as his replacement isn’t injury prone, we will do just as well without him. It is our creative edge which is key to us, not who the striker is on the end of the chances.

Nasri to sign very soon; but we need Nasri AND another wide man if Hleb leaves

With France out of Euro 2008, many Gunners were confident now would be the time that Nasri would finally seal a move to the Arsenal, after numerous delays caused by the tournament and certain contractual terms that Arsenal needed to meet in order to sign the French starlet.

And this morning, BBC Sport has stated that it ”understands” that Nasri has agreed a four year contract with Arsenal and will sign for the club after Euro 2008, something which makes little sense considering France are no longer involved. But this story is taken far further and more detailed by Setanta Sports, who say this:

A deal was agreed before Euro 2008 started, and the player who will turn 21 next week will reportedly make the trip to England to sort out the last details of the first move of his career with agent Jean-Pierre Bernes.

Nasri did not take the French squad’s helicopter following the team’s elimination from the European Championship but a private plane to Le Bourget, which is due to arrive at 3pm local time, from where he is expected to take another one to London on Thursday.

French sources claim that L’OM and Arsenal held talks in the last two weeks regarding the financial aspect of the deal, and Nasri is reportedly on the verge of signing his new contract before taking a three-week holiday following a very long season.

This is taken from La Provence, who make it seem certain that the young Frenchman will now make his long-anticipated move to the Emirates Stadium. Bearing in mind they have already stated that he was flying over here once, don’t take it as a certainty, but surely it must come to an end very soon.

So if we take it that Nasri is an Arsenal player, where does this leave us for next season? Well, at the moment it would leave us with great options on the wing for next season, as the starters would be from these four; Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Alex Hleb and Tomas Rosicky. Now Rosicky, perpetually injured, would be replaced by Vela or most likely Eboue in the squad, but even so there would be excellent options in my opinion.

But Hleb looked to be half way out of the Emirates Stadium already, although that may not be the case now, with Arsenal for once playing hardball with these potential suitors, in particular Barcelona. This is in contrast to events with Vieira and perhaps Henry, both of whom could have been sold for far more in my opinion. Barca’s Marc Ingla had this to say:

“The negotiation with Hleb is still in progress and despite him being a player with special qualities, if his club are not ready [to sell him], we have other options in mind.”

So maybe its not so clear cut, although I think it is inevitable and we’re just getting the best price we can for him. I will predict he goes by July for a fee of £14m, and if this is the case, we will need a replacement for him immediately because otherwise with Nasri in, Hleb out, we will be back to square one.

Time for Mr Arshavin to step forward. The Russian playmaker is absolutely perfect for free flowing attacking with quick movement and style in abundance, so where else for the schemer but the Emirates?

This is certainly the opinion of numerous papers jumping on the back of last nights great Russian performance to link him to the Gunners. I reckon he is better than Alex Hleb and would slot into the Premiership with very little adaptation due to his guile and relative sturdiness given his small frame. he apparently has a buy-out clause in his contract of just £10m, a price which I fancy Wenger would pay with little fuss.

But is it just media speculation with nothing in it? Possibly, but I can always hope.

So if we fail to land Arshavin, there are still many other options available to Wenger if he gets the replacement for Hleb we would so obviously need. In recent days a couple of very interesting names have been mentioned in the same sentence as Arsenal, in particular another star performer of Euro 2008, Arda Turan of Turkey.

Only 21 years old with bags of pace and direct running, Arda is another player I’d like to see as an Arsenal player if Hleb leaves. The price would be around £10m, expensive next to Arshavin’s proposed price, but for his potential could well pay off. The fact that he is a ”normal” winger would give us something different in the wide areas, and I would be willing to bet that he’d get goals here. But I reckon the link is only in the light of good performances at the Euros and we are not as interested as some sources claim we are.

Meanwhile, the likes of Kranjcar, Hatem Ben Arfa, Diego etc. could all see themselves back in the frame if Hleb leaves, along with a few players we have never heard of that Wenger finds. Either way, I am confident we WILL get another attacking signing if Hleb leaves.

Euro 2008 - Gunners to support; potential signings to scout

Now being a massive England fan, this summer looks to be the most depressing that I have had while a major tournament has been going on, as for the first time I can remember England are not at a tournament.

But as a Gooner with our multi national squad, there are still just as many players to cheer on for their respective countries, a list of whom are below, along with their group fixtures and my opinion on what their role at the tournament will be:

FRANCE:

William Gallas:

• Vs ROMANIA, Zurich - June 9th, 1700 BST, BBC One.
• Vs HOLLAND, Berne - June 13th, 1945 BST, BBC One.
• Vs ITALY, Zurich - June 17th, 1945 BST, BBC One.

Should be a guaranteed starter for Les Bleus, but in my opinion won’t be one of their star performers judging by his later performances for Arsenal this season.

HOLLAND

Robin van Persie:

• Vs ITALY, Berne - June 9th, 1945 BST, ITV 1.
• Vs FRANCE, Berne - June 13th, 1945 BST, BBC One.
• Vs ROMANIA, Berne - June 17th, 1945 BST, ITV1.

Possibly ruled out for the first game through injury, if he comes back as he should do, he will start for Holland, probably on the right of the traditional front three. Unfortunately, I think we won’t see the best of van Persie until he is fully fit, and that could be not until the start of next season, as was the case last season as well.

SPAIN:

Cesc Fabregas:

• Vs RUSSIA, Innsbruck - June 10 1700 BST, BBC One
• Vs SWEDEN, Innsbruck - June 14 1700 BST, ITV
• Vs GREECE, Salzburg - June 18 1945 BST, ITV

Is probably the best bet for Player of the Tournament when looking at the Arsenal ranks. Should play in Spain’s new-found 4-1-4-1 formation where they can incorporate Xavi, Iniesta and Fabregas in one team. Apparently has been given the number 10 shirt, so hopefully we’ll see the forward runs and goals that you’d expect from someone wearing that number…

SWITZERLAND:

Phillipe Senderos, Johan Djourou:

• Vs CZECH REPUBLIC, Basle - June 7, 1700 BST, BBC One
• Vs TURKEY, Basle - June 11, 1945 BST, BBC One
• Vs PORTUGAL, Basle - June 15, 1945 BST, ITV

The only nation to have two Arsenal players in their squad for the tournament (unless of course Nasri signs as expected), I think only Senderos is a guaranteed starter for the Swiss, while Djourou should be a substitute only. I hope Senderos will have a great tournament as he did in the World Cup in 2006, but with his current level of confidence I can see a mistake slipping into his play somewhere along the line. Hopefully he’ll take out Cristiano Ronaldo (fairly of course…) in their game against the Portuguese.

GERMANY:

Jens Lehmann:

• Vs POLAND, Klagenfurt - June 8, 1945 BST, BBC One
• Vs CROATIA, Klagenfurt - June 12, 1700 BST, ITV
• Vs AUSTRIA, Vienna - June 16, 1945 BST, BBC One

Technically still an Arsenal player, Mad Jens will be going all out to show Wenger that he truly is better than Almunia in what could be another successful tournament for the Germans. Lehmann will be a starter for Germany despite his lack of match practice with the Gunners.

POLAND:

Lukasz Fabianski:

• Vs GERMANY, Klagenfurt - June 8, 1945 BST, BBC One
• Vs AUSTRIA, Vienna - June 12, 1945 BST, BBC One
• Vs CROATIA, Klagenfurt, June 16, 1945 BST, BBC One

The young Polish keeper had a decent, promising first campaign and will look to build on that for his national side, although it is highly likely Celtic stopper Boruc will get the nod ahead of him and so it would be a massive achievement for him to get on the pitch during the tournament. Hopefully the experience he’ll gain by being there will stand him in good stead for later in his career.

Potential signings to watch:

 Samir Nasri, Lillian Thuram (France):

Now obviously, with Wenger’s recent comments it seems highly likely that this young Frenchman will only come here if he signs before the Euros, but nevertheless he will be worth a watch as Arsenal’s first summer signing if he does sign, and if he doesn’t we will see what we have missed out on. Going by last night’s friendly, he can expect to see action on the wings for France, although will probably not be a starter.

Miguel Veloso (Portugal):

I think Veloso is only at best an outside bet for an Arsenal move, but we will be able to see whether he really could fit in as Fabregas’ partner in midfield, although a central midfield slot for Portugal is not guaranteed.

If you haven’t already seen Lillian Thuram play, I don’t know where you have been living the past decade. The man is a living legend for France, and we can see just how much age has affected him in this tournament.

Alberto Aquilani (Italy):

With such strong competition alongside him in midfield, it would be fairly surprising to see this young Italian stake a claim for a starters place in midfield, but we should see him off the bench, particularly against Romania in what should be a simpler game for the Italians. There is probably only a 20% chance that he will leave for Arsenal though.

Niko Kranjcar (Croatia):

Most of us have already seen Kranjcar numerous times, and definitely enough times to know how well he could slot in to Arsenal’s team, but for those who haven’t watched him in full games, now is your chance, particularly as he is an almost definite starter for the Croatian’s.

Ruben De La Red, Daniel Guiza, Raul Albiol (Spain):

Both De La Red and Guiza are probably players that have not been linked with us very strongly, although sometimes that does not mean much in Arsenal’s transfer dealings. De La red in particularly I can see here at Arsenal, with smooth passing style. Whether or not we’d be strong enough defensively in midfield if we brought him I’m not so sure though, and he should get his chance off the bench in this tournament. Meanwhile, Guiza will only come if Adebayor leaves you would think, and the prolific striker is unlikely to get much chance with Spain’s one-man attack and Torres and Villa ahead of him in the pecking order.

Raul Albiol on the other hand will fancy his chances of seeing more action than both of his compatriots.

 

 

Nasri in!! Hleb out… Is it good or bad?

“I can officially confirm that a short time ago Alexander decided that he will leave Arsenal and join another club. Of course Arsenal and Arsene wanted him to stay but they have accepted the player’s choice.”
“That is his choice. He has understood that the right time has come for him to make a change.
“Alex has spent three good seasons at Arsenal and he wasn’t sure he could maintain the same level that he has been showing if he stayed.
“It’s also true that he felt uncomfortable off the field. Alexander wants a change of scene. That’s had a large part to play in his decision. Alex informed the club of his desire to move to another club.”
“We are not using article 17 of the FIFA rule,” he said. “I can’t tell you anything about where he will be playing yet. Talks are underway, and I don’t have the right to make them public. I think that the issue of his new club will be clarified in the next few days.”

Niki Spilevski, Alexander Hleb’s agent.

So it seems that Hleb has decided to jump ship as expected, while reports today suggest Nasri should be an Arsenal player by Monday. But what does this mean for Arsenal? Is it a step forward or a step back for next season?

First of all, it seems to me that out of three seasons with Arsenal, only this latest one did he really show what he can do, and only then for the first half of the season. But his agility on the ball and superb poise and passing ability has made the football we play sparkle at times solely down to the Belurussian and his loss has to be a big blow for the club surely?

Creativity is often something we seem to have too much of, while the individual brilliance that Pires, Bergkamp, Henry, Ljungberg and co. offered us is something we no longer have. I would say that only Cesc and van Persie offer this sheer brilliance to win games with any sort of regularity, and so will Hleb’s potential replacementoffer us this brilliance that we may need at times, a bit of match winning quality?

Samir Nasri is an amazing talent, and I believe with absolute certainty that he can offer the brilliance that we need to unlock those tight defences, by making more direct running and shooting, instead of playing keep-ball at 0-0 and passing the opposition into surrender, something we have had to employ too many time this season already. But he is only 20 years old, and the loss of Hleb I think requires another wide player as well as Nasri, given Eboue’s inability to score or play as a true winger would, and also Rosicky’s unfortunate injury record.

To show the current problems on the wing, I shall show the goals and assists we have got from wide areas, and then compare it with the (and I hate to say it…) very best - Manchester United.

Arsenal (EPL and CL):

• Hleb: G: 4 - A: 11 
• Eboue: G 0 - A: 2
• Walcott: G 6 - A: 3
• Rosicky: G 7 - A: 2
• Diaby: G 3 - A: 1

Total: Goals: 20 - Assists: 19

Man Utd (EPL and CL):

• Ronaldo: G: 39 A: 8
• Park: G: 1 - A: 1
• Giggs: G: 3 - A: 7
• Nani: G: 3 - A: 9

Total: Goals: 46 - Assists: 25

Looking at these statistics, Hleb is esily our best assister, and so someone we can not afford to get rid of, while his goals tally, while being poor, if we had other good wingers as well we would get far more goals from the wing. Therefore, to lose Hleb based on those statistics would be a crushing blow even for our creative side, with only Fabregas creating more goals for the team this year.

When comparing us to United, it is clear that despite our problems, we are only one quality winger away from competing with them on the wide areas, where they seem to be clearly better than us, but when you consider that with their formation the wide players generally get more chances due to the game being based around them moving around freely, and that Cristiano Ronaldo has had an incredible goalscoring season, were we to have another winger who could score 10+ goals a season, Walcott will get moregoals again next season as well, and Nasri has improved year on year and will be surrounded by better players (should he come to us) I believe that we won’t be far off.

But with only Nasri coming in to replace Hleb, and no other wide player following him to the Emirates, we will see the same problems next year.

My take on Gareth Barry and the other rumours

As our season has finished effectively, the rumours about who we’re going to buy to ensure we are not in the same situation this time next year are growing steadily by the day.

The main player who will be touted between top four clubs in pre-season is Gareth Barry, Aston Villa captain. Already linked with Chelsea and Liverpool, as well as us, I think that there is very little chance of Wenger deciding to spend £15m on Barry just because he does not spend what he feels is too much for a player, even if it means letting go his chief transfer target and going for someone else instead. I would have to disagree with him on this one though. If Flamini is departing then we cannot afford to let one of the younger players such as Denilson or Song take over, and neither can we give Gilberto a first team place once more. Gilberto, while once a quality player, is now fading towards retirement unfortunately, and just does not offer the same energy and spirit Flamini does. Gareth Barry, on the other hand, has great positional awareness like Gilberto, but is nearing his prime, has good passing ability and brilliant leadership skills that have been shown by his club and country form this season.  It’s just unfortunate that despite him being a great potential replacement, his nationality adds another £5m to what a player of the same talents living in France would cost. It’s also a shame that this clone who lives in France does not exist, and so if we’re looking to replace Flamini, each possible transfer will offer different things than he does - unless the signing is Gattuso of course…

Another Englishman who has been labeled as a possible Flamini successor is Man City’s Michael Johnson, the England U21 international. I have got to say I am a big fan of his and he has all the signs of being a big player in a couple of years time. But there are two problems to signing him: 1. He is very much a box to box midfielder and at City has Hamann who deals with the scraps just ahead of the back four. This makes him too attacking to help give Fabregas the room and license to go forward that we need him to have. 2. He is nly 20/21 years of age - if we are going to replace experience with inexperience, then why not just promote Denilson into the first team? Another potential stopper on this deal is how much would City want for him - if it’s £5m then he would a good “luxury signing” if we buy a direct replacement for Flamini and a winger and perhaps even a striker or centre back. If it’s £10m you’d have to say it’d be a pointless signing.

Daniel De Ridder has also been linked with us in the last few days. Now this is a very strange rumour and one I don’t really believe to be honest. He looked a good player when he was younger, and even last summer I thought he did well for Holland, but after a year in the Premiership he has played in only a few games. Wenger I hope is going for a winger with a bit more quality than De Ridder, and although he’d come cheap he’d only do a job if we’re talking about him being 6th choice winger or something, and if that’s the case De Ridder wouldn’t come anyway.

The shock of this week’s transfer rumours has got to be the news that Australian U23 international and Sydney FC captain Mark Milliagan. Milligan is a right footed player who is comfortable across the back four, and has played this season in central midfield for his clubd. The reports say that he is close to signing for Arsenal, although his agent, while confirming Arsenal’s interest, has said that he has not been offered a contract yet:

Brookes (Milligan’s represntative) told setantasports.com that “Mark has had interest from Arsenal but has not been offered terms at this stage.”

Available on a free, Milligan is a low risk and versatile player, although there are question marks over his actual quality as a footballer that Arsenal demands in all positions, and so it remains to be seen whether or not Arsenal will swoop for the Aussie. Opinion is very much mixed on him, as you can read here: http://arsenal-mania.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36711&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I think that Milligan, as a squad player, could well give us a bit of needed extra stregth in depth, although of course a first team player his lack of experience rules him out completely.

lastly there is another triallist who is going to be at the club in the coming weeks, joinging the youth team in an annual tournament that takes place in Italy. His name is Nikos Karelis, a 16 year old striker hailing from tiny Greek team Ergotelis. He has already made his debut with his club side, making him the youngest player ever to play in the Greek Supe League, and he is excited by the prospect of a chance of making it at a big club:

”I know that it will be very difficult to start with but I am going there to succeed. Even if I don’t make it, I think I’ll gain lots of useful experience that will help me improve in the future.”

Has the academy’s technical standard finally caught up with what is needed to succeed at Arsenal?

I’ve got to say, watching the Arsenal Reserves game yesterday, you can now see how much of a difference the fact that the academy has been around for a while now has made to the quality that we are now seemingly producing.

Yes, before we had the likes of Bentley, Cole, Sidwell and Harper, but generally speaking players who played for Arsenal have not been of a very high standard. Even the last time our reserves were winning matches, the only successful players from that reserve team were bought in from abroad - players like Larsson, Lupoli and Bendtner, with only Muamba impressing from the English side of things. Most of the other players have now dropped off the radar completely, except perhaps Gilbert who struggles on with injury and attitude problems at Arsenal.

This year though, all the players seem far more promising than ever before, particularly the English players, because the bought in players are always very good simply because they have been coached to play football from a very young age in an exceptional way. An ideal example of this is Nacer Barazite, with the young Dutchman again impressing against a fairly poor West ham team with his mix of brilliant technique and great football intelligence. But now you can see that the younger generation of English footballers, those coming through from the Under 18s to the reserves just now, are clearly more capable than ever before.

The likes of Wilshere, Thomas, Watt and Frimpong are showing that they can now make the step up to playing the Arsenal brand of football far more easily than any group of youngsters since Wengers arrival. Of course, this is only one part of what is needed for them to succeed, but it is at least looking far more promising, highlighted by Wenger’s previous claim this season that we have 13/14 year olds who have nothing more to learn technically. With this background work, we can now hope to see far more English youngsters at our club.

Jack Wilshere yesterday was brilliant, and got easily the best ovation I have heard for a player at Underhill for the reserves when he was finally brought off to give him time to recuperate before helping to lead Arsenal to the Under 18s Final by beating Aston Villa on Saturday. He showed that he has exactly what it takes to be an Arsenal player, tormenting the West Ham defence from the right hand side, either by ghosting past players, finding the right attacking pass or holding onto the ball under pressure. The watching Arsene Wenger must have been overjoyed to see that the academy is starting to give him exactly what he wants. And that was before the 16 year old Englishman curled the ball exquisitely past the keeper from 25 yards….

Jay Thomas has proved throughout this season for the reserves and while captaining the academy team, that he is has the uncommon English attribute of being a ball playing centre half, a defender who can fill in any position across the pitch and do a good job because he has the all round game that Arsenal’s almost total football style at times requires. Yesterday he out-Diaby’d the French international alongside him for presence and retaining the ball, showing that he could become a first teamer at Arsenal. The only question would be in which particular position his future lies.

The futures definitely bright, all we need to do now is to ensure the present is just as promising.

 

How much of a difference will in-club promotion make next season? - Part 2

In the next part of my analysis of what we can hope to do next season, excluding any players coming in to the club or leaving, I will look at the state of a couple of our star reserve players, and try to guess at what their roles next season will be. Will they stay in the reserves, go on loan or actually make a difference to the squad. Below is a selection of the players most likely to make a difference.

Lukasz Fabianski - Not entirely sure that you would classify Fabianski as a reserve, but his first team chanceshave also been limited and so this is where I shall write about him, rather than in part 3. Fabianski is obviously by far the oldest “reserve” player, a fact that is unsurprising given his position as a goalkeeper, and I think that the promising Polish shot-stopper can hope to see a good increase in his first team chances next season. He has looked pretty good in the majority of the Carling Cup performances that he was given this year, while making a couple of world class saves for the reserves in the latter part of the season as well. I think that given Almunia has never looked like being anything other than a solid gap-filler in the goalkeeping slot, I think within a couple of years if we do not decide to invest in a new goalkeeper, Fabianski will be number one. What this means for next season is that I can see him being given responsibility for the FA Cup and Carling Cup as he steps up to the number 2 spot after Lehamnn’s inevitable departure.

Nacer Barazite - This young Dutchman is Arsenal’s best young hope in the reserves, having scored a total of 20 goals this season for the youth and reserve teams from his wide midfield or striker positions. He has shown why Wenger bought him to the Emirates at the age of 16, and looks to be a huge prospect for the future, and I think that next season will see him get chances at first team level in the Carling Cup, and perhaps even in proper first team games come later on in the season if he continues his progression. However, it may also be just as good an option to send him out on loan rather than limit him to about 5 appearances next season, and if so I can certainly see the likes of Wigan being interested, with Steve Bruce’s relationship with Arsenal, as well as some of the top Championship teams. I think that despite his evident promise, the reserve league plainly isn’t very competitive, and so a loan spell, at least after the Carling Cup run, will be what awaits for Barazite next season. Unless, that is, he really impresses in the pre-season games this summer.

Havard Nordtveit - Nordtveit has had a very assured first season in the reserves, and being made captain has certainly indicated that his Arsenal future looks birght. However, he is still very much learning the game, and I doubt that he will make any difference to the first team squad next season. Defending is very much something that you need experience for, and I think it will be another couple of seasons before we see his true potential. I wouldn’t rule out a loan move for him, however, and if he impresses there he could see himself in the first team set-up quicker than expected.

Vito Mannone - Mannone, at the age of 21, is still very young indeed for a goalkeeper, and will look perhaps for another loan spell next season as he seeks first team experience to propel his career onwards. He may take the step of moving to third choice goalkeeper following Lehmann’s departure, but rather than that I would expect instead for an experienced goalkeeper to come here on the cheap much like Mart Poom did.

As for the likes of Gavin Hoyte, Paul Rodgers, Rui Fonte, James Dunne and Rene Steer, I do not think that they will be any closer to the first team squad than they have been this year, although loan spells for them will undoubtedly give them a better chance. In particular Rodgers and Steer have impressed me, but I think unfortunately at a big club like Arsenal you have to have exceptional talent to succeed rather than good determination and good performances, and so it is very possible none of these will make it at Arsenal and after loan spells will leave the club as Jay Simpson will surely do this year.

How much of a difference will in-club promotion make for next season?

I was watching the footballing masterclass from Arsenal’s reserves at times against a very weak Derby side, and that got me wondering: what are the roles destined for the likes of Barazite and Nordtveit next season, along with returning loanees and the current players just outside the best 16? And more importantly, how much of a difference will these players make to the situation of not having enough squad depth to compete for the entire 38 games AND challenge for silverware in other competitions?

It has always been the plan that with each passing year, the conveyor belt of footballing talent will all get one year older and with that be promoted within the squad, and while this year the players on the fringe were that year too young, that year too inexperienced, will next year be different?

Over the next week or so I will be doing an article on each aspect of promotion inside the club - Loanees, Starlets, and Fringe Players, and see how much differece a year could make in our squad depth.

I shall start with the returning players from other clubs, starting with Carlos Vela.

Loanees:

Carlos Vela - A lot has been said by Arsenal fans about the 19 year old Mexican without him ever kicking a ball for Arsenal, and at the moment the trend seems to be to say he won’t be any use next season whatsoever, and that people saying he will be our saviour are wrong, yet no-one is calling him that by any stretch of the imagination. While he won’t be a first teamer immediately, not for a good few seasons most likely, he has the talent, the speed and the skill to make a difference off the bench, to change games as Walcott and Bendtner’s brief has been this year. He has spent two seasons playing first team, week in week out football, first for Salamanca where he was loved, and now at Osasuna in the second best league in the world, where he has drifted in and out of form like any 19 year old in the top leagues. An established Mexican international, he’ll add a bit more much-needed depth for the left wing position after a couple of months settling in England.

Mark Randall - Has struggled to break into the Burnley first team after a very promising couple of substitute appearances his first team chances have been limited very surprisingl. However, Wenger has always rated him highly, and I would expect his next season to be crucial in deciding his future. He has two options: to stay and fight for glimpses of first team action, or to tackle another loan spell at a Championship club for another season and see where it gets him. I would advise the latter because I can’t see him helping with Squad depth next season, with his game time more likely to be counted in minutes than hours.

Kieran Gibbs - After his great performance against Inter Milan in pre-season with the first team last summer, and then promising reserve performances followed up by another impressive game at Sheffield United in the Carling Cup, a loan spell at Norwich looked to be almost a finishing school before joing the first team squad next season. But the chances at struggling Norwich have been few and far between, never getting enough time to prove his quality, and the excitement surrounding him has died down. I think that most likely pre-season will decide his season, with the same choices as Randall has available to him to choose between. Purely because he is a wide player as well as being more versatile than Randall, sticking around could get him closer to the first team than another risky loan spell could, but I won’t be sure until he has pre-season with the first team this summer.

Fran Merida - Another difficult loan spell for a young gunner saw Merida travel back to Spain, with Real Sociedad signing him just before Chris Coleman was sacked as manager, and this was where it went wrong for him, as the replacement manager refused to start Merida, giving him a few minutes at the end of each game for no reason whatsoever. But that manager was also replaced I believe, and since then things have immediately looked better, with the young Spaniard netting the winner on his first start after the latest sacking. He has also been given a new long term contract recently and with that news I think that we shall see him around the first team set up next year in much the same way as Denilson was this year, playing the odd game as a substitute and starting Carling Cup games, gaining experience all the while.

Jay Simpson - The first thing to say about Simpson is that he has tried hard, both at Arsenal and now with Millwall, but I think he lacks the quality needed for Arsenal and a decent Championship club will come in for him and sign him for around £500K-£1m after his impressive spell at Millwall in League One. He has won several different awards there and no doubt a Wolves, Leicster, Crystal Palace type side will see him as a good substitute and one for the future and take him on.

Vincent van den Berg - Never has been impressive at Arsenal, and while I can’t say I know how his loan has gone I severely doubt it has been good enough to keep his career with the Gunners going. Therefore he will be leaving in the summer for pastures new as far as I am concerned.

Pedro Bothelo - Pedro has had a promising season at Salamanca so far, and will continue in Spain next year before coming to England in the summer of 2009.

Why have we blown it?

 

I haven’t been able to post since the Chelsea game for one reason or another, so I won’t bother with a match report or even the match ratings - that game is in the past now.

The most pressing issue at the moment for Arsenal fans is to find out what has gone wrong, and how we will rectify it for the rest of the season to come. Below I have identified the key points as far as fans are concerned, and have pointed out the reasons why they are or they aren’t right.

The players have bottled it - Now this is a very interesting point to raise. By “bottling it” we mean that the Arsenal players have got to the vital part of the season, when every game is important, and they simply haven’t managed to step up to the plate. But I honestly don’t think this is the case. I know we can’t keep mentioning the “luck” element, but the way that events have unfolded have contributed to the poor performances without a doubt, and I’m not too sure whether the other top teams would cope with it that much better than we have, although I do believe that if we’re not right at our game mentally, the style of football we play does hinder the effectiveness more than a direct style would, because there is less risk in a more abrupt way of playing.

Our beautiful football - So perhaps, then, it is the style of football that we praise our team for so often that has come back to haunt us at the most crucial time of the season? I think that throughout this season we have managed to alternate our way of playing pretty well to meet the circumstances, a prime example being the game against Everton at Goodison Park, a game where we would have lost pretty easily last season. But recently we haven’t done this. Against Boro’, a game that I saw live, we continued to pass it around throughout the game and that perhaps was what lost us the 2 points.

Lack of squad depth - I think this has been the main problem at this stage of the season. We needed to buy a couple of players, whether it was in January or last summer, because we have easily the most delicate squad in the top four, and bar Aston Villa possibly the smallest squad in the top ten. Now I know we have plenty of players on pro contracts, but most of these are nowhere near ready for the first team. We needed back up on the wing and at left back for this season, and frailties in both positions have costed us a good number of games, in particular the thrashings at Man Utd and Spurs. We can’t afford to classify Rosicky as a first teamer until he provves he can play for the first team for a whole season.

Poor decisions have let us down? - Another valid point is that officials have given us terrible decisions at crucial times. Last weekend against Chelsea the first goal was a shocking decision, while the refereeing against Middlesborough was also dire, as we could quite easily have had a goal and a penalty given, not to mention a slight confusion over Boro’s goal. Against Wigan and Villa though there was no injustice that can be blamed, we were simply not good enough, and I think a reliance on brilliant refereeing shows a desperation really. We should win the games, not the officials. But I think that when a last minute penalty was given when it shouldn’t have been against Birmingham in the last minute of the match on a day when Eduardo is carted off to the hospital, the blow that that makes is a hard one to recover from.

Bad leadership - William Gallas has allowed himself to come across as a very debateable leader over the last month or so, from his angry outburst against Birmingham followed by him sitting down on the pitch as far away as possible from the football itself as the penalty was taken, to reports of him having a go at Theo Walcott. But I think that since he did start crying against Birmingham, everything he has said has been taken out of proportion in a negative way, and if this has had a negative effect on the team it is not entirely his fault. In fact, if misconstrued comments have led to our downfall, we may as well sell half our squad and rebuild, because there’s no way if they’re that mentally weak we’d ever win anything. Thankfully, I severely doubt that’s the case.

As ever, it is almost certainly a mix of all of these points that have contributed to a bad run of form that has dumped us out of the title race almost certainly, and with the Champions League tie against Liverpool looming large, I sincerely hope that we will be able to re-invigorate the team enough to ensure that our season does not end within a fortnight.

Theooo, Theooo!

Why picking Theo Walcott is a great decision by Capello…..

It really is fantastic that Theo has finally got the call up by Capello, and I am not saying this just because he is an Arsenal player, but because he has got exactly the right characteristics that the modern England should have.

We should get rid of the hoof tactics the last two managers have used, and instead exploit the pace and trickery that we have in our country, while still making use of the natural defensive capabilities we never have a huge roblem with.

And this is why Walcott, Agbonlahor and Ashley Young can be the future of England for years to come. In fact even Aaron Lennon can become great for England, and he plays for Spurs!

The cameo’s that Walcott has produced since the Birmingham game have been very very impressive, and I think that Theo should not get a starting place with the Three Lions until he’s getting a regular starting position for Arsenal, but it makes sense to have a “supersub” in the squad for any team. I would argue that it could be better to have lightning pace and someone used to playing a substitute role on the bench than it is to have a seasoned pro who expects to start every game. And in a friendly scenario such as the game against France is, this is an ideal time to bring through players like Walcott, Agbonlahor, Wheater and co. who will be our team for many years to come.