Arsenal Week In Review – 8.6.2011

We’re back. We’ve been quiet this week as we get ready for the run up to the new season. We’re taking a look at the other teams in preparation for our season preview of title contenders. (Hey, its a new season and hope always springs eternal). Anyway, it hasn’t been exactly a quiet week in Arsenal land. It was a week dominated by what else, the ongoing Cesc saga, and that’s where we start.

Cesc Fabregas

When is a player on strike who hasn’t come out and said he’s on strike? When his name is Francesc Fabregas Soler that’s when. Since the end of the season – including the Fulham game, Cesc has spent maybe 1-3 days of time with the entire first team in team related activities. He showed up for the membership day and the practice session on Friday and possibly one other session but other than that – we have seen him avoid all the pre-season friendlies including the last one to the Benfica and he reportedly walked out at half time of the first match at the Emirates cup.

It’s time we Gooners accepted the fact that he doesn’t want to be here. If you haven’t done that than you are avoiding the inevitable. Cesc is showing himself to be less than honorable in dealing with the fans and the club but many still being praise him for his “loving the club.” Frankly, I am not so sure any more. If he loved the club wouldn’t he come out and declare his true intentions so as not to put the club through the crap it is going through? If he loved the club wouldn’t he come out and say he is publicly embarrassed by the piddling offers Barca seems to be putting forward for someone of this stature?

Barcelona did reportedly come back with a revised offer this week. Depending on who you read it was  in the realm of about €30 million + € 5 million of add-ons and then the real kicker €3 million from Cesc for forgoing a signing bonus. Everything you need to know about this saga is tied up in that bid. First you have the low ball figure and the request for add-ons and a payment schedule that shows that Barcelona do not have the money for the player and 2 the player has no loyalty at all to Arsenal if he is willing to set conditions to ease the transfer.

Now, that the Champion’s League qualifying draw is out it will even be more interesting to see how this is handled. Personally, I am feeling a little vindictive and would purposely name him to the squad just to piss Barca off. It would likely piss of Fabregas who has already reportedly asked the club to leave him off the CL roster. He has said he would give his all for the EPL matches but would like to be left off the CL squad pending the outcome of the transfer saga.

This has to end and I am almost willing to accept a cut rate for Cesc as it get rid of the circus currently engulfing our club. And don’t kid yourself, we have become a circus. If we can’t appropriately handle our transfer business – both ins and outs – how can we handle our business on the pitch?

Of course, I think Barcelona’s strategy is to completely unsettle the player. Keep offering low offers, make a player unstable and unfocused and force the club to finally accept a lower offer just to end it. The problem is that won’t happen until the end of the window which doesn’t give the club time to find a replacement, especially given the plodding ways we carry on our transfer business.

Samir Nasri

Nasri, we can confirm, has not travelled with the team to Benfica. According to Wenger, he hasn’t travelled because he has a muscle problem. Yeah he has a muscle problem alright, his head and his heart. The player has obviously had his head turned by a big money offer from Manchester City. I am sure they are offering wages of around £150,000 a week.

In this day and age of the greedy player it only makes sense Nasri would want to go. It has nothing to do with winning as Nasri has stated. It has everything to with a player getting what he feels he is worth – especially given two sub-par seasons and a very good half season.

Nasri is no doubt a talented player but he still needs time to develop. While Mancini looks to be a good manager at City, I don’t nor have I ever got the impression he is a development kind of guy. If Nasri had any common sense about himself, he would understand that he can earn a good pay day if he still develops under the tutelage of Wenger.

Whatever the case its clear from his play so far in the pre-season and internationals its easy to see he is distracted and lacks form. Something his national manager, Laurent Blanc commented on.

“When you change clubs or you want to change a club, it can be destabilizing,” Blanc told L’Equipe.

“As I say to Samir, when you have the choice, from what I’ve read about and from what I know, between Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United or Inter Milan, there are worse situations to be in.

“It can be destabilizing because you want to know what club you’ll be in, so you can look ahead to the future.

“I hope that Samir, whether he stays with Arsenal or not, will play well for France, which was not the case in the last three matches.”

It’s very hard to say whats going to happen with Nasri. City look set to come with an offer of around £25 million for the Frenchman.  That’s very hard money to turn down for a player who only has a year left on his contract. But can Arsenal afford to sell both Cesc and Nasri in one season? There is a simple answer to that but it involves some will on part of the manager.

The other rumour that is floating around out there is that Nasri will sign his improved contract later in the season but before January. For those that don’t know, January is when Nasri would be free to negotiate with non-EPL clubs for a new contract. Nasri couldn’t negotiate with City until the end of next season if that is where he wants to go. Not sure where this rumour comes from but it is out there circulating.

So again as with Cesc we aren’t any closer to a resolving this issue.

Transfer Business

We’re all wondering whats going on with transfers. I think we’re all a bit concerned as it looks like we are leaving the business to the last possible moment. Wenger however, has actually come out and moved to dispel any notion that haven’t been doing anything.

“Ideally I would have finished all [our business] but it doesn’t work like that,” he said. “We work very hard, we are non-stop working throughout the summer. I am positive because we have good quality and a style of play that is known by the players. So we want to add not quality but super quality.”

“You have to identify the players, agree with clubs to get them out, agree the fee,” he said. “That means they have to agree with you and they have to find another player before they release their players. In England, it is a lot more difficult to move during the summer because some people are not there. It’s all kinds of things you meet during the transfer market. But I can understand the impatience of people.”

He even discussed when they might be ready to announce some new signings:

“No, not at the moment,” Wenger replied. “We hope to give you some good news soon. Next week, something might happen.”

What does it all mean? Who knows. At the very least it shows that the club is aware of the murmurings of the fans and the growing discontent that transfers haven’t been done. For the most hopeful it will show that – we are doing business. For the naysayers – it will only move them to say its more Wenger double speak and means nothing.

Personally, I still think business is going to get done both on the in and out of it. Wenger, Hill-Wood and Gazidis must know the impending wrath that would ensue if they did not deliver any more signings when they’ve been so adamant that things are being worked on. To say that then to do nothing would be tantamount to career suicide.

Wenger has a lot of people who hang on his words. Pundits still laud his class and style. Fans still adore him for his past feats. But even those ardent supporters would be hard pressed to support a man who publicly said one thing (so adamantly) and did something different.

Its never been the Arsenal way to conduct its transfer business quickly. It’s never been our way to do it to placate the fans. The problem is that this year there is so much concern. So much attention and so much at stake that fans are clamoring for something. Some word at the very least of what our intentions are.

We know nothing. I think we all know the requisite code of omerta that has to exist that says you don’t mention specific players lest their prices go up. But we haven’t got a sniff of a plan. There were early signs at the start of the summer that there might be one when Wenger insinuated we needed to get bigger and more English in the back. Good a plan. But it is a plan that doesn’t look like it has been carried through or acted on. Samba, Cahill and Jagielka still reside at their current clubs. By the way I took the term “English” when used by Wenger to mean a player ready for the rigours of the EPL not an Englishman per se.

But that was the last hint. Wenger still did deals and both Gervinho and Jenkinson look capable signings. Gervinho adds another dimension to our attack that we may have been lacking and Jenkinson is a player who can play across the back 4 and he is big and English. Uh oh.

The fact of the matter remains we still seem fairly deficient in our signings. There is a fair argument that many of the teams still haven’t done anything with the exception of City adding Aguero. United look younger – better remains to be seen. Chelsea haven’t gotten anyone in and look a year older but with a good manager and Spurs well they’re Spurs so I don’t worry about them.

Still Arsenal could make significant ground on improvement with even just a solid center back signing. That would go along way. Jenkinson and a new signing would be good additions in the back. Its so easy everyone sees it. And yes, it is easy being an arm chair prognosticator. We aren’t in the negotiations and  we don’t know what is being discussed or why hang ups in our dealings occur. But even a smidgen of what is really going on may go a long way to placating the natives.

Champion’s League Qualifier

Well, the draw came and went. A lot of people were nervous that Arsenal could draw giant killer Rubin Kazan. Instead we got drawn with Udinese who finished 4th in Serie A by virtue of GD. This is a squad not typical for Italian football and would likely be more comfortable playing in Spain where technical skill is trained. They were the darlings of the season last year and were applauded wherever they went with their young talent and skillful displays.

While they maintain Serie A’s best striker for the last two seasons in Di Natale they’ve lost key players. Like Alexis Sanchez  who happened to be the team’s assist leader. Gohkan Inler has also departed and was the heart of the midfield and they lost arguably their best defender in Christian Zapata. Still they’ve moved quickly to replace players and they’ve brought in 21 year old Diego Fabrini. Fabrini is versatile like Sanchez and can play in a forward role similar to Baggio, Totti and Del Piero or as a winger. He looks to take players on one on one and use his skill and pace to out wit opposing defenders.

Udinese have also brought in Danilo Larangeira to replace Inler and Sergio Piccolo Neuton to replace Zapata. Whether or not they can integrate quick enough remains to be seen. Udinese have a penchant for starting slow in their seasons so how they fair with this type of match early on is anyone’s guess.

What does it mean? Oh who the hell knows but it is going to be a test – one that should be won I hope by Arsenal in the second leg. I place a lot on history and Arsenal do not lose to Italian teams. Sure we will be without Van Persie and Nasri for the opening leg (Fabregas too if he is sold or doesn’t play) but there is stil quality in this side to win this match against Udinese. But as is with every coin there is another side – our defence, if it doesn’t get its act straight could cause us some issues.

The Champion’s League matches for the qualifying will be played on August 16/17 and then again a fortnight later on the 23/24.

And Finally. . .

This is the last week for anyone who wants to join the YAMA Fantasy league. You can go to http://fantasy.premierleague.com and join. Just set up your team and register with code: 244386-73388. There are already three pages of participants so it will be harder then when we had the under 20 crowd from last season.

Also this should be one of the last times we have so long between posts. The plan next week is to take a look at each of the teams competing for the title on each day culminating with Arsenal on Friday.  Of course with still business to be done by each team its going to be a little rough but we’ll give it our usual go and try and give you as much a preview as possible.

Until then . . . Stay Goonerish!!

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