Things I Think I Know – A Preview. . . of Sorts
A Star On The Rise
The Summer of Cesc
Well, it is the second month of the the Cesc to Barca saga and frankly, I am tired of it. Each day another report of a Barca player extolling the Arsenal Captain’s Barca DNA irrates me further. This past Friday the lads over at talkSport claimed we Arsenal were holding Cesc hostage. Frankly, this all needs to stop and but it can only stop one way – the player coming out and saying, he is playing at Arsenal this season. Without that even Barca saying they will move on, won’t stop it. The press are looking for a story and the biggest news would be Cesc to Barca.
No, I am not saying there is some big ol’ press consipiracy agains the club – though it is clearly evident where that perception comes from. I am just saying with a summer devoid of any big news the Cesc saga gets people to read to the papers and their Web sites.
Anyway, in the beginning of the summer, I was of the mind the club should keep him. He is under contract fopr 5 years, he is our captain, and he is central to our plans. However, as every day goes by, I am not sure I want him here. Not because he has done the club some sort of ill – but frankly I don’t think this is going to end well for anyone. For Arsenal they WILL eventually one day lose their star (better to cash in on him now). For Cesc, he likely will be derided by Arsenal fans this season (much like Ade the year before he left). For the EPL its another star player going back to the continent (are they really the best league in the world). For Barca they were the antithesis to Real Madrid. They played classy football and their players and organization you could like. Now they are being perceived as pushy and arrogant.
However, Arsenal stil hold the cards. If they value him at £50 million than Barca should pay up or piss off.
Jack the Lad
I’ve managed to watch the majority of the pre-season – even watching extensive portions of the Emirates Cup. There are quite a few players this pre-season I am surprised by. One of them isn’t Jack Wilshire. I am quite excited by the lad actually. He was the star of last year’s Emirates cup and while he wasn’t necessarily the star he was a feature as he was in all our pre-season activities. He shows great movement with and without the ball. He had a few errant passes but his distribution and touch of the ball looked especially deft and finally, he plays with an edge. Sometimes it seems a little wreckless and that could be youth but he is solid and he could offer us some well needed grit.
He likely will not go on loan. I see him staying and getting a good run out, especially with Ramsey out until at least November. Ramsey and Wilshire are the midfield tandem of the future (provided Ramsey returns and doesn’t pull and Eduardo). The could be a better foundation for the team Fabregas is. I am going to look forward to Jack’s emergence as a star and the return of Aaron Ramsey.
By the way – I like Wilshire over Joe Cole. Yeah, I am a minority in that. Wilshire is younger and more durable.
Koosh and the Makh attack.
I am still holding out on passing judgement on our newest defencive signing Laurent Koscielny. He hasn’t looked horrible in the pre-season and has actually shown some good skill in the back. However, he hasn’t done anything to make me think we’ve found the next Thomas Vermaelen. Maybe the pre-season isn’t the place to do that. We hadn’t really locked into what a talent Vermaelen was until we were 5 or 6 games into the season. The preview looks promising but, I still think we need someone in the back a little more solid and a little more experienced.
As for Marouane Chamakh, I think this lad is going to delight. He is what we missed without Adebyour in the mix – except he doesn’t go off sides all the time. He is strong on the ball, deft in the air and actually distributes the ball very well. He should do very nicely.
The Defence.
Not sure how a team that has so many coaches that were defenders can still be defencively weak. The book 4 all look good at points but there are still issues and lapses that are occuring. Sure, it could be just chalked up to the pre-season and they could sort it out. I know I am in the minority when I say that Sagna is one of the top 5 best RB in the league. Clichy while not a favourite of mine is good at times, though I would prefer Gibbs to get the start and Clichy to be sold for a a player. Vermaelen is our rock solid addition. The other CB position is a question mark and why I believe it when I hear that Arsenal are still looking for at least one or two players to fill the void left by the departures of Gallas, Sol, Senderos and Silvestre (was this a void that really needed replacing).
The two players I hear of most are Per Mertesecker from Werder Bremen and Phil Jagielka. Jagielka may not be happening as he was recently injured in the pre-season. I am watching the German (Bremen) press and there seems to be steam picking up there. Per is likely considered to be slower than say Vermaelen but he is big and he is strong and with Didier Drogba coming down the middle big and strong is what we need. Plus I argue the CB, doesn’t need to be running every where. They need good game and situation awareness and must be perfectly playing the positional game to be effective. One of the reasons, Sol was so effective at his age was ability to play the positional game. He made up for his lack of speed with his ability to get into the right position 9 times out of 10. If Mertesecker plays that way and based on the World Cup matches I saw he does – then he would be a good signing.
The Goal Keeper Situation.
Can you say adios Manny? The look on his face yesterday holding the Emirates cup said all you need to know. He knows he is no longer the favourite. By all indications, the talks between Arsenal and Spanish club Ossasuna are advanced. The Emirates cup and the Captains armband may have been a final gift to (the first was his making the squad as our number 1) to the wonky Spanish keeper. I will absolutely weep if Almunia and Fabianski are on our starting lineup. I would rather we start the season with Szczesny and Mannone ( doesn’t matter who starts to me). But the wonder twins of the bad kind simply are not the answer in goal. Almunia let nearly 50% of all shots he faced in and Flapianski while stopping more shots than Manny, has such poor positioning and thinking that the goals he does let in are howlers that demoralise a team and a fan base.
We need a keeper – nuff said.
The Gaffer.
Arsene Wenger. Legend. But is it time? I dunno. I think he has been more aggressive in the transfer market but he is still not taking all the necessary steps. He is being frugal to point of annoyance. However, such is a fan’s right. We want big money signings but the gaffer wants practical, cost-efficient signings. Never shall the two meet. Arsene’s biggest gaffe is letting the defence linger while the attack is where all the attention goes. You could argue that by being on the constant attack then defence is part of the offence. However, as we showed last season we could get killed on the counter and get sliced apart. So he has to focus in on defence or the lack of trophies will continue.
Players I am Looking Forward to Seeing.
Frimpong
Eastmond
Players I Want to See Step Up
Nasri
Walcott
Rosicky
Arshavin
Gibbs
Van Persie
Nicky B (when he’s healthy)
Where Do I Expect Us to Finish.
Let me caveate this by saying if we stay healthy and a CB and ‘keeper come in – than we could challenge. If not I think the squad as it is built could finish from 2-4. I also expect to see a greater emphasis on the FA Cup from the team and suspect we could challenge for one of the domestic cups this season.
