People are talking to me like I don’t know the rule. Yeah man, I know the rule; I just chose to ignore it this time. I’ll tell you why later.
So, the rule says that to avoid disappointment you shouldn’t buy into transfer talk until you see the player in an Arsenal shirt on the website. It’s a good rule, but I think we can be more flexible than that – you could take interest a little earlier and still avoid jumping the gun most times. There’s usually a piece on the BBC site before the club announces something.
A little less reliable are the broadsheets, which employ some respected journalists who tend not to engage in idle chatter, but can miss the mark all the same. These guys report or speculate on the early stages of a transfer. They’ll get their information from agents or sources within clubs, who’ll stand to gain an advantage by making the news public, or occasionally they’ll have a direct line to the player.
I’m bringing this up because I’ve been a bit obsessed this week. From the moment Santi Cazorla’s possible move was mooted I’ve paid shamefully little attention to any other Arsenal story. Barely noticed the imperious Laurent Koscielny signing a new deal, and the friendly against Malaysia might as well not have happened. So you can tell that something’s not quite right.
I respect the rule, but then I can’t think of many potential Arsenal deals that have involved a player I admire as much as this one. When I was in Spain he was brilliant – compact, nimble, ambidextrous, nippy and technical. The play flowed through him even though he was out wide. I plucked his name from the babbling stream of Hispanic vowels and consonants thanks to its constant repetition by the commentators. I didn’t know who he was before 2007, but after I saw him the first time I’d occasionally make space on my heavy football platter for the odd Villareal game.
He got injured in 2009, and missed the matches against Arsenal. When he returned he was a slightly different player. He’s hardly slow now, but was a bit quicker in 2007; maybe a little more dynamic in the way he moved. No matter – over time he’s developed a sophisticated passing range and drifts inside more often. His control and understanding of the game has improved.
I remember him in an unjust defeat to Barcelona a couple of years ago. He was out on the left and deep, but brushed off pressing Barça midfielders and, with inch-perfect through-passes, created enough chances for Giuseppe Rossi to win the game for the team. He forced two wonder-saves from Valdés with long-range pile-drivers
The danger of writing a blog 16 hours before it’s published is that the paragraphs above could be redundant and not just a little poignant by Friday morning. I have no inside information, just lots of enthusiasm. Call it a balm for the wounds inflicted by RvP.
It might even be dead as I type this, or he could be an Arsenal player by next week. I don’t have a clue. So, I’ll recount what I’ve gleaned from this story, so at least I’ll know that my week of fixation amounted to something. Most of this is paraphrased from real journalists.
Wenger has always liked him, but the word is that his interest was piqued when Fernando Hierro walked away from his Technical Director post at Málaga in May. The man’s a local hero and wouldn’t take such a decision lightly – there were claims of unpaid wages, overdue tax-bills, reneged-on promises and transfer fees outstanding.
Normally I picture Arsenal as a big cat on the savanna, impassively surveying the herd for signs of weakness or naivety. Giroud had an enticingly low buy-out clause. Podolski was a big player at a small club on its way down. Everton needed to get Arteta off their books. André Santos’ former employers were caught up in a match-fixing scandal.
But only last summer Málaga announced their arrival as one of Europe’s moneyed colossi. Apparently we spotted a chink in their armour when Hierro walked out. It only follows that their star players should start to get restless.
Since then they’ve done no transfer business. It looks to many like nobody has been at the wheel for months. The owners have been quiet, apart from Abdullah Al Thani, president of the club, who took to twitter in the middle of this month to bemoan the unfair distribution of television money in Spanish football.
While most people who don’t support Real Madrid or Barcelona would agree with him, it all begs the question – why would someone whose family is known to enjoy almost unlimited wealth be so passionate about television cash after throwing money around so readily just a few months ago?
Does he want the club to sustain itself now it’s on the cusp of Champions League qualification, facilitating the sale of a big name to make ends meet in the short-term?
At the first hint of his name around two weeks ago, it seemed to me as an uninformed observer like something might be possible. And Wenger’s responses to questions since the weekend have only fanned the flames. Initially he joked that he didn’t know who Cazorla was; later he said the club was working on a deal, and then on Wednesday joined Arteta in praise for the player – all very out of the ordinary.
The consensus is that the player is unhappy at his club. It’s clear Arsenal want him. Respected journalist Sid Lowe claimed that he’s even agreed terms with us. But we all know what they say about best-laid plans, mice and men.
We’ve been dealing with the equivalent of an oil tanker overseen by a disparate gaggle communicating via Chinese whispers. Now Mr Shatat is at the wheel, they might weigh anchor and chug away over the horizon with a newly flush Cazorla on board. Knowing the financial punch the Al-Thani family can pack, the union of Wenger and Cazorla could remain hypothetical forever more. And given the trouble some technical players have dealing with Premier League clatternaccio, maybe the transfer is best admired as tantalising but unrealised potential.
Whatever happens from here – it looks like we’re on the prowl for an attacking midfielder this summer.
Dgob:
It’s easy to blame jenkinson for the goals but different players have been making the exact same sort of mistakes and we have been conceding the same sort of goals no matter who the defenders are for 6 years now. We have gone thru several different sets of defenders during this time and the only thing that has been constant through has been the coaching staff.
Do you think anyone has talked to TV5 about his constant forward runs and being out of position and the team losing its organization? If the coaches have tried to get him to be more conscious of his defensive responsibilities, then why doesn’t he listen? Watch what happened the last few games last season. The only logical conclusion is that this is the way the coaches want the team to play.
Robson’s a prick, but it easy to understand how anyone could conclude that the coaching staff should take most of the blame for our defensive issues. No?
I don’t think Robson should be pointing the finger of blame at anyone. This is a meaningless pre-season runout FFS.
I wouldn’t be counting on Cazorla. Malaga Qatari owners have woken up to the state of their toy and reps have flown in to Malaga probably with a few suitcases of money to fix the problem. If the owners inexplicably don’t pay off the club debts then I am sure they’ll start a bidding war and some other less fiscally responsible team will pick him up.
Jonny:
Its already been established that the man is a prick. He has been making the same point for a few years now so what do you expect? He always goes over the top with his criticism but I am having a tough time faulting his conclusion on this issue. Pundits are all going to beat us up and make a talking point of our defense until we show that we have improved, preseason or not.
“He has been making the same point for a few years now so what do you expect? He always goes over the top with his criticism.”
Are you talking about Robson or about yourself, Bill? ;P
Well, it is a pre season game with some youngsters in the defence. When we had a set defence we did pretty well last season…very well actually. I have faith that if we can stay healthy our goals against will go down.
Jenks made a nice tackle what it seemed that Aguero was through.
funny
sad to see that the ye press have failed to see any of the positives from the Arsenal performance. In a game where Arsenal played a number of youth players (that in turn did very well), all they are concerned about was the meaningless result. According to these mugs in the media we were played off the park.
Miami, not even Robson said that, he actually admitted that Arsenal were the better team in the 2nd half. The team looked good.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/9431860/Arsenal-have-received-no-bid-for-Robin-van-Persie-says-Arsene-Wenger.html
looks like Mr Wenger is getting fed with the whole van persie business, he rightly snapped at four journalists askign the same questions about van persie.
I’m starting to think we should make RvP play his final year, I know we lose money but it would be good to allow Podolski and Grioud time to adapt.
Evil @ 5:28:
No secret what I think. When the same thing happens year after year doesnt it make sense to suspect that the things that have been constant during that time are probably the major cause of the problem? Do you have a better explanation?
shotta.
regarding the high line you were discussing earlier..
you nailed it fella..
thats why steve and tony were the best cb pairing the PL has ever seen..
even before then, they made the ‘arsenal trap’ famous..
bouldie coming in is an excellent choice and indeed it will take time to implement a few tweaks but i think he’ll nail it as well..
OO(U)? and Yogi, I have no wish to start “you know who” on the turntable!
CF Malaga is to be run on a self-sustaining model. I quote “que el Málaga sea una empresa capaz de autofinanciarse”. The Arsenal model once again!
My reading of the Fernando Ruiz Hierro escapade, in order to identify the correct “Hierro” , was I suspect, due to over-ambitious plans. In order to compete in the Champions League requires a much larger squad and above all, top players. That means money and the money was not being generated through the turnstiles? Thus the complaint re television monies. Real Madrid and Barcelona have the fan base, CF Málaga (to go Spanish) do not.
Blackburn with a lesser millionaire, made it and lost it. Result of relying upon one owner? It used to work, but not any longer, Gretna in Scotland is an obvious example.
Back to The Arsenal and I DO NOT LIKE control being “over the pond” west or east, south or north..
Robson is a wonderful example of a plank.
beautiful piece there Big Al.
its brought out many vintage ACLFers.
i haven’t even read up to noon and my insides are warm already.
Can’t read much into the game. It was a pre season game with our most effective forwards all sat at home. Good run out.
massive props to the dudes on here that got him the sack..
robsons a tit..
listening to him talk about football is arguabley a cure for insomia..after all, his coaching credentials are unrivalled..
i mean come on, after spells at wimbledon, southend and rushden and diamonds, he must know his stuff….
JonJon @ 6:30 pm
“i mean come on, after spells at wimbledon, southend and rushden and diamonds, he must know his stuff….”
Tee, Hee, Hee. Excellent point.
Shotta:
Robson is a class A dickhead but i admit it’s more then just a bit disingenuous for me to criticize him for being annoying and whining on and on and on and on about our defense. I just can’t help it. It drives me crazy. I don’t know what his excuse is.
I still wake up in a cold sweat sometimes at night after dreaming about William gallas standing in the ManU penalty box with his hands on his hips and Wayne Rooney is down at the other end of the pitch scoring on a counter attack. To make it worse Denilson still has not caught up with the referee who is trailing the play. I have sought professional help and tried medications but nothing works.
Is it safe?
*gollum gollum*
-
OOU.
Perhaps you could answer the question I asked the other day. I think it was ignored because there was no mention of ***:
Where did Carzola play in the Spanish national team when he was more of a regular?
Robson’s jingotastic bile was encapsulated in his rant after he was sacked. “English players overlooked in favour of foreign pansies. Arsene never listens to his reserve coaches, he always ignores the acadamy kids and buys in foreigners” Is the sum of what he said.
How he squared that one with the promotion of Stevie B and friends, your guess is as good as mine. It is refreshing to see an attempted D-Fence for the racist twat, but I agree with JJ: Big props to those who helped rid the club of this tool. Thank you.
Moe
i think you might be right regarding the star player syndrome. henry, towards the end of his first spell with us was the focus of every attack. everyone jsut wanted to pass the ball to him because they are so overawed by his status. and then fabregas came along, and everything went through him..i think we see abit of that last season with van persie.
i think ultimately, you need the right balance. everyone must be prepared to step up and take the responsibility. of course you would want to have star players who opponents fear as well
mgk
well that’s why we bough giroud and podolski
but maybe theo will get the chance he so craves in the middle position…
but i think it is interesting.. if we are chasing a game.. we can have the 3 of them and a centre forward on the pitch. i think that might be more interesting than having 3 centre forwards on the pitch…
I’ve managed to answer my own question:
Not the best quality
I like jenkinsons spirit but fuck about he couldn’t position himself in a game of twister.
& we must notf orget this dude. Going by his wise & useful comments I believe that our good friend Robson had:
just to clarify:
i think city played quite a few unknowns as well. aside from kompany, yaya toure, aguero, zabaleta and tevez, the rest were unknowns, or at least not their first-teamers.
“he couldn’t position himself in a game of twister.”
How dare you attack a serving member of the team in such a despicable way.The lad is a star.
Funny line though Duke .I wish I had said it.
thank fuck the olympic opening ceremony is finaly upon us!! i have been waiting ages.
i’ve fukin had enough to last a lifetime of that bloody olympic torch relay.
@Bill
An explanation? Have you tried to apply Occam’s Razor and look at the things that haven’t been constant to find the reason? Like, for example, a constantly changing back 5 or a lack of full-backs.
Because to me it seems that you already have the solution — playing more defensively, maybe a 5 – 4 – 1 formation with two defensive midfielders sitting in front of the back 5 and never moving past the half-way line — and you are now trying to find a raison d’être for it.
Which is not to say we don’t have a problem and that we aren’t conceding more goals than we should. Shipping more than 40 goals a season is always critical — especially when you don’t have the scoring record to back it up. But you seem to be dismissing different, far simpler explanations, out of hand.
Oh and isn’t it funny how dreams can sometimes distort reality?. Because Denilson wasn’t overtaken by the referee for that goal!
Kori, I think City have 2 or 3 first teams.
Miguel was tops today.
fukin el…i must say…
7 first teamers Paul…tevez, company, johnson, zabaleta, augero and the toure twits.
Zimpaul,
‘And so Arsenal. Yes, in one way it is just another feeding in the food chain, pretty high up. It preys on smaller “feeder” clubs too, it buys the best, sells at a profit, does its business. It is rich, it has power. But the issue of sustainability is the critical one and it takes tremendous discipline, part of which is the discipline to pay players well but not above the going rate because wage inflation gives leverage to speculative capital’
I think you give all away at that point. You’re justifying Arsenal preying on smaller feeder club because it’s balancing it’s books. In other words, you think it’s alright that Arsenal can exploit talent from other clubs-just as at some point the Empire goes into different regions across the world to extract some form of surplus value-of course this one is a non-violent process.
Apart from that you’re also missing that while preying on smaller clubs-it itself is hunted by larger capital in the form of City and Barcelona. So it’s a chain, as you rightly pointed out. But the implications are different than you thought. You miss the exploitive part in favour of profits (which in other words means self sustenability or at least balancing the books). Apart from that you also miss that speculative capital is already involved in Arsenal through investments in the stadium as well as the real estate property-which took time to get rid off. Now you think that is a good way for a Club to invest-others however choose to invest in the players in order to win some titles and announce their arrival-as well as fight it out at the big European stage. Arsenal is taking a different way to that while balancing it’s books and all-but let’s not forget that it’s involved in all other ‘business and investment making activities just as any other club’-which also means as you said ‘feeding on smaller clubs’.
Duke – Talking of those seven 1st teamers, is it me or did you get the impression, particularly in the 1st half, that they were determined to win? After the 1st two goals they didn’t seem arsed enough in front of goal.
sir tim berners lee…so its you who ruined then art or conversation….you or steve jobs.
uzbekastan….
no ones ever fukin erd a stan…
Evil:
When I first started talking about this I thought it was about the players we had but the more I have seen I think its our system. The ultra high line and the aggressive way that players like Gallas and now TV5 go flying forward and our aggressive full backs and a DM all contribute to our lack of organization and solidarity at the back. If the coaches wanted TV5 to stay at home more often or Song to avoid getting caught on the wrong side of the ball on counter attacks they could fix that, but it goes against their vision of attacking “total football”. Just my opinion but I think thats the root cause of our defensive problems. Every year we come up with a different excuse for why we conceded so many goals the season before. Its sort of like someone who is chronically getting in trouble in school. You can explain each individual incident but after there is a pattern that you can’t ignore. Hope that makes sense. In the end, I think the problem is a coaching issue and the coaching staff could fix it if they were willing to make some compromises. That does not mean turning into an ultra defensive team, Lots of teams score more goals then we do but still concede a lot fewer.
With regard to that play and Denilson outrunning the ref, I guess that all the mistakes the Willie Gallas and Denilson made sort of run together in my mind.
Bill,
Would I be correct in assuming that you share Robbo’s views on AFC defensively? I don’t and I think that a team that is still known as the “Invincibles” following an unbeaten season must surely have predated Arsene and the coaching staff to whom you (a la media) accord blame for not being able to organise a defence. Then we have the fact that you seem to have ignored my original point and that of many others that Boldy is now in and at it!
Or is it me?
Apologies for the late responses but I’ve been caught up cringing as we watched the opening ceremony. What must the rest of the world think of these merry shores: apart from the ready availabilty of narcotics!?
Paul-N | July 27, 2012 at 9:08 pm
Kori, I think City have 2 or 3 first teams.
that’s true. but i really didnt recognise some of the names on their team.
don’t get me wrong, i don’t give a shit about them. but i just want to point out that we lost because we made two mistakes at the back and gifted them two goals. nothing to do with whoever fielding a stronger team or not.
Don’t be such a grouse Dgob, it was fab
Dgob
i missed the opening ceremony. wished i caught it though. because i think for some of the athletes, it really means alot for them.
football, with its obscene amount of money, has made us forgotten what honour it means to represent your country in the olympic games. it has even made it irrelevant.
maybe the opening ceremony is lame. but i think it is a good opportunity to recognise the athletes realising their dreams of representing their countries. i honestly think they deserve a little bit more respect.
Today’s hoops are being jumped through at:
http://aculturedleftfoot.wordpress.com/2012/07/28/arsenal-fall-is-arsene-really-sahin-something/
Passenal,
I know it was fun but obviously designed with the aid of LSD!
korihikage,
Don’t get me wrong, I hugely admire the event and competitors – most of whose training would frighten the life out of the now generously paid professional footballer.
There was much that was truly inspired in the opening ceremony but so much more!!