Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

Plenty of rumours about today but nothing too solid.  Some say bids have already been made for Anderlecht striker Suarez and Lille leftback Cissokho. Alternatively Arsenal have been snubbed on both.  One common theme though is that it’s looking difficult to secure a loan deal rather than having to buy a fullback outright.

It’s easy to understand why that might be true.  If you don’t see yourself using a player again you want to free up the capital for a player purchase rather than just get their wages covered.  When you see Arsenal lose a defensive option virtually every game, you might as well hold out for that sale.  Of course, Arsenal don’t really want to buy because when they’re fit we have the number of fullbacks and cover that we need.  Though the apparent fragility of Kieran Gibbs may chip away at that theory.  So what do Arsenal do?  Reluctantly shell out for a purchase after all?  We apparently have the cash to do it.  Or go to brink of the deadline and hope that the likes of City or Lille will cave in at the last minute and accept a loan.

Trouble with the second option is that we need the player now rather than later and we cannot assume that we are the only club in the hunt for a fullback.  Interesting titbit in one paper today that one of new QPR boss Mark Hughes’ targets is Wayne Bridge.  Hard to believe I know when they’ve got Armand Traore at the club but it makes the point.  Arsenal may just have to face up to buying in asap and worry about congestion at leftback later.

On the subject of leftbacks, two new names in the frames are Swansea’s Neill Taylor and Southampton teenager Luke Shaw.  Given that the sixteen-year-old hasn’t even made a first team debut, he would obviously be one for future development rather than a solution to the immediate problem.

Neil Taylor sounds like a better option than Wayne Bridge, but the story doesn’t seem to have anything in particular to back it up.  Just chatter to keep us going until the Swansea game I guess.

Of some little interest is the game at White Hart Lane this evening where Spurs and Everton catch up the fixture postponed from the first day of the season.  If Spurs win it would create a eight point hole behind the top three which isn’t helpful, but the various setbacks that all the top clubs have suffered show there’s a fair bit of life left in this season.

So, that was the 2011 transfer window!

New Signings:
Mikel Arteta
Joel Campbell (but out on loan with no UK work permit)
Gervinho
Carl Jenkinson
Per Mertesacker
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Park Chu-Young
Andre Santos

In on loan:
Yossi Benayoun

Like a new signing:
Ryo Miyaichi (gained UK work permit)

Departures:
Gael Clichy
Emmanuel Eboue
Cesc Fabregas
Samir Nasri
Armand Traore

Out on Loan:
Nicklas Bendtner
Joel Campbell
Denilson
Henri Lansbury
Carlos Vela

Today we should see some official announcements as the better quality rumours of yesterday are turned into solid stories.  We should see confirmation that Park Chu-Young and Andre Santos are now Arsenal players.

Both of these deals represent some rapid footwork on Arsenal’s part, in stark contrast to the rest of our dealings this summer.

Fenerbahce’s punishment for match-fixing was announced last week, creating the possibility that they would be open to deals on star players and that the players themselves would want a move.  Now Santos is an Arsenal player and Traore is being offloaded to QPR.  Nice work for a change.

Some quick work also allowed Arsenal to hijack Lille’s deal for Monaco’s Park Chu-Young and secure what looks like a very decent back-up striker to Robin Van Persie.

Of course, that still leaves the long drawn out saga of filling key vacancies in central defence and midfield.

So what are the quality rumours of today that will be the solid transfer deals of tomorrow?

Over the last twenty-four hours, Arsenal have been linked to loads of players as the media and players’ agents try to help spend the sizable transfer budget.

In the last twenty-four hours, Arsenal have been linked with:

Eden Hazard, Yossi Benayoun, Gary Cahill, Leighton Baines, Marouane Fellaini, Alex, Kaka, Eljero Elia, Park Chu-Young, Yann M’Vila, Mikel Arteta, Adam Johnson, Mateo Kovacic, Mario Goetze, Florent Malouda and Sol Campbell to name but a few.

Most intriguing perhaps are the three Chelsea players.  What’s going on here?  Presumably, someone has leaked some sort of contact with Chelsea but nobody really knows who it is about.  Or is Arsene about to play some kind of Chelsea Supermarket Sweep and have them all!

Or is it just simply made up stuff from journalists who haven’t got any copy and so they’ve trawled the list of out of favour players.  Of course there are plenty of out of favour players, just at Chelsea and Manchester City.  The combination of huge budgets and rapid turnover of managers has left quite a few decent players warming the bench at both clubs.

As far as a central defender goes, I still think there is a good chance that we will see a deal for Gary Cahill.  Despite the hostile rhetoric of the last few weeks the logic is there.  Bolton need cash to bring in a striker, they are massively in debt.  We have the cash and Cahill could leave on a free next year.

There is some talk that Spurs want him too, but nothing of substance and at the moment Arsenal could outbid them if we really want him.

Benayoun or Malouda?  I can’t see that Malouda has anything that Gervinho or Park don’t already bring.

Benayoun as Fabregas replacement?  Maybe. Not as good obviously, but the endless saga of Cesc’s departure has probably blown the chance of an equal replacement.  There is also an argument that spreading the budget over more than one replacement could give Arsenal a more balanced side.

We shall see, and soon now – less than two days to go.

The possibility of a bid for Brazilian central defender Alex has been doing the rounds all day.  But this evening there’s a new name in the frame – left back Andre Santos at Fenerbahce.

Of the two, I much prefer the second for two reasons.  First, Alex is getting on an getting injured. I’m not saying he shouldn’t be an option, I’m just hoping for better.  Second, we have to have another option at left back.  Gibbs may gave a big future, but he doesn’t really gave the experience to be number one and is injury prone.  Traore is departing to QPR.

Gooner Talk, amongst others, has a link to the Istanbul Stock Exchange website where Fenerbahce disclose the possible sale of Santos, but it doesn’t say who to.

An interesting story and one I’d like to be true.  The twenty-nine year old has played twenty-two times for Brazil since 2009.  He scored ten times for Fenerbahce last season.  Wikipedia has all the usual stuff.

Mixed news so far today.

Park Chu-Young is quoted in various places confirming his move to Arsenal saying “I had to make a decision between Arsenal and Lille. And the decision had to be what I want and won’t regret.”

This was apparently what he had to say on his way through Seoul airport today on route to join up with the South Korean team. It is thought that the deal will be confirmed tomorrow. I think he looks a decent bet as a back up striker so this is good news.

But back up striker isn’t the main priority we must get a creative midfielder and a central defender.

The news on Eden Hazard doesn’t sound as positive with a reported quote from him that he is staying at Lille. I haven’t managed to track down the timing of this quote though.

Armand Traore is moving to QPR. This is probably a good thing overall as he isn’t good enough for Arsenal. There’s just the slight problem that this will leave us with no fit left back at all. That’s where we’ve got to. I’m worrying about Armand Traore leaving the club.

One website (without a great track record for accuracy) suggests that we are in for Leighton Baines. Which, if true would be great. Though another says that Marouane Fallaini is the Everton player we’re after.

Given the state of Everton’s finances, perhaps we’ll offer them a price for the squad and loan back the ones we don’t need. That should still leave them enough for a team.

The rumour that we have approached Chelsea about Brazilian central defender Alex has done the rounds all day without picking up any substance.

And that’s about it for now. I could list about ten other players we’ve been linked with during the day but there are no stories with really convincing details.

I was hoping for more progress today I must admit. Mixture of hope and desperation I guess!

What else could go wrong?  How about Sagna and Vermaelen out as well, that’s what.

So Arsenal started with: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Djourou, Koscielny, Traore, Coquelin, Ramsey, Rosicky, Walcott, Van Persie and Arshavin.

If you include our quest to sign Gary Cahill, that means that not one of the back four would be our first choice to start.  For twenty minutes the pretence was maintained, but the pressure was all one way. Bravely, or foolishly, Arsenal tried to play the way they always play; trying to move the ball forward and keeping a high line.  But the Manchester United players knew that it was for show and kept pumping in the attacks.

Jenkinson and Traore were getting outnumbered and outplayed.  Walcott and Arshavin don’t provide much cover at the best of times.  These were the very worst of times.  To be fair to Jenkinson, he never hid, never shrank from the task, but he still got beat again and again.

Arshavin, when he did tackle, seemed determined to get sent off.  He got a yellow for a tackle that could easily have got a red.  Later he made a similar tackle and Howard Webb had mercy on him, no other explanation for him staying on.  Coquelin – what a game to have to make your Premiership debut.  I thought he did OK in the circumstances, better than I hoped, but he couldn’t do much to stem the tide either.

The first goal when it came was soft.  Anderson, I think, chipped the ball over the retreating centre backs, they let it bounce, never recovered position and Danny Welbeck headed in.

Just for a moment there seemed to be a reprieve.  Evra pulled Walcott back in the area and we got a penalty.  Could Van Persie make it one-all?  No.  Terrible penalty and Manchester United started surging forward again.

The second goal required a better finish but came from a poor headed clearance from Traore directed straight into the middle.  Szczesny had no chance from Young’s shot.

The third was a clinical freekick from Wayne Rooney.  Szczesny did well to get his fingers to it, but couldn’t keep it out.  Then, in the dying moments of the first half, Rosicky (our best player today?) combined with Walcott and he nutmegged De Gea.  Three-One.  We weren’t out of sight but it was as close as we got to respectability.

The second half was all one-way traffic.  I wasn’t surprised when Oxlade-Chamberlain came on, but I thought he would replace Arshavin.  In fact it was Coquelin who trudged off.  Didn’t understand that at all.  Anyway, Man Utd got another five, you all know that and I can’t be arsed to describe them.  We got another consolation goal through the determination of Jenkinson and Van Persie but we are not consoled.

I guess we all knew it was going to be bad, but this was a humiliating rout.

Szczesny: didn’t deserve to concede eight, there were a couple where he might of made a better decision, but he made loads of saves too, so he shouldn’t be hard on himself.

Back Four: Dire. But not through lack of effort. Jenkinson played his heart out and will be distraught.  He got a second red in the end, to add to our troubles. Koscielny was probably the best. But as a unit they were hopelessly outclassed. Djourou conceded more freekicks than I could count.  After Jenkinson’s red, Walcott found himself at right back and conceded a penalty, so he was replaced by Lansbury. He knows how to tackle, but it was late in the game by then to be of any relevance.

DM: The pressure on Coquelin must have been immense, and I he didn’t deserve to be part of this humiliation on his debut.  When he was taken off, we didn’t really have a holding player. I guess the idea was we could get back into the game with more attacking pace, but the next goal was United’s.

AM: Ramsey and Rosicky didn’t do too badly when they got the chance.  In fact Rosicky seems a man transformed this season. He seems to have more energy and more purpose. He tackle, holds the ball passes. But he was on to  a loser today. OxLade-Chamberlain didn’t get a touch for ages.  He had one good run, but like Coquelin, this was the debut from hell.

Wings: Walcott worked hard, he earned a penalty and got a goal.  Arshavin was lucky to stay on. lost the balled and often left Traore facing two incoming red shirts. Yes he created the odd chance, but not enough.

Forwards: Van Persie will be seeing that soft penalty kick for a long time. It was the chance to equalise and it was given up easily. Yes he scored, but by then United were six-one up. Chamakh was sent on at seven-two. Just to share the pain I guess.

It was painful to watch.  I’m not sure when we were last beaten so comprehensively, though I’m sure some statto will tell us *.  On the telly Merson was laying into Wenger, saying we should have set out to play differently.  More defensively.  Looking at the bench I don’t think we had many real options anyway. We could have played Lansbury from the start I suppose, but it would still have been a desperately inexperienced set-up.

This game was lost before today.  We need that other central defender.  Traore isn’t great cover for Gibbs.  Not sure Gibbs is that great anyway.  Rosicky is trying the rise to the challenge of senior attacking midfielder with more passion and skill than any of us would expect.  But it was never going to be enough at Old Trafford.

For me, the people who represented Arsenal best today were the away fans.  They kept singing and chanting long after the club deserved it.  Collectively, they were my Man of the Match.

Never has an international break been more welcome for the club.  But the real key is the next three days.  Let’s seal the deal with Cahill and get the most creative midfielder we can lay our hands on.  In and ideal world, another left back too.  But today, it doesn’t look like an ideal world.

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* 5th November 1960. West Ham 6:0 Arsenal, so worst result for nearly 51 years!

Usually Arsene Wenger says very little about transfer plans.  But this hasn’t been a usual summer and now he has said exactly what he wants: a striker, a midfielder and a defender.

The defender that he’s been pressing for over the last 48 hours is obviously Gary Cahill. Equally obvious, despite the hostile comments of Coyle and Gartside, is Bolton’s need to sell.

Like Nasri, Cahill is a valuable asset a in the last year of his contract.  Whilst Arsenal could have taken the risk of Nasri leaving on a free, it made more sense to take the money.  The same applies to Bolton only more so.

Although Phil Gartside showed a complete lack of class in retweeting that abusive comment, he’s probably hoping to drum up some rival bids. The problem he has is that other wealthy clubs have already bought central defenders.  So Arsenal have probably done no harm by starting with a relatively low bid.

Rumour has it that the alternate to Cahill is Raul Albiol who is apparently surplus to requirements at Real Madrid.  I don’t know how solid that rumour is and you always wonder about a player that is being offloaded.  But he’s experienced and we certainly need someone.

Some French media sources claim that for all the public denials, the move for Lille’s Eden Hazard is definitely on if a price can be agreed.  But that price could be £35million.  Well if he’s the right player, we’ve got the money.

I’ve no idea who the striker will be.  It’s clear though from Wenger’s comments that he is expecting Bendtner to leave.  We he a striker, he said, to cover us when Gervinho and Chamakh are both away at the African Cup of Nations.

After all the waiting, the last few days of the transfer window could be exciting.  Let’s hope there is actually enough time to get the deals done.

Meanwhile there’s the small matter of taking on Manchester United tomorrow!  Choosing the squad will be easy, step forward anyone who isn’t suspended and is actually fit enough to step forward.

The obvious hole is holding midfielder, with both Song and Frimpong unavailable.  The two options are probably Djourou or Vermaelen.  Johann Djourou used to play as a defensive midfielder and Thomas Vermaelen clearly has the mobility to cover there too.  That’s assuming Vermaelen has got over the knock he took on Wednesday.

The key to this decision is most likely to be which one of them is needed alongside Koscielny at the back.  My guess is that having the strongest back four will take priority and so Djourou will cover for Song.  Does completing that strongest back four mean Jenkinson or Traore?  I think it was significant that Wenger started with Jenkinson for the must win game against Udinese, with Traore coming on later.  Plus there is talk of Traore spending the season on loan at QPR.

With no Gervinho I guess Arshavin will start.

So I’m guessing:

________ Szczesny _______
Jenkinson _ Kos _ Verm _ Sagna
_________ Djourou _______
_____Rosicky _ Ramsey ____
Walcott _ Van Persie _ Arshavin

What do you think?

Arsenal will not sign anyone today.  Today is all about the match against Udinese.  The transfer rumour mill is largely focused elsewhere.

Despite are reduced team options, Arsenal should be strong enough to win.  But the Udinese players will be pumped up for this one, believing that they have a chance to turn it around.

Last Saturday I imagine Kenny Dalgliesh told his players there wouldn’t be a better day to beat Arsenal.  Udinese coach will have the same message to motivate his players today.

Arsenal will clearly have to absorb a lot of pressure, no matter how much they try to take the game to Udinese.  Obviously another early goal would be ideal. It would disturb Udinese’s dream and leave them needing to score three. Here’s hoping.

Some fans have called for team changes to give Ryo Miyaichi or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a debut.  Others have praised the spirit shown by Frimpong as he Tweets against Piers Morgan and Samir Nasri.

But Ryo isn’t in the squad and I don’t see this as the ideal situation the give Chamberlain his first start.  There’s going to be pressure enough for the most experienced players.

Frimpong could start if Arsene Wenger wants to play with two holding players throughout.  But doing that would surely send out a very weak signal.  It would be saying that we have come here just to cling on.  Well in truth we have, but another goal is the best way to do it.

So there are probably two key question marks over the starting line-up.  Is Traore fit and does he go back in over Jenkinson?  Is Rosicky fit enough to start?

On the second, Rosicky has to be truly fit.  He struggles to make an impact over ninety minutes anyway, without playing with an injury.

It’s going to be a nervous evening.  Whatever the outcome, Arsenal will dominate the sports pages and websites tomorrow.  Either because the club is in the middle of the worst media storm it’s seen in years, or there will be a madly frothing transfer rumour mill, as everyone and their dog dives in to help Arsene spend £80million in six days!  Let’s hope it’s the second.

C’mon Arsenal!

It’s only our fourth competitive game of the season, but so much hangs on it. So much that could shape Arsenal’s prospects for some time.

Mess up and no Champions League football this season. No Champions League football this season and less reason for big players to join the club in this or the January transfer window. No big signings and a tougher battle to finish top four at the end of the season. So no pressure then!

Let’s start with availability then. Out are: Koscielny, Diaby, Gibbs and Squillaci.

Possibly fit again are: Djourou, Traore, Wilshere and Rosicky. Of these, Wilshere sounds the most unlikely. “He has a chance.”

The suspensions of Song and Gervinho don’t apply for the Champions League.

Starters for the first leg were: Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Song, Ramsey, Rosicky, Walcott, Chamakh, Gervinho.

Szczesny will start, as will Sagna and Vermaelen. We have to hope that Djourou is ready again. Miquel may have a big future but Saturday shows that he is still finding his way at senior level.

Traore or Jenkinson as the second fullback? My hunch is Jenkinson. He’s already as good if not better than Traore. From what little I’ve seen of both, I think Jenkinson is also the most decisive of the two, which means a lot at the back especially when your taking a lot of pressure.

Song, Ramsey, Rosicky? Well I guess that depends where we are with Arsenal loving Nasri doesn’t it? Because if he takes anyone’s place I think it will be Rosicky’s.

So what is going on with the Nasri deal? My guess is that he is going, but if was a certainty it would already have happened. This morning it is being reported that Nasri will not be in the party travelling to Italy, at his request.

Walcott, Van Persie, Gervinho?

Hmm, this sounds familiar. Walcott or Arshavin? How many times did we ask that last season? Walcott or Arshavin? Heh, Theo’s our top scorer!

Both Arshavin and Walcott were quiet on Saturday. It’s hard to guess. Much easier is the prediction that Van Persie will start rather than Chamakh.

Best guess:

Szczesny
Sagna DJ Verm Jenkinson
Song
Nasri Ramsey
Walcott RVP Gervinho

What do you think?

Like many fans I feared the worst for Saturday.  The whole Fabregas/Nasri saga going on when the club should have been focused on the opening games and then the catalogue of problems/misfortunes in the run-up and the match itself.

What else could have gone wrong with the preparation?

* Song gets a ban so the holding role is a Premiership debut for Frimpong.
* Gibbs and Traore injured so a Premiership debut for Jenkinson, with Sagna having to play on the left.
* Rosicky needed resting and Wilshere and Diaby injured, so a selection dilemma over Nasri.
* Gervinho unavailable because of his red card.

Then in the game:
* Koscielny injured early on, so Ignasi Miquel has to come on, making a third Premiership debut.
* Frimpong’s inexperience and rash approach gets him a double yellow reducing Arsenal to ten men.
* Rearranging the formation after Frimpong’s red card means bringing Lansbury on, bringing the Premiership rookie count to four.
* Liverpool still have Luis Suarez to bring on as a sub.
* Ramsey collides with a Miquel clearance and the ball ends up in the net.
*Plus the play could have been stopped for offside before the goal anyway.

But for seventy minutes my hopes were building that we would at least come away with a point.  And any game at nil-nil can be won by either side.  Obviously Liverpool were on top for most of the game, but Arsenal were competing with good heart.  Samir Nasri was more than keeping up appearances; he was our best player outside of the defence.

Sagna, Vermaelen and Jenkinson were doing OK and early sub Miquel was surviving, albeit in rather nervous fashion.  Szczesny looked the business pulling off one magnificent save in particular.

Frimpong was hindered by an early yellow card, but showed why Wenger has high hopes for him.  The tackle that earned him the second yellow though was terrible and couldn’t be argued against.

After that the pressure on the ten remaining grew and grew.  You could sense the growing danger but even then it was a bit of bad luck that finally turned it.  Not entirely bad luck, it came from a hurried attempt at a clearance by Miquel, but the rebound off could have gone over the goal or low enough for Szczesny to recover.  But it didn’t and the resistance was broken.  After that it was all one way traffic and Suarez eventually got a second near the end.

So after that hour of hope it was the result originally feared.  The Arsenal players trudging off didn’t really deserve it, but the club did.  Whilst the tactics of Barcelona have been the root cause of Arsenal’s summer problems, you can’t see where the club has acted to strongly enough to regain the initiative.  Now we still have even more urgent transfer business to do and one hell of an important game on Wednesday.

Some described the  Liverpool match as a ‘must win’ but it wasn’t in itself.  But Wednesday is a must win.  Failing to qualify for the groups stage of the Champions League is a big drop in status, and with Manchester City’s oil-fueled renaissance, getting that status back will will be a tough fight.

To make that challenge worse, I suspect that the best of the players that the club is talking to this week will wait until Wednesday before making their mind’s up.  No Champions League will not help them put pen to paper.

As Ferguson would say, this week it really is squeaky bum time.

C’mon Arsenal!