Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

Much coverage overnight in The Sun and elsewhere of Christopher Samba’s comments. These are widely interpreted as a plea to move and the club he mentions is Arsenal.

On the other hand, Sky quote Samba playing all this down and saying that he has never mentioned another club.

We have to bring in a dependable central defender and although Cahill is probably the better ball player, that isn’t what we’re missing. What we need is strength, determination and good judgement about where the danger is – someone else can move the ball forward.

I would be happy to see Samba join. To be honest I’d be happy to see any decent defender join after last season!

Another big transfer story, pushed hardest in the Mirror, is that Valencia’s Juan Mata is in serious talks with Arsenal. The Mirror says that his entourage of family and advisers are in London now to talk terms. He looks a great player and well worth it, regardless of whether Nasri or Fabregas are to depart.

Various media tell us that Anderlecht’s Lucas Biglia is also a possible buy and that Real Madrid would love us to take Benzema off their hands. I reckon these two stories are still firmly in the ‘dubious’ column, but Biglia is the sort of player we might need if both Song and Frimpong get called up for the African Cup of Nations competition in the New Year. Plus I think that Song could do with a bit more competition than the youthful Frimpong. Alex Song is a great player but his devotion to the defensive midfield task is prone to wander.

Not sure where Benzema would fit unless you were going to turn RVP into a more deep-lying type forward. Rather see a new left back myself.

It looks like Gervinho could get an early run in the team with news that Walcott’s ankle is playing up again. Arsenal are being a bit vague about how long recovery might take and don’t have a great track record on predicting the return of injured players anyway.

Definitely out for months is Conor Henderson, who like Frimpong last summer, has damaged his cruciate ligaments. Not sure how many first team appearances he would have got this season but he’s clearly been getting close so this will be a big disappointment.

It’s been goodbye to JET who became a Tractor Boy this week. He has clearly not impressed the Arsenal coaching staff with his attitude even if he has the ability. This could be a crucial season for him. If he impresses at Ipswich he might get into a Premiership club and, no doubt, provide a ‘sell-on’ windfall for Arsenal. A season of anonymity will herald a decade of Championship football.

There we are, a round up of rumours and scraps – these are the dog days of the football year. Doesn’t quite feel close enough to the new season to quicken the pulse, need some exciting and genuine transfer news.

Arsenal have annouced their 23 man squad for the games in Malaysia and China. So who’s going and who’s staying. And if they’re staying, does it actually mean they’re really going?

Goalkeepers -
On Tour: Szczesny, Mannone
On Hold: Almunia, Fabianski

According to the BBC, an Arsenal spokesman has hinted that transfer negotiations for Manuel Almunia could be in the offing with the club having more to say on Monday. Lukasz Fabianski is still recovering from the injury to his shoulder in February.

Defenders -
On Tour: Djourou, Gibbs, Jenkinson, Koscielny, Sagna, Squillaci, Traore, Vermaelen
On Hold: Eboue

Emmanuel Eboue apparently has a calf injury and the rumour mill has been pretty quiet for a while. There was some early talk of a move to QPR but nothing has materialised.

Midfielders -
On Tour: Arshavin, Denilson, Frimpong, Miyaichi, Nasri, Ramsey, Rosicky, Song, Wilshere
On Hold: Diaby, Eastmond, Emmanuel-Thomas, Fabregas, Lansbury

Diaby has an injury and, according to The Mirror this week, Arsenal are open to offers. Then again, other reports say Arsenal have turned down offers. Craig Eastmond broke an ankle back in April while on loan at Millwall. Not much on Jay Emmanual-Thomas. There have been rumours of him being a make weight sale or loan in a deal for Cahill, but nothing substantial. Fabregas, well of course he has an injury hasn’t he! The Sun today says that a season-long loan deal will send Lansbury back to Norwich for regular Premier League football.

Forwards -
On Tour: Chamakh, Van Persie, Vela, Walcott
On Hold: Bendtner

The BBC story on Almunia above also puts Bendtner in the same boat: something happening on a transfer soon, more to be said next week.

Of course, not everyone who is going is necessarily staying!

So who will play on a wintery Tuesday night in the ‘serious’ Carling Cup competition?  Wigan have lost four of their last six league games and only had to beat Swansea to reach this stage of the Cup.  The Gunners strongest opponent maybe the familiar complacency bug.  Let’s hope not.

Wenger obviously needs to rest players when he can, given the heavy schedule.  But given that we are trying to win the trophy this time, and finding our way back to form, I wouldn’t have thought he will want too many of the more inexperienced players in.

Goalkeeper: Personally I say stick with Fabianski, more games more confidence.  Goalkeepers don’t need as much rest as outfield players.  But Wenger may want to keep someone else happy and/or see how his other options are getting on.  Almunia?  I wouldn’t bother.  He surely knows all we needs to know about Almunia.  Interesting signal here – either way.  If he leaves Fabianski out for Szczesny, the two Poles’ ascendancy is confirmed.  If he puts Almunia in then we’re still marking time until the window opens.

Defenders: At his pre-match presser Wenger spent a fair few words on Eboue‘s quicker than expected return to the squad.  I think that means he will start.  Squillaci however is out.  Djourou, who was unlucky to give way after his last two games in, will take his place. Gibbs or Clichy?  If it weren’t for the for the other two changes I would say Gibbs.  But since we are taking this seriously etc, maybe Clichy keeps his place for the sake of limited changes.

Midfielders: I think Denilson will come in for either Song or Wilshere.  My guess is Wilshere.  Will Rosicky start again in the middle?  He played well on Saturday.  The other option is Nasri, with Walcott out on the right.  This is an obvious chance to give Walcott a start, so reckon we might see Nasri on the bench.  Arshavin on the left?  Or is this JET‘s night out as the one irregular?

Striker: Wenger says that both Robin Van Persie and Nicklas Bendtner will be in the squad.  If RVP is in the squad he is probably better off starting than coming on later as a rescue mission and straining something!  Maybe they will both start and Bendtner will have to play wide to get his game?

That leaves my prediction looking like:

__________ Fabianski _________
Eboue _ Koscielny _ Djourou _ Clichy
_______ Song ___ Denilson _____
Walcott  ____ Rosicky ____ Bendtner
_________ Van Persie __________

But what do you think?

Numpty presenter on Sky says ‘Chelsea blew them away again’.  Not true – we didn’t get blown away.  We lost but this was better than last season.   Last season we didn’t look in the same class in either game.  This time we did.

Last season the games just seemed to be about how long we could keep Drogba out.  This time, until Alex’s superb Roberto Carlos style missile, it was about the result.

Now I’m not blind to Arsenal’s weaknesses.  We are profligate in front of goal.  Our wide players don’t track back enough and protect our fullbacks and Diaby, and to a certain extent Song, don’t always stick to their task.  We don’t have the keeper we need.

But for most of the game we played well and were truly competitive, despite missing Van Persie, Fabregas, Bendtner, Walcott and Vermaelen.

That list of missing players caused us big problems because of they are all good players and because Chelsea knew we only had what we started with up front.  They knew that our only option for change was a Premiership debut for Jay Emmanuel Thomas.

Despite the keeper situation, we were far better at the back than last time.   Fabianski had a good game with just one dodgy moment.  He wasn’t to blame for either goal.

To read some Arsenal blogs you would think that the team had gone backwards from last season and we are heading for oblivion.  I think they look at the player purchases that Chelsea and Manchester City make and think that Arsenal can wield the same magic wand.  They can’t.  Chelsea and Manchester City can do it because they not only have the cash for the purchases, but because they have the cash to repair any damage to the balance sheet.  Liverpool and Manchester United have tried to compete through debt financing.  Do we want to be where Liverpool are right now?

Let’s be realistic – we didn’t look like title winners last night but we were not that far off, without key players.

Vote now for your Arsenal man of the match at Chelsea here.

So, no Van Persie, Bendtner, or Walcott.   I guess that ends any debate about a return to 4-4-2 for a while!  Wenger normally gives a run-down on the injury situation on Thursdays, but from what we’ve heard so far, Nasri will be pushing it to reappear this weekend.   So where does that leave us for the front three against Bolton?

I think that Chamakh‘s is a dead cert and so is Arshavin.  The Russian can be a bit frustrating by the way he drops in and out of the game sometimes but then he pops up and delivers a goal or an assist.

But who will complete the forward three?

The most obvious options are Rosicky and Vela.  The safest option is Rosicky, but with Nasri out, will Wenger want him as a second attacking midfielder, or will Diaby or Wilshire fit that bill?  How close to serious first-team action is Jay Emmanuel-Thomas in Wenger’s eyes?

Quite a part from this Saturday, I think that this is the season where Carlos Vela has to prove himself at Arsenal or look elsewhere.  He is getting regular starts for Mexico now but he won’t build much of a career with twenty minute cameos every other week.  And if he isn’t a starter at home against a club like Bolton with three other forwards injured, then you start to wonder what his role is.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas is a stage behind Vela in his career, but he has been starting to impress.  I don’t see him starting a Premiership game yet though.  I think he will get a start in the Carling Cup game against Spurs.

Arsenal are about to play six games in seventeen days, so all these guys and Eboue too are going to get time on the pitch.

So, what about this Saturday, does Vela get a start or does Rosicky come out of midfield because of all the cover we have there?  Is JET the wild card?  Given that choice, who would you go for?

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