Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

So Nicklas Bendtner says he will have to leave if he doesn’t start when he is fit.  Some are portraying this as more trouble for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal.  Well fair enough I suppose, good news stories don’t sell newspapers as well as bad!

I think that whilst Bendtner’s outburst isn’t wonderfully positive, it isn’t bad news either.  There were times last season when we had to play Arshavin as a lone striker because we had no better option. That was a real headache for Wenger.  Now we have Chamakh and Bendtner fit, Van Persie ready for part of a match if not 90 minutes and younger players banging on the door.  That’s much more the kind of problem a manager wants to deal with.

Of course Bendtner wants to play, what fit player wouldn’t?  Personally I think his comments make him sound rather immature.  He may be ‘fit and in the form of my life’ but Chamakh has made an impact since he came in and so Arsenal have options.

I think that there will be more of these stories in football.  It is an inevitable consequence of the shift in the balance of power towards the players from the clubs.  Managers are going to have to get used to it and work on their man-management skills.

We may see more frequent changes of club than we are used to in football.  We may see more rotation of players in the teams, though that isn’t really what Arsenal want at the moment when they are finding their way back to consistent form.

I think that Wenger will want to make as few changes as possible for the game tomorrow.   The team was better against Wolves and now they need sending out to do the same job again against Everton.  So that may mean another session on the bench for Nicklas Bendtner.

The genuine big headache that Aresne Wenger has at the moment is the unknown extent of Vermaelen‘s injury.  The doctors seem uncertain about the source of the problem and therefore don’t know what to do next.  Wenger might of been considering a move for another central defender anyway, but the longer Vermaelen’s injury goes on the more urgent this becomes.

I think that Squillaci and Koscielny were both good buys and if Vermaelen wasn’t injured I would think that Arsenal had the position covered.  But if we lose the Verminator we are short of class in that position.

All the name form the summer are back in the news – Cahill, Jagielker, Subotic etc.  Personally I don’t think that Jagielka is any better than Squillaci or Koscielny so I wouold say don’t bother.  Moyes says we were interested but didn’t offer eneough in the summer for a ‘full England International’.  I think we probably got the same level of talent with the two purchases we did make. Jagielka being a full England International says more about the fitness of Dawson, King and Ferdinand than it does about him.

Cahill I do rate and someone like Subotic would be fantastic.  But what I would most like to see is a recovered Vermalen.

Makes a change not to be talking about goalkeepers!

The only real rumours about are that we are still just about to sign these two. Well at least it isn’t rumoured that they aren’t coming after all I suppose! Let’s hope these finally come off this week.

Cole would be a good bit of business on a free. Koscielny looks strong from what little can be gleaned on-line. I hope that the Koscielny deal can be sealed so that Arsenal can get on with signing another central defender after that. One will not be enough.

Campbell may yet stay, and he was surprisingly solid when he played, but he is clearly no longer a week-in week-out player. Djourou may yet prove himself but over the last few years we’ve had to rely on too many players on the verge of proving themselves.

Arsenal really do need another mature central defender so hopefully there was something in the, now quiet, rumours of Subotic or Vertonghen. Maybe even Mertesacker, although I still reluctant on that one.

Maybe I’m just being bone-headed on the German, given their progress in South Africa but I still maintain that he has yet to be really tested.

The other gossip out there is a re-run of the Van der Vaart story. I think he’s an excellent player, but do we need him for a big fee? Unless Fabregas is going that is!

Koscielny will apparently be an Arsenal player by the end of the week.  I think that this is good news, though he’s not a player that most English fans no much about.

But he is a central defender and he isn’t a teenager so I think he fits the bill for the more pragmatic transfer window policy I think Arsenal need this summer.   If we sort out the defence and goalkeeping situation with quality players then I for one wouldn’t complain if we didn’t buy another midfielder or forward.

But Koscielny isn’t enough on his own.  We are losing three central defenders.  We need to get two in. When Arsenal had it’s most solid defence of recent years the manager could reliably choose any two from Adams, Bould and Keown. Or even play all three at once to win two nil at Anfield and clinch the title! And we had Andy Linighan as well.  This isn’t a plea to return to the Arsenal of Don Howe but we won’t win a title conceding the number of goals that we do.

So we need another central defender. Subotic would be good and Vertonghen also sounds promising.  I’m not so sure about Mertesacker.  I’ve only seen him on the telly during the World and European Cups and I don’t think he’s been that convincing.  He looks indecisive and not a particularly great tackler.  I still think that some team is going to take Germany’s central defenders apart in South Africa.

Goalkeeping gossip all seems to be about Schwarzer.  I think he is better than what we have, but I hope for someone even better.  Chamakh came on a free, so would the rumoured Joe Cole.  Koscielny is rumoured to be coming for between eight and ten million.  Surely we can afford more than four million for a keeper?

There is gossip now that more surplus Man City players are linked with Arsenal.  The Emirates seems to be Rumour Central this summer!

Not sure how much worth commenting on the Wright-Phillips and de Jong stories are but hey, it’s summer England are out of the World Cup and this is a blog right?  A player like de Jong would be a sensible buy.  Arsenal need more depth and Eastmond isn’t ready yet.  Denilson and Diaby are only good enough as defensive midfielders against weak opposition, they are better going forwards (where we are over-run with players, but that’s a different issue).  Song will play in the African Nations Cup every two years and needs some cover/competition.  And sometimes Arsenal could do with two holding players to see out wins against the best opposition.

Not sure what the point of Wright-Phillips would be. At the moment he seems to be defined as ‘speedy right-winger who doesn’t get enough crosses in’.  Think we’ve got that role covered as deep as we need at the moment.

Arsene Wenger says we’re getting a new central defender by the end of the World Cup, but who is it to be. The anti-climax answer would be a new contract for Gallas! It would be an almighty tease from Wenger. I think he’s got at least one more season in him, so I wouldn’t mind – as long as he wasn’t the only central defender signed this summer.

So who else: Koscielny, Subotic, Jagielka, Vertonghen? Koscielny is the rumour mill’s consistent favourite and he, or his agent, seem to be begging for the deal? Subotic is the biggest name and would be a great signing but could come with a big (£20m+ ?) price tag. Would that leave enough for a classy goalkeeper? Depends on Fabregas I suppose.

Don’t you just love the transfer window?