Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

One week to the new season. Three weeks to the end of the transfer window. I’m quite an optimist but even I don’t think Arsenal are ready yet. The friendlies just seem to confirm the strengths and weaknesses of last season. That is to say, great going forward but too weak and disorganised at the back to avoid dropping points.

Chamakh looks good and Wilshire is clearly ready for the big league. Nasri is looking great.

But at the back it’s same old same old. We need another mature, experienced, imposing central defender and a goalkeeper who is more than just an agile shot-stopper. They need to good at reading the game and being in the right place. They need to take charge and organise.

There are loads of exciting rumours out there, but the clock is ticking. Just hope a couple of them are true.

OK, so we shouldn’t take too seriously every transfer rumour, but I really hope that this one isn’t a runner.

It’s hard to see what a move for Shaun Wright-Phillips would achieve for two reasons. First, Arsenal’s priority surely has to be another central defender, another holding midfielder and a decent keeper. Another attacking midfielder must be way down the list.

Second, we already have a young right-sided attacking midfielder who has great pace but struggles to deliver enough final passes into the box.  I really want Theo Walcott to find the missing link in his game and succeed.  I hope that he will get the injury-free run that he needs.

Adding SWP to the squad doesn’t help anybody but SWP.

Finally Koscielny signs for Arsenal!  This seems to have taken forever but now it’s done.  It will be interesting to see which side of Vermaelen he plays.  The Verminator had such a solid season that you would think Wenger must be reluctant to move him.

Anyway, Koscielny’s arrival is good news but is hopefully just the start.  Arsenal need a third central defender who is good enough to be a regular pick.  Is Sol going or not?  Does Nordtveit or Djourou fit the bill? I think the answer to the second could well be not yet and no.  As for the Sol searching, that seems to be going on even longer than the Koscielny saga.

Personally I would be happy to see Campbell do another season but the clock’s ticking.

That would still leave the goalkeeper and second holding midfielder to sort. Then we might be able to see out the games we lost or drew last season.

The rumour mill is turning fast for Schwarzer again with stories about his knee needing a second medical to be passed fit. As long as he is fit enough, I would be happy to see him at the Emirates. I think Almunia was the stop-gap buy that didn’t pay off, a situation made worse by the severe doubts that Fabianski was only a stop-gap away from greatness!

So what about cover for Song, or someone to play alongside him in the toughest games? Felipe Melo would be an exciting choice but the price could be high. It might depend on the outcome of this summer’s installment of the Fabregas/Barcelona soap.

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!

Roy Hodgson will be unveiled today as the new Liverpool boss according to the Liverpool Echo.  How will this affect the outlook of Fulham and some of their sought after players?

It will depend a bit on whether Fulham have someone else lined up and whether they will command the instant respect if the players.  But unless it is a big name then it could bring on the rumoured departure of goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

Schwarzer would be a step forward for Arsenal, though surely not the best we could do.  More interesting would be the unsettling of Hangeland.  Arsenal definately need a further central defender on top of the rumoured Koscielny buy and Hangeland would certainly be a contender.

You get the distinct impression from the comments of Wenger, Hodgson and Hangeland that some move was suggested or at least hinted at last year – but that the player was happy to be part of the Hodgson set-up.  That could all change now.  Definitely a story to watch.

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.

So, after the sweet relief of yesterday’s result, what’s happening back at the Emirates?

Gallas is definitely going and the deal on Koscielny now appears to be down to agreeing the final price.  Would that be it for central defenders?  Personally I hope not.  Djourou has yet to convince. I think we’re going to need someone else as well.

The unattributed reports that United were after Joe Cole’s signature have been replaced with unattributed quotes saying they’re not.  So nothing new on that one.

The fresh tip now us that Arsenal are still for Fulham keeper Schwarzer, despite his unhappy time on South Africa, and that this too is just down to price now. Not so long ago Arsenal fans seemed happy with the idea, but after his stint in the World Cup and I guess the rumours linking the Gunners with a bigger name, the tone has changed a bit.  I still think that Schwarzer would be a worthwhile step forward.  He’s experienced and more of a leader. And I don’t think playing behind Australia’s defence is the fairest audition.

All relatively quiet on the Fabregas/Barcelona front today.

The pressure on Wenger to strengthen and the potential war-chest available has put the rumour mill into overdrive with a constant stream of new names linked to Arsenal. But the stickiest story is Koscielny.

He looks a good prospect, and he is older than 16 which is a good start. I’m a big Wenger fan, but a dose of pragmatism is what’s needed for this transfer window.

If this transfer goes through we will still need another central defender, given who is already leaving this summer. I hope that it is another experienced, but not ancient, player. As well as technical talent we need some self belief and confidence mixed in too. Someone like Jagielka could be just the job.

Taking teenage talent off the likes of Barcalona and Ajax can pay-off big time as Fabregas shows. But it doesn’t always work out and we need some finished items and grit now.

The rumour mill is now at full speed with lots of blogposts and several newspapers claiming that Joe Cole is a ‘done-deal’ for the Emirates.

I think that this would be an excellent bit of business for Arsenal – an experienced player on a free.  I hope that the story is good and that he doesn’t get crocked in South Africa.  To be frank, Eduardo and Rosicky seem to be covering the attacking left midfielder role on a job-share basis at the moment with neither convincing over 90 minutes.

Fingers crossed!

Plenty of speculation about today that Gallas is departing for Roma or Juventus or Panathinaikos, but no hard news that any will offer the wages he wants. He has said he will talk to no-one during the World Cup. Who’d know!

Personally I think Gallas is still a class act, as a player that is, and Arsenal should try and persuade him that a short contract on his current wage is better than less for longer.