Thursday, May 8, 2008

Arsenal to Sign a Powerful Defender

Well thank Christ for that. Arsene Wenger had a question and answer session with the shareholders today and said he's looking to add two players, a creative player and a powerful defender. He said our defensive problems were not from set pieces or from open play but only from long balls through the middle, which Gallas and Toure seem not to be able to deal with. I personally disagree with him as I've seen more than a few goals come from open play that were very, very shoddy defending against. And as for set pieces just think of the Derby match as an example. That was absolutely terrible defending off of that free kick, and it was Derby!

So the defenders we have been linked with are the usual suspects, Raul Albiol of Valencia (who are shit this year, check the Spanish table) and Micah Richards of Manchester City. I've always been a fan of Richards and I think his play belies his young age. Unfortunately he is English which means his price will be 5 million more than it should be. Albiol is another good player but he'd also probably be at least 10 million pounds and I really don't think Wenger is going to pay that much for one defender. I guess it comes down to how much his "creative playmaker" ends up costing so we'll be able to see how much he has left. You can see pictures of Wenger meeting with the shareholders here.

I've heard from several sources that David Villa is close to signing for Real Madrid. I never had all that much hope of him being brought into Arsenal but it was worth dreaming about. Wenger hasn't mentioned signing a striker though anyway so I guess he feels that Adebayor, Bendtner, hopefully a fully recovered Eduardo and Rvp and Theo can do it.

Yet again Real Madrid is trying to tap up Cesc Fabregas, with Ramon Calderon, the club's president, actually telling Cesc to just request a transfer from Arsenal so he could join the Spanish twats. However, Cesc has again put these rumors to rest and said he is happy at Arsenal.

"I am young and happy at Arsenal. I regard them as one of the biggest clubs and (Arsene) Wenger is like a father to me on the pitch."

It's getting really annoying with this whole situation because this is the third straight summer that they have tried to take Cesc from us by tapping him up essentially and nothing is ever done about it because they do it through the newspapers and Spanish media will print anything just to blow bubbles up Madrid and Barca's arses. It seems that Cesc's future is very much tied to Arsene Wenger though, and if he were ever to leave Cesc would surely leave Arsenal as well.

Petr Cech lets us know how much of a cunt he is by saying that nobody will remember that we played good football ten years from now.

Freddie Ljungberg has been asked by West Ham to tear up his contract after only one year there. He makes 75,000 quid a week which is a ridiculous salary for a player well past his prime. It's sad to see him going through all the injuries and stuff though so I wish him the best. If I was him I'd take the 3 million and go play in Spain or Italy. That'd be a new place for him to try out his skills and he could still make good money. Plus those leagues generally aren't as physical. But good luck Freddie.
So that's about it today. Tomorrow we may start looking forward to the Sunderland match at the weekend or we may have our Youth Squad and Reserve overview from YoungGuns ready. We shall see. Cheers all! And last Arsenal.com is having a countdown of the 50 greatest Arsenal players of all time. You can click here to vote.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Signing a Central Defender is just what I wanted to hear from Arsene this offseason...I have no doubt he'll sign either a french or african defender I've never heard of...but I would love to see us get Micah Richards. First of all it would shut everyone up about Arsenal not having enough English players (he, Theo, Wilshire, Lansbury ain't bad). And second he's young and still improving. I haven't watched Man City enough to know what kind of a defender he is. But I would think maybe he replaces Gallas...you sell Gallas who will pitch a fit probably when you take the armband off him...and use the money to buy Richards who should be sick of Man City when they get rid of Sven. Never heard of the other guy but bring it on.

Also I saw somewhere that Gilberto says he wants to stay at the club....thank god. I'd love to see him back in the regular starting XI and maybe either start grooming Diaby to take his spot or bring in someone else. And to me it frees up more cash to buy a winger. Or 2 if that little punk Hleb leaves.

Looking forward to the Young Guns section! Good stuff!

Unknown said...

This really is good news. A new central defender is the one thing I think we can't live with out. I feel like no matter what, Arsenal will always find a way to attack (2nd most goals scored this year right? Even with RVP, Eduardo, etc. injured), but defense is another story. And I'm so tired of Chelsea raping us with the long ball to Drogba.

This is off topic, but have you guys seen this video?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1VzbX6oan1A

First person view of life as a young Arsenal player...pretty funny I think

ArseNole said...

Agreed that we certainly need a central defender. I'd love Richards but I just don't think Wenger would pay full price for him, we'd have to get a deal of some kind. It would be good news if Gilberto stayed, and I think he will. He'll probably bring in a 20 or 21 year old to groom behind him if he doesnt feel that Diaby or Denilson can play in that role effectively.

Yeah Mike I saw that commercial during the Champion's League, it's most likely the best commercial I've ever seen. I really liked it a lot. Just wish it was about me lol

Anonymous said...

IF Gallas didn't leave this offseason and we brought in someone like Richards or Abdiol...does anyone think it's possible that Toure could move into the holding midfielder role? I'm pretty sure this has been brought up in the past. Given that Gilberto is staying and Wenger specifically mentioned a powerful defender and a creative midfielder I gotta think he likes what he has at the holding position.

Love that Nike commercial...I can't get enough of it....I think Nike should kick in some money to help bring Huntelaar to the Emirates!