I’ve pulled an all nighter writing a huge report thats due a few hours from now, so I won’t be posting toady just sleeping!
I thought I’d leave you this video to enjoy, a few highlights and a few lowlights of the season, just remember, theres always next year! Remember Cesc in Milan, Walcott at Anfield? Here you go!
Speak soon Gooners!
We all know the famous saying; “Arsene Knows”. Reading some articles you would think that only total idiots can agree with this, and Arsenal are doomed.
How many times do we have to hear this rubbish?! Arsene Wenger is the best manager Arsenal have ever had. He has brought unprecedented style, attacking football at its best, unearthed gems in players no one has even heard of and won heaps of trophies.
I agree, we have been through a barren patch these last few years, but this year we saw an incredible improvement and in 2005/2006 we got to the Champions League Final.
If you look at the facts it shows Arsenal are building a team of champions, centred around players such as Cesc Fabregas.
Now that one player has left, Flamini, we hear that the squad will fall apart and again that we will be crap next year. Weren’t we hearing the same things last year?
Granted, Flamini has been a revelation this season and will be hard to replace, and there is some speculation about Hleb’s future, but come on. We have a striker who has scored 30 goals in his first season as the main striker, arguably the best midfielder in the world, in Cesc Fabregas, and loads of up and coming youth talent.
Get real is what I say, Wenger would agree with me. Yes, we should be worried about our club, but speculation gets you nowhere!
Wenger has given a bit more detail about the Hleb situation:
“What people say about the buy-out clause, it is not as simple as it looks,” said the Frenchman. “It is much more difficult and the clubs are reluctant to do that.
“We want to keep Hleb, we want him to be part of our team next year. It is as simple as that. We have lost one player, we do not want to lose more.”
Yes it really is that simple, we want to hold on to him and the media do not realise the complexities of football, to use an over-used phrase – this isn’t Football Manager.
Arsene knows what he’s on about, listen:
“If you are a winner you say ‘you beat me now in a game but give me a chance to come back and beat you’. That’s what I expect of a team. If they cannot do that then it means I was wrong completely in my whole judgement of this team.
“But I hope that 95 per cent of the team, the core of the team, says ‘come on, we have only just lost’. And it is ‘just’ because we were leading at Manchester United, we were leading at Chelsea and we were leading at Liverpool in the Champions League, and every time we just lost a little bit of focus and lost the game.
“Let’s come back and show we are winners. That is the real target of the team.”
Inspiring stuff, Wenger does know, because we were close this year, how many people thought it was going to be our season, almost all of you reading right now I bet you. So lets come next season (hopefully with a signing or two) and show what we’re made of.
Peter Hill-Wood, the Arsenal chairman says that money will be available for Wenger to bolster the squad this summer. Which is good, especially if players like Hleb leave.
“We have never denied Arsene Wenger a penny, whenever he has wanted to buy, he has. What he is not prepared to do is to buy a big name that everyone will be happy with until they see them play.
“He has brought in so many world-class players, some of whom people had not even heard of at the time, and I am sure he will continue that.”
Hill-Wood went on to comment on our season:
“He {Wenger} is not very happy we didn’t win anything. He takes it very much to heart but he seems to have recovered.”It’s laughable to think he doesn’t have the support of the board. We are very happy with him and I think he is with us.
“Overall, it’s not been a bad season. I was very happy with the way we played, but we are in the results business and I’m disappointed with the final result, I suppose.
“We will start next season with the aim of winning something. If we don’t, I will not be jumping off Tower Bridge. It’s not easy winning the Champions League and the Premier League.”
A very balanced opinion if you ask me, and quite correct. Wenger is a fantastic manager, and the board knows he is good in the transfer market, and that he can achieve success. He has done it before and can do it again.
It’s not easy, but we have the potential to win a lot of trophies in the next few years. It’s good to hear the Board are on the same wavelength.
One issue with signing foreign players now will be their level of English. Under new government legislation non-European footballers who can’t speak English won’t be able to join teams. This is part of the new points-based immigration system.
Migrants will have to pass an English test to check they have “basic-user standard” English, using familiar everyday expressions, and be able to discuss basic personal details!
Do you think this legislation will affect Arsenal?
The Times thinks that Hleb is on his way out of the club. They claim that his ‘representatives’ have agreed a four-year deal with Inter, and that he has told team mates that he will join Inter.
Again this seems speculative, with no quotes and nothing official, but it may happen. Hleb could leave, and we would be in a bit of transfer trouble were this to happen. Wenger would have a bit of a midfield crisis. I’m waiting to hear more on this one.
A player who is linked with a transfer is Fabregas, and this is one I’m sure won’t happen (bar something totally crazy occuring in the next few months).
Ramon Calderon, the Real president has Fabregas as one of his main transfer targets, and said:
“Something nice about Cesc is that he is Spanish and this is one of my objectives – to make Real Madrid more Spanish.”
Only two weeks ago Fabregas said that he was totally comitted to Arsenal though:
“My future belongs to Arsenal, and it is the truth.”
“I have always said I want to play for Arsenal, it is the best team I can be at, the best club for me.”
So I doubt Calderon’s wishes will come true at this point!
Meanwhile, Sagna is set to sign a new contract after only a season at the club, maybe Wenger is getting wary after the situations with Flamini and Hleb.
Wenger also said that Adebayor needs to keep improving:
“I believe if Ade keeps his work ethic, there is still 20% more to come from him. Does he want it enough – to get this extra 20% out?
“Well that is where his future lies. If you lose that desire, you quickly become a nobody.”
Adebayor should be able to keep up his form next season, I don’t see any reason why not, Wenger just wants to stop him getting too comfortable!
I hope we can hold onto Hleb at least, because otherwise we will start the transfer season weakened, rather than ready to strengthen the squad. I think it is more likely he will stay than Flamini, but if he does leave we might have a confidence problem on our hands.
Whatever happens now we will finish in third place this year (click here for league table), and trophyless again.
Not all is bad though, our squad has matured and we have seen a vast improvement in the quality of football and the results. 3rd place is one up from last season, and the QF of the Champions League is one stage further. Had luck been on our side we would have gone further.
Now Flamini has become the first departure of the summer we wait and see who else will come and go. I’m not sure who Wenger will sign, I am pretty sure that we have seen the last of Lehmann and possilbly Gilberto.
At this stage the future of the club is in the balance. Lose players like Hleb, and the squad will be greatly weakened and unsettled. Keep the majority of the players and sign a few more gems and we could be very successful next year.
A few players who I expect to come through more next year are:
A very good player, good passing and can run at defenders as well at being great in the air. He has scored 9 this season, and although not a perfect partner for Adebayor, he will start more next season.
One of the top young players in the Premiership. His style and pace are fantastic. He has started more and more this season and proved himself, i.e. at Anfield. Expect him to start on the right wing, and more up front next year. Maybe some more goals too.
Badmouthed by some fans, he has proven his quality in the new year, first at the ANC, and then with some good performances in defence. A possible replacement for Flamini, or maybe a new centre back
Looks like he may get a chance on the left wing after his conversion from left back. He looked good coming on against Everton, and provided the cross for the goal. Him and Clichy would be a menacing duo on the left flank, pace, power, and passing in attack and defence.
Another much talked about player. He has done well on loan at Osasuna, and Wenger will recall him next season possibly for a starting line up. Don’t know loads about him. Let me know your impressions in the comments.
Just a quick summary, if you think of any more then feel free to add them in the comments section.
Also congratulations to Arsenal Ladies, double winners, the most successful women’s team in the land.
It’s official, the Flamster has signed a four year deal with AC Milan, the saga is finally over.
The deal keeps him at the San Siro until June 2012. Flamini told reporters:
“I am very happy, thank you very much”
I hope he is, Serie A is a very different place compared to the Premier League, and Milan are not guaranteed to playing in the Champions League next year. He will be in competiton with the likes of Gattuso, Kaka, Pirlo and Ambrosini for a place, which will be hard.
He has been a key player for us this season, I wish him the best at Milan, but I am very sorry to see him go. We need to find a replacement for him, either through signing them or bringing them from within our current squad.
Wrighty7 suggests Alex Song. I was thinking the same thing. He is a good player who has improved greatly this year. He is a natural defensive midfielder, but can he do the same job for us that Mathieu did? I’m not so sure.
Flamini left Marseilles in a similar way, not having signed a professional contract, we managed to get him without paying a fee, even though he had promised to sign a new contract at Marseilles.
I’ll leave you with the words of his coach at the time, Jose Anigo:
“He’s a traitor – this is a beautiful treason.”
Highlights here.
The game itself was a little dull, Bendtner got a good headed goal and we won 1-0. Wenger said:
“You could see that it was a little bit an end of season game.”
It was, we played some good, football at times, but nothing special. A few points though:
Gallas Gets Naked
The players came out to do a farewell lap of the pitch, Gallas threw his shirt into the crowd just in front of me, I didn’t get it though, Jens staying on afterwards, and getting a standing ovation from the fans. He said:
“I had one or two tears in my eyes, It was a great farewell for me. This farewell will always stay in my heart.”
He has been a great player for, even if he is mental. I hope he does well in the future.
Flamini seemed a little awkward, and it seems he has flown to Milan to agree terms with AC. No suprise there, we could see it coming. Not much we can do, he was fantastic this season, but we’ll just have to find a replacement.
Arsene Wenger has a long term interest in Niko Kranjcar, the 23 year old Croatian midfielder, according to the players father, Zlatko Kranjcar:
“Wenger was interested in Niko in the Croatian League and he has tracked him for sometime.”
It looks like Kranjcar might be a target for us if Hleb goes this summer, the midfielder is skillful and plays good football. He’d be a ready-made player for us, already having proved himself in the Premier League with Portsmouth. Harry Redknapp won’t want to let him go though!
Speaking about Hleb, Wenger has said that he will report Inter to FIFA for their illegal approach of the player:
“I will of course do it, with Inter Milan especially,”
“I now know more about what happened over there. I will keep the information for those who need to know it.
“I don’t want to speak much more on that but it is unfair what happened.”
It is totally illegal if Inter did approach Hleb, and Wenger is well within his rights to report them. I think what has happened is unfair and just unsettles the club and our players. The way some agents and clubs act is despicable and we have seen bad situations caused by this sort of action before.
Arsene Wenger says Mathieu Flamini has the weekend to decide whether to stay with Arsenal or leave on a Bosman at the end of the season.
Theres been a lot of speculation about Flamini leaving, and I thought he might have already gone, but Wenger says:
“At the moment, we have no news from him but at the latest we expect it to be decided over the weekend.
“He tells me he wants to stay and I want him to stay but it will be down to numbers as well as we want to respect our wage structure.
“It is important to keep the core of the team together. We have shown we have the quality and now we need to improve in certain areas.”
We do need to stick to our wage struucture and no player should be above that, we have seen the results of financial mismanagement at clubs like Leeds. We have done well under the current structure and we are still growing.
What we cannot do is start to make exceptions to the rule which would cause chaos. Flamini is a good player but he is not irreplacable.
Wenger has a good point about keeping the core of the squad together and I would agree, so I hope Flamini stays true to us and stays. SAying that, no player is bigger than the club and the Flamster cannot hold us to ransom.
I would think Mathieu is feeling split between the club and the money, because all the players have talked about the great spirit of Arsenal and the way the club is going. If he stays then great, if he goes, we’ll just have to get over it.
What do you think, should we break our principles to keep one player happy?
Arsenal are the third most valuble club in the world according to Forbes, they value at:
1.Man United at £905m ($1,800m)
2.Real at £646m ($1,285m)
3.Arsenal at £603m ($1,200m)
Moving to Ashburton Grove has played a big part in this, and the man behind much of the move has been Keith Edelman MD at the club since 2000.
Keith has left the Arsenal after 8 years at the club. He had this to say:
“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at Arsenal. It has been a very exciting period for the business and I am proud to have contributed to the Club’s many off-field achievements over the past eight years, not least the Emirates Stadium project. Now that we have completed our second season at Emirates, I believe it is the right time to seek pastures new and embark upon fresh challenges.”
Peter Hill-Wood said:
“Keith has played a major role in the growth of the Club since he joined in 2000. In that time we have successfully implemented the move from Highbury to Emirates Stadium that has underpinned the future of the business and confirmed our position as one of Europe’s leading clubs. We are grateful to Keith for his crucial role in this transformation.
“Under Keith’s stewardship the Club has achieved record profits and the Board owes him a debt of gratitude for his contribution. We wish him the very best for the future.”
Ken Friar, the previous MD, now becomes Acting Managing Director. There are some conspiracy theories concerning Red & Shite Holdings, and Dein’s involovement, but I think the case is more that Edelamn has done the job he was brought in to do.
ArseSpeak 