It is no longer news that the 2009/2010 English Premiership fixtures have been released. The main danger that lies ahead for Arsenal is not in the opening fixtures (which include playing Manchester United as early as the 29th August) but later in the month of January.
It is Arsenal’s performance during the early months of the new year which will may make or mar the rest of the season for us Gunners.
This might be repeated again and will not necessarily be due to the heavy and difficult schedule that lies ahead:
Arsenal play Everton home (Jan 9), Bolton away (Jan 16), Aston Villa away (Jan 27) and Manchester United home (Jan 30) during January but also face Chelsea away (Feb 6) and Liverpool home (Feb 9) within the eleven days after that.
No, it is the “agony” of the real possibility that during January Arsenal may be missing four players for the Angola 2010 African Nations Cup which runs from 10th to 31st January 2010. These are Song, Toure, Adebayor and Eboue. There is the possibility of course that the last three (and Senderos) might not be Arsenal players by then…
Nevertheless if we are to believe Arsene Wenger that no players will be allowed to leave this season then we have to consider the effects the Africa Cup of Nations might have on Arsenal’s thin squad.
In that period we will be left with four central-defenders, Vermaelen, Gallas, Djourou and Silvestre. And if the African players are too tired or injured by the time they return we will also have to face the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea (in early February) without them too.
Any injury or suspension to the first two of the remaining players will force Wenger to field what are really second and third choice defenders. And we saw what happened against these teams when Silvestre for example had to fill in.
The question is: "Has Arsene planned for this?"
And there’s more. While the duo of Toure & Song are being missed in central defence, Emmanuel Adebayor could also, for the same reason, be missing from the attack.
Presently, Eduardo is injured and we cannot really rely on Bendtner & Vela for those crunchy ties. That will leave us with only Robin Van Persie available…. if he is not injured at the time.
But Arsene knows, right?
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22 comments:
U can rely on walcott, bendtner and vela. They have had premiership experience and will be better players. Wenger said himself bendtner can cause damage to any defence in the world when hes switched on. I agree having seen this kid come up through the ranks he was destined for greatness
"Presently, Eduardo is injured and we cannot really rely on Bendtner & Vela for those crunchy ties. That will leave us with only Robin Van Persie available…. if he is not injured at the time."
... and Arshavin. and Walcott. Hell, we even have Simpson coming back, although I would prefer Bendtner or even Vela. So what are you saying exactly? Taking last season's performances into account, Ade's absence hardly makes a crisis, does it?
Considering none of them are first choice, why would anyone be that bothered?
Vermaelen, Gallas, Djourou and Silvestre seems like a good enough set of defenders with or without Toure (who I hope we sell) and the addition of Song (generally) will add a bit of depth to the area, pushing Silvestre out to 5th choice.
As for Eboue, we are hardly going to "miss" him if he goes to the ACN. Saying that, I don't want him to be sold.
As for Adebayor, he will be out of the door quicker than I could say Ade-BYE-or as soon as we fix down a replacement.
Not that big a deal mate. its not like any of them are good enough to be first chocie.
Bendtner did a fantastic shift up front against Manure at home when we won 2-1. Sure he didn't score but he worked so hard and created so much space etc.
"we cannot really rely on Bendtner & Vela for those crunchy ties. That will leave us with only Robin Van Persie available…. if he is not injured at the time."
What a ridiculous thing to post...same way as we "couldn't rely" on Gibbs until given the chance he has shown we can ! Bendtner & Vela are Arsenal players because the manager and his staff ( who see these players everyday in training) know they are good enough ! Every single world star in football was a Bendtner or Vela at some stage in their career....or have you forgotten what Henry was like when he first came...the web is full of enough rubbish posted by non arsenal supporters nevermind so called supporters posting drivel as well!!
I think the main point of the post is right.
Wenger will be relying on second choice players again to get us through a thin patch. And all this because of Arsenal's financial situation.
i want to agree with the jority of the comments here, but also to say:
Any danger of waiting until the transfer season is over before proclaiming that "Arsene Knows" sarcastically.
For all you know he'll sign players to replace the Africans you mentioned.
I can't figure out why people are complaining about this guy's concern. The larger squad of players we have to rotate, the better. If these four players are missing, (regardless whether they are starters or not), it's going to make life difficult.
eduardo will be fit and will be in pre season mate , rosicky will also be fit freeing up arshavin from the left flank pushing him up as a second striker , therefore adebayor is not a neccesity , besides he sucks
Same old shit.
The big spenders are destroying football
We kept up with the big boys with a 38,000 stadium and will do the same with a 60,000 stadium.
Yes we need players but dont every team.
We have a great bunch of youth a very good reserve and a great 1st team.So lets go out and spend lots of money on a player that needs time to settel and not use the home grown talent.
Every team under 4th position aims for 4th position.
With the plan still in progress and players coming in, we will be ok.
I’m a season holder and do not hear the shit that us fans are supposed to say at the ground.
No one I know has given up their seats and we can’t wait for the season to begin.
We will be better than last year, so that’s all that matters.
ArSeNaL
_/@""
This african Nations of cups is pissing me off,if we come January are in the running for the title and at the same time we have yet another injury crisis and Wenger decides or are forced to let the players go i am gonna go ballistic.
Ted, how will Arsenal be relying on "second choice players" when none of the four are first choice? It is a stupid statement.
you dont have to worry about Adebayor cus I doubt Togo will qualify
Without those 4 African players I think we will still have a pretty balanced squad.
Option A :
Almunia
Sagna, Senderos / Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy
Cesc, Melo (yes I hope so)
Walcott, Nasri, Arshavin
van Persie
Option B :
Almunia
Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy
Rosicky, Cesc, Denilson, Nasri
Arshavin
van Persie / Eduardo
Option C :
Almunia
Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy
Cesc, Melo, Nasri / Rosicky
Walcott / Bendy, van Persie, Arshavin
Option D :
Almunia
Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy
Cesc, Melo / Denilson, Nasri
Arshavin, van Persie
Eduardo / Bendy
Back-ups :
Fabianski, Senderos, Djourou, Gibbs / Traore, Diaby, Denilson, Rosicky, Bendy, Vela, Eduardo
I have faith in Bendtner and Vela.
Bendtner will be big next season. Tho I get the impression that Bendtner would be awesome as a second striker in the 'Bergkamp' role.
We can live without Fabregas, we have Nasri and Rosicksy is coming back from injury. I sick and tired of hearing that two faced Spanish prick go on about Barcelona and his love for all things Catalonian. Fuck him, sell him for the highest bid.
Losing Toure, Eboue and Song is going to be devastating tho.
The purchase of Micah Richards would be a wise choice as he can fill in at right back and centre so therfore cover for Eboue and Toure.
Losing Song is gonna be a tricky one to manoever. It would leave us with Denilson as the only other defensively minded midfielder. Whereas with Song we are able to change to a 4-4-2 or more attacking 4-3-3/4-5-1 using just one defensive midfielder without him we would definately need to use 2 midfielder that are more defensively minded. People critize Denilson for not being the tough tackling defensive midfielder but that is not his style.
If you look at most top teams they use a 4-3-3 system with 3 in midfield. Taking Liverpool and Barcelona as an example. Liverpool use Mascherano, Alonso and Gerrard as their 3 whilst Barcelona use Yaya/Busquests/Keita, Xavi and Iniesta as their 3.
Currently for the defensive midfielder role we have only Song. For the Xabi Alonso/Xavi role we have Denilson who is already better than Alonso, statistically, Nasri has also shown he is effective in a deeper lying playmaker role and I expect Wenger to increasingly use Ramsey there as well.. For the Iniesta/Gerrard free roaming role we have again Nasri, Diaby, Rosicky and maybe Arshavin if it boils down to it.
Regardless of whether Fabregas stays or leaves we still need a top quality defensive midfielder of the calibre of Song, preferably Lorik Cana.
I think we need to sell Fabregas. We are on the verge of watching Denilson, Diaby, Nasri and Song become awesome central midfielders. Fabregas is getting in their way and other than his 'vision' and passing he really has nothing else to offer and is the slowest and weakest member of our squad perhaps even out of the top 4 clubs.
..............Almunia..............
.......Djourou........Gallas.......
Sagna........................Clichy
...............Song................
............Denilson...............
................Nasri..............
......Walcott.........Arshavin.....
................Ade................
..............Fabianski............
.........Toure.......Vermaelen.....
Richards......................Gibbs
................Cana...............
...............Ramsey..............
................Diaby..............
....Simpson................Vela....
...............Bendtner............
just to play Van Persie, I think we need to go (using no African players!):
..............Almunia..............
...................................
.........Djourou.....Gallas........
Sagna.........................Gibbs
...................................
............Cana...Diaby..........
...................................
...Walcott...Van Persie...Arshavin.
...................................
..............Bendtner.............
subs:
Fabianski
Clichy
Richards
Vermaelen
Denilson
Vela
Eduardo
so it is obvious that we need another defensive midfielder and right back/centre back.
Personally I would like to see:
Silvestre SOLD
Senderos SOLD
Fabregas SOLD
KEEP THE REST OF THE PLAYERS, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.
Vermaelen BOUGHT
Micah Richards please
Lorik Cana please.
= squad complete
People talk some shit ^^^
Can't believe so many gooners are taken in by the media silly season! Cesc conducted an interview in Spanish that has been twisted beyond belief! Lazy journos again I am afraid.. There is no story.. He said he was angry about not winning anything.. Good! He said his close family would support him.. Whatever.. Not just playin for Real.. No in the context that his family would support him WHATEVER! So he's guilty of givin a fuck and caring about team not winning.. He is the capt.. What do u want? Him not carin and being just about the money??? He's guilty of havin a caring family.. So? Pls read the interview in context not what the uk media want u to read.. And to say he only offers vision and good passing is way off the mark however these skills should never be underatted and they are very rare! Get a grip gooners and don't belive the lazy journos!
What the F*%k is the purpose of this article??The off season isn`t even over yet and some f*%ked up (non)supporter is already talking about what players will be injured and who won`t be bought!!Why don`t you wait and what the coach decides to do first??
Who needs enemies with friends(supporters)like you??
Cesc is shit. The rest of the squad is fine but Cesc is just a puny pathetically weak excuse for a fottballer.
Gooner for 16 years and never seen a pkayer as shit as Fabregas.
The future is Nasri not Fab4
So it looks like Liverpool are being further financed by Royal Bank of Scotland (who own Nat West) despite protests from Liverpool’s own supporters.
And Mr Usmanov has (according to the Guardian and the Times today) suggested that there should be a £100m rights issue at the Arsenal. The Times says, “Red & White believes that the club’s £350m debts have made the club uncompetitive”
Both these developments seem odd to me. Not that I am some kind of financial know-it-all, but none of it seems to add up.
If we start with Liverpool - the bank seems to be saying that the current American ownership are great guys, and there is no financial crisis, so why shouldn’t they lend the money? The club is financially well-managed and sound.
Well, not really, when it has £350m debt and no way of paying it back. “No prob” says the bank, “they are going to pay it back,” as if saying it makes it so.
But if that is true the only place those repayments are coming from are the pockets of the owners (who have been selling assets, which suggests it could be so) or from selling players (which seems unlikely given that they are still buying). Which means all that’s happened is that, as we guessed a month ago, the owners are now guaranteeing the debt. The debt is still there, and getting worse (Liverpool are still spending and they have no new forms of income) and they can’t build their new stadium.
In fact - Liverpool is as insolvent as ever, only now the banks are protected.
On the Arsenal front if the statement from Red and White is what they said is true, it is most curious. Mr Usmanov might be many things but he is not financially illiterate. He knows that the annual income at Arsenal AFTER the interest payments on the stadium is considerably higher than the income at Highbury, where of course there were no such payments.
So saying “Red & White believes that the club’s £350m debts have made the club uncompetitive” is nonsense - if he ever said it. The club in simple numbers terms is more competitive financially than ever, because the money from TV has gone up, and the gate receipts have gone up. If there is a pressure on Arsenal it is from player salaries - but not from the stadium debts.
If Arsenal are less competitive it is because Manchester IOU and Liverpool Insolvency have gone mad in spending more and more money, while the KGB has taken over Fulham and are quite probably printing their own money. On that front others have raised their game - again it is not the stadium’s fault.
A rights issue would give the club new money, true, and presumably there are not too many clauses in the way to stop Arsenal paying off the debt. So that reduces the repayment costs and makes more money available for the Lord Wenger. But the risk is that the balance of power could change again, and that might not be good for the club.
The problem is that we don’t really know what Mr Usmanov said. If he says what the Times said he said, then I would not trust his motives an inch, because it makes no sense, and he must know that. The Guardian has no quotes from Mr U - so maybe the Times did make it up.
Which then that leaves a question. Who do you trust more to tell the truth? The Times or Mr Usmanov?
It is extremely interesting for me to read this article. Thanks for it. I like such topics and everything that is connected to them. I definitely want to read more on that blog soon.
It was extremely interesting for me to read the post. Thanx for it. I like such topics and anything that is connected to this matter. I definitely want to read a bit more soon.
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