Couple of points regarding next year’s squad:
1) As I mentioned at that time, Arsenal’s most pressing need is for Fabregas to add 10-15 lbs. of muscle, while still being able to play football with his current finesse level– otherwise, Arsenal are going to continue to get muscled out of midfield by the Boltons of the world– Wenger is not going to abandon the midfield pairing of Gilberto and Fabregas (when they are healthy), for at least another couple of years– he puts too much faith in his established veteran players for him to bench Gilberto in favor of a more physical enforcer against the brute-force teams, and Gilberto is not suddenly going to become a fast, intimidating enforcer, so this leaves the only other option of Fabregas maturing into a strong enough player to hold his own against those teams… I don’t necessarily think this is beyond him– he’s not any much smaller than Roy Keane, and he’s only 18, so he could add the physical size to allow him to dominate in midfield, if he makes it an off-season priority (maybe he can hook up with Barry Bonds’ Balco connection, to follow in the footsteps of another supreme talent who was originally slight of build).
2) I continue to find it ridiculous that any Arsenal fan thinks that either Clichy or Flamini would be a suitable or sufficient one-for-one replacement for Cole– neither of them is ever going to be the attacking threat that Cole is.. if we want to be the most dangerous attacking team in Europe, we need to have the same kind of threat from the left (Cole) as we obtained from the right when Eboue emerged… if we get that, and Reyes and Hleb continue their progression, Pires and Ljungberg will become superfluous in another season (just as they have become superannuated)… but Sean Wright-Phillips (whatever his Englishness or Arsenal connection, which seems to count for more with the Islington-based fans than it does over here) is never going to fill that need for us– he could be a good addition to the midfield, but we would still be left with a diminished left-side attacking threat, as compared with the days when Cole, Pires, and Henry were all on song. I’d take SWP, if he wants to take a pay-cut to come over and boost our midfield, but not at the cost of Cole. I could see a 3-way deal which involves selling Reyes back to Spain (probably Madrid), and then using the funds to buy SWP from Chelsea (if they’ll sell reasonably), and then moving Hleb to the left and putting SWP on the right– but that would make too much sense, so it probably won’t happen.
3) I find infuriating all of the bold-faced assertions that Henry would leave, even during and after the CL final, when he apparently had already told his teammates before the game that he was staying, according to the same Guardian story by Matt Scott: “…having conveyed to his Arsenal team-mates before the Champions League final the decision to stay, Henry’s conviction only become more entrenched after the events at the Stade de France.”
If this is true, you can’t tell me that at least one of these players didn’t leak it to the press on Wednesday that Henry had told them that he was staying– and yet, we were still getting stories that Henry was leaving on Thursday, all the way up to the moment when Arsenal announced he had agreed to his new contract. What is the deal with the English press constantly stating as accomplished fact something that none of them knows to be a fact– almost as if they were hoping to make it come true by saying it enough times (a` la Hitler’s theory about “The Big Lie”– tell it often enough, and eventually everyone will start to believe it)? Clearly, none of these newspapers or websites knew what the hell they were talking about, when for 8 months they stated conclusively (even after Henry said publicly in January that he intended to stay) that “Henry is leaving”, “This is Henry’s last game at Arsenal”, “Henry is facing his future teammates in the CL final”, etc., etc., etc., … does the guy have to declare his undying love for Arsenal, London, and England every day, in order for the tabs to be satiated?
I understand the ridiculous Spanish press (which is nothing more than a captive political arm of Barca and Real Madrid, intended to further the objectives of their masters) constantly writing this crap, because they want to unsettle their CL opponents, even if they don’t end up with the players– but what the hell is the British tabloids’ problem? You’d think the red tops (along with everyone else who cares about EPL football, except Spurs fans) would realize that they are better off with a supreme talent like Henry staying in England rather than trotting off to the continent– why wouldn’t they rather have him in London to write about, rather than Madrid, like Beckham? … and even more appalling than all of these bold-faced declarations that they had absolutely no proof of, is the lack of any effort to publish any retractions or mea culpas, after the press were proved to have flat-out lied on a near daily basis for the last 8 months… instead we get lame attempts to justify their made-up stories by saying (once again, totally without proof) that “Oh, Henry was going to leave, but he only changed his mind at the last minute because Arsenal either did/did not win the CL final or because Barcelona did not offer him enough money or because Arsenal’s young players showed him that they had the potential to win things.” What a load of crap– they don’t know this to be true, anymore than they knew Henry was leaving in the first place.
P.S.- Can someone explain this story below to me– I have not heard anyone slating Henry for not winning the Barca game for us– sure, they’re disappointed that he didn’t work his usual magic in the final (like his cameo in the 2nd Spurs game), but I can’t imagine anyone who is a true Arsenal fan is suggesting that Henry didn’t score for us, because he had divided loyalties in the game. (That is what this “Barca in the black” quote is suggesting isn’t it?):
“It is also not inconceivable that Henry believes he still owes a debt to the fans, even after scoring 214 goals in 341 games for Arsenal. To be brutal, his missed chance was the defining moment; arguably even more so than Lehmann’s departure, the subject of much derision among the Arsenal faithful as they bevvied their way home, with the observation “Who’s the Bar?a in the black?” by far the wittiest.”
30 Responses to “Next Year with Henry, Fabregas, Gilberto, and Cole”
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May 28th, 2006 at 10:35 am
‘Barca in the black = referees”
May 28th, 2006 at 11:06 am
Why are you bothered about the press so much? They have papers to sell, isn’t it obvious how they operate?
Football lies is a very competitive market, it’s a question of whose lies are more believable than others and who can be first to repeat the lies of another.
It’s all part of entertainment. When you pick up a paper and read that Arsenal are going to buy Schevchenko or some other bullsh*t, you go along with the fantasy for 1/2 an hour - you know it’s bound to be a lie, but what if?
At the end of the day, you are perpetuating the manifestation of lies by reading it, so my advice is, if you feel so intensley about it, take some money from their pockets and stop reading it.
May 28th, 2006 at 11:24 am
I agree with ur 1st and 2nd point, gunned-down.
Ashley Cole is the best left back in the world (IMO at least), I wouldn’t swap Cole for two SWPs. Apart from one season with Man City, SWP so far had done NOTHING. Mourinho maybe annoying, he’s not an idoit. If SWP is good enough, he would have played a more important role with Chelsea. Suggesting A.Cole for SWP, it’s like swapping one of our best defenders for one of their bench-warmer? Chelsea maybe a good side, but they are not that good that a bench warmer of them is as good as our star left back.
Also agree with the Midfield problem. If the squad remain the same as present, even with Diaby returns, I fear we may still end up getting frustrated by some physical sides.
but knowing where the problem is is one thing, knowing how to soft it is another different matter. Everybody know we need a strong central midfielder, but the question is… WHO? some may suggest YaYa, Diarra or whoever another pretender, but they are not even close to what Petit used to do for us, let alone Vieira.
May 28th, 2006 at 11:36 am
whispers… the man wants to come back… just whispers
May 28th, 2006 at 11:44 am
Well Gunned…
I don’t see Fabregas adding that muscle “this” off-season, because there really isn’t one! That little World Cup thing will take up his time.
And please, don’t even joke about Fab doing a Bonds. That joke should be imprisoned. He’s tarnished baseball forever.
So I think Fab will grow and add muscle, its natural at his age… just might take a few years to do so. So I agree we could do with another central midfielder with a bit of bulk/strength.
Cole.
If he wants to STAY, we should do everything we can to accomodate him. Does he want to stay? If there is even a hint of doubt, off he goes. We did pretty damned well with Clichy then finally Flamini. No, they aren’t Ash, but they want to be there and are down for the cause. If Ash wants to go, then seeya. Take the 16 million or whatever and USE IT. I’d rather see him go to Spain than our rivals in Chelsea. SWP would be a nice addition in my opinion… but he’s not Ashley Cole’s equal in terms of value. (though Chelsea paid 22 mill!)
and finally… the papers are fun and interesting to read…. but most of them have as much validity as posters here on Arsenal America. They’re trying to stir the pot and sell papers. Some folks here try and stir the pot and get some good / fun / crazy topics discussed.
You’d hope they’d use a bit more discretion and accurate information… but they’d rather sell papers.
I’ll start my own rumor here and now….
ummmm… Paddy wants to come back!
You heard it here!
May 28th, 2006 at 12:10 pm
Point 1:
Gilberto , the enforcer: He is never going to be an enforcer . The reason we looked so bad in the first half last season was because Gilberto was trying to be Viera and Gilberto . He was trying tricks that Viera used to do but he never did have that skill so he was going forward too much and we were left exposed on numerous occasions. When Gilberto became Gilberto and defended we were fine and hence our good run at the end of the season . Bolton and blackburn give everyone problems , lets face it so I’d settle for 2 draws against the Trotters each season . GIlberto will pick the loose ball up , he will not dictate play he will let Hleb , Cesc and now Mozart play..hence he’s never gonna be an enforcer.
Clichy will fit the bill in a couple of years , he’s an Ashley COle clone ..but if Ash wants to “stay”…I mean genuinely stay…as you said we shd make him feel wanted and forget ColeGate…everyone makes mistakes…but if he goze Clichy will be fine , just not as good as Ash but still very very good…Flam is Ray Parlour…period…do a job …dont complain…just keep fighting…
The press….the less said the better…dont bother..its just PR and attempts by clubs to put doubts in the minds of the fans more than the players…coz once the fans start shouting the bnoard has to listen and that in turn puts more doubts into the player’s mind…Just imagine if all us AFC fans had started ranting like ManU fans when Rio “showboy” Ferdinand decided to leave or stay…Titi might well have gone…trust me..its coz the fans were great with him that it helped him make his mind up…
May 28th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
Size and speed do matter. One of the main reasons Arsenal struggled to finish 4th is because they lacked physical presence in the midfield. Their footballing skills are supreme in the premiership but not all teams will try to outplay Arsenal on football skill. When teams come up against Arsenal, they will result to muscle since their football skills are not on par with Arsenal. We do need a Vieria type or Keane player to enforce the midfield. Look at the size of Gerrard at Liverpool. Look at the size of Essien at Chelsea. Fabrecas or Gilberto cannot be expected to match these players in terms of physicality. At ManUtd, Alan Smith tried being the enforcer and was poor at it. He winded up with a broken leg for all his troubles. He (Smith) is not Keane because his body size is too small.
In the CL final, we (Arsenal) were definitely the physical team. Barcelona played football but at the same time toppled over to easily. They (Barcelona) worked the referee well and got the calls. But at the end of the day, Barcelona did play football and their manager made the right tactical substitutions.
I regretted when Wenger made substitiutions: wrong substitution in the final at the wrong time. I would have left Fabrecas and Hleb uin until Barcelona drew blood (scored). Putting in Flamini was Wengers mistake.
Wenger has a new approach. He believes that if the back 4 are large and physical, then he does not need an imposing midfielder as an enforcer. I would give it a try. It is a new tactic.
My feeling, we do need a physical midfielder, who can sit on the ball. It was a major shortcoming of Arsenal in the champion’s league final.
I have confidence that we will learn and maybe pick up a few trophies next season. Even though Chelsea are strong, they are becoming disjointed. ManUtd will pay the price this season for not having a stronger midfield. Liverpool is a problem. Liverpool is the team to beat. They have speed speed, size and depth.
To my Arsenal friends, if we have a chance to get Owen, we should get him.
Finally, I have always stated that Berkamp at Van Peries current age was a better player, had better passing skills, and better vision. I still believe this.
David, the Arsenal fan
May 28th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
First off I wanna say well said Stag, Bonds has tarnished the game and is an absolute disgrace. Completely unlike our classy, mature young midfielder. I agree that Cesc bulking up would be a boost for us but as someone said earlier with the world cup it won’t happen this summer. I think over a couple years though he will get bigger and tougher, he certainly isn’t afraid to get physical.
I’m not sure how I feel about SWP. I feel that he could probably contribute here to some capacity but we’ve already got hleb on the right, we need someone on the left. Also he is certainly not worth getting for ashley cole. Rightly said he is the best left back in the world and so much more valuable than SWP.
Like everyone said the press is just there to ruffle feathers and sell papers. Who can deny that rumos and other scandalous, outrageous bits attract people’s interest, even if they know that there isn’t any truth to it. That’s just the way it works, not much can be done but ohh well.
May 28th, 2006 at 2:26 pm
u mean Paddy?! i surely would love to see that! Vieira + Cesc… that would be some combination!
May 28th, 2006 at 2:57 pm
I disagree that Cole is the best left back in the world. He is a good left back but imho, Zambrotta is a much better left back than him. Cole is probably on par with Heinze. Zambrotta is a lot more versatile than both Cole and Heinze as he can play on both left and right backs position. How often do we see Cole trying to force a pass with his left foot when passing with his right is the better option. His right foot is used mostly for standing. Also the next time you watch Cole break down the left wing, u will find that he will invariably lose the ball or give the ball away to the opposition. I have seen it too many times to wonder how he gets the best left back tag. Zambrotta has alot more composure on the ball and produces the better final ball. Clichy can be better than Cole with more game experience so if Real Madrid offers 20m pounds for Cole, I say let do business.
May 28th, 2006 at 3:01 pm
Well if Juve is relegated as a result of the investigations into the Italian league, there is no reason for Vieira to stick around. I hope Wenger takes him back on the cheap.
May 28th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
well… as any rumor… its heresay…
but that rumor has surfaced.
Vieira wants to come back to Arsenal.
Not saying its gonna happen… but crazier things have occured.
If we ROTATE Gilberto Cesc and Paddy in midfield, I don’t think that would be so bad.
Vieira wouldn’t have to play in every match… nor would Cesc… or Gilberto…
but aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh
just a rumor…
thats what silly season is all about…
Newcastle United are rumored to WANT Vieira as well…
May 28th, 2006 at 4:01 pm
Yes… that would be cool…
say… how about 7 Million for Vieira…
half of what we were paid!
May 28th, 2006 at 4:02 pm
You can keep Owen….
unless we are getting him for about 7 or 8 million.
he’s always injured…
and RVP is no Dennis Bergkamp… nobody is!
May 28th, 2006 at 4:06 pm
You underestimate Cole.
He’s excellent.
Players his caliber are not a dime a dozen.
Now, best left back in the world?
Not sure about that… but he’s British, so that definitely ADDS to his allure. Clichy and Flamini are not Ashley Cole…
for me its about him WANTING to be here.
If he wants to stay 100%, great… but otherwise, we have back up in Clichy and Flamini and we are covered there. Cole is VERY good going forward on the left and linking up and overlapping with the midfielder and Henry… give him his due.
May 28th, 2006 at 4:38 pm
excellent article gunned-down, but I think I would have to disgree with you about the Cole repalcement, in one aspect. I do believe when Cole is injured, Clichy is the best player to cover in that position and also roam down the left channel. When its possible Clichy goes as far down as needed.But, hopefully Cole will be here for ages to come.
May 28th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
http://www.arsenal.com/player.asp?PLID=6618
It’s quite funny. Log on to the above link u’ll see a Arsenal player profile on Arsenal.com with Shevchenko as our new No. 7 shirt owner! a little wind up to the Speical One i believe!
May 28th, 2006 at 7:39 pm
If Juve are relegated I would rather go for Buffon and Trezeguet. Buffon is the best GK and Trez is one of the best finishers in the world.
May 28th, 2006 at 11:52 pm
We aren’t paying over the top for the likes of Buffon or Trez…
yes they are excellent players, but Wenger doesn’t usually by PROVEN talent… he buys young and fairly inexpensive.
(hell… Andy Johnson is 8 million, and we reportedly paid less than that for Rosicky?)
May 29th, 2006 at 2:52 am
Bonds and hundreds of other MLBers have tarnished baseball. Only when some guy starts breaking records does the media give a damn. Total hypocrisy from the MLB offices to the MLB Players Assn to the press to the fans. Everyone knew these guys were juicing for years. Indict baseball and not Bonds.
May 29th, 2006 at 4:55 am
As a Yank who’s been living in Britain for the past two years, I can assure you that the London tabs are basically all hilarious — they know it, the readers know it — and nobody takes their “reports” seriously. But they DO keep writing the same stuff because it winds up the fans, sells papers to guys going home on the Tube, etc.
Short answer: Pay no attention!
As for the Cole debacle, I agree with the crowd which argues that if he REALLY means to stay, then he’s still the best left back in the world and worth all our efforts to keep him. It’s interesting that all the business about “bully” teams suddenly being able to overrun us — for ONE season — occurred once Cole’s and his counter-attacking threat were gone.
We won a LOT of games without Vieira — including an FA Cup Final and a nice string at the start of the 2004-2005 season.
But as much as Cole’s agent Jonathan Barnett disgusts me and however much I’ve hated the entire tapping-up/lawsuit saga, the fact is that when Ash is playing, slower and rougher opponents aren’t quite so quick to thug it up for fear of a sudden break in the other direction.
Interesting that the noise about that “tactic” stopped once Eboue started roaring in the other direction.
Now imagine it on BOTH flanks. That doesn’t leave Bolton or Blackburn or anybody else many bodies to stand in the center of the park and slug it out — supposedly to intimidate Arsenal’s lightweight midfielders.
Obviously Arsene doesn’t think so, either. He went out and got Rosicky — a GREAT player — who is even smaller than Fabregas, Reyes, Helb, etc.
Wenger’s Arsenal will ALWAYS be built on speed nullifying teams who want to spend the afternoon kicking your shins.
Hate to use a hockey analogy, but NHL “enforcers” spent two decades trying to rough up Wayne Gretzy and STILL haven’t caught him!
This whole “I’ve solved Arsenal” myth begun by Fat Sam Allardyce is just that — a myth. When everyone’s healthy, we can run circles around teams who want to punch it out instead of playing football.
The key, obviously, is whether Cole REALLY wants to stay or if Barnett truly is pulling the strings. Ash is a strange guy at times, and he seems hypnotized by Barnett.
We’ll know Ash’s true intentions over the next couple of months, but please, don’t sell me SWP as being anywhere near Cole’s value to Arsenal.
Not even close.
May 29th, 2006 at 7:49 am
Hey, I said if Juve are relegated, and if they are relegated, I don’t think that their players will want to play in Seria B, so they will ask for transfers, and because of the financial situation, they will be much cheaper.
May 29th, 2006 at 9:18 am
Sorry… Bonds chose to cheat, and now he is on the brink of breaking hallowed records.
You reap what you sew… he deserves all the negative light he gets, the boos, the taunts, the cat-calls… everything.
He gets ZERO slack. He is a bad guy. Its pretty simple. He lied to the grand jury, and he will get whats coming to him… plain and simple.
May 29th, 2006 at 9:22 am
Rosicky is smaller than Cesc?
Not in body type. Thats like saying Dirk Nowitzki is smaller than Manute Bol. (you get my drift, even if this example is a bit extreme)…
and…
for the record… Gretzky had “goons” protecting him his ENTIRE career… every single team he played for had players that protected him… see: Marty McSorley for example.
May 29th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
Alright, so you’ve told me what I already know- that I can just ignore the tabs. Putting aside my belief that indiscriminately published lies sometimes unsettle our team’s players, and lead to lesser performances (don’t you think Campbell and Cole were affected this year?), I still would be interested to know what a local thinks about my on-field footballing points– are you a big SWP backer; and if so, does it have anything to do with his being English or having an Arsenal lineage, or is just about his footballing qualities? What about Fabregas bulking up? Will it help? What about the Reyes to Madrid for cash to buy SWP from Chelsea (or even Diarra from Lyon)?
May 29th, 2006 at 12:55 pm
I am curious. What player should we have as a forward to supplement Henry? If not Owen, then what about Cisse? You are right about Owen being injury plagued. The asking price might be too high.
For me, Van Persie is not the next Berkamp despite his Dutch pedigree.
One French player that I am excited is Sigamary Diarra from Sochaux. He is a great striker (22 years old) that plays on the right. I think Wenger should inquire about him before other clubs look to pick him up.
David the Arsenal fan
May 29th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
I’m for Djibril, no doubt about that. Before moving to Liverpool, he was my 2nd favourite player behind the GREAT Henry. I was so angry that Wenger didn’t go for him and then he signed for Liverpool and his career went on the wrong way, he broke his leg, and was not playing much in the last two seasons. But he still managed to score around 18-20 goals this season in all competitions and the most of the playing time he got, he played as a right winger, not as a striker. I think we should go for him this summer because he is not happy there and I think that he wants to stay in England, because returning to France is a step backward.
May 29th, 2006 at 6:53 pm
Hey stag, Dirk is smaller than Manute Bol.
But how about this: Georghe Muresan is smaller than Mugsy Bogues
May 30th, 2006 at 6:35 am
If Juve are relegated, and that is a BIG IF, their players should be available for FREE. Who wants to play in the second division? They will all be desperate to leave.
But it’s still a BIG IF.
May 30th, 2006 at 8:41 am
It’s a big IF in the sense that it’s not gonna happen in a million years.