Monthly Archives: August 2006

Transfer Window Coming To A Close….

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Gallas & Baptista for Cole & Reyes?

Well it’s been a long day involving transfers but the latest news is that Arsenal are going to swap Jose Antonio Reyes for his old Sevilla team-mate Julio Baptista, the man Arsene wanted last season.

And there are rumours that Cashley is finalising a deal with Chelsea and that in return we get William Gallas.

For Arsenal, if these two swap deals go through then it would be a very good day in the transfer market. To offload two players who don’t want to play for the club is a good thing but to replace them with proven class is even better.

Gallas has proven himself in The Premiership and at the highest level which is important. Senderos will be back in a couple of months so we’ll have decent cover at centre-back.

Could this even be the start of the energetic Kolo in central midfield?

We can all dream I suppose.

And Baptista would be a welcome addition, because of his presence and power which would help us on those physical away days!

Only 3 hours left and all the madness will end…

 

First Roman Abramovich And Now Kia Joorabchian?

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And to think we all thought the domination of The Premier League was in the hands of Chelsea and their billions.

How wrong we were.

With todays quite amazing news that West Ham United have managed to sign Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano you have to wonder what the hell just happened here, and what does it mean for English football.

With huge clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Roma all linked to the Argentinean Duo you have to ask yourself how did they sign for West Ham?

How can they even afford these players – remembering that Tevez had a buy-out clause in his contract worth £68 million that needed to be paid off in order for him to even leave Corinthians.

So you can bet that this ‘undisclosed fee’ West Ham got these players for was nothing, especially since MSI were preparing a takeover bid of WHU last year.

But of course, the President of London-based MSI (Media Sports Investments) Kia Joorabchian who own Corinthians have signed a crop of Brazilian and South American talent in their time with their new found wealth, including players such as Maxi Lopez, Lucho Gonzalez, Carlos Alberto, Wagner Love & Sebastian Dominguez.

Haven’t heard of them? You will do.

Great news for West Ham fans who can expect massive transfer coups over the next few seasons as they look to attack Chelsea, Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool at the top of The Premiership.

Bad news for the rest of the league.

And another worrying aspect is that although Kia Joorabchian denies any involvement with Roman Abramovich in regards to MSI they do have business links through another Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky so aren’t exactly strangers to each other.

Of course Abramovich also denies any financial interest in CSKA Moscow, even though a company that he is a shareholder of Sibneft are the shirt sponsors of CSKA in a £30 million, 3 year deal.

Or maybe West Ham won’t be bought out by MSI and won’t become a major force in the game over the next few years. Maybe West Ham are just a feeder club to Chelsea, who will monitor the players progress over the season and then decide if they are good enough to play for them in The Premiership.

Either way, neither scenario is exactly great for Arsenal!

 

All Quiet On The Transfer Front. Obviously.

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Well the biggest speculation on transfer deadline day involving Arsenal targets is that Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano have signed for West Ham on loan.

Apparently Tevez claims on his official website that the move to West Ham is a done deal so it seems pretty certain he won’t be a Gooner this season! We can all dream eh?

The only other real rumour is that in exchange for Reyes, Real are going to give Arsenal Julio Baptista and £2 million. I’m not sure about this one, since it has been looking like Atletico Madrid were the favourites to sign the wantaway winger.

The squad is the thinnest it has been for a long time and I think I’m right in saying that in terms of playing numbers we have one of the smallest squads in The Premier League! I believe Aston villa have more players than us which is quite depressing!

But more likely signings are a Japanese youngster called Sho Ito and Kilmarnock striker Steven Naismith.

God help us all.

 

Cole Plays For Arsenal As Wenger Turns Up The Heat

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Yep, That’s Cole In The New Arsenal Kit!

Well football never ceases to amaze me and last night Ashley Cole played for Arsenal in the reserves as the Gunners beat Charlton Athletic 4-0.

That’s right – the photograph above is not photoshopped!

Arsene Wenger is either turning up the heat on Chelski, playing Cole so that the Russians quickly stump up the right transfer fee which they have yet to offer Arsenal.

Or amazingly, Ashley Cole is staying at Arsenal!

The big question is would Arsene risk Cole in a reserve game if he was going to be involved in a big money transfer?

Unlikely.

It looks like Cole and his agent have once again looked like complete muppets and now both are staying at Arsenal for another season.

If Cole does stay, let’s hope he shuts his mouth for more than 5 minutes and does what he’s bloody paid for – to play football.

But don’t be surprised if Cole is a Chelski player by the time you read this!

In other transfer news, Arsenal have been linked with Carlos Tevez which if actually happened would be an amazing move. But it’s just another product of silly season so keep dreaming! Although the notion that Tevez could be unveiled at the Brazil versus Argentina friendly at The Emirates in September is a nice one!

And our favourite Spaniard has apparently come out and said he’s never going to play for Arsenal again. I think Arsenal might have a say in that since we’re the ones who pay his wages but it looks like Jose is still living in a dream world.

Franck Ribery has spoken how difficult a time he’s had recently with all the transfer speculation surrounding him over the summer – bless. Maybe he shouldn’t come out publicly and say he wants to leave then? Jesus…

 

It’s Just The Same Old Story…

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I’d had a bit of time to think about this evenings game against Manchester City and I’m more annoyed than anything else with the defeat – mainly because every Gooner could see it coming from a mile away.

You knew it was going to happen!

Arsenal dominated the first half, wasting 5 or 6 great opportunities – with the less than sharp Thierry the main culprit.

And just like against Aston Villa and Dynamo Zagreb, Arsenal didn’t have the cutting edge and once again were scared to shoot on goal!

Arsenal had most of the ball in the second half but Man City keeper Nicky Weaver didn’t have a save to make!

What the hell is wrong with Arsenal – does Wenger dish out punishments if our players shoot outside the area?

And the worst thing was Manchester City weren’t even that physical. I dread to think what the hell is going to happen once we play teams like Everton, Bolton and Manchester United.

When a team dominates the game so much and doesn’t take their chances the opposition will ALWAYS get a chance to nick a goal.

ALWAYS.

And so it proved on the 41st minute.

A long diagonal ball played to Trevor Sinclair caused all the problems, and the inexperienced Justin Hoyte watched the ball but didn’t know where the player was.

And he succeeded in hacking down Sinclair for a penalty kick.

It was obvious Joey Barton was going to score – it was virtually their first chance of the entire game!

How many times in the past have Arsenal been left ruing missed chances?

Far too many times!

And the second half was the same old story – plenty of attacking possession but no desire to shoot and test the keeper.

The only player willing to shoot on goal in the second period was Robin Van Persie!

You may think I am over-reacting but unless something happens then we’re in for a very, very tough season.

Arsenal have only one way of playing and if teams play deep and with 8/9 men behind the ball they know Arsenal will not get through.

And can you blame them?

Days like today have happened far to often and Arsenal have to learn to score a scruffy goal!

Arsenal play a quick, slick passing game and without a player who can actually head the ball teams will play the same way against us. Too many times the ball is wide and instead of crossing it we play the ball inside and face a brick wall of defenders.

With players like Bergkamp, Pires, Vieira and Freddie at their peak this way of playing wasn’t a problem – we could keep chipping away and you knew we would eventually score.

But with the current personell Arsenal have to play differently but there are no signs of this happening. We are not the same team we were 2 seasons ago and the question is can Arsenal change the way they play?

We’ll have to wait and see…