Proper transfer movement & Who will replace Theo Van Nasregas?

Morning Gooners,


It's getting close now. 2 weeks today Arsenal will be looking forward to walking out at St James to kick off the 2011/2012 season.

First of all though we have what has now become our regular pre-season tournament, the Emirates Cup. In the build up, Arsenal players and of course Le Prof himself have been over heavy on the quotes as the rumour mill goes into overdrive with transfer stories hitting us faster than I can remember in any other summer.

The really exciting bit of all this is that some of the stories are actually looking credible and likely to happen. Spain U21's captain Juan Mata looks likely to be the next player welcomed into the Arsenal family. The 23 year old Valencia midfielder is reported to be close to signing after his current club excepted Arsenal's bid suspected to be around £17m which will smash our current transfer record. It's thought the deal could be completed very soon even to the extent that Mata will be a guest at the Emirates cup this weekend.

Down the other end of the pitch Wenger is also trying hard to make additions to our defensive line. Phil Jagielka seems to be in our sights and according to reports has become our number one target from the many, many, many, many centre backs we have been linked with. It is being reported that we have gone back to Everton with an improved bid for the England international. The belief at the moment is that we'll strike a deal worth about £15m and have him in the squad photo on August 4th.

Personally, I'd much rather have his team mate Baines coming to the Emirates as it's a position we need to fill more than that of CB as Gibbs is still not ready to go through a whole season as first choice although I really like him as a player so I hope he proves me wrong.

There have also been more reports that the pacey Costa Rica striker Joel Campbell has agreed to join us although it may not be announced officially by either club until much later in the day. For all the latest on Campbell's movements i suggest you follow @gunnerblog on twitter as he has been ahead of the curve on developments.

If we start the season losing one of Fabregas/Nasri and keeping the other, then add Mata and Jagielka as well as Gervinho and Jenkinson then you have to agree that we will start the season stronger than we did last year. I still crave a new left back and a defensive midfielder to make Song work for his starting spot and if we get those then I will genuinely go into the season believing we can win the league.

Any moves in the transfer market will hopefully be completed in the very near future, I'd love to start the new season with a full squad with all the fresh faces standing among the players we've all grown to love. It's nice to know that Arsene Wenger feels the same way. In his pre Emirates Cup press conference he said he wants to complete his dealings sooner rather than later.

I'll finish on a positive note. Theo Walcott's ankle injury appears not to be as bad as first thought with Wenger believing that he could make the start of the season. I'm quite excited about the thought of Theo and Gervinho on opposite sides of our attack scaring the living begeeezaz (Yes I know it's not a real word) out of defences across the Premier League and Europe with no less than RVP inbetween them. Then add Mata into the mix once he's settled properly and the Nasri we saw in the first half of last season and sweet Jesus, it's a good time to be a Gooner. With Theo Van Nasregas almost certainly not going to be at the club next year we may need some new names people. Get thinking on that and before you know it we'll be in a packed Ashburton Grove cheering the boys on.

Till next time,
Goonerfish.

As I've mentioned Twitter already, why not follow me to get more random gibberish mixed in with Arsenal news as it comes in. You'll find me here .

Tedious Transfers and do we really need a new CB?

Morning Gooners,


Like many gooners I listened to Wenger and Gazidis when the season ended and heard that Arsenal FC intended to spend money bringing players in and at the same time were finally ready to get rid of a lot of the dead wood that was sitting on the fringes of our squad.

I waited in May and June telling myself to be patient, players are still on holiday etc, etc, the players will be rolling in soon. We are now towards the end of July and we still have the same stories that were flying around when last season finished, in fact, they're the same stories from last summer. Barca are days away from signing Fabregas, Samba, Cahill, Jagielka linked with moves to Arsenal, I even saw the Melo rumour pop up again the other day on Newsnow. Sometimes I really wish I could take a long sleep and wake up on September 1st when the whole window is closed.

Before you get on my case, I understand that deals take time and I know that we have been in for players such as Phil Jones and had bids rejected but Wenger himself has set a deadline of July 31st for the Cesc saga to come to an end because he will have no time to replace him so surely he understands that other managers will be thinking the same thing. We are moaning about Barca offering less than they know is a price likely to be accepted then we do the same with our own targets. We need to move now and bring players in quickly, if that means paying an extra £2-3m per player in an environment where Chelsea pay more for their manager than we have ever paid for a player then pay it.

The other thing that is frustrating me this pre-season is our transfer targets. We have brought in Carl Jenkinson, no issues there, Eboue is past his best and is surely one of those player that we would move on if we can find someone to take him. Gervinho is a great attacking prospect and will push Theo, Arshavin and Nasri for a starting spot and competition is good for performances however we do not seem to be (in public knowledge) be looking for another defensive midfielder to push Alex Song. Song played half of last season knowing that if he was fit, he started. He needs someone challenging his spot to get the best out of him, a player like Scott Parker would do that and is also a player that would do a good job for us and jump at the chance to join us, even if it was only on loan.

The position we are being linked with most players to fill is centre back. My question is this... why? Why do we need a fifth centre back? Why do we need a player such as Cahill or Samba or Jagielka? Are they better than Koscielny or Djourou? Stop laughing at the question and ask yourself again are the three centre backs named above worth spending the clubs precious cash on? Vermaelen will start the season as our main CB, there can be no doubt about that. If he stays, Squillaci will be our last ditch, fourth choice CB which leaves Djourou and Koscielny fighting to partner TV5. I track back to a blog I read by Arsenal Vision who with the help of EPL Index compared last seasons stats for Kos and Samba and they read as follows:

Koscielny:

Pass completion: 85%
Tackle Success: 78%
Ground 50-50 Duels won: 58%
Aerial Duels won: 53%
Interceptions: 91

Samba:

Pass Completion: 63%
Tackle Success: 73%
Ground 50-50 Duels won: 64%
Aerial Duels won: 69%
Interceptions: 79 

The thing that stands out for me is that Kos wins 3 categories, Samba wins 2. Now I don't have stats for Cahill but I doubt they are significantly better than Kos' and I'd feel safe betting the same is the case for Jagielka. In my eyes, our best partnership would be that of TV5 and Kos and it is not worth spending £15m on a defender that will not significantly improve our team and on top of that Song can be very strong in the centre of defence and if we had another DM then that would be another option open to Wenger. Lets also not forget that this was Koscielny's first season so he was producing stats equal to our supposed targets whilst still adapting to the English league. 

I know I am in the vast minority in this argument but I honestly do not think we need to sign another CB unless one of ours leaves, I am much more concerned about recruiting a new defensive midfielder to challenge Song and a replacement at left back because as much as Wenger tries to convince us otherwise, Gibbs is not good enough to be a regular starter for a team that should be challenging for the title.

Sorry for what seems to be a very negative blog but these niggles must be shouted out at some point and frustration needs to be vented. I am sure that Wenger knows what this team needs more than I do, you do or anyone else does for that matter but we need to be a better squad than we were last year, especially with our rivals all strengthening theirs and with the very real possibility of  Fabregas and Nasri playing elswhere next year we need strong signings and we need them now.

Till next time,

Goonerfish.