An Alternative Look at Arsenal's Transfer Targets

'Tis the Season to be trolled and sent up the Falcao Garden of Golden Dreams. 

The BSM grow more disgruntled every day and the WOB will undoubtedly use AFC not signing any of the players below as yet another reason to fill your twitter timeline with tomfoolery. 
We can expect to be inundated with "this star's coming, that deadwood's going" headlines for the next month or so - and to avoid sounding like a broken record, new names will be drawn out of the Mirror Football hat every Monday. Whilst Arsene has said that we "may be looking at two players, plus a loan for Henry", we've sort of been here before. With that in mind, (to save you half the bother) i've written a 2-part summary of some of the top names that have been linked with the club in what's bound to be another Sheikh dominated January Transfer Window. This is the first. 
First on the list has to "£6m Dutchman Klaas Jan Huntelaar"; a goalscorer who has flopped on the big stage at both Real Madrid and AC Milan, this 29 year old FC Schalke 04 striker has 5 goals in 14 Bundesliga games this season. He's famously in the last year of his contract, and his agent seems to be hard at work to engineer an offer; should be available cut-price. 
England's recent debut boy Wilfried Zaha, 20, who could still play for the Ivory Coast, is a winger slash attacking mid with a fair bit of flair up his rather lanky long sleeve. Plays for Crystal Palace in the nPower Championship and of yet, has 4 goals in 18 games this season. 
Moroccan international Adel Taarabt, QPR's "creative spark" is a controversial 23 year old attacking midfielder who has 2 goals (+1 assist) in his 9 Premier League games this season. As 'Arry's just turned up at Loftus Road, one can only summise as to the comings and goings that could take place over the next 6-8 weeks. Adel seems to have a reputation for making a nuisance of himself, will Arsene find a place for him? 
Fernando Llorente, Spanish International Forward, 27. Has one goal so far, which came in his only full, 90' minute La Liga appearance. Has been involved in what i can only describe as a "most troubling situation" with his current club, Athletico Bilbao. Look out for a post on the "Walcott-syndrome" that a fair few of these players are suffering from. 
Adrian Lopez, attacking midfielder/forward, 24. Plays for Atletico Madrid and has one goal in 12 starts this season (all competitions). He's the back-up to the man-God that is Falcao, and he's another player that's been making demands; some of them slightly outrageous - my favourite of which is probably "i want to play football." 
Hatam Ben Arfa, attacking midfielder, 25. Plays for Newcastle United and has 2 goals and 2 assists in his 12 Premier League starts so far this season. If you've seen him play, you know why we're "in for him." Whether we're actually going anywhere near making an offer is yet to be seen, and probably depends on Theo's situation. 
Radamel Falcao, striker, 26. Plays for Atletico Madrid and has an impressive 11 goals in his 12 La Liga starts this season. Those are the stats. Keep dreaming. Chelsea seems the likely destination unless City do some moving around. We'd almost certainly be looking at a minimum of £40m and that, is where this one ends. 
Uruguay's Edison Cavani, striker, 25, Napoli. Has scored at an incredible rate this season with 15 in 14 games (all competitions). Napoli's ever-so-slightly eccentric Chairman recently quoted as saying, "he's not leaving. Unless we get £70m offer." Moving ever so swiftly on. 
Stewart Downing, Liverpool who has just the one, solitary Europa League goal to shout about this season. I can only pray that us being linked with this Liverpool winger - i mean, left back - is a media mockery, something started on twitter, no doubt. Keep your nonsense, IKOs.
Isco, 20, Malaga. has had a brilliant term so far, with 5 goals and 3 assists this season (all competitions). This one's probably me dreaming myself, but.. he's amazing on FIFA, so sign him up Arsene! Or you're out! ;) 

That's about all for now - hope you enjoyed a light-hearted look at some players who probably aren't coming anywhere near the club. 

If you need more, I've made two youtube videos covering the Transfer Talk (see below) and i'll undoubtedly write another one of these shortly, specifically covering Abou/a half decent lump we can stick in the middle. 

Response to: "A Black Footballers' Union" (LeGrove)

by @hughwizzy

This post is a response to the blog entitled,

"A black footballers union? Are you mad?" posted Wed, Oct 24 by Le Grove.


As it was deleted (or never allowed past moderation) from the comments section, and since we live in the Western World of Free Speech; i feel entitled to my (albeit, rather serious) opinion, which i'll post here. You're entitled to totally disagree with everything i have to say. 

Living in the multi-cultural society we do, you would think segregation of players to deal with would be the wrong answer when trying to solve the race relations issues in football.
We should be past this, but the mere mention of the subject brings about some rather fruitful language from some, and is passed off  as a joke by others. 

Jason Roberts.

Well, now it would seem the FA have twiddled their thumbs for long enough on the issue, and capable of launching, marketing and financially supporting a "Breakaway FA", Rio and his gang are now moving to (perhaps) tactically prise some of the power away from the FA. A move that will undoubtedly ruffle a few feathers.

Are they right to seek representation for minorities in the workplace?
Can i think of any other workplace where minorities are not represented?

Any of you who saw the England U21 scenes with their Serbian counterparts will know why I'm really disheartened by what i read (from one of my favourite Arsenal bloggers, mind) concerning Rio Ferdinand and Jason Roberts' decision to attempt to form some sort of Black Footballers' Union, but even more alarmed by the general response and lack of understanding in what is already a painful, touchy subject.

Whilst the damage they've done to Kick It Out (by simultaneously not wearing the brand's t-shirt at the weekend's fixtures) is undeniable and perhaps irreparable, the lack of real unity in the game is the core problem here that a lot of people are ignoring.

Rio, the odd one out.

"if you have an organisation that excludes a race, then you become as bad as the people you are trying to protect, or is that concept too difficult for a footballer to grasp?"

Insinuating a lack of intellect because he's a footballer? 
Not sure. Hopefully, that would be too easy.

We already have the FA (i'm sure Rio's aware of them) and let's be honest, whilst things have improved a damned sight since, say: John Barnes' or Cyrille Regis' time, the underlying elephant hasn't left the room.
To pretend otherwise is to insult intelligence (back to the top) and quite simply encourages the disgraceful behaviour of which we all want rid.

I really hope you see what i did there.

The fact that Rio, Lescott, Jason Roberts (or anyone else) feels the need to take such an outlandish, apparently unplanned stance on the matter should tell you that not enough is being done by the FA, who are, for me, inconsistent with fines, bans and following through with any resolve regarding the matter.

Finally, it has been muted that they are, and i simply wanted to point out to anyone that has read this far and isn't already fully aware that: Rio Ferdinand, his brother Anton Ferdinand, Clarke Carlisle (Chairman of the PFA) and Joleon Lescott ARE NOT BLACK.

They are of mixed race.

PFA Chairman, Clarke Carlisle

Hence any argument that they would solely have the interest of black players at heart, seems void. Fact is, there are predominantly more black and mixed race players in football, but i will presume that the Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Korean etc) players who are suffering the abuse daily, death threats weekly would feel touched that something was at least being attempted and that the plan was receiving the warranted attention.

Not that it's definitely the most progressive plan of action (still debatable), but talks of a "breakaway FA" have been  "ongoing for years" according to PFA Chairman, Clarke Carlisle - who says, "a stance does need to be taken, and if the FA aren't going to take the matter seriously then they have every right to." The fact that even Sir Alex Ferguson's tune changed (drastically) on the matter in the time it took Utd's social media marketing manager to check the general consensus on twitterverse, speaks volumes, and it would appear that Rio and his not-so-merry men are being taken rather seriously.

I'm not exactly Manchester United, or Rio's biggest fan, but i say Kudos to those who stand up. They're certainly attracting a lot more attention than they might, had they worn the t-shirts.

If they don't act, and sit back from their positions of social standing, how are people like a young Danny Rose or a Gibbs to react when it happens to them, which it undoubtedly will in their careers. That said, people have had the same response to calls for true equality throughout history.

Thank the Lord it was Rose, and not Frimpong!

If you made it this far, you deserve a medal of some sort; hope i was fair.

Changing the English Philosophy

by Zaheer Shah

England’s national team continues to divide opinion when it comes to how the team should be run, whether it is a managerial appointment, tactical decision or squad selection. However by taking a step back and analysing the entire situation, it will be easier to clarify what the problems are and how to resolve them. Pre Euro 2012, the appointment of Roy Hodgson took many by surprise; Harry Redknapp was the media and bookies favourite to take the vacant England position by leaving Tottenham Hotspur come the close season. However once the appointment had been made, “experts” had already began a tirade of analysis which, some were true, but largely were false and had no substance. The media wanted an England team to replicate European style football, possession based with fluid forward movement but with English grit and determination, Hodgson knew this wasn’t feasible. 
During the selection process, Hodgson had many unfortunate setbacks, one was Kyle Walker and Gareth Barry injuries, as well as Michael Carrick and Micah Richards not wanting to be squad players, I do feel however that Frank Lampard’s injury was a blessing in disguise, for his inclusion would have meant a total tactical restructuring of a team that would need to be built around a player who is too one dimensional in my opinion. 
Wayne Rooney’s suspension gave more emphasis on who will be selected to deputise during the two games in which Rooney was ineligible. Once the final squad was taken to Poland/Ukraine, on inspection the squad was “bottom heavy”, not in numbers but in the characteristics of the players. 

The squad is as follows:
3 Goalkeepers/8 Defenders/8 Midfielders/4 Strikers

Of the 8 defenders, Hodgson was relying on the versatility of Phil Jones and Phil Jagielka in order to compensate for only including 3 players who would end up playing defensive midfield (Gerrard, Parker and Henderson) in a system which utilised 2 at a time, 4-2-3-1. 
Of the 8 midfielders, as previously mentioned, 3 would be defensive and 5 wingers but had plenty of versatility, Young would be played behind the striker during Rooney’s absence to good effect, Chamberlain's ability to play across the attacking line was also a plus and the squad contained a “defensive winger” in Milner. Among the strikers, upon Rooney’s return, he was deployed mainly a withdrawn role behind an out and out striker, this pushing Young into a more accustomed to wide role. The saying “players make the formation” was not relevant to this team, in this team the formation made the players. In midfield, Gerrard, at club level, is not used a defensive midfielder; his ability allows him to get forward and have a greater influence in an attacking sense. Young and Milner do not play in teams that soak up pressure and employ a counter attacking game, both their respective teams are proactive in their approach rather than reactive. The philosophy that Hodgson had imposed on the England team had changed the mind set of players from being attacking and forward thinking, to defensive and drawn towards reactive football.
During the tournament, in which England gained a respectable draw to France, won a surprisingly entertaining match with Sweden and a close fought encounter with Ukraine which secured first position in the group. 
At this point in time Hodgson had achieved his greatest accomplishment, he convinced the nation that playing defensive football is the most effective way to play with the current generation of England players and the media were more than happy to agree as long as England were in the tournament, however everyone got a reality check when Italy came knocking. 

The match was dominated from the first minute to the last minute of extra time by Italy, England couldn’t keep the ball for prolonged periods and looked predictable in their build up, this led them to become tired later in the match due to having to chase the ball and it showed during the penalty shootout. Straight after England were knocked out, the media, fans and ex-players jumped on the bandwagon which stated that England need to change their approach and learn how to keep the ball better. 

At grassroots level, physicality dominates a coaches thinking rather than the technical ability of a player, as Gareth Southgate declared after the Italy match, “Imagining Pirlo's report as young player - can't run, can't tackle, poor in the air. Ah, the importance of focussing on what kids CAN do”. 

This statement can be reflected in many players who are small and slight but have incredible technical abilities, unfortunately they are overlooked by players who have a much better build and use their physical power to perform rather than what they can do with the ball at their feet. It’s a common occurrence that central defenders be tall and physical in their approach, central midfielders should be athletic and powerful due to the amount of running they’ll need to do, wingers should be quick and direct, and strikers should be powerful; smaller strikers are rare but need to be quick if they are to play. None of these characteristics help in playing possession based football but rather counter attacking direct football. 
In order for England’s national team to progress, the model English player needs to be changed, the characteristics that coaches look for in their selection need to be change and the style of football needs to change. By educating coaches and showing them how much one coach can change, will enable them to make braver decisions and take more notice of players who may not have developed physically yet but have control over the football. 

A key example of this theory is comparing the development of James Milner and Jack Wilshere; James Milner is your archetypal English player, hard-working, honest, athletic but lacks the technical abilities that would encourage possession football if there were 11 of him on the pitch. Jack Wilshere is a modern English player, small, has the typical English aggression but has quality on the ball and plays in a team where possession is the key. The question needs to be asked how many Milner’s were developed at the academy level at the expense of the one Jack Wilshere. Further analysis needs to be made into what could potentially happen if half the premier league teams each developed 1 Jack Wilshere; it is a classic case that the youth teams belonging to clubs tend to play the same way as the senior team, this is because should the players progress that far, the transition in style should be easier than if they played a different way at youth level. By using this, the teams that play football that is based on possession have an obligation towards the national team to do more in order to develop not quantity, but quality English players. 
There is a common misconception that the Premier League teams do not produce enough English players, this argument could not be more wrong - they do not produce enough quality English players. If the Premier League teams each produced 1 James Milner each, the England national team would be playing the same type of football as they do now, however if even half of them produced a player who is comfortable on the ball, has a forward thinking mentality and is tactically astute, then think about the result. 
Simply put this generation of players are not capable of this because it takes more than a few possession based coaching sessions to impose that sort of style at the elite level. England were 12th out of 16 teams at the Euros in terms of possession/pass accuracy statistics, for a team ranked 3rd in the world, that is a poor showing. 
A lot needs to happen in order for England to change their identity, and it all starts from the grassroots level and the mentality coaches have on the “model English player”.
Until the coaching at grassroots level is changed and modelled in a way which England want to use as their identity for the coming generation, asking the current crop to a play to a style in which they haven’t been brought up in is unfair. Hodgson now has a choice to make in terms of his squad selection for the World Cup qualification campaign, should he persist in the style of football that failed at the Euros or should he now take the chances to promote the best of the U-21 players who were very accomplished in their performances under Stuart Pearce. 
The coming generation of England players may not match up to other nations who have been developing for over a decade, but the process needs to start somewhere. 
The talent is there, it just needs to be given the chance.

London based Zaheer Shah is a free-lance football writer and a student of Football at the Southampton Solent University, pursuing his goal of working as a scouting and match analyst.

Robin Van Who?

by Jake Bertone

That is what was said by many Arsenal supporters following their team’s destructive performance against newly promoted side Southampton on Saturday.

Prior to the start of the season, when Arsenal had just lost van Persie (oh that’s his name!) to Manchester United and Alex Song to Barcelona, many people believed that Arsene Wenger’s time was up and that his team would not be able to perform at the standard needed to challenge and win trophies. Now 4 games into the new Premier League campaign, Arsene Wenger’s side sits 3rd on the table with 2 wins and 2 draws, conceding only 1 goal (a mistake by the keeper) and booting 8, giving them the strongest goal difference in the league. Not bad for a team that lost two of its most important players.

Gervinho celebrating 1 of his 2 goals from the weekend.

Improvement

Where has the improvement come from then? How has Arsenal started so well without those players? To me, it all comes down to balance. Last year’s Arsenal team relied on the efforts of van Persie to score each week and help it win, this year’s Arsenal team has a spread. Goals already coming from the likes of Podolski, Gervinho, Cazorla and Walcott. The Arsenal attacks of this year, primarily in the Southampton game were coming from all directions. This is because of the evenness of the front half now. There is no dominant attacker. Sure Podolski has some serious accomplishments under his belt, but that doesn’t stop players like Walcott, Chamberlain or Gervinho from doing their own thing and taking a chance at goal. Last year, it was all about passing it to van Persie, even if he wasn’t in the right position, just because it was him. Yes, he did take his chances more times than not, but to win a trophy, a team needs balance. Defence is another area that has been improved significantly, providing 3 clean-sheets in the first 4 games. A lot of the credit must go to new Assistant Coach Steve Bould, who has transformed the Arsenal defence into a very solid back 4 that is yet to miss a beat.

The Future

Moving on from the players who have left the club recently, lets talk about the players who have arrived! Lucas Podolski, Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud. These players have added the spark that Arsenal has so often lacked in the past. Cazorla’s breathtaking foot skills and vision sees him as one of the most dominant midfielders currently in the Premier League, adding speed and creativity to the Arsenal squad. At times last year, attacks seemed boring and predictable, but with the inclusion of Cazorla in the midfield, Arsenal’s attacks are frightening to opposition defences. Lucas Podolski adds a bit of grunt to the squad, something a team pushing for the title needs, not to mention the class and clinical finishing that has seen him net 2 goals in the last 2 games, one of which being a spectacular free-kick. He’s a menace on the left because for a man of his size, he can run, and run fast, cutting past the opposition and either crossing it with some pace and whip or taking a chance and testing the keeper. It’s exciting to watch. Now to Olivier Giroud, the new signing who is yet to really announce himself. He adds height and strength to attack, as well as clinical finishing that saw him score 25 goals for French Champions Montpellier last season. I have no doubt that he will take his chance and score very soon, he is too good not to. Hearing people compare Giroud to Chamakh after only a few games is insane, he needs time.

Giroud, Cazorla and Podolski

Depth

Now lastly, to Arsenal’s depth. Last year saw injuries to Abou Diaby and Jack Wilshere add to the departures of Samir Nasir and Cesc Fabregas, so it was worrying for Arsenal supporters to see who the replacements would be. Arteta, Park Chu Young and Mertesacker were the replacements, with only Arteta getting regular first team action. This year though, Arsenal’s bench holds a lot more quality. The weekend saw players like Walcott, Arshavin, Giroud and Ramsey on the bench waiting for their chance to shine. This creates competition for places in the team. It also means that when a player is injured or is subbed off, there is a quality replacement ready to come on and do the job. Too many times in previous seasons a quality player would be replaced with a somewhat average player, or a player with very little experience. Now, it’s balanced.

Arsenal now has all the parts that if put together correctly, create, I believe, a title challenging machine that is capable of beating anyone. Yes, anyone.

Melbourne based Jake Bertone is an aspiring football writer from Australia, pursuing his goal of becoming a sports journalist while studying at Victoria University.

The Quiet Mercenary

by James Wareing

Next to blow go?

Arsenal are yet again confronted with another serious contractual dispute with one of their key players. With just 1 year left on his contract Arsenal and Theo Walcott are still locked in transfer talks. During the penultimate day of the transfer window it was announced that a short term agreement had been made to continue talks later, thus denying Arsenal their last real chance to sell him.

So as the situation stands if a new contract, that will leave him as

one of the squad's highest payed players if not the highest, isn't

agreed we are faced with either letting him leave in January for

peanuts or on a free next summer.

While fans have been divided on his impact since he joined from Southampton

in 2006 him leaving the club would be a big loss, as it stands he is

the club's highest scorer in the squad and one of the longest

servants. However having canvassed

fans’ opinions on twitter recently 65% would still offer him a new

contract while only 35% would let him leave on a free.

Arsenal insist that contract talks will continue and it does

appear Theo himself also wants to reach an agreement but time is running

out. If Arsenal do not sort this out before January 31st they will be resigned

to see him leave on a free next summer, something which would

be very undesirable. Therefore it is imperative that Arsenal either

sell him in January or sort out a new contract.

The major stumbling block at the moment, as it is increasingly

becoming at Arsenal, it money. For footballers money talks and I

suspect Arsenal are not near Theo’s own evaluation. You just need to

look at the transfers of Hulk and Witsel to see that, if you look

around, ridiculous salaries, doubling what others can pay, are

available. It has been widely reported that his demands are around £100k a week, a staggering figure that would surely make him one of the highest payed players in the squad, a status that I am sure we all agree he does not deserve.  This then raises the question of do we really need Theo?

Admittedly when looking at Theo’s stats last season his assists do

stand out. However for every assist you get with Theo you will see him

tripping over the ball or another disappointing cross. Theo for me is

a luxury player to have in the team. If you are a high-flying team you

can take a player like Theo along with you. He is a player that, for

large parts of a game, will have little impact. His strength is

clearly his pace and his ability to use this on the counter attack or

to get behind the opposition’s back line. However when teams sit back

with 10 men behind the ball, such as Stoke, his impact is less

productive.  His lack of strength lets him down as does his ability to

beat a player 1 on 1. It is in these games when it is clear that there

is a distinct lack of penetration from us that you need a player who

can make something happen. A winger who can beat his man or spot a

decisive pass, qualities I believe that he does not possess.

So over the next four months it seems Arsenal have a lot of key decisions

to make, the most significant of which is Theo’s future.  For me I

wouldn't mind either way which decision is taken except that this

doesn't drag on into across the season and create another bitter saga.

London based James Wareing runs a football quiz on twitter. 
Kick off is NIGHTLY at 6:30pm (GMT), check it out sometime.