Sunday 20 January 2013

Some good signings please!!!

           Yet another defeat for Arsenal and the gap between us and Tottenham is growing agonizingly. Its  a our huge downfall since the last 2 years that we have to look at the gap between us and the 4th team and pray for their slip up so that we can eventually finish inside top 4 instead of watching out for the top of the table.
           Last season at this time we were fighting for the 4th place with our bitter rivals Tottenham who were more than 10 points clear but after the 5-2 drubbing at the Emirates they went on a free-fall and we were able to just sneak inside the top 4. We may not be lucky this time around. We are 6 points behind them and there are all the reasons to be scared this season. Firstly we don't have a player who can carry the entire team on his shoulders. Secondly we lack creativity. No no cut that we absolutely don't have creativity. Last season's beautiful football was taken care by Alex Song and Thomas Rosicky and Ramsey for some matches   in November and December. Song has gone to Barca, Ramsey has lost it (seems to show a few good signs lately) and Wenger for some stupid unknown reason is not playing Rosicky even though he is fit which he  claims. 
           We have a gem of a footballer in Cazorla but he has played in almost every match this season. How many times we have seen him jaded. He is a brilliant player with great dribbling skills and loads of creativity but fatigue has got to him because of lack to depth. We just don't have decent players to replace him according to me. We desperately need a defensive midfielder to take some pressure off Arteta who is out with injury hence it is an absolute necessity. I would never put my hopes on a player like Diaby who can get injured by even a push. I would love to see a proper center forward coming this January. Walcott is quick and his finishing is good as well but he is no RVP. Giroud and Podolski were never his replacements. Podolski who hasn't played a full game often looks detached from the team and goes missing for half of the match(a bits and pieces player). Giroud is clumsy and in my opinion slow. He will find it extremely difficult to cope up with the speed and physicality of Premier League. But he is deadly in the air to give him some credit.
           In our last two league matches against City and Chelsea our defense went missing completely in the first halves. Can't understand why we always have to play defensive highline. It has always cost us and keep costing us precious points if Wenger doesn't get this. The reason for the few clean sheets at the start of the season was that we sat back and defended blow after blow from the opposition and hit them back on the  counter. But you cannot push with this as the midfield as the defense will be disjoint when you do not have a absolute enforcer who can track back and be a shield to the back four. But this strategy from Steve Bould din't go well with Wenger and he continued with our old defensive highline and since then the  goals have been coming but for the opposition. The organization of  the players and marking when  they do not have the ball is hilarious and shameful. He relied on Diaby and considered him returning from injury as a new signing instead of buying a proper replacement of Song thus the onus fell on Arteta and we have missed out on his attacking qualities. We have shown tremendous spirit in both the matches specially in the second half but the damage had been until then and attacking when it is 0-0 is very different from attacking when you are chasing the game down from 2-0. They opposition is going to park the bus in front of the goal and you cannot blame them for that. You cannot expect 3 points when you go down 2-0 in the first quarter of the match. 
            I was a huge AKB (Arsene Knows Better) and I still believe in him but the confidence is fading and the faith diminishing season after season as he keeps making the same mistakes. His stubbornness is costing us big time. He is sticking with Gervinho who according to me is the worst footballer on the face of the planet  and his affair with  defensive highline and missing out on quality players even if it is a matter of a million or two and letting star players go season after season are the some decisions that frustrate us every now and then given that we show faith in him even after seven trophyless years in this process we have lost the beauty in our football. This leaves us with some unpleasing football, difficult to take defeats and playing in Europa.  Ya i know that it is the  filthy board that doesn't provide Wenger with funds to buy in the transfer market but he not being able to motivate his players and sticking with the flops has nothing to do with the board. I just hope he atleast signs a defensive midfielder which is the need of the hour. A striker purchase seems like a luxury and finishing in top 4 a dream. From a dejected Arsenal supporter. 

Last 10 days of the January transfer window. Catch all the excitement and keep yourself updated with all the latest rumours and transfer news related to Arsenal from your own trusted blog. Comments, questions, suggestions and even criticism are something what I look forward to from you guys. And ya Happy new year my fellow Gooners. 

Tuesday 20 November 2012

Deja Vu!!!

        First of all a sincere apology to all my readers who din't get any new posts from me since more than 2 months now. I started with many posts in this time but could not finish them because of my tight schedule. I promise there won't be such lack of activity over here in future and you will always get to hear something new about Arsenal or atleast from a different angle.
     
        It seems like yesterday when Walcott had gunned two goals in Tottenham's net. It was 26th February  2012 i.e over 9 months. But the memory is still so fresh as that match brought a major shift in our miserable season. Rosicky rediscovered himself,Walcott proved his critics wrong yet again an that he can play as a striker as well and the most important was that we are capable of making comebacks. From 2-0 down to a sensational 5-2 victory, the match was truly one of the most entertaining North London derbies. 
       
       17th November,2012 Emirates Stadium, North London. Its Arsenal against Tottenham. Again everyone was rooting against us as Arsenal came into the match following a string of awful performances. But yet again the Gunners proved all those idiots wrong. It was Deja Vu. 5-2 read the scoreline yet again. And yet again Arsenal proved that however miserable be our season, North London will always be Red and we will always have the bragging rights. Wonderful performance by Cazorla,Giroud and Koscielny. Presence of Henry and Campbell was an icing on the cake. I hope just like last season this 5-2 drubbing of Spurs turns our season on its head. We have to take confidence from this win and keep moving forward. Cannot afford any more slip ups.

         Walcott has been exceptional this season according to me. He was someone I used to criticize after every match but he has shown real maturity this season and has proved that he is capable to carry on as a striker. Additionally his passing and crosses have improved a lot. The guy has started taking corners!Enough said. Wilshere's comeback is a huge boost to the team. He is far from his best but with time it will come. All in all our team is shaping up well and there is light at the end of the tunnel. I don't have any hopes of any title or silverware because we lack a bit in every department at the moment. And I hate it to break it you guys but be it Wanyama or Zaha, no player who is in demand isn't coming to Arsenal. You just have to accept it. That is how things work here. Just have faith  in our manager and his  signings. This team is capable of finishing in top four although majority of Football Pundits disagree with this. Keep the Faith! COYG!!!



         

        

Tuesday 4 September 2012

First Gazidis and now even Hill-wood

                    Just when you start feeling upbeat and positive about Arsenal,the board members step up to kill the joy.The celebration of yet another Anfield victory has not even finished and Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has yet again infuriated the fans.First it was Gazidis whose comments about 6 months ago created stir in the fans and now Hill-Wood has admitted that we are no longer a huge club.This is an absolute disgrace to the club and fans.




                    These three c**ts are running are beloved Arsenal and are dragging it down(slowly but steadily).Arsenal 8 years ago were of the 5 biggest clubs in Europe.Look where we are now.Its time to face the truth.We are not considered as the big guns in the premier league.Our reputation is just as a feeder club to big teams and as an institution which creates stars.A club which lacks ambition.These a******s don't care a bit about football.Money is all that matters to them.Here is what Hill-Wood said in a interview:
                "It is not a worry to the board that Arsenal haven't won a trophy since 2005.As long as the club gets Champions League football each year we will be ok.At a certain level we can't compete,I don't think Stan Kroenke is going to put the sort of dollars in that Abramovich and Mansour are putting in.The fans chanting against Wenger last season?It doesn't affect me a little bit.Arsene Wenger has been outstanding.He is still outstanding".
                  No wonder he is outstanding he  has been saving your a** since the last seven years,isn't he?The above statements show serious lack of ambition.These guys just want money from Arsenal.Be it tickets,tv rights,advertising or merchandise.Agreed our philosophy doesn't agree with spending crazy on players and just buying star players,we make stars.And we all  are proud of this philosophy but some statements that he said just drive you crazy.This guy has absolutely no problem finishing in top 4 every season without winning.People wonder how Wenger hasn't lost his job at Arsenal after 7 trophyless years.The answer is that he makes a huge profit for the owner and other members every year by the sale of club's top players.Why would they sack a manager who makes them huge profit every year when money is all that matters to them.Not even 50% of the money from sale is invested for replacements.Thus the team is deteriorating every season.
                Arsenal has been in rebuilding phase since 2006.It takes a couple of years for any club to come out of that phase.Its 6 years now and there are no signs of this phase getting over.The manager finds talent,we lose out on that player because  some other  club are willing to pay more,manager finds cheaper alternatives,team has a fairly good season with new players and some players are exceptional and rise to fame,but they find the club with lack of ambition,some other club bid ready to pay huge sum,we sell the player and make a huge profit,the player is happy to get paid much more and  win trophies,we buy cheap alternative for that player.This is a loop which has no terminating condition.
                    The only way to break it is when this money eating greedy board members leave our club.I have no doubts that we are going to finish in top 3.We have good players,3 good signings,defense has improved greatly since the arrival of Bould(Hats Off to him).Maybe we can win one or two trophies as well.But if we don't win then again there will be 2-3 players who will be stars by then ready to jump the ship.I have no intention to demoralize you guys but just want you all to know the truth.All we can hope for is the gunners start gunning soon.

Monday 3 September 2012

3 points for Arsenal

                     Sunday afternoon saw Arsenal beat Liverpool 2-0 at their hunting ground Anfield.This game was going to tell us the state of the rebuilding projects at each club and it just did that.With the 2-0  victory its now 3 consecutive clean sheets for us.Arsenal has never had 3 consecutive clean sheets at the start of the season in the last 88 years.Now who would have thought it was possible to achieve this given our  defensive shambles last season and that we did not bring any new players in that department.The only change   is we brought defense minded Steve Bould as our assistant manager and boy we are already reaping its benefits.
                It was a brilliant defensive display by the gunners.Clearly Bould has worked very hard on improving our defense and his magic has worked.Manone,Vermaelen, Martesacker,Jenkinson,Gibbs performed heroics with crucial  interceptions and clinical tackling.The work rate of  Cazorla,Chamberlain, Podolski and  Giroud was great too as they were back helping all the time.Arsenal has suffered from a defensive massacre during set pieces as we have seen it so many times in the recent past but yesterday we looked in far better shape against set pieces.In the last few seasons Gunners have looked vulnerable when their passing game hasn't quite worked as expected.There were many improvements in yesterday's game.Arteta and Diaby played very close to the defense minimizing the gaps between the lines and easing the pressure on the centre backs.Secondly we showed the ability to hold on the ball to ease the pressure on many occasions and slowing down the tempo when they were on the attack which eventually led to many attacking opportunities for us.In all,Arsenal's defending wasn't haphazard,reliant on last gap tackles or desperate attempts to block.Thus our defense looked assured and forced the hosts to prove their creativity to break us down,in which they clearly failed.
                     On the attacking front,we were a continuous threat on the counter.Liverpool looked quite organized defensively for most parts of the game but made some fundamental mistakes and the Gunners punished them with ruthless and clinical finishing.We opened our scoring account by hammering 2 goals in the Liverpool net.Podolski and Cazorla were on the scoresheet.The new signings are clicking,slowly but steadily.First goal was classic example of a good counter attack.It started with an interception by Vermaelen who combined the interception and a forward pass in one touch.Podolski received the pass halfway  in the defensive half  and given the fact that the positioning of the Liverpool players was awful with central defenders 20-25 yards behind their midfielders,he was able to turn.Cazorla had acres of space to receive the pass and drive forward.Podolski  also burst forward without effective tracking from Johnson.Cazorla played a beautiful pass to Podolski who was to his left and Podolski unleashed that deadly left foot to score the first goal for Arsenal of this campaign.For the second goal the duo combined again but this time they swapped roles as Podolski became the provider while Cazorla opened his Arsenal account.Not to take anything away from the quality of the play but Rodgers would yet again be disappointed with some of his players.Shelvey stopped tracing the Spaniard's run who had a one-two pass with Podolski and finishing from short distance and bringing home 3 points.Reina should have done better,The should have got hold of the ball but it went though his hands in the net.
                        It could have been 3-0 had Giroud not missed that sitter.Yet another easy miss for the Frenchman.I wonder what it would have done to his confidence.I don't want to be critical about him.Lets just give the lad more time.He will come good for us.All in all a very good result for us specially after the disappointing transfer deadline day.I still believe that we should have bought 2 players(striker and a defensive midfielder) but I am eager to be proven wrong.Arteta and Diaby look solid in the holding role and Wilshere is set to return in a month so even our attack will get a boost.Just hope there are no injuries because honestly we do lack depth in the squad.Eagerly waiting for 15th September for our home match.

Wednesday 29 August 2012

Sahin gone to Liverpool,Walcott on his way

                    So finally the Nuri Sahin saga has come to an end.He has chosen Liverpool over Arsenal.Yet another Arsenal target goes somewhere else.Mata,Hazard,Niang,Sahin and the list goes on.


                     The transfer season has been frustrating fans as usual.Top players leaving and the club missing out on potential targets.Agreed Liverpool got robbed in the deal but they do have a hell of a player now.Arsene claims that Arsenal aren't looking for a player like him and that we need a defensive midfielder to fill  the void that has been created by Song's departure.Well if din't need him we should not have been bidding for him.It is so clear he is just trying to save face.We were in the driving seat to sign him but our board just doesn't want to spend.They prefer to lose out on a player rather than shell out some more money.Yes we wanted to make an arrangement that would allow us to sign him permanently after the loan spell.You cannot expect Real Madrid to agree to  that unless you present them with a deal that cannot be denied which you won't see happen from this board.
                        It was only 3-4 days ago that I had written the article mentioning Sahin was on his way to Arsenal but here I am with this one stating he has signed for Liverpool.Well actually this deal occurred 3 days ago but couldn't write due  to some issues.This is how transfer dealings done over here.1 day you say something and the next day you look like  a complete idiot.Even you all would agree we are lacking in almost every department.We need a left back for reserve,a defensive midfielder and a striker with premier league experience.I know we have two good strikers in Podolski and Giroud but they will take to adjust since they come from Bundesliga and Ligue 1 respectively which are much slower than Premier League.Almost every big team has 3 or 4 strikers so that they are not strikerless in case of injuries.We have only 2(not considering Bendtner and Chamakh) who are not firing right now.So should we be satisfied with the results until they  start firing.By then we would be in the bottom half I guess.I am a very frustrated with the way things are done over here.When we bought the 3 players they said it was to strengthen the squad and after a few days they become replacements of our top players.
                         Arsene Wenger and the board  I don't know how seem very satisfied with the team and are giving a false hope to us that this team can easily challenge for the title.Well guess what we can't.Not with this team.Agreed we are defensively very solid now that Steve Bould has done a fantastic job but what about attack?You don't know when Rosicky and Wilshere will return and until then everything will be over.Title will be out of  reach then.I cannot believe what the board is doing.They have sold yet another future star,Henri Lansbury.We believe in promoting young talent and creating them into stars rather than buying star players.Of course we are not doing the latter but we are not doing the earlier as well.Selling all your best players and not  buying proper replacements then how do you expect to win anything?
                     Arsenal speedster Theo Walcott who was going to pen a new deal has now rejected one.Even he has gone frustrated and is open to transfer setting Manchester City and Liverpool on high alert.He has been given 48 hours to decide his future.And I am pretty sure that he is on his way out.We have been linked with Cabaye,M'vila and Afellay but trust me with the pace the board has been carrying out talks its unlikely we will see any of them in Arsenal red and White.One more rumour that has been surfacing is that Cesc Fabregas is on his way back to Emirates.This sounds hilarious and I fail to find any truth in this as I don't think Barcelona are going to let one of the best midfielders in the world  who is just 25.Check out the link below for details.

                   
               Its Wednesday the deadline is on Friday.Just 3 days remaining.All i can hope is to see atleast Walcott stays and we bring one more player.Else I see this season as a disaster for us.

Thursday 23 August 2012

Sahin coming to Arsenal

                           Arsene Wenger made it clear that he was going to stick to his strategy of finding bargains on the market when he sold Robin van Persie to Manchester United this summer.He continued to sell when he transferred top midfielder Alex Song to Barcelona.Even with summer acquisitions Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla, there was unrest at Emirates after Van Persie and Song left.But even if Arsenal doesn't win the Premier League this season, Wenger has proven his worth after sealing a loan deal for Real Madrid's Nuri Sahin on Wednesday for wages plus £2 million.
                     
                    Sahin is an excellent midfielder who will combine with Cazorla to make up for Song's departure. Ever since lifting Dortmund to the 2010-2011 Bundesliga title, he's been highly regarded in world football. His precise passing, combined with his sterling vision, sets Arsenal up to do some damage with strikers Podolski and Giroud.The transfer comes after Sahin had asked if he could make a temporary move out of Madrid, having only played 10 games following his switch from Borussia Dortmund last summer.And despite interest from Italy, France and Turkey, current boss Mourinho believes 12 months in England will be crucial in the players development.'The Premier League is a good place for players to pick up certain characteristics which he does not have,' Mourinho said at his weekly press conference.

                                       Reports on Tuesday suggested that Real Madrid wanted a fixed fee of £14 million should Arsenal want to take up their option to keep Sahin on a permanent deal after his loan expires next summer, a fee which Arsenal appeared unwilling to pay. The Gunners had planned a photo shoot ahead of his official unveiling on Monday which had to be cancelled at the last minute after contract talks had stalled. A compromise appears to have been reached on his future fee and the Gunners have managed to plug the hole that appeared to be growing in their midfield with the loss of Alex Song to Barcelona. 

                               
                           Arsenal are also looking forward to offload Russian forward Andrei Arshavin after Zenit St Petersburg renewed their interest in him.Wenger will be keen to get a good sum from the sale and shift 70,000 pounds off his wage budget which the Russian is paid at Emirates.Another rumour that has impressed me is of Sevilla winger Jesus Navas.He has a buyout clause of 27 million euros but Wenger may get him in 15.This could spell the end of Theo Walcott's career at Emirates.Discussions over his contract have not progressed this summer and it won't be a surprise if he is looking elsewhere.Chelsea,Liverpool or Juventus could be the possible destinations.Walcott is looking for 100,000 pounds a week wage which Arsenal are clearly not willing to offer.I personally would love to have Navas in place of Walcott but this is some sort of a risk.Apparently the Spanish winger was to join Chelsea in 2006 but the transfer din't materialize since he suffers from chronic homesickness.This is the main reason he has stayed at Sevilla all his career.Lets see how this transfer rumour ends up.


Tuesday 21 August 2012

Song-a betrayer or a victim of filthy board?

                   Arsenal have agreed terms with Barcelona for the sale of the midfielder to the Spanish side.The 24-year Cameroon International will fly to Nou Camp for agreement on personal terms and undergoing medical.Barcelona released a statement stating the fee for Alex Song is 15 million pounds and that he will sign a deal for five years and the release clause would be 80 million euros.Eight first team players have left Arsenal in the last three years(Adebayor,Toure,Gallas,Clichy, Fabregas,Nasri,Van Persie and Song).There is something terribly wrong in the management that all the top players are leaving year after year.When you compare the current lineup with the one three seasons ago you can see that except one or two players we have all different players.You can't let your top players go year after year and hope to win titles.
                  But what is the real problem?Is it the players who have just forgotten the meaning of loyalty or is it the board?We have two sets of arguements over the topic.There is enough evidence that players like Adebayor,Nasri and Clichy were  not happy at the club and went where they will get paid much more than Arsenal and they hide this small thinking by claiming they want trophies.There is no doubt that what the board is paying the players is very less and our wage structure needs to change if we are not land some huge players and eventually some trophies.But betraying your club which has given you the name and put you on the map for a rival club just for more is no less than a sin as well.You can't blame Wenger in these circumstances.Ofcourse he has made mistakes in the past and we all know how adamant he is but he has done very well given the budget and players leaving every year killing his dream to build a world class team.He buys some players to strengthen the squad but his best players leave and those new signings turn into replacements from additions and we are back to square one.
                    Now lets see other side of the story.According to Daily Telegraph Alex Song has lashed out to the officials saying that Alex Song was sold because he was unprofessional,lazy and often late for training.A source close to the player said: “Alex was massively committed to Arsenal. He loved the club and was dying to sign a new contract.“We tried six times to renegotiate it, but they kept saying it had three years to run. They’d say things like, ‘we’ll sit down in September, October’, when at first they had said it would happen in the summer.“Then Barcelona came in and yet Alex still said he wanted a new contract. When they said we would all sit down on September 1, that was the final straw.“That shows disrespect to the player. Barcelona is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. You have to jump on that train when it comes.”








Song, 24, has signed a five-year deal worth £70,000 a week.At Arsenal he was getting £55,000 a week which is way too less considering he was our 2nd best player.I don't know which side of the story is actually true but in the last few days I have started believing that maybe its the board behind sale of our top players and that now they making excuses to save their a**es since the noise is getting louder since every one knows Song is not a type of player who will abandon his team for money.But if this is true then there is only one direction Arsenal will go(down) and we will have to forget about trophies for some years.While Alex Song has gone his likely replacement at Arsenal, Real Madrid’s Nuri Sahin, 23, is expected to agree a season-long loan today and there are rumours linking Yann M'Villa and Fernando Llorente to Arsenal.I highly doubt it that all three will be coming.Let me know your thoughts.

Saturday 18 August 2012

A NEW BEGINNING

                 A new season is upon us bringing a new hope and loads of expectations from the lads.Its a home game against Sunderland.The effects of RVP departure are still there and we have may have yet another departure in Alex Song if latest reports are to be believed.What is most important right now is to leave the RVP news behind and move on.He was going to go anyway if not United then Juventus maybe.We have had   a good summer transfer window and the manager has bought well.We have got 3 world class players in Podolski,Giroud and Cazorla which have been impressive in the pre-season.So we have every reason to believe and stay optimistic that this is going to be our year and finally the trophy drought will come to an end after 7 long dreaded years.
                Lets have a review of our available options for the opening game.Koscielny unfortunately will  miss the season opener following a minor problem.So in the defense we have Sagna,Vermaelen, Martesacker,Gibbs,Santos,Jenkinson and Djourou and Szczesny as our no.1 and Fabianski as no.2.In the midfield we have Cazorla,Ramsey,Diaby,Song,Arteta,Coquelin and Walcott,Chamberlain, Gervinho, Podolski,Giroud,Chamakh in the frontline.
                    Our attacking would depend a lot on Wenger's decision to play Giroud.Giroud is a young and very talented but a bit inexperienced so i highly doubt if Wenger will give him a start as he will take some time to get accustomed to the rigors of the premier league.So i guess it would be a 4-3-3 attacking formation.
Szczesny

                   Sagna/Djourou              Vermaelen                   Martesacker              Gibbs/Santos
                                
                                                                          Song/Diaby
                                
                                                        Cazorla                          Arteta/Ramsey
                        Walcott                                                                                          Gervinho
                                                                             Podolski

                          And if Wenger is to take chance and start with Giroud then we may see a different formation altogether.It may be a 4-4-1-1 or  4-4-2 as well so  that we can take advantage of Giroud's heading capability.I don't know what he is going to do but this lineup looks quite good and should not have any problem getting all the 3 points.If I were in his place I wouldn't start with two strikers as Sunderland even away can defend very  well and there are many chances that they may just park the bus in front of the  goal.So we would need more midfielders to break the deadlock.
                           Coming back to transfers Alex Song looks set  to join the Catalans.RVP's departure was expected since a long time following his emergence as one of the best strikers last season.So it had been coming and the worst part is that our loss has become Man Utd's gain thus bolstering their attacking lineup.
But the news that Alex Song ants to go has come as a shock.Before this I considered him a one of the loyal players who will stay at Arsenal come what may,a true Gunner just like Jack Wilshere.He has been at the club since 2005 and was bought for around 3 million from Bastia.



                           When he was signed he was 17 year old raw talent.With all due respect to him at that time he was really awful.He was a defensive midfielder but his tackling was bad and he could not intercept.Arsene Wenger has created what he is today.He owes it to Wenger and Arsenal that is one of our biggest assets today.He can be an enforcer when needed,can tackle well,intercepts opposition moves very well and he can give beautiful ground and lofted passes as we saw last season.He had an incredible 11 assists and scored 2.He has been a very important member of our squad since the last couple of seasons.It will be a deadly blow for us if he leaves.It will be very difficult to find a player to fill his shoes that too on such a short notice.He can play as a defender as well as an attacking and defensive midfielder.I would hate to lose such  a  wonderful player to the Barcelona c**ts.I just hope he stays because his departure will again see sadness and gloom over Emirates and the morale will be low again just like the start of last season.Lets hope for the best and focus on the Sunderland game and beat the hell out of them.My predictions 3-1 to the Gunners.May this season be the new beginning of another glorious era of trophies and silverware.                                                          

Thursday 16 August 2012

Van Persie chooses Monday over Saturday

                  Robin Van Persie is set to complete a 24 million pounds move to Manchester United after Arsene Wenger sanctioned the sale of Arsenal captain to Old Trafford on Wednesday evening.The only good news is that the saga is finally over and we can move on now.


                       For the past month there has been confusion,outrageous bids and one clear message-that the Dutch forward is on his way out.He made it clear to Arsene Wenger that he would not be extending his contract at Arsenal and saw his future elsewhere.Where his future lay was a mystery as Wenger had a set amount for him which drew attention of many top clubs like Manchester United,Manchester City,Lyon,Real Madrid,Paris Saint Germain and Juventus.United,City and Juventus were looking the top contenders and Juventus seemed to be leading the race.
                        After all the drama the result is in front of us.Robin Van Persie is set to join United on a 4 year contract which will  offer him 200,000 pounds a week  after the fees of 24 million pounds has been agreed.The reason which he gave us is that Arsenal lack ambition or that our ambition doesn't match with his.If that was the case then he should have stayed since we bought 3 world class players(Podolski,Giroud and Cazorla).These 3 signings speaks volumes of our ambition to win trophies.Now isn't he just another player who kisses the badge and then leaves the club.Here is a list of the injuries he had during his time at Arsenal.


                        Van Persie has been injured for almost every season and has been absent for long spells from our ranks.Very few managers will have the patience and keep faith in such an injury prone player and will try to offload the player after a good season.Arsene Wenger always stood by him throughout his injuries and he was always our no. 1 striker after departure of Henry.And this is how he is repaying our love and faith by moving to our fiercest rivals' home.Out of all the clubs he chose our title rivals Manchester United.No wonder Arsenal have lost a quality player but the fact that we have lost him to our English rivals worries me.
                        The capture of Van Persie is regarded as a major coup by Ferguson and senior figures at Old Trafford,who regard the signing as a response to City's recent dominance in the transfer market and a sign of club's ambition to recapture the premier league title.Many professionals have been quick to praise Ferguson for his managerial shrewdness once again.But I can tell you Ferguson will only have him until he continues his rich vein of form.He by no means is Arsene Wenger to stand by him through all his injuries.
                They say they have both Batman(Wayne Rooney) and Robin now but we have our Verminator.All the best Robin for your career at Old Trafford which by no means can be as good as you had here and you will soon realize it when we finish above United this season and maybe throw a trophy or two in your face.



Wednesday 15 August 2012

Arsenal want Belgian star

            Olympiakos frontman Kevin Mirallas has revealed that his agent is in talks with Arsenal.Premier League rivals Liverpool have reportedly also shown interest in him.The forward has been impressive since joining from Saint-Etienne two years ago.The Greek club have stuck with their price of 6 million pounds for the starlet and not a single penny less than the specified amount would do for them.Reports have linked him to the Emirates previously as well but Mirallas has now confirmed that there has been contact between the two clubs and that his agent is in talks with Arsenal but he insists that he would be content and happy at Athens if the deal doesn't come through.



                     The Belgian International has been a revelation at the Athens club netting aplenty and helping his club win back to back domestic titles in his two years.Mirallas was the top scorer in Greece last term with 20 goals.Whilst he was used as an orthodox striker but he play on the flanks as well and such adaptability could further cement his place at the Emirates.
                       Wenger wants deadwood clear out with Vela already gone and Bendtner,Park and Chamakh likely to follow soon.He would welcome this Belgian star with open arms to bolster our attacking options even if Van Persie stays.Getting him for 6 million pounds sounds like  a bargain.Wenger should definitely go for the striker with all guns blazing and not leave things for the future as we have suffered so many times in the past because of such attitude.And if Van Persie leaves then this can prove to be a very important signing as our players get injured at the wrong time and having a player of such quality on the bench would be crucial.
                   It is rightly said selling of Van Persie is win as well as defeat for Arsenal.Its obvious that we don't want to keep a player who doesn't want to stay but selling our star player to one of our biggest rivals would be suicide.My take would be to retain Van Persie even if it means letting him go next season on a free.Arsenal new boys have been really impressive in the friendly against Cologne.Cazorla,Giroud and Podolski were brilliant in the 4-0 drubbing.A truly dominant performance by the Gunners.It speaks volumes of what we are about to get this season.Lets keep faith in our team and our manager.Come On You Gunners!!!