Categorized | Arsenal, Features, Opinion

He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice…..

Posted on 02 August 2012. Tags: ,

Written by: Stephen Bradley on August 2, 2012.
Last revised by: LadyArse

Yes, I know. The title of today’s article is an appalling pun on the news that Santi Cazorla is on the verge of signing for us, but I couldn’t help myself. For the first time in three and a half years, I’m genuinely optimistic about this team. And not just in a “cocky around fans of other football clubs” way, either. Why? Well, have a look at this lineup;

Fabianski – Gibbs, Mertesacker, Djourou, Jenkinson – Coquelin, Ramsey, Wilshere – Gervinho, Giroud, Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Ok, the goalkeeper isn’t fantastic, but the back four is ok, the midfield has an international captain and England’s best U21 player in it, and up front we have Ligue 1′s top scorer from last season and England’s second best U21 player. I reckon that team would probably finish between 6th and 8th in the league. But the best thing about that lineup isn’t the fact that it could be competitive in its own right. No, the best thing is this……. it’s our SECOND team!!!!!!

Nobody in that XI above would get into our first team. Only Wilshere would be up for debate, but even then, what better way to ease him back into football after so much time out injured than to give him 20 minutes here and half an hour there, all with the confidence that we have ample cover if he breaks down again. As good as Cazorla is, the biggest benefit that he could immediately bring to the club is that any pressure to rush Jack back too soon has now completely dissipated.

Even if Jack doesn’t return until November, our midfield is now Song, Arteta and Cazorla. Last year at this point, it was Song and two players still recovering from long-term absences in Rosicky and Ramsey. That alone is cause for optimism, as we’ve suffered too many slow starts to the league in recent times. We need as many of our top stars available as possible to be at the top of their game from day one, which is why Wenger’s comments about Podolski and Giroud not being ready to play yet were a little odd. I’d have imagined that getting at least one of those two players integrated into the first team would be of the highest priority after RvP’s “statement”. So why is there no rush?

Well, allow me to present a hypothetical. In his statement, van Persie ascertained that he disagreed with the direction that Arsenal were seemingly going. So what if he’s had a change of heart? What if, after seen two top-class international attackers join the club and a possible third in Giroud, he’s thinking that he’s better off staying put? Maybe not for good, but his desire to leave immediately may suddenly have deserted him. And after seeing the supposed stampede for his services turn into a damp squib, is there much point in Arsenal getting rid of him for less than £15million?

It is fascinating how this summer has turned out for our captain, as for one reason or another, all his potential exit points are being slammed shut. Man Utd were never seriously in for him, it appears that their bid for him was just a PR stunt to make the Glazers look like responsible owners of a football club whilst they try to once again use United’s own money to pay off a debt that they created to buy United in the first place (£509 million of United’s own money since July 2008 has gone towards covering the costs of that debt! EEEK!!!)

Man City are obviously keen to sign him, unfortunately they’re finding very few suitors that are willing to pay Emmanuel Adebayor or Roque Santa Cruz enough to convince them to leave. Many will claim that it’s FFP at work, although it’s far more likely that common sense is playing more of a role here. There’s just no logic at all in paying someone £150,000 a week to sit on their backside, and there’s even less logic in paying someone half that to play somewhere else. The 25-man rule is also a hinderance to them here, hence the need to sell before they buy. We are encountering similar problems with Squillaci, all be it on a lower pay scale. And if City can’t shift those two, then they can’t pinch RvP off us.

All of which leaves Juventus, the choice of many a gooner when it comes to preferred destinations for van Persie thanks to the fact that we won’t have to play against him in the Premiership. And they seemed very interested in signing him as well, but all of their plans are now in chaos as their manager, Antonio Conte, has been told that his plea bargain of a three-month suspension, due to him being investigated in a match-fixing scandal which involved his previous club, Siena, has been rejected. He now faces the possibility of a longer ban and even a jail sentence. Would you want to move to a club with that hanging over them? Me neither.

All of that means that even if it suited both parties for RvP to leave the club a month ago, it now appears to be in both of their interests for him to stay. With the compensation for losing van Persie being only £10-15million, the financial need for Arsenal to sell is not as big as anticipated. Couple that with the team being in far better shape than it was this time last year, then is it possible that van Persie is also not as inclined to leave as he once indicated?

Could it all mean that Wenger is in no hurry to rush our new forwards into getting match-fit because the old one will still be here for opening day? Or am I reading too much between the lines? All I know is this, today is a time to be optimistic about our chances, as we are about to see one world-class player walk in the door, and in doing so, he might be enough to stop another one walking out.

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About Stephen Bradley

Gooner and below-average blogger who writes what he thinks, but sometimes doesn't think as he writes. Very occasionally makes a sensible point though, so watch out for that. Can be found on Twitter rambling away under the username @bradley08.
View all posts by Stephen Bradley →

  • Pingback: He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice….. » Leanne Hurley

  • in arsene we trust

    good article, i dont want to jinx it but it seems like arsenal are looking good and that so called crisis the media had stamped us with seems a long time ago.

  • Rupert Ward

    Nice article.
    I’ve never been convinced that RVP would leave, or would finish the summer wanting to leave.

    But I think you’re reading a bit much into Wenger’s saying that he’s not rushing Pod and Giroud. Arsenal clearly either want to keep RVP or are determined not to let him go cheap (or, probably, somewhere inbetween). And given that, Wenger’s got more than enough nous not to be saying things like “we need Giroud/Podolski ready for the start of the season” which would be tantamount to admitting that RVP is leaving and thus driving the price down.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Don-McMahon/672381130 Don McMahon

      Very erudite analysis Rupert and far superior to the wild speculation surrounding RVP and AW in the media as well as many Arsenal blogs. My take is that RVP was manipulated by his agent, his Usmanov connections and his sincere but misplaced concerns for his short,medium and long-term future, either at AFC or at a trophy-winning Club. I have, since it appeared on his website, specifically doubted the origins of his so-called statement of intent. Someone wrote that statement and it smelt of Dein’s foul hand along with Jabba the Usmanov’s even more putrid machinations. RVP’s agent was the one to benefit from our striker’s increasing his worth and wages BUT the Uzbeki and Dein saw a perfect opportunity to manouveur the BoD into a tight corner, from which they would have difficulty extracting themselves. If one compares the much longer Usmanov letter to RVP’s supposed challenge, then there are many similarities…strange coincidence?

  • Ozgooner

    To me it seems to make financial sense to keep RVP if we get an offer of around 15 mill for him (after agent fees and the like). Just going through the maths, we’ll be getting a supposed 180-220k a week player for 80k a week, so that’s a 100k a week ‘gain’ right there (which amounts to about 5 mill), we get the added Shirt sales that will inevitably flood in once it’s confirmed he’ll stay, we won’t have to give him this supposed 5 million signing on fee that was being mooted as a condition of him signing a new contract, and quite honestly, keeping a player who could be the difference between qualifying and not qualifying for the champions league (Worth something ridiculous like 30 mill?) for a hit of 5 million seems to be a good deal to me. Plus the fact that it’ll show the other clubs that we aren’t going to get messed about with

  • http://twitter.com/vikramnet Vikram Singh

    I take it that your first eleven is:

    Szczesny
    Sagna,
    Koscielny,
    Vermaelen,
    Santos,
    Song,
    Arteta,
    Diaby,
    Theo,
    RVP,
    Podolski

    Which is fine. Though, I’d have Gibbs before Santos, and a fit Wilshere before Diaby most days of the week. This leaves no room for Arshavin or a fit Rosicky – again, moot.

    I rather think what a fit and healthy first 11 might eventually end up as:

    SzczesnySagna,Koscielny,Vermaelen,Gibbs,Song,Wilshere,Cazorla, (if he actually arrives)Theo,RvP,Gervinho (who I rate ahead of Podolski, but that’s just me.)

    With AO-C, Diaby, Arteta, Rosicky, Giroud, Podolski, Mertesacker, Santos, Ramsey, and Coquelin all available for the bench.

    Given Arsenal’s track record with injuries … never a likely thing. But it would look nice.

    My feeling is, however, that RvP will leave. I think he has issues that cannot be addressed by possible purchases like Cazorla or Sahin or whoever. The only thing that might get in the way is that the transfer market doesn’t reflect his self-value. (You must realize that he also has Darren Dein egging him on at every turn.) But one never knows in football. If Robin did decide to stay AND Santi Cazorla did arrive then he could have just as stellar a season this as he did last.

    But leaving to go anywhere, he’ll eventually find out that titles are a lottery in most leagues. Moreover, that fitness and form can inflict such cruel misery and that loyalty (or the lack of it) is the sharpest of double-edged swords.

  • hary

    This is turning out to be the most extraordinary summer for Arsenal since Mr Wenger’s first summer in control.

    .

    The big deal that has just emerged seems to be the signing of Real Madrid midfielder Nuri Sahin
    on a season-long loan, just like the loan we had for our old pal Yossi –
    who most fans agree served us well and with supreme dignity.

    José Mourinho signed the Turkey midfielder from Borussia Dortmund
    just one year ago, but he hasn’t fitted in well at Real Mad, and has
    suggested that Sahin should look for a loan. Arsenal want to get this
    sorted in time for the game on 12 August.

    He played 135 times in the league for Borussia Dortmund, 29 times for
    Feyenoord on loan in 2007/8 and only four times for Real Mad. He has
    played 31 times for Turkey. But the figures hide the fact that for much
    of last year he was injured. He didn’t make his début on 6 November
    2011 but by then the team was settled so he didn’t get many chances.

    He was however highly praised for his appearance in the Champs
    quarter final match against APOEL but still could not hold down a place.

    Malaga’s playmaker Santi Cazorla is still bobbing
    around, although Mr Wenger has dampened speculation in order to avoid
    too much excitement and raising of prices. Indeed what stopped an
    earlier bid was the price, but this has declined because of the chaos at
    billionaire run Málaga.
    Cazorla, like Oxlade-Chamberlain is an all-round midfielder and can
    play wide or in the middle – and quite probably (given Mr Wenger’s
    ability to move players to wholly unknown territory – such as RVP as a
    centre forward, Santos as a winger, the Ox as a central midfielder etc
    etc) full back, centre back, centre forward and linesman. This is of
    course a major attraction (see my final note about injuries).
    All the buzz that I get is that Cazorla has agreed personal terms in
    principle with Arsenal while Málaga is still not out of the mire.
    Sheikh Abdullah al-Thani sent Moayad Shatat to Spain last week to sort
    out the problems of finance, and this was supposedly to include
    reassurances about keeping Cazorla, as well as paying off the debts in
    time to secure the Champions League place. But it seems that this was
    the reverse of what happened and that the Sheikh is trying to sell the
    club. Billionaires eh? What would you do with them!
    Meanwhile we still have Yann M’Vila from Rennes and and the 17-year-old forward M’Baye Niang from Caen being talked up. We’ve covered them here before and there’s nothing new, except their names keep on coming up.
    But here’s a new one: 21-year-old defensive midfielder Victor Wanyama from Celtic. He is from Kenya, and can also play centre back. He played 29 times for Celtic last season.
    Now Celtic don’t have one billionth of the problems Rangers have, but
    they do have the issue that this season they might not play Rangers at
    all. They certainly won’t in the league, and maybe not in the Cups. (I
    say this after watching Rangers play Brechin City yesterday, and win
    the match in a torrential downpour in injury time. To say that the
    standard was around that of the Conference North is to insult the
    Conference North. Just my opinion of course, but I thought it was
    dreadful and on this basis that chance of Rangers making it through to
    the latter stages of any competition seems remote).
    So this means that the big deal of each season for Celtic, ain’t
    there, and that seems to mean that Celtic are having problems in selling
    season tickets. Given that it is only the season tickets that really
    fill up Celtic Park for the lesser matches, this could be troublesome
    for the club, and hence their willingness to deal.

    Let us once again pull together our ten new arrivals. By this I
    mean players who did not feature last season for whatever reason, but
    who should do this season

    Podolski – signed and ready to roll,Giroud – signed and ready to roll,Wilshere – should be playing games within a few
    weeks and ready for the first team by October. The longer wait is due
    to the desire to avoid the “Rosicky-Diaby” syndrome in which the body
    reacts badly to twists and turns after so long out of the gameOxlade-Chamberlain – yes he played for us last
    season, but what we are seeing now is nothing short of a miracle
    development. I would expect him to be first on the team-sheet, as
    opposed to just the six starts he had last seasonRyo – unlike the Ox we are not seeing the best of
    him yet, but he will be playing for us – although probably for much of
    the time as a sub.Frimpong – after his loan and second long term
    injury we can’t be sure, but as long as his temper is kept under control
    he’ll be one of a number of valuable substitutes for Song.Francis Coquelin. The fact that he has really made
    the first team now is shown from the pre-season where he not only
    played, he played in various positions. That is part of the excitement
    about him – full back or midfield, he will deliver.Thomas Eisfeld – a surprise and a half on the
    tour. Maybe he won’t figure big time, given that he only got short runs
    in the tour games, but he will surely make some impact this year and be
    ready for a major blast next season.Abou Diaby – leaving the best til almost last. If
    you watch any of the films of Diaby when fully fit he is like a master
    of the field and the ball – and you can see why the French team felt
    they had lost before they started in the summer, with Diaby not there.
    Mr Wenger will do everything under the sun to protect him and let us see
    the true brilliance of his ability. Of course there are worries, but
    if he can stay fit he will be a first choice – which means we now have
    too many midfield players!Take your pick: Santi Cazorla, M’Baye Niang,Victor Wanyama, Nuri Sahin. Maybe we’ll sign the lot.

    I firmly believe the mood in the club is that we will once again be
    the target of some malicious tackles as we have seen over the past four
    seasons when injuries have just gone through the roof compared with
    anything we have seen before. Therefore we need a bigger squad, and
    most of all a highly flexible squad. And that is what these ten players
    are all about.

    It is shaping up to be one hell of a squad in fact – the only thing I
    am not clear about is how we fit all of them into the 25. Anyone like
    to do me an update on that?

  • janesem

    Like many Gooners out there in the universe I have been keeping an eye on the Robin van Persie situation.

    When he first released his statement I was very surprised. In fact I
    looked more surprised than Sharon Osbourne after a Botox orgy.

    I genuinely believed that RVP would sign a new deal at the club.

    To be honest I was so sure that he’d sign a new contract at Arsenal I
    wagered several bets he would. As it stands I owe about £1323 to several
    people. Dangerous people. So I could be gone soon. For good.

    At first I couldn’t get my head round his statement. It was full of
    self-righteousness and reading through the lines it appears that he
    doesn’t think his Arsenal team-mates are good enough to challenge for
    trophies.

    Because apparently that is the reason he won’t sign a new deal. Trophies.

    Now don’t get me wrong, we all want to win things. I’ve had my eye on
    the Footscray Social Club Snooker tournament for several years now, but
    surely RVP must realize he is part of the reason we haven’t won
    silverware recently?

    If he had spent more time on the pitch, and not getting horse placenta
    injected into his muff, then surely we would have had a better chance of
    winning a bit of silver?

    This trophy winning thing doesn’t convince me. It’s all about the money plain and simple.

    Imagine being in van Persie’s position. Loved and worshiped at Arsenal by everyone, but not only that, being a Gooner too.

    Surely the biggest challenge in the world would be getting Arsenal back
    to the top. I know that’s what I’d want to do. Look at Steve Gerrard,
    he’ll be known as a legend for ever at Liverpool.

    That could have been Robin. Still could be in fact.

    All Robin has done is make a rod bigger than Rod Stewart for his back.
    By saying, after talks, that Arsenal don’t match his ambition he’s made
    things difficult for himself.

    Arsenal have signed Lukas Podolski, a man who has scored for Germany
    more times than John Terry scores with his team-mates birds. We’ve
    captured Olivier Giroud, and look to be on the verge of bringing in
    Santi Cazorla. A class act.

    The standard of players we have brought to the club has been more unreal
    than Nicki Minaj’s big booty. And if the signings of players with this
    type of quality doesn’t show ambition than I don’t know what does.

    If RVP released a statement saying, “I’m 29, I’m injury-prone, and this
    is my last big pay-day” then I would respect him so much more. Instead
    he hid behind this ‘AFC don’t match his ambition’ excuse.

    Well, the problem is now with Arsenal bringing the quality of Podolski,
    Giroud, Cazorla and possibly Nuri Sahin to the club we have shown a LOT
    of ambition so unless RVP signs a new contract then it’s clear money is
    his main priority and not trophies.

    Of course if van Persie stays then it would be a good thing. He is a
    world-class player and I’m sure that if he does a Rooney-like U-turn
    then it wouldn’t take long for Gooners to forgive him.

    If he doesn’t stay however it won’t be the end of the world. Arsenal will survive like Gloria Gaynor. We always do.

    Like many Gooners I’ve got used the idea there is a huge possibility the
    Dutchman won’t be at the club for a lot longer. Like many Gooners I’ve
    got over it.

    I just find it a shame that someone who apparently loves the club would leave for money but hide behind a different excuse.

    There is still time for Robin to stay at the club. If it happens, it happens. Whatever the case I can’t wait for next season.

    Exciting times.

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