Can we take any positives from the match aganst Porto?

First the few positives to about the match –

·         For the first time Wenger played Eboue and Silvestre in their rightful positions (as backups for Sagna and Clichy respectively).

·         Denilson showed that though we feel we need a DM at least he is better than all our other options in central midfield.

·         Djourou is probably the best defender we have at Arsenal right now.

As for the rest, I feel an urge to do a player by player analysis of each player –

 Almunia – Did ok as a player, but lacked the leadership aspects that you need from your captain. He should have been shouting at his players and getting them to make an effort in the game.

Eboue – I am happy he played in the position he is made for. He gave away the ball regularly, but the effort was there and given more match practice in that slot he should improve. At least he was long way from being the worst player on the pitch.

Gallas – Totally disinterested to play for Arsenal. It may hurt our ambitions for this season, but I feel we have to sell him off in January and make our dressing room a better place and save some money on his huge salary.

Djourou – My man for the day. Played well, showed what we have been missing by playing the shorter (supposedly more mobile) defenders (Gallas, Toure and Silvestre). I strongly feel he should be chosen in the team ahead of Gallas, Toure and Silvestre.

Silvestre – Finally played in the slot I had hoped he was bought for i.e. the backup of Clichy. However, showed he is an absolute disaster for us. He was responsible for the second goal. He had no understanding of passing and receiving passes from anyone i.e. Song, Denilson, Vela, Diaby, Gibbs and even Randall. If this is what Wenger is going to buy when we ask for experienced players, then we are better off not buying them at all. He is my joint worst player of the day.

Ramsey – Showed that he has potential, showed that he is still maturing, and showed that he is not a right side midfielder. He is at the same stage as Walcott was when he joined Arsenal. Play him off and on, give him another 2 years and he should be at least what Denilson is today. Probably the only spark we had in the first half.

Denilson – Showed that he is head and shoulders above his competitors for the midfield slot. Also showed he is not what Arsenal’s first choice central midfielder should be. Didn’t create anything, gave away the ball at times and as usual gets muscled off at times. He was industrious and the better moments I remember of him from the game were when he made tackles to get the ball.

Song – He didn’t have a great game but didn’t have a bad one either. Did his job, but need more from him.

Diaby – The other half of the worst player of the day. He was solely responsible for the first goal. He gave away the ball every time he got it, struggled to find his own players. If we going by the booing standards he probably deserved as many boos as Eboue did in the last game. All this was probably down to him not being match fit and rushed into the team

Vela – Was played wide on the left, which is not his position and had a totally out of sync Silvestre, Diaby and Bendtner as the guys nearest to him at all times. Probably with better players around (Clichy and Fabregas) he could have done more.

Bendtner – The one thing Bendtner does is to make me appreciate the likes of Adebayor more and more. This guy doesn’t work hard at all. Is probably in the worst form of his life. I just hope we don’t have to depend on him for any of the crucial games in our season.

 

Subs:

Wilshere – Probably similar feedback as Ramsey. He has potential (bags of it), he provided a bit of spark but he is too young for this level. Give him games off and on and another 3 years and we should have another Nasri on the right wing.

 

Gibbs – Played in his old role (left wing) for the first time this season. Was good in patches, tried building up something with Wilshere and got a free kick in a good place. He wasn’t helped by having to play with Silvestre. Hopefully he can improve his defensive capabilities and we can get rid of Silvestre by the end of season.

 

Randall – Probably the best I have seen from Randall till now. But given the fact that I hadn’t seen anything good from him till now, I guess he was just ok. He started off with a Porto player jinking a ball right through his legs when he went for his first tackle. Apart from that he was fine. But he is very skinny and needs to bulk up. Whether he can be a future Arsenal player…I don’t think so.

Silvestre the defender, Diaby the midfielder and a bit of Almunia

Yesterday’s match gave me an insight to two major aspects of our transfer dealings (or lack of them) over the summer.

First, Silvestre seems to be more like an underhand deal done by Ferguson to undermine Arsenal’s position. He has been almost rubbish in the two games he has played. Yesterday our central defense was as good as non-existent. Our offside trap wasn’t working at all, we scored an own goal and the long balls lead to a goal. I agree Song was as culpable as Silvestre, however being the experienced defender he is expected to lead Song and not be even worse than the young learning defender.

Second, Diaby was simply great, which further substantiates my belief that he is not the central midfielder we all hoped he was. He is an Attacking midfielder who can play in the hole behind the strikers or a single striker; however he can’t be the central midfield general that we all wish he could be. The moment he is expected to tackle, we are on the shaky ground of getting reduced to ten men. His tackling is pathetic, but he can surge through groups of players and thanks to his stint on the left side last year, can even shoot with left and show more trickery. For the first time in his career Diaby looked at home in a position and that was the attacking midfielder.

Lastly, our captain of the night was simply brilliant. I had my doubts on Almunia being made the number 1 goalkeeper at Arsenal, but yesterday it could easily have been 5-5 had it not been for the star performance of the most senior member in our squad. Hope he can go on to even better things, and help us win something this year.

To conclude, I feel Silvestre is in no way an improvement on what we already had (Senderos) and except maybe earning us some money (when we eventually sell Senderos) it has probably made our defense weaker. Also, Diaby is not the Central midfield enforcer that we need to be playing alongside Fabregas hence Wenger’s decision to not buy a replacement for Flamini still seems to be a penny wise and pound foolish decision.

Do we need another Central midfielder? Yes…definitely…

Yes, a central midfielder is needed, and very badly at that. Would Wenger buy one? I doubt it.

For Cesc to be able to venture forward and get the job done, we need someone playing with him, who can anchor the midfield. As for the current options we have, Rosicky and Nasri are not people who can partner Cesc, but people who may be able to replace him for a short while if need be. Diaby doesn’t have a defensive side to him at all. He has had too many rash tackles which got him sent off, and he can’t defend at all, he is an AMF at best.

Rest, Denilson and Ramsey are primarily very good passers/play makers ala Xabi Alonso, they don’t seem to be that great in the tackle (like Flamini) or that great in reading the game and stopping it (like Gilberto). Hence, none of them fit the bill, probably Song would be the best bet for the role, however he is off to the Olympics and Wenger has already said he would use him as a central defender.

Lastly, I don’t want to include Amaury Bischoff in this category, firstly because he is injury prone and won’t be fully fit for another 3 months, second he is again one of those attacking midfielders/playmaker kind.

In the preseason games the guy who seemed to be best equipped to do that job was our recent recruit, Francis Coquelin. He was great going into tackles and the commitment was there for all to see. The problem with him is the same as with many other Arsenal players, not that old (hence needs time to develop) and lacking in experience at this level. He is just 17; I firmly believe given another 2 seasons or so, he would be ready to be first choice for that position.

Hence Arsenal do need a Central midfielder, who can partner Cesc. He has to have the maturity and understanding to read moves and give the likes of Cesc and Nasri the confidence to go ahead and attack. Gareth Barry seems to fit the bill in terms of what we need, premiership Experience, good defensively and in his prime. However, the asking price is a bit over the top for us; hopefully providing Justin Hoyte in exchange might help.

Some might say why we didn’t keep Gilberto then, well for one he got an extremely good contract from the Greek side and two he never complemented Fabregas.

Also, we need someone like Barry, and definitely not someone like Alonso, as he also can’t defend, and if you want Alonso, then we already have Ramsey and Denilson who are good enough to do the same job.

Arsenal squad, is it enough?

After the signing of Amaury Bischoff I am lead to believe that Arsenal’s shopping is over for the season, barring some last minute hoopla with Ade…which doesn’t seem likely with both Milan and Barca cooling off.

So guess what, I would take a shot at the formation of the current squad.

First Choice XI

              Manuel Almunia

Bacary Sagna——Kolo Toure——William Gallas——Gael Clichy

Thomas Rosicky——Cesc Fabregas——Denilson——Samir Nasri

          Robin Van Persie——Emanuel Adebayor

I won’t try and finalize the second string, which was the initial thought, but would specify the backup options for each position

 

Keepers – Fabianski and Mannone

Right Back – Eboue, Hoyte

Left Back – Traore, Gallas

Center Back – Djourou, Senderos and Song

Right Wing – Walcott, Eboue, Wilshere

Left Wing – Rosicky, Walcott, Traore, Wilshere

Center Midfield – Ramsey, Diaby, Song, Bischoff, Eboue

Strikers – Bendtner, Vela, Eduardo, Walcott, Simpson.

Based on sheer numbers the team is fine. Based on quality and cohesion, I am not happy about the keeper, the central defensive pairing and the partner for Fabregas.

From a backup point of view, Clichy needs a better backup as Traore is showing all the signs of moving further up the pitch to the left wing. And when the best midfield pairing in the absence of Fabregas is a 17 year old Ramsey and 20 year old Denilson, then you got to think again. It’s worrying when Eboue plays for you as a Central or right midfielder for the team.

Zhirkov is what Arsenal should sign and not Arshavin

I have been watching the Euros with a lot of interest. And somehow have always preferred the not so obvious things, compared to the obvious ones. Say for example contrary to popular belief among Arsenal fans I believe David Silva is what Arsenal actually need and probably David Villa is something we can do without. Similarly, when I see the Dutch romping home to victory after victory, what I find interesting is not that they have scored some breathtaking goals on the counter attack, but that despite some seriously average defenders the Dutch team have conceded just once (to a delectable Theiry Henry goal) and in general shown a lot of discipline while defending. They have kept their shape at almost all times. This is despite the fact that Bouma (a left back) was playing at the center of the defense (something that cost the French a lot). Even otherwise, Van Bronckhorst usually plays as a defensive midfielder at his current club, and has almost never been known for his defensive capabilities. Khalid Boulharouz has been known for his mistimed ill-advised tackles and Oijer almost always shows his age and lack of pace. Organizing a defense at club level is much easier as you get to work with the team day in day out, but getting similar results at International level is simply amazing. I have to admit, this work of Van Basten is what makes me feel, he can be a great great coach, maybe not as great as he was a player.

As far as Arshavin is concerned, he is a great player, no doubt about that. But is he really needed at a club which has the fire power of Fabregas, Nasri (expected to sign sometime soon), Rosicky, Van Persie and Walcott. I am purposely not mentioning Hleb, as I feel he won’t be here at the start of the season. The above players play in the areas that Arshavin could play in, i.e. either the number 10 position behind the striker, or running the engine from the middle or playing the wing role at Arsenal (which is certainly different from other clubs). Even if Hleb leaves, I don’t see space for Arshavin, unless Wenger doesn’t have faith in Rosicky’s staying fit capabilities. For me, Rosicky—DMF—Fabregas—Nasri would be the first choice midfield with Walcott and Denilson as the primary backups. Another interesting point is that, we have been linked with Arshavin earlier too. If Wenger had to actually get him, he wouldn’t wait for the Euros to start, at least he would have tried to get things done before the start (like Nasri) especially when Arshavin’s club wants an early transfer, if he has to leave. He could and probably should have come in January, now it seems a bit late. Also Arshavin is already 27, a bit further ahead in terms of age, when we compare to the typical Wenger signings. Also, Zenit are supposed to be a fairly rich club. Hence, his salary would already be a decent amount, he has been to the UEFA cup final this season and his club has already qualified for the group stages of Champions League. All these things point out, that he doesn’t exactly need to move from his current club, unless he wants to test himself out in a better league per se.

On the other hand we have Yuri Zhirkov. This is a player who has really impressed me, not for his final touch or finishing, but for being in the heart of every attack that Russia created in almost all their matches. He is 24 (the perfect age to be bought by Wenger), is primarily a left winger who is adept at playing as left wing back. He is very good at using his trickery to get past players, has a fair amount of speed, and works real hard to track back and help the defense. In short, he has all the attributes and is at the right stage of his career to make a move to Arsenal. He could be the left footed winger that we have been missing since Reyes left, and hence provide something different to what the rest of our midfield provides. Also, due to his experience as a wing back he could be an experienced backup for Clichy. Hopefully he won’t be too expensive for us. Come on Wenger, if you are going to make one signing from these Euros this time, it has to be Yuri Zhirkov.

Fixture draft unkind to Arsenal. Can it be changed?

The draft premier league draw is out. Arsenal seem to have a fairly easy fixture list to start with. However, the same cannot be said about the end of the season run-in.

I personally am not too happy with the draw from an Arsenal point of view. My worries are these –

16/17 UEFA Champions League Group Stage – Matchday 1
Sat 20 Bolton Wanderers (A)
……………

4/5 UEFA Champions League Group Stage – Matchday 4
Sat 8 Manchester United (H)
……………..

25/26 UEFA Champions League Group Stage – Matchday 5
Sat 29 Chelsea (A)
…………….

Sat 20 Liverpool (H)
Fri 26 Aston Villa (A)
Sun 28 Portsmouth (H)
……………………………..

14/15 UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final – 2nd leg
Sat 18 Liverpool (A)
…………………

5/6 UEFA Champions League Semi-Finals – 2nd leg
Sat 9 Chelsea (H)
Sat 16 Manchester United (A)
……………………

The final half-dozen games of the season will read like this: Liverpool (a), Middlesbrough (h), Portsmouth (a), Chelsea (h), Manchester United (a), and Stoke (h).
…………………..

Now the reasons in words -
1. I believe Arsenal are good starters and not good finishers. This draw gives them a fairly easy start, opposed to a very tough run-in apart from the Stoke game.
2. Arsenal’s squad is always on the lighter side; hence the final stages do take their toll. In case Arsenal do reach the quarters of CL, they will be playing Pool right after it. And in the semis the second leg is followed by Chelsea and Man Utd. In case they do manage to keep the fight till there. That’s where it might end.
3. Almost all important EPL matches are preceded by CL matches.
4. We are playing Man Utd and Pool away later (much later) in the season, that’s not something I like. That is the time when ManU is traditionally strong.
5. Pool, Aston Villa and Portsmouth are not the kind of teams I would like to face in the busy December schedule. Why couldn’t they put someone like Stoke or Hull in there? J

 

Maybe having a fellow CL playing team against you after a CL match is a good idea, but then again based on the respective squad sizes, I am not too keen on it.

Can Arsenal afford to lose Adebayor at any price?

Recently, there has been talk of Milan chasing Adebayor to solve their problems in the strike department. They are supposed to have a shortlist of three players Drogba, Etoo and Adebayor. As per the latest update the price they have been told for Etoo by Barca is deemed to be too high, and they are waiting for a price quote for the other two players from their respective clubs. As usual, the agent for Adebayor seems to be salivating at this interest and trying to make the most of it. Rumors of Adebayor already agreeing personal terms with Milan have been spread, with the small matter of Milan agreeing a fee with Arsenal. In short, a whole lot of the usual hoopla. There are two positive points that have come out of this whole hoopla. First is that every time Adebayor has come out in public and categorically denied that he intends to leave Arsenal. The same cannot be said about a lot of other players around. Though this is the same guy who had said that he will retire from football if Arsenal do not win the league. But still, I get the feeling that Adebayor is speaking the truth and it is just Milan and at the max Adebayor’s agent who are involved in this. Probably the agent’s agenda is only to earn Adebayor a much higher pay packet at Arsenal in the new contract that he is supposed to be negotiating with Arsenal at this point of time. The second positive aspect is the amount of money that is being quoted as the value for Adebayor. There is talk that Milan are ready to pay 30 million Euros (23.7 million Pounds) and Arsenal are asking for 40 million Euros (31.6 million Pounds). Now those are values that even an Arsenal fan (leave alone the neutral ones) find hard to believe to be true. The guy was deemed to be absolute rubbish till last year; he spurned numerous chances throughout the season, and was held partly responsible for Arsenal not winning the league. How can somebody agree to pay 30 million for him and still fail in the bid to acquire him? But then again, we are witnessing an inflated market and Adebayor isn’t exactly rubbish, which many of the cynic Arsenal fans would like you to believe. The amount of donkey work, movement, height, work rate etc that Adebayor provides is not provided by anyone else in the EPL bar Drogba I guess. But then again, Drogba is 30 years old now, while Adebayor is yet to reach his prime. So if you ask me, I would say 30 million looks like a realistic price, though the 40 million that Arsenal ask for is a bit over the top. However, the main concern is that how much valuable is Adebayor to Arsenal?

Adebayor was the lone striker who battled it out through the last season for us. And did a very very good job at that, despite his deficiencies, what he provides none of the other strikers at Arsenal can. Bendtner is the nearest to him, but he is just 20 and some way off from the target as of now. Bendtner’s self confidence is probably his best and worst aspect. It is good as that makes the guy assured and perform to his best and bad as a little bit more humility will make sure he works that much harder to improve himself. The other main strikers i.e. Van Persie and Eduardo aren’t the physical type. Carlos Vela and Walcott are way too young and immature as yet. Hence, if Adebayor is to leave we cannot cover up from in house, barring Bendtner having a miraculous season. We would need to buy someone from the outside. The typically touted names would be David Villa, Santacruz and Mario Gomez. Now the first two again have the same problem, that they can’t provide the physical aspect. Villa and Santacruz could be replacements for Eduardo or Van Persie but not for Adebayor. David Villa is a great player, but getting him would mean the likes of Van Persie, Eduardo, Vela and Walcott (in strike department) will have to take a back seat. That’s something not advisable as per me. The little that I have seen of Mario Gomez makes me believe that the guy has the potential and the attributes to do all that Adebayor does. However, he seemed to be out of his depth at the Euros, and hence seems closer to Bendtner than Adebayor. Also, he would need time to settle in the Premier League. All this essentially means that we can forget winning anything in the coming season if Adebayor leaves. And I am pretty sure that if we do not win anything in the next season then the likes of Cesc, Rosicky and Van Persie would be ready to move on to other clubs.

Now some might say that we have already lost Flamini and will probably lose Hleb too. Hence, the coming season is already another transition and letting Adebayor go, when we are getting pretty good money might be a great idea. As far as I know, Flamini was great in the last season but he did not provide something that cannot be replaced i.e. creativity and understanding (which are needed from an attacking sense). Hence, Song or a much more beefed up Denilson should be able to do what Flamini did, however using Gilberto could still be a backward step. On the other hand, if we loose Hleb that could be a bigger problem. But then again if Rosicky can stay fit (fingers crossed) through the season, we can easily cover up for Hleb, with an improved Walcott and the hugely talented Nasri providing extra impetus.

So the conclusion for me is that Arsenal cannot afford to lose Adebayor this summer (even for 40 million) as he is priceless to them. Probably next year, once Bendtner has matured and improved selling Adebayor could be excellent business. I would end this article hoping that Milan sign Drogba, giving us dual benefit of keeping Adebayor and getting rid of Senderos’s tormentor J

What made Wenger change his mind on buying a Defender? … & Euro 2008

First things first, we are not even hundred percent sure whether Wenger actually made the comment that he does not feel the need to buy a defender. He may even have said that, but in some different context. So as far as the credibility of those comments goes, it’s plain speculation as per me for now. However, speculate on speculation is what makes a very interesting read and some very good exercise for the idle mind waiting in anticipation for something to happen.

If I remember correctly, Wenger did talk about Arsenal needing something on the defensive side to take care of the high balls, something that our first choice central defensive pairing is distinctly incapable of. Hence, the thought process started that we would be in the market for a tall strong defender, who can win most of the headers for us. Now, we are being told that Arsene Wenger is not in the market for a defender, he made these comments while refuting the claim that Arsenal are planning a bid for Vincent Kompany. Kompany is a very good defender; however he does not provide anything different to what we already have. Hence, I never believed we were in the market for him. But then, the reports about the 9.5 million bid for Zapata seemed fairly credible. He is 21, captain for Udinese quite tall, good in the air and one of the best young prospects around.

So what exactly changed in the last few days? Here are a few possibilities; you can take your pick based on your comfort. One, Senderos has done pretty well in the Euros, which makes Wenger think that he deserves another chance to resolve our problems in the air. Two, Wenger has thought over the partnership of Toure and Gallas, and after looking at Thuram and Gallas play for France, he feels maybe this partnership can still work. Three, he has agreed a deal with Thuram as a coach cum player and feels that would be enough to sort out the issues at the back. Four, Wenger feels that Zapata is the only defender who can improve the current setup and he is too costly and beyond a reasonable value. Hence, going ahead without buying a new defender would make sense. I for one hope that none of the above is true and Wenger does eventually get Zapata.

Apart from this, Senderos’s Swiss got knocked out of the competition thanks to a late late goal. I have to admit that barring the puddle football time, Turkey were the better team and deserved the win, unlike the Czech’s win against the Swiss. I have been watching Derdeyok in the Swiss team and he played the full 90 minutes in the game. He won almost all the headers against the Turkish defenders and generally looked like a pretty good raw talent. On the other hand the Portugal – Czech match was a much closer affair than I expected. The Portuguese did win 3-1 and were pretty good going forward, but the same cannot be said about their defense. Had the Czech’s been better in front of the goal they could have made much more of a match of it. I really feel they are missing Rosicky more than Arsenal missed him during the season.

David Silva a better buy for Arsenal than Villa…and some more Euros!!!

Spain were simply amazing yesterday in the Euros. Torres was good, but Villa was better. His movement and clinical finishing was simply breathtaking. Arsenal fans would have been encouraged by Villa’s third goal in which Fabregas was the provider. They would be salivating at the prospect of watching that week in week out provided the much vaunted striker does end up at Arsenal. Though that is a prospect which seems more unlikely now than ever before. He was already a bit costly for Wenger’s liking; on top of that he is performing superbly at the Euros, which will hike his value like anything. Speaking of our very own Spanish hero, he did not start but did well in the time he got on the pitch. What more can you ask from a midfield sub? He scored a goal and got an assist, essentially being actively involved in both the goals scored by his team while he was on the pitch. I was a bit surprised when Fabregas replaced Torres. As per me, the best attacking combination for the Spanish would be Fabregas providing and Torres finishing, and here I was watching one replace the other. Fabregas played much further up on the pitch then he usually plays at club level and did some excellent work, though he was found out in one instance when his lack of speed made sure that the keeper managed to collect the through pass before he could reach it. This made me think, whether playing Fabregas in the same position for Arsenal would be a good idea in a 4-5-1. During the current season Hleb was the one who got that spot, though he did well, I get the feeling that playing Fabregas there could help us achieve much better results. With Adebayor up front and Walcott to run up from the wings, he could really do a lot of damage. On top of that, we could have Diaby or Denilson with Gilberto behind him in the central midfield. This would give some valuable experience to the younger two, and allow Gilberto to cover at the back and not run too much. Apart from the lovely attack displayed by Spain, their defense was distinctly bad. Puyol did the only thing he does best, last ditch tackling. Sergio Ramos was uncharacteristically poor and had a torrid time. If the Russian attacking force was half as good as the Spanish one, we would have definitely seen a score line of 4-3. The Russians inexplicably lost focus every time they had the ball in or around the Spanish goal. I didn’t know Arshavin would be suspended for this game, he could have made some difference, hope he is back for the rest of the group games. The Sweden and Greece game almost made me go to sleep, what with Greece persisting with the policy that surprisingly won them the title last time around. It took a moment of brilliance from the most inconsistent (immensely talented) striker we may ever see. It was amusing to know that the last time Zlatan had scored for the national team was 3 years back. I get a feeling that despite his age Henrik Larsson makes Zlatan’s life a lot easier. On top of that, we seemed to be watching the Ljunberg of old, I wonder what the West Ham fans might be making of that. If Zlatan can be a bit consistent, he should be able to take them to the second round; else Russia may have the last laugh. As far as the groups are concerned, only the Dutch group seems exciting for now, rest of the Euros would come live only in the second round.

Coming to the main point of this blog; the Spanish side had a typically shortish winger named David Silva, who seemed much like our very own Rosicky. Not only did he move infield, he was creative and on top of that pretty tenacious too. He provided something different to a midfield full of central midfielders in Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas and Senna. Agreed, Villa was the star of the day, but Silva showed enough qualities to stake for a starting place in any of the top clubs. He too is in a similar situation to Villa at Valencia, and might not be that expensive. I am not sure whether the Nasri deal will happen or not, but definitely Silva is a quality player in an area where Arsenal are found wanting, something we cannot say about David Villa. There is no doubting the quality of Villa, but with Adebayor, Van Persie and Bendtner already there and Walcott, Eduardo and Vela on their way, I don’t think we need a striker, however good he may be. But a winger like David Silva is almost exactly what we need.

What did Wenger tell Ramsey that made him sign for Arsenal?

For starters, I am not too sure whether I am happy about Arsenal signing Ramsey or I am not happy. There are some usual doubts which cause this. And that’s the exact reason why I am curious on what exactly Wenger did Wenger tell Ramsey, which made sure Ramsey chose us over the preferred choice of his current club, over the club where his hero plays. Here is an attempt at what could have been told. Was Ramsey told that he would be the first choice backup on the left wing for Rosicky? That would be a very appealing prospect for the 17 year old. Being the backup for second most brittle player in the Arsenal squad as of now almost guarantees you 25 games in a season. Another even more appealing option could be, Hleb is leaving for Barcelona, we were trying to get Nasri as replacement, however his agent seems to be stuck up, so we decided to sign you instead of him. Now that could be the most persuasive argument from Ramsey’s point of view. This second option is the one that makes me feel not so happy about us signing Ramsey. Wenger had suggested that we would be signing one creative player in the summer, hope that one player isn’t Ramsey; we definitely need more then that.

Another line that I missed out yesterday (and which could easily be an eye catching headline) is that “Song signs an extension contract to avoid repeat of the Flamini situation next year”. Song is the most able replacement for Flamini currently at the club in my eyes, and he could have possibly had a blinder of a season and left just like Flamini. Hence, that contract extension is a big relief.

Rest, yesterday I almost had the best possible day at this edition of the Euros. Due to the obvious link of French players at Arsenal, I always look forward to have a look at them at the International level. However, since Domenech has taken on as the French coach, that liking has turned into a very strong dislike. This could be due to the numerous spats between Domenech and Wenger, or due to him not picking Pires for the World Cup, or much more recently for not picking up our superb full backs for International duty (though that could be a good thing from the club’s point of view). At the start of the tournament I was hoping that the French go out in the first round itself. Hopefully if Italy can pick up from the shambles that they got themselves into, it might become a reality. With Henry and Viera injured and Nasri benched, I had almost no interest in watching the game. It turned out to be an absolute snooze fest. The two teams combined to have a grand total of one shot on target between them in the 90 minutes. Even when the game was 70 to 80 mins old, neither team showed any interest in pushing the tempo and try to grab a win. Both the teams seemed to be content with a draw and that’s exactly what they got.

The next match was arguably the best match I have seen for a really long time. It was a Dutch master class, and I would like to use the much used quote “The future’s bright the future’s orange”. I have been a fan of Dutch football from the day I started watching the game itself. I hope in every tournament that this would be the one, when they make it. My all time favorite goal is still Bergkamp’s goal against Argentina in the World Cup. However, this time around it was different. The Dutch had a defense that was probably comparable to Birmingham or Wigan (when Oijer & Boulharouz are starters then that’s the best you can compare with). They were up against the two World Cup finalists. I had no hope of them qualifying from the group itself. However, based on yesterday’s performance we are back on the band wagon of “We will win it this time”. All the Van’s (Vaart, Bronckhorst, Nistelrooy & Saar) were simply great. Though Ruud should have done better with the chances he got. The Dutch did get lucky with the first goal, but then again based on the overall performance they deserved every bit of the resounding victory they got. Before the start of the game we knew Robben and Van Persie wont play. Guess that was a blessing in disguise for the Dutch. Kuyt with his tireless running and worth ethic provides a defensive shield on the right which the other two cannot provide. He was instrumental in keeping Zambrotta quiet for the first half. I feel the Dutch should start with the same 11 in the next match even if van Persie and Robben are available.