\u2026some of the time, but if you are Arsene Wenger or Arsenal Football Club you will struggle to please pretty much anybody, anytime these days!<\/p>\n
Seriously folks, yesterday saw the final tally of signings in the past week cruise to a lofty 5 and for the day an insanely intense and indescribably inciting more than 3 and less than 5!<\/p>\n
Got that?! We signed four whole players on the final day of the transfer window! Transfer window totals make even more crazy reading:<\/p>\n
11 players out the door, 9 players in, a mountain of international caps leaving but even more arriving, spending like Sheikh and Vacs and STILL making a profit overall.<\/p>\n
Inevitably, for a large section of the internet sofa jockeys, it simply isn\u2019t good enough! Already we are hearing things like:<\/p>\n
\u201cMertesacker lost it a couple of years ago, hasn\u2019t been the same player since.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYossi Benayoun is a Liverpool and Chelsea reject, how will he do us any good.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cA Brazilian left-back won\u2019t help with our defensive issues, they just attack, attack, attack.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cA South Korean striker with a pretty bad goal scoring record is not what we needed up front. Where is the fox in the box that Arsene was babbling on about all those years ago? Never bought him and still haven\u2019t.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMikael (sic) Arteta is too old and too slow. Plus, if he is the answer, what the hell was the question??? Did we try to replace someone like Cesc with an Everton has been?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n You would think or even wish that I was just joking right?! II have come to the conclusion that, after this past 6 months, there are some people will do anything, literally ANYTHING to tear down the manager, the team, the board, the whole club if they can. I was fairly vocal earlier in the transfer window and, if I am honest, I was starting to consider the possibility that it may actually be time for us and Arsene to go our separate ways, even if his journey just went a little bit further up the stairs at Highbury House. That said, after seeing how the team performed against Udinese, I thought it fair to give Arsene the chance to actually do something in the transfer window and show us what he had in mind before lighting the funeral pyre. I also realised that convincing experienced players to come to a club losing Cesc, Nasri and Clichy in one go and no guarantee of Champions League Football was a tough sell to say the least and qualifying for the CL proper could make a big difference.<\/p>\n What did Arsene do and did qualifying for the Champions League proper make any difference at all? Well, the list of incomings tells us much about that!<\/p>\n So let\u2019s respond to those comments shall we?<\/p>\n Per Mertesacker<\/strong><\/p>\n Aside from his regular defensive partner, the Brazilian Naldo, spending 15 months (March 2010 to August 2011)out of the game through injury, Mertesacker has been playing behind Thorsten Frings who, at 33 and then 34 years old, in the past two seasons has lost much of his pace, energy and, as anybody who has been paying attention to Bremen due to the us being linked with Per for the past two seasons will tell you, his general ability to protect his defence. Per is a very proactive defender. He sees danger and he goes to get involved in it as quickly as possible, which is good news because, at 6ft 6\u201d, he is not going to outpace the most mediocre paced strikers. This means that when he sees the danger of Frings failing yet again to cover a run, get there in time to put in the needed tackle or even be in the DM position at all, he steps up and tries to cover for him. Obviously there will be those of you now crying out that this is simply bad positional sense on his part but, if you watch some tape of the debacle in Manchester on Sunday, you will find a couple of Arsenal defenders doing exactly the same thing when Coquelin was being found lacking in experience and concentration.<\/p>\n 8-2 wasn\u2019t it?!<\/p>\n So, no regular partner whom he had played alongside since joining Bremen, during which time Per was ranked 7th<\/sup> best and then 21st<\/sup> defender in the Bundesliga. Just for perspective, playing alongside his partner, he was ranked 3rd<\/sup> twice and 1st<\/sup> once in the previous three seasons.<\/p>\n If you think that none of this makes any difference then you may well be a little bit simple. Communication and understanding are about as important in the centre of defense as tackling ability and the performance in these areas can affect greatly what happens overall in a defence. Look, for example, how Koscielny has performed alongside TV5 and compare that to how he performed alongside Squillaci or Djourou. See what I mean?!<\/p>\n If you want my opinion as to the type of player Per is, and reading this article at all suggests that you may have a slight interest, I would compare the style of Mertesacker to one Tony Adams. Now, comparing Mertesacker to anybody with the legendary status of Tony Adams may seem foolhardy at best, but I HAVE<\/em> been watching Bremen whenever possible and I HAVE<\/em> been paying attention to how the guy plays. Like Tony, he lacks a bit of pace but he makes up for it in anticipation and his general reading of the game. Like Tony he is a tough, tough, TOUGH tackler that takes no prisoners. Hefty, rip the attacker in two, leave him in a heap and the referee wishing he could get a card out but simply can\u2019t sliding challenges are a specialty! Bearing this out is his phenomenal disciplinary record including going 31 league games without so much as a yellow card! Even Tony never managed that! It was a miracle if he went 31 games without attacking Lee Dixon!<\/p>\n Funnily enough, all those crying out for a man-mountain, striker-eating, bone-crunching, hugely experienced central defender got about the best player on earth to fit exactly that bill! 75 international caps stretching back to when he was the ripe old age of 20 and being captain of Werder Bremen surely only serve to further strengthen his credentials, but now we will have to hear all about Cahill, Samba etc. and how Premier league experience was so important! Oddly, that all important Premier League experience didn\u2019t seem to cause too many problems for Pires, Henry, Vieira, Fabregas, Petit, Ljundberg, Gilberto, Bergkamp, Anelka, Rosicky, Tour\u00e9, Bergkamp, Lauren, RVP, Flamini, the Pole between the Poles, Vermaelen, Sagna and yet how exactly did all that Premier League experience work out when we look at the likes of Gallas, Platt, Walcott )thus far) and, well, the list is not so long, but it is just as informative!<\/p>\n Summary:<\/em><\/p>\n Experienced, talented, experienced, a fearsome tackler, experienced, as big as a small mountain, experienced, disciplined, still young enough to play for the Mighty Arsenal for up to 10 years and experienced!<\/p>\n Brilliant signing!<\/p>\n 10\/10<\/p>\n Yossi Benayoun<\/strong><\/p>\n Yossi is an odd one depending on your point of view. If, as I am, you are of the point of view that Wenger is looking at a formation change and you, like I do, believe that buying a bunch of wingers and two or three number 10\u2019s in the transfer window suggests that he is seriously looking at a 442 in the Bergkamp\/Henry style partnership of the front two, then Yossi makes a whole lot of sense. Able to play behind the striker or on either wing, Benayoun is a versatile player. Tucked in behind a lone front man is, for me, his best role by far.<\/p>\n He is 31, has played a lot of international football, 83 full and 11 U21 caps, has played in the Premier League for 6 years, has a scoring record of around a goal every 3.5 games and has Champions League experience. I have a very good friend who happens to be a bindipper and, for the entire time Benayoun played for Liverpool, I had to hear about how Yossi was simply the best player there, an Israeli Bergkamp and was totally misunderstood by football fans in general. Close to the end of his time at Liverpool it appeared that people were starting to get the idea and, of course, this led to his transfer to Chelsea.<\/p>\n Some may point to his international career as \u201conly for Israel\u201d. Well, that may be so, but Israel don\u2019t play themselves every match, so one assumes that the experience is decent, regardless.<\/p>\n Some may say that he did nothing at Chelsea. Yes he did, he ruptured his Achilles and spent 7 months out of the game. Clearly we need to get rid of Vermaelen immediately!<\/p>\n Some may say that he simply isn\u2019t good enough to play for Arsenal. I would suggest that time is the only thing that will indeed tell.<\/p>\n Summary:<\/em><\/p>\n Experienced, versatile, experienced, only on loan so no real risk, international experience, creativity, experienced!<\/p>\n This might just be the rabbit in the hat signing or could turn out to be the dead dog in the alley! Personally I think (and hope) the former!<\/p>\n 8\/10<\/p>\n Andr\u00e9 Santos<\/strong><\/p>\n This guy will NEVER fit in! Care to know why?! Ok, then I shall tell you\u2026<\/p>\n He is a converted left winger who now plays at left back.<\/p>\n See, all we needed to know really! We all know how much luck Arsene has at converting players\u2019 positions. It is the end of the road for Arsenal, the end is nigh, the end is nigh.<\/p>\n Want more \u201cproof\u201d?!<\/p>\n Ok, he is a Brazilian defender.<\/p>\n \u2018Nuffsed boys. Let\u2019s go home. Tear up those season tickets! Burn down the stadium!<\/p>\n Oh, hold on, this just in\u2026<\/p>\n This guy appears to be an outstanding player either defending OR attacking!<\/p>\n What?! An attacking full back who can actually dribble past his man and not run straight into him or pass it backwards when faced with one of those nasty defender things?!<\/p>\n An attacking full back that doesn\u2019t get caught out of position three times a game?<\/p>\n An attacking full back that has international experience?<\/p>\n An attacking back who has a trophy cabinet with something actually inside it?!<\/p>\n An attacking full back who can actually put in a tackle?!<\/p>\n An attacking full back who can take a mean free kick?!<\/p>\n An attacking full back who is almost 6ft tall?!<\/p>\n An attacking full back that can, wait for it\u2026\u2026CROSS THE BALL!??!?!?<\/p>\n Cross the ball? A full back, at Arsenal that can cross the road is a miracle in itself! Seriously, this guy has no chance at all. Clearly has no future in football, let alone at Arsenal. Throw him in the nearest skip and get Gibbs some steel leg implants. Yep, that should do it!<\/p>\n Summary:<\/em><\/p>\n Experienced, quick, experienced, good tackler, fairly big for a full back, experienced, lots of defensive and attacking ability, experienced, good positional sense, experienced, veritable top drawer of leave them on their arses attacking moves, experienced!<\/p>\n Potentially great signing with a lot of new tricks that he can bring to the team that we have been crying out for and, being 28 years old, doesn\u2019t immediately end the chances of an Arsenal career for Gibbs.<\/p>\n 9\/10<\/p>\n Park Chu-Young<\/strong><\/p>\n I have already spoken about the general positives and negatives of our new Korean friend and I don\u2019t think it necessary to rake over that old ground again. So, to put it simply, he appears to be more suited to a behind the main striker role than an out and out striker role, has a bundle of international experience including being his nations captain but, in reality, we know little about him if we are honest. Maybe the loan signing of Benayoun was as much to teach this hungry 26 year old a thing or two about the floating role as it was to bring Yossi into the first team. In this case we have to hope that Arsene bought us a Honda and not another Inamoto!<\/p>\n All of this said, Joel Campbell failing to get a work permit application and ending up at L\u2019Orienton loan and Park only having two seasons before he has to go back to Korea and perform his national military service may just mean he is a round peg in a round hole for the short term.<\/p>\n Summary:<\/em><\/p>\n Not enough information to make a firm decision as yet but we may well get a nice surprise. At the very least he has a decent amount of experience!<\/p>\n 7\/10<\/p>\n Mikel Arteta<\/strong><\/p>\n Can I start here by saying that I got a touch of the Rosicky\u2019s when this transfer came steaming to the surface like Martin Keown chasing down RVN after that penalty miss!<\/p>\n Let me explain\u2026<\/p>\n I have spent a long time believing that Arteta is probably the most underrated, most overlooked and best attacking midfielders in the Premier League. He has a great eye for a pass, can score goals, can tackle, can dribble, is consistent and so much more\u2026All this whilst playing for Everton!<\/p>\n Now, why the Rosicky reference? Well, years ago, when Dortmund were buying Rosicky I was SCREAMING for Arsenal to buy him. I had found him, believe it or not, playing Football Manager and he almost immediately became my Bryan\u201calmost guaranteed man of the match in every game\u201d Robson player. This got me interested in the player for real. I spent a decent amount of time watching him play in Germany and even a few games in the Czech Republic prior to that (which was not easy without the web, I can tell you!) and came to the conclusion that he was every bit as good as the game had suggested and would be a great fit for Arsenal.<\/p>\n I think it is safe to say that, horrific injury problems aside, Rosicky could well have achieved the legend status that those aforementioned injuries clearly prevented.<\/p>\n Cut to Arteta\u2026<\/p>\n When Mikel first played for Rangers in Scotland, I noticed things about him that reminded me of watching Rosicky at Dortmund. Always looking for the ball thus having lots of possession and rarely giving it away.Knew when to pass, when to dribble, when to shoot.Glued the ball to his foot like Brady and attacked defenders at will like Freddie! Had that unquantifiable ability to predict where his team mate was going and how to get the ball there, rarely misplacing a pass. Gives the impression that it is all very easy and rarely looks flustered or hassled.<\/p>\n Then he went, after a quick stop off at Real Sociedad, the club where his DNA lies, to Everton. I was literally gutted! Having to watch him win awards like Midfielder of the Year in the Premiership and basically be player of the year for Everton every year was heartbreaking. I knew we should have bought him way back when and, when we didn\u2019t buy him last summer, as it appeared that we might, I felt that, at 28 years old and with Wenger known for despising anybody that has so much as a laughter line, that ship had sailed\u2026<\/p>\n SURPRISE!!!<\/p>\n I simply cannot tell you how thrilled I am that Mikel will be playing for our fine club. I do not believe that he will play in the \u201cCesc role\u201d but I don\u2019t think that Wenger is going to build another team around one player after the experience of trying it already. Let\u2019s face it, the most successful Wenger teams have been based around pretty much 6-8 players and never around one man. Some may point to Henry, but without the support of Pires, Bergkamp, Ljundberg, Vieira, Campbell, Tour\u00e9, Cole et al, would he have been quite so prolific? I think not.<\/p>\n Mikel also gives time to some of the younger players to come in when they are ready and not NOW, NOW, NOW, which should also benefit the club in the long run.<\/p>\n A dedicated footballer, experienced, great passer of the ball, experienced, scores goals, experienced, takes the ball past defenders in and around the box, experienced, great role model for the youngsters, experienced.<\/p>\n By far my favourite signing and one that I am certain will make an immediate difference to our ability to penetrate opposition buses!<\/p>\n 11\/10<\/p>\n All in all, I think that those crying out for 3 experienced players got more than they bargained for. Those screaming for an experienced centre back got one of the most experienced in the world, at only 26 years old! Those baying for a creative midfielder got two both with masses of Premier League experience. Those wailing for a left back who can actually defend got their dreams with a bow wrapped around them whilst those wanting a left back that can attack defenders, cross the ball and even take free kicks got their birthday, Christmas, new year and christening presents all at once!!!<\/p>\n We had holes, we have filled them. We had gaping holes in defence, we filled them with one of the biggest plugs in the world! We needed creativity and we have bought at least three creative players.<\/p>\n We may not have bought Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Puskas and Moore, but, being realistic, we never have and we were never going to, were we?!<\/p>\n In my last article I said this:<\/p>\n \u201cSo, until the next time when we will have filled at least three key positions on the pitch and everything will look rosy again.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n I think it is safe to say that we have outdone even ourselves, for once!<\/p>\n I for one cannot wait until Swansea to find out for real whether or not things have gone as well as I genuinely believe they have on what was one of the most interesting days to be an Arsenal fan in quite some time!<\/p>\n COME ON YOU (new) GOOOOONNNNNERRRRRSSSSS!!!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2026some of the time, but if you are Arsene Wenger or Arsenal Football Club you will struggle to please pretty much anybody, anytime these days! Seriously folks, yesterday saw the final tally of signings in the past week cruise to a lofty 5 and for the day an insanely intense and indescribably inciting more than […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arsenal-fc","category-transfers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1357"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1387,"href":"https:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1357\/revisions\/1387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arsenaltalk.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}