Summer thoughts

Hi all,

I know it’s been a very long time since I’ve written and I can only apologise for that. There are a few reasons why I became so lazy in the last few months of the season, namely having issues with my old job and then starting a new one meant that I had very little time to indulge in blog writing. Secondly, I became VERY disillusioned with Arsenal in the last few weeks of the season – we were in with a real shout for the title and then just capitulated in a manner I am not accustomed to seeing. I can take being beaten as long as every player on the pitch puts in 100% effort; this sadly was not the case.

Here are a few thoughts:

The last few months of the season

Whilst I always thought that we would fall short in the title race, I found the manner of our defeats to Wigan and Blackburn absolutely disgusting. You know things are bad when you’re watching Arsenal leading 2-0 at Wigan and you’re still expecting Arsenal to mess it up. These two games summed up everything about the current Arsenal squad – lack of depth, lack of effort and total immaturity. I do not deny that we were decimated by injury; in fact, we were missing 5 or 6 of our first team players which would be a problem for any team. Looking at the positives, not many teams could cope with our injuries and still finish third but something does need to be addressed as it’s gone beyond coincidence now – there must be something inherently wrong with the set-up at our club. The only player who came out with any credit from the last few months of the season was the oldest player in our squad – Sol Campbell. His drive, passion and commitment put the other players to shame. I thought his performance at Spurs was outstanding and I still maintain that he was the best player on the pitch that night. An honourable mention must also go to Gael Clichy who I thought began to show glimpses of his best form when he returned from injury and let’s hope he carries that into next season.

Players who just aren’t up to the job

There are a few players that clearly are not good enough and don’t even deserve to wear the shirt – as I said, if you don’t want to give 100% the go to a club where you will. I’ve identified a few players I feel we should sell on this summer:

Denilson – An absolute waste of space

Silvestre – No comment necessary

Arshavin – A mercenary, I don’t mind as long as he gives it his all but he clearly doesn’t. The great players are those that combine their immense talent and skill with a work ethic that very few can match, the simple fact is he’s lazy and therefore will NEVER be a great player. Let’s sell him now whilst we can still command a big fee and try and recoup some of the money we spent.

Walcott – I have to agree with Chris Waddle, the guy has absolutely no football brain whatsoever. Walcott is a victim of his own hype, he’s 21 and thinks he’s a top class player, sadly he isn’t. I genuinely think that he’s a championship player at best and I for one fully back Capello’s decision not to take him to South Africa.

Eduardo – Tragically, that broken leg at Birmingham ended his career as a top class player – it’s just a case of what might have been but what we know is that he is no longer good enough for Arsenal - time for him to move on.

Players who need to raise their game

There are also some players who have one last season to prove their worth to the club:

Nasri – Whilst the guy has lots of talent, he just doesn’t perform on a consistent basis. I want to see him play like he did against Porto, we know he has it in him but he just doesn’t do it often enough. Samir rarely has what you would call a ‘shocker’ but he still needs to move up to the next level or I don’t see him having much of a future at the club.

Rosicky – Last chance saloon comes to mind… I don’t blame Rosicky, we can’t expect a player to come back from two years out and be at the same level. He showed glimpses last season but needs to show more, I do like him as a player and I think he could be valuable for the squad.

Diaby – One of the most infuriating players I have ever seen in an Arsenal shirt with the unique ability to look a world beater and a conference player all in one move! What concerns me is his minimal work ethic, if he can improve that then I think he still has a future at the club but he will have to prove it next season.

Cesc Fabregas saga

We knew it was inevitable and I think the way Barcelona outplayed us at the Emirates was a key factor in him deciding that he wants to go back to his boyhood club. The way Barcelona has behaved in all of this is an absolute disgrace however I don’t think any of us are all that surprised. Once again Arsenal has behaved in a dignified manner and I thought the statement they made yesterday was classy and was exactly what I wanted to hear. That being said, I still think the move will go through, we are playing hard ball. I for one would not accept a penny less than £60 million for him and whilst I would be sad to see him go, no player is bigger than the club. That sort of money could enable us to buy the type of players we badly need such as a new goalkeeper, a couple of centre halfs and a midfielder. We might not have our star player but it’s about the team and I’ve no doubt if invested wisely we could be a genuine force next season. If he does stay, then I think it’s based on assurances from Wenger that he will be reinforcing the squad heavily this summer and I do hope that’s the case. I’m sure this will drag on over the whole of pre-season so we’re in it for the long haul although I hope we don’t make the mistake of selling him on the last day of the transfer window without having a suitable replacement already in place.

Player of the season

Fabregas – He had an awesome season carrying the team for much of it. The fact is if he stays, he needs some help as he can’t always do it alone. Had he stayed fit we might have taken the title race down to the last day.

Most improved player of the season

Song – Just superb, I think he is one of the best midfielders in the Premiership. What impresses me so much is his close control and magnificent technique, he has that great ability to get himself out of tight situations with ease – the bar has been raised so expectation will be high next season.

Young player of the season

Ramsey – Was just beginning to establish himself as a first team player when that animal broke his ankle. Ramsey is the heir to Fabregas and if Ramsey was not out until November (or longer) I think Wenger would have been more comfortable in selling the Spaniard. Whilst he still has areas to improve, he is clearly an exciting player. There is some concern that he might not be the same player when he returns from injury, I disagree, as I don’t think his injury was anywhere near as bad as Eduardo’s so I think he’ll be alright.

That’s all folks, if anything interesting happens over the summer then I’ll blog about it – much the same as Arsenal, I do not comment on transfer speculation. I’m not going to blog about the World Cup either as I’d rather be watching it than writing about it!

Enjoy the sun!