Posts
I can only apologise because once again I have left weeks between posts. What can I say. I'm sorry about that but I've been quite
There's only one place to start. We won the FA Cup. WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! It's hard to express meaningfully just how good it feels when your team wins a trophy. And after nine years in which every passing day built further pressure on the manager, players, staff, board and most importantly the fans, it tastes especially sweet. And for me, personally, it ranks pretty highly on the list of Arsene Wenger successes in N5. Having had to basically gut his own teams over the years just to break even, there's more than a touch of phoenixicity about this particular triumph.
And that was reflected quite perfectly within the game its self. Going 2-0 down is always unpleasant but to do so in a game that meant as much as this one did and to concede two goals to a team full of Steven Quinns and Matty Fryatts is like finding an eyelid in a bag of chips; simply gut wrenching. So when we did come through that exceptionally testing period, it served to prove what great character we have within this side.
And character further added to the sense of enjoyment that came from the win. I said at some point earlier this year that I felt something special was building in this team. Wenger had recruited a bunch of generally likeable blokes to whom it really mattered whether we won or lost. What's more they could play a bit too. Now that was before our customary collapse, which this season proved to be beyond our control in some aspects, but assessing the situation with that most helpful benefit of hindsight, I stand by what I said.
We may not have won either of the big ones in the Premier or Champions Leagues but standing at the top of Highbury Hill and watching a bus full of Arsenal players bask in the bright May sunshine and cup-winning glory that they had really earned, it did feel, like I had predicted, quite special.
Now from Party Time to Silly Season. It's well and truly under way and as you would expect, we've been linked with pretty much every human male with two functional feet. If we want to build on the success of this season we must do more than replace outgoing players (sound familiar?). You don't need me to tell you that a goal keeper, a right back and a forward are absolute necessities. I mean, not buying in those positions is simply inconceivable, with Wenger himself stating a need to add 'two or three' before even assessing the shape of the squad. Right back is perhaps the only exception to that list.You get the feeling that if the boss can't have the man at the very top of his list, he may favour an 'internal promotion' to fill the gap.
In terms of names, it's hard to tell what's true and what is pure speculation designed to instigate clicks from the mice of tech-savvy Gooners in trendy North London (to those who got Olivier Giroud into the Premier League team of the season: touché). Serge Aurier is the most oft mentioned for the right back spot and the player himself is pining for a move, remarking that to stay at Toulouse after his successful season would be 'a disappointment'. Up front Benzema is talked of but you suspect that we may need another one of those Wenger chain reactions to force that one. The other one is Carlos Vela. He's another player who seems open to move. His stance on a return has significantly softened in recent months but I really doubt he'll be back in the red and white of the Arsenal next year. His colleague at Sociadad, the speedy winger Antoine Griezmann, or Griez Lightning as I will demand he is referred to, seems a likelier acquisition.
That brings us on to the non essential buys. Well non essential if we don't want to progress. Vermaelen will very likely leave meaning that we need at least one central defender. This is a position neglected by the goblins who invent the stories at Squawka and HITC (by the way how can we expect to believe anything written on Here Is The City? It's a finance and trade website with a finance and trade name so why they think they know about sport is beyond me. I wouldn't just call a site Here is the Pitch and then talk about business deals and stuff. Actually I would that's a great name but this is a tangent). The 'targets' I can recall are Rio Ferdinand (pffft) and today Ashley Williams. I wished we could have moved for Kurt Zouma but Chelsea got him with some change that a magician pulled from behind the ear of Roman Abramovich's daughter at her fifth birthday party. She wasn't impressed but that may have been sour grapes over the pin the tail on the unicorn debacle. Anyway I expect we'll buy a player of the ilk of Williams and a younger face as Ignasi Miquel will be released. On the Zouma point I think the hoarding and reselling of players by teams like Chelsea is one of the biggest issues facing modern football but that's for another day.
The player that everyone wants, a physical defensive midfielder who must, repeat must, be the new Patrick Viera may not be out there at this time so it would not surprise me at all if the ageing legs of Mikel Arteta were supplemented next season with the younger ones of a player like Isaac Hayden, the youth team captain. But anyway I'm bored of this section now. You can scroll NewsNow if you want uninformed speculation (That wasn't meant to be disparaging. It's a great way to pass time when you should be doing something else.).
Now just the bits and pieces. It would be remiss of me to ignore the World Cup and I have to say I'm quite excited. No, England won't win and I have a sneak feeling we won't get out of our group, but it's the World Cup. Whatever you think about Sepp 'I'm Still Here' Blatter and his posse, it's still a great spectacle. I have to say I'm annoyed though. Another point I made earlier this season was that Kieran Gibbs would probably not get the international recognition he deserves. And lo and behold, he finds himself out of the World Cup squad, shunted out of the reserves list by Jon Flanagan, a right back who played at left back in a side whose poor defence cost them the Premier League title, and what's more, Gibbo was never really in contention for selection. That just annoys me.
It's a point made by Arseblog last week but who out of Baines, Gibbs, and Shaw has experience in Champions League knock out games? Who has played for a top 4 team for his whole career? Who has won a ruddy trophy? I'm not saying that Gibbs should have started or that either Baines or Shaw are bad players because neither is true. But for a player who is as established as Kieran to be completely out of contention is just ridiculous. Realistically his career will be limited to serving as back up to Luke Shaw when he reaches 28, 29. Grrrr.
Will an Arsenal player win the World Cup? Potentially. I won't go into it now because we have the whole summer and I'm going to call it a day. It's been nice though. I'l be back again soon.
For now.
