Chamakh fluffs his last chance + the future of Eisfeld
July 29, 2012
Apologies for the lateness of today’s post but I’ve at least got a decent excuse for once. I was watching the Arsenal.
What a relief it is to be giving that excuse to a bunch of people that I know will be sympathetic to it rather than the usual friends and family who are utterly appalled that I might miss some dull social event for the infinitely preferable pastime of watching my team.
Okay, so it wasn’t all sunshine and roses this morning but there you go. We played reasonably well in patches but a combination of slack defending and profligacy up front meant we could only muster a 2-2 draw against FC Kitchee in Hong Kong.
The defensive lapses are all too familiar and worrying as ever. I don’t expect Steve Bould to wave a magic wand and solve what’s ailed us for a good few years overnight. And by the sounds of it this squad has spent far more time on planes and at Q&As than it has on the training field during this trip so there’d have been very little time to work on things anyway. Plus of course we’re talking about yet another brand new back four which started the game this morning with captain for the day Johan Djourou lining up next to Ignasi Miquel with Gibbs at left back and Craig Eastmond on the right. There’s a fair chance we may never see that particular line-up again.
Still, with only one more match scheduled before the season begins it is a bit of a concern that we still look so vulnerable at the back. It’s the same old story in that we tend to dominate these games in terms of possession but it only takes one break by the opposition and we find ourselves a goal behind.
Up front there was yet more evidence (if it were needed) that Marouane Chamakh is not the man to replace Robin Van Persie. Despite what he may have said last week. We created decent chances and got in good positions but it’s endlessly frustrating to have a frontman who fails to make incisive runs, often struggles to trap the ball and looks scared of just putting his laces through the ball when he’s in front of goal. He still looks like a man whose confidence is completely shot and while if he got it back he still has the potential to be a useful player, we just can’t afford to give him the games that he’ll need to get that spark back.
I fully expect Podolski and/or Giroud to take his place when we return from the tour and I suspect that run of three games may have been Chamakh’s last chance to revive his Arsenal career. I’m sad to say he didn’t take it.
One man who did look in the mood today was Gervinho. Coming on at half time for Ryo he injected some real pace and life in to the side down that left wing. It’s clearly his strongest position and when he’s in the mood he’s a nightmare for a full back. He was back doing what he does best. Skipping down the wing, into the box and then dancing his way along the byline before squaring the ball back. It’s the same trick he was pulling at the beginning of last season and the reason I thought he would prove such a useful addition last year. As we know his form dipped, particularly after the ACN in January but hopefully he’ll be back to his best now and really establish himself for his second Premier League season. If he can play like he did today it would be a massive boost.
Nice to see Eisfeld getting on the scoresheet again. He’s looked strong in his very brief cameos so far and I wonder what Le Boss has in mind for him this season. Could a loan spell be in order or could he get his chance from the bench? With only 43 minutes of first team football to his name you can’t argue with his scoring record. Projected forward I can confidently predict that he’ll score an average of four goals a game for us or 152 a season. Not bad for a young’un.
Speaking after the game AW was quick to praise the quality of the opposition but aware of our own defensive frailties:
I think defensively we looked fragile, especially in the first half. In the second half not so much because we were not challenged. Defensively we have a lot of work to do as a unit to do much better.
We let everybody play today and some players are not yet at the level of the Premier League. It is a learning process. If you don’t do it in pre-season then you never do it – you give them a chance to see what is requested at the top level. I played all of the defenders during this tour to see who is ready and who is not. We have Sagna, Koscielny and Mertesacker at home – three experienced defenders.
Clearly an awareness that there’s plenty of work to be done. The next three weeks could be the most important of the season.
If You Liked This...
- Arsenal 1 – 2 Chelsea: A nudge in the ribs as Giroud miss baffles Wenger
- Arsenal plan huge tactical shift for Spurs game
- Norwich City 1 – 0 Arsenal: Supermodel teaches Arsene and co a lesson
- Arsenal 1 – 0 Swansea – Revised expectations
- Arsenal 1 – 0 Everton: New striker mooted as RVP secures another 3 points
Comments
31 Responses to “Chamakh fluffs his last chance + the future of Eisfeld”
Leave a Reply
Eisfeld looks like one with lots of promise, a great young player.
Eisfeld seems to have the knack of finding himself some space in the box and knocking it in, he looks quite slight but Jelavic isn’t a powerhouse and he’s been doing well in the Prem so it looks to me like Wenger *might* have pulled something out of his magic hat again with that boy.
I think Eisfeld (and Aneke for that matter) is starting to play himself into a shot at the first team squad next season, depending on additions I think they’re shoe-ins for the league cup and fringes leaving them only a few injuries away from serious action.
The defence was slightly worrying but if Bouldy gets stuck in for the next 3 weeks, as you say it could be worth a LOT in the long run.
Not a bad commercial tour, saw some promise from the young guns and Diaby without any injury,ofcourse with so much plane rides there has not been any work done on the defense. OK we need now to see our neww players in action, i am hoping they will squeeze in another match with the newcomers, becaUSE THE COLOGNE MATCH WONT BE ENOUGH TO JUDGE WHAT WE HAVE and may need for the upcoming campaign.
Most teams will play their best 4 defenders at once and this exactly what we should do sagna mertesacker koscielny vermaelen. that should be our back 4 the next best back 4 is jenkinson djourou bartley gibbs though i have to say i am uncomfortable with 3 of the 4 as only gibbs is a worthy understudy. Release squillaci and sign sakho plus bring in another right back either mbwia or debuchy. in goal it has to be szcesney but again i am uncomfortable with any of the back up keepers sell both fabianski and mannone bringing in an experienced keeper promoting martinez to no.3. For the 2 midfield slots it has to be song and arteta im ok with coquelin as cover for song but only if its alongside arteta. im ok with diaby alongside song. with wilshire and frimpong both injured we need 2 signings there so loan out eastmond and loan in sahin and bring in capoue or mvila to replace.denilson. i would be quote happy with walcott rosicky podolski as the 3 behind the striker and i would be happy with chamberlain lansbury gervinho as the back up. however seeing as rosicky is injured and podolski is likely to be the main striker i think 2 players are required here. cazorla and affellay would be my choices so selling arshavin and park will help. up front my choice would be rvp with giroud as back up and bendtner. but seeing as 2 of the 3 look to be on the way out i would be looking to spend all the money we get for rvp chamakh and bendtner on 2 mpre strikers. so only 9 players required!!!!! seriously that is what is required.
What has Eisfield got that Lansbury hasn’t?
Shame Afobe couldn’t take his chances.
I have to say, despite only seeing Eisfeld play in the reserves and pre-season matches I’m quietly excited about him as a player – just the way he holds himself on the pitch speaks of quality, a touchy Cescy, if you will.
Walcott and Gervinho both looked lively and I hope they can carry that form into the season ahead, both are pacey and on their day could be devastating, if both reached their potential our flanks would scare opposition fullbacks everywhere.
We were terrible in the first half and defensively it was embarrassing, I thought diaby looked very sluggish and out of touch with the game but hopefully his sharpness will return when he gets back into regular competitive football, everything crossed. Chamberlin showed that while he’s a real talent he’s not yet ready to be relied upon every week to produce his best, he will be inconsistent and we m,ust have depth in the middle to get through the season. Ryo is still raw and naive but I hope he stays with us this season and secures a spot in our Carling Cup team.
bc on July 29th, 2012 2:03 pm – interesting, but mertesacker? unless he’s put in a lot of work since last season there’s a problem. He looked slow for the prem to me and I’d rather see vermaelen central than full back
@bc – Im sorry man Vermaelen at left back??
Really the guys a disaster in that position.
Cazorla and sahin seem like theyre done and that looks to be it for the summer.Maybe a fullback and goal keeper would have been ideal but we are Arsenal not Man C or Real. we cant afford to have as many player as u suggest.Why in hells name do squillachi denilson and park need to be replaced.You want to buy someone to take their place on the bench. Ya debuchy would move to arsenal to warm the bench.
9 players is nutty no offense man
@bc – theres a 17 player overseas above 21 years limit. So half the player wont even make it to the squad!!
I saw the same game as you and am very surprised the editorial saw anything positive at all.
Not only was defence dismal but even worse was the attack, which failed to deliver in front of the virtual open goal mouth. I hope to regret my forecast that next season will probably be less than last season with zero silverware. Had any of the other top Premier teams played the Asian teams we did, the Premier class would have shone through, unlike for Arsenal, which does not have a ‘want to – need to win’ attitude when facing opposition. Only real professionals with a passion to win achieve trophies.
@bc – would you like coffee with that lol
Arsene Wenger has been too busy in the summer looking for offensive players but neglected the defense. In the last 3 friendlies, we have conceded 6 goals. Is this the shape of things to come in the new season?
Our leaky defense was our #1 problem last season.
If we don’t either get a solid player or develop a solid strategy for defense, we are once again going to struggle next season.
We didnt need to give any more chances to Chamkah …he is not good enough simply as that I’ve no confidence he him .. pay cheque.
Nor is Denilson, Squllaci, Park (he hasnt been give a game for a reason), Santos (CANNOT DEFEND), Watt, and Djourou.
Others like Arshivan, Bendther, Landsbury and Vela haven’t worked out for various reasons.
The amount of players we have on the books that wont contribute anything but yet are collecting good wages is beyond believe.
Example we wanted to sell Denilson no one would buy him … release him and save 3M off the wage bill.
We have extremely high wages despite not paying big money to our stars i.e. Van Persie.
Even is we bargin sell these wasters we should get 20M (Bendtner 5M Arshivan 5M Vela 3M Djourou 3M Lansbury 1M Santos 2M Mannone 1M release the others no one will pay for them).
There’s wages savings 26M … 11 players working on Denilson being pay 50K per week.
With the 20M brought in plus the 26M profit on property sale this all needs to be invested.
We have already spend 23M on Giroud and Podoloski (good prices). We need some defenders Baines 10M from Everton would be good (Gibbs has had his injuries) and another centre half someone like Mbiwa 13M (versatile) we need really competition for places if people arent performing.
Thats the money spent (without the board having to put there hands in there pockets). If Theo leaves bring in Moses, Theo is better on his day but his day whenever he decides to get in the zone.
If V Persie leaves (prick) then get Lewandowski.
The reason why Arsenal fans always bang on about this shit… is a dog on the street knows what to f**king do to make this team much harder to score aganist and with our attack this should lead to better results.
Will it win us a league who knows mayeb not we could spend 100M and still not win it. But at least get rid of players who have been given chances and invest something!!!!
I am happy with the summer so far. A few relatively low cost signings of players who have the potential to be able to elevate their games to our level, the hint of proven quality maybe sneaking in and of previous signings and youth growing into their roles.
I am sorry gents, this is the Arsenal for now. We are and will continue to be an aggressive all out offensive team who will be caught out by counter strikes. We will continue to depend on our youth policy to provide most of the squad. This is also a dangerous way, most of the children won’t work out at this level but most have to be given the chance to try. This can hurt us dramatically especially on defense where a single mistake can cost you a game even a cup. AW is obviously using the preseason so far to sort out the bench and to decide what to do with the younger players that have been in training the longest this summer.
And no, Arsenal doesn’t suffer more injuries than other teams, the injuries that we suffer hurt us more than they hurt the other top teams. We don’t have the depth that they do, especially the petro and debt fueled teams who can afford two full teams of first choice players.
And yes, we wouldn’t be able to keep most of our world class players as long as we can’t pay the ridiculous petrodollar wages and transfer fees. I am sorry about that and I am sorry about Van Persie, more so because I love him and think that his choice will be bad for him in the long run. But we are all adults here and bad choices are part of it
The best that we can hope for is that the FFP has some teeth and that our bets on the youth policy and in the stadium pay off. Or that like Malaga the shrieks and other petrooligarchs become bored with their expensive play things and bow out, a more likely proposition than the FFP having any impact in my opinion.
All in all the circus that was Arsenal last season was very entertaining with every match pushed to the absolute brink of disaster. I can’t wait for this season to start.
It’s sadly not that simple John. Arsenal are working hard to shift players as things stand, we’ll have to be patient over the coming weeks and see how things pan out – Bendtner and Arsahvin are heavily linked elsewhere as is Vela, I’m fairly confident we’ll shift those three and could bring in as much £12-£15 million in sales, plus a saving of over £10 million in wages. Squillaci should be replaced, the idea behind bringing him in was to have an experienced player who wouldn’t mind being on the bench which was fair enough on Wengers end but he’s so unreliable you might as well play a youngster in his place and get some experience under their belts.
Chamakh could attract other teams, he’s really not that bad but his wages are a stumbling block – another few months of not playing might just persuade him to leave.
@ Zinc Completely agree, the only problem with Chamakh is that he will see out his contract with the club because he came for free therefore picked up an inflated salary which in no way represents his ability.
No club with any sense is going to equal that in the EPL.
He might get ticked off and leave to go back to France if not involved which is probably going to happen.
Probably good for all parties if he does !
I suppose what I getting at is there are players who arent helping in any way just making up the numbers.
If no one is buying sit them down and say to them they dont have a future and you will cancel the contract by mutally consent (If they dont do it then have them train with the U14 or something) they are free to join someone else.
I think there are huge savings to be made in the wages department hopefully in the coming weeks we can sell the majority of those players and release the rest honestly having them in the squad is bad for morale … pay check players what on earth could they pass on to our youngsters????
I think the fact our defence is being ignored smacks of a very igornant manager (I do love Wenger) the moment you lose the ability to step out of a situation and analyse the hard facts your fucked.
I personally believe the Wenger has become so caught up in his vision of total football and winning on shoe string we wont accept the reality its FAILED.
A more balanced approach is needed … you must be able to defend no point be great at attacking… Newcastle under Keegan taught us this and you need some experience players to help the younger ones come on… when Utd had Gggs and Co coming through they only made half of the 1st eleven not all???
Oh dear the ‘ Arsene is God ‘ fans will not like some of these comments. But sadly many of them ring true. The flat wage structure has been a huge mistake … and it was NOT at the Directors’ insistence. It was to suit the wishes of AW. Gazidis let that slip … probably on purpose.
Why are y’all ranting like τ̲̅ђi§???we drew a game with a very average squad.chelsea lost 2 and drew 1 of their last 3 so what’s d noise about?with a better defense they conceded 5.
@John…. honestly,ridiculous. If we cancel contracts we have to buy the players out of them, you dont just tear them up. Also, they dont want to leave, they are getting big wages at Arsenal and whey would they move to another club for less money? They have to agree to the move. If they all left we wouldnt have a squad.
Also, you cant spell properly. Reading your comments makes me think/presume that you are mildly retarded. I have issues with certain Arsenal fans, some of them make our club a joke and you are one of them. B E L L – E N D
I wish them an injury free pre season and season
Cancelling a footballers contract by mutual consent isn’t easily done, especially when they’re happy on their wages – I think Chamakh genuinely wants to play well and contribute at Arsenal but naturally his chances were extremely limited last year. I don’t think he’s a bad player, just not really ‘top four’ quality – he seemed fraustrated last January but said he’d evaluate his situation in the summer after spending the rest of the year trying to get back in the team, now RVP is looking like leaving he seemingly believes his chances of securing a spot have gone up, obviously I disagree looking at Giroud, Podolski and a possible replacement for RVP.
I’m sure other teams are interested in Chamakh but a combination of his wage demands and his desire to rebuild his reputation by getting into the Arsenal first team regularly make it particularly awkward moving him on.
There are certainly savings to be made with our wages, the entire structure is wrong and Arsenal have admitted as much by saying they’re going to change the entire wage system but that will take time and moving the deadwood on is a seperate problem at the moment.
Wenger commented on our defensive issues today, but with a first choice back line and Bould in place to train the defence weekly we’re not looking too shabby. It would be good if we didn’t have to rely on Jenkinson, I like the boy but in big games he’ll be found out, so someone like Salassie coming in would be good but I don’t expect it. I also think Santos is much better further up the pitch so genuine competition for the left back spot with Gibbs wouldn’t hurt but most of our defensive problems aren’t about personnel but our defensive tactics, hopefully Bould will impart his will and we’ll see some genuine changes in how we approach defensive play over the coming season.
Then there’s all the talk around M’Vila and Capoue also showing that Wenger realises the defensive midfield spot needs competition and someone more suited to the role than Song, so I’m not sure I’d describe Wenger as ignorant of our defensive issues, though I do agree we’ve had problems in that area for too long and a manager like Wenger should have the basics at the back tied down a lot tighter – 49 goals conceded and 10 games lost last year isn’t good enough.
Again, I disagree about the shoestring narrative, Wenger spent £50 million last year and has spent £23 million so far this summer, if the M’Vila and Cazorla rumours are true it’ll take the past two summer transfer windows spending to over £100 million…that’s a lot of money, and if the mentioned players are bought I think overall our squad will look pretty strong, not City or Chelsea strong but certainly up there and hopefully good enough to start winning trophies again.
@mark to bc: No, I think he’s okay
Commercial tours are what they are, we’ve been conceding easy goals and failing to score all over the place, but it’s still just preseason, a lot is going to happen yet. Also, this time we don’t start off with three huge games, nor do we have to play CL qualifiers. Even Wilshere’s absence is no longer a “setback,” as they say. We really do look better than last year.
I’d like to see Eisfeld cut it for the 1st team. But I have to say I’m worried about Afobe.
Really shocked that our supporters are just realising our defence is poor. OUR DEFENCE HAS BEEN AWFUL FOR YEARS!!! Probably the single reason we have won no silverware. Still waiting for the massive clear out which may allow is to buy more midfielders. We need some quality defenders not midfielders!! So bloody frustrating… The writing is on the wall and has been for years… Steve Bould… Silk purse, sows ear comes to mind. BUY SOME DECENT DEFENDERS. Not in January or next year. NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TC
Chamakh did look slow and sluggish. His touch wasn’t the best either. He offered very little. I think Aforb did a better job when he came on.
But must say the weather was burning hot. I was sitting in the stand and did not stop sweating the whole time. Coming from London, they must feel it. Generally I wouldn’t take this game too seriously. It was more like an exhibition match anyway. Our defense thought must learn to play as a unit, and must clear the ball the first time. Too often we were trying to play our way out at the back. No offense to Kit Chee but they are not PL material even thought they are being called the “Barca of HK”, Haha! To be honest, I think Kit Chee would find it difficult against Championship side.
Great seeing our player come through the pre-season un-scattered. Last thing we need is another injury.
We started with (at best) our 4th and 5th choice CBs today and both our 2nd choice full backs
As a unit that isn’t anything close to a real back 4 and anyone drawing any conclusions from it is getting their knickers in a twist over nothing.
I was at the game yesterday in Hong Kong and was sat with 2 Man Utd fans who were both as amused at Miquel as I was. He was shocking to 100% honest. As for the other yougnsters Afobe missed 2 sitters, Aneke is a big unit but I don’t think he has the technical ability to be a success in the Premier League. Eisfeld though looked really good for his brief moment on the pitch took his goal well and passing was brilliant. Also Gervinho was the best player when he came on by a mile, actually looked like he wanted to play unlike the 1st half team who were all very lacklustre and would rather pass to someone else than take any responsibility themselves. Chamakh was so bad that I don’t think even Kitchee would want him. Credit to the hosts though as in the 1st half they looked really good and made some good chances. All in all was a good workout but not many stood out and looked like they were all ready to go home.
arsen always exposes his players weakness before making move to sell them, who is chamake, djorou, squallica, diaby, arshavim to remain in arsenal squad till today, chamake make nonsense statement by saying he can replace RVP, the whole pre season top stricker did not score a single goal, they more we play those mentioned players the more we expose the weakness, they should be sold. Replace them or forget about finishing above 4th place. They are not good backup
Still cant believe that so many criticise our defenders in isolation.They seldom get what would be considered proper protection.It is quite horrifying to watch us live and see the huge holes and gaps in front of our back four.
CHAMAKH! WHY DID IT TOOK SO LONG TO EVEN REALISE HE’S WASTING TIME SPACE AND MONEY? That’s one problem about Wenger and the Board, always looking to get free-transfer of cheapsale prices.
I think it’s perfectly safe to assume people who can only shout words like “deadwood,” “offload,” or phrases like “splash out” or “Santos can’t defend” are NOT Arsenal supporters, given their attitude toward the club is as toward their wife of 30 years. Where did all the passion go? All that’s left is the hollow feeling, the disgust and hatred.
As Zinc says, you don’t just go into Mordor. As with Almunia, we’re having problems selling players we no longer want to have. There are different reasons for that, but the foremost among them is that they don’t want to take a pay cut. You say they earn too much in the first place? But most prospective owners are simply clubs smaller than Arsenal, which can only afford much less than Arsenal pays its stars. Then, there’s the problem of getting rid of a player who’d like to get CL experience and play in the best league EVAH. Even if you’re too lazy to work on your fitness, that hardly means you’d easily resign yourself to playing in a 2nd-string club.
Finally, there’s the issue of our defense in light of goals easily conceded on Tour. Guys, IT WAS ONLY A PRE-SEASON TOUR!!! City conceded goals, too, as did Tottenham, Chelsea, sh*t, even Spain! Would you kindly describe the “woes” that Arsenal have? Koscielny and Vermaelen are an absolute top pairing, Sagna is among the best in the world, and Gibbs and Santos are really quite reliable, with Gibbs coming up in recent months. Santos can’t defend? You read the papers too much, go and watch a game instead, and think for yourself from time to time. What hit us last season were some high-profile injuries and a lack of backup for Arteta. True, we didn’t buy any yet, but we do have some possible solutions. Coquelin is fit already and could act as foil to Song, while Wilshere and Frimpong are still out, but will be back in Autumn. And, for the record, when you have so many midfielders on your books, taking up another becomes much harder. You’d need to sell one, but which one? All above-mentioned three are young, developing players. What we need for now is tactical smarts, not “clearouts.”