‘Brave’ Wenger wants a new striker + Koscielny’s fine
October 11, 2012
Ivan ‘extremely tasty looking bonus deal this year considering our flatlining commercial revenues’ Gazidis has been talking for the umpteenth time about Arsenal Football Club’s commitment to self-sustainability and blah blah finances blah doing things the proper way blah.
Sorry. It’s not that I disagree with any of it, I’ve just heard him say this stuff so many times that I’m considering taking a position against it just to make life a bit more interesting. Speaking to Radio Five Live last night Gazidis was keen to stress that as a club we’ll be seen as increasingly forward thinking as the rest of the Premier League are now starting to accept that they need tighter financial controls for their own good and recent rumblings suggest that the league may voluntarily bring in some form of FFP of their own in the not too distant future.
All extremely good news for Arsenal if that comes to pass as by that point we should be enjoying all the benefits of our years of frugality as the old commercial deals are renegotiated in 2014 and certain of our rivals start to understand how much harder it is to challenge for silverware when you don’t have £300 million worth of signings sitting idly on the subs bench.
Never one to miss an opportunity to talk up the qualities of Le Professeur in a public forum, Ivan also spoke gushingly about Arsene Wenger, this time focussing on his bravery as a manager:
I don’t think Arsene is conservative, I think he is extraordinarily brave. I think he does things others don’t do and sees things others don’t see.
Arsene is not fixed on the price of a player in assessing a player’s value, he will look with equal weight at a young player who is coming through the Arsenal academy and a player that might be available with a very hefty price tag from overseas.
He is not afraid to spend money when he believes in a player and sees a player he thinks can kick us forward but he is not obsessed with the security that a big transfer fee might give him.
Ah, brave knight Sir Wenger. When faced with the task of slaying the evil dragon Abramovich he could have spent the riches of the land on fancy new weaponry but instead placed his faith in his trusty young steed… Denilson. Obviously he failed to slay the dragon but, y’know, it was pretty brave nonetheless.
It’s interesting that Gazidis seems to believe that it would have been a safer option for Arsene to make the odd bigger signing here and there. Sure, he would have been giving the fans (and critics) what they wanted, what they were screaming for in fact, but in some ways I suspect that spending £30 million plus on one player would have required even more courage from Wenger. Because if you spend that sort of money and end up with a Fernando Torres on your hands, not only is that your entire transfer budget splurged but the pressure on your shoulders to actually deliver some silverware just increased tenfold.
So I’m not sure that Wenger’s stance is brave exactly. I think on the whole it’s just fairly smart. And we always knew he was playing the long game.
And with the squad really looking like it’s taking shape this season and money still left in reserve from the summer’s dealings we finally have the opportunity to reap some rewards. The Telegraph reports today that Le Boss has instructed his scouts to look out for a new striker for the January window. They claim that the club sees a chance to really push our rivals for the title this season and a great goalscoring addition in the middle of winter could be just the thing to jolt things along.
Possible names put forward won’t surprise any seasoned window-watchers: Adrian Lopez, Robert Lewandowski, Fernando Llorente etc etc, and while the truly big names – the Radamel Falcaos of this world may still be beyond our budgetary limits, you’d have to assume that if we really want to push on for the title now might finally be the time to splash a fair wedge on a proven name goalscorer. Brave move or otherwise.
Not much else to report this morning. A couple of injury worries on amongst the internationals. Lukas Podolski was being left out of the more intense Germany training sessions with this ankle knock that has apparently been bothering him for a few weeks. It may be only minor but I wish someone would see sense and give him a couple of weeks off before it becomes more serious. And Laurent Koscielny gave everyone a scare when he limped out of training following a clash with France teammate Ribery. Rumours circulated that it could be anything from a broken leg to a smashed kneecap but the latest seems to be that it’s just a knock and he could even start for France on Friday. Which makes it virtually a non-story.
But then in international weeks non-stories are probably good stories.
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6 Responses to “‘Brave’ Wenger wants a new striker + Koscielny’s fine”
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Lukas Podolski was being left out of the more intense Germany training sessions with this ankle knock that has apparently been bothering him for a few weeks. It may be only minor but I wish someone would see sense and give him a couple of weeks off before it becomes more serious.
Hear hear. Especially as they have plenty of other options. Still, Joachim Low is definitely one of the more reasonable international managers.
FYI…our commercial revenues have gone up – 13% in the last accounts and more deals have been made since then. In any case, 2014 is the “big bang” year for commercial income.
Re AW – smart in the way you say (won’t bet the farm on one player) but I also think brave in terms of trusting and backing his own judgement in the face of ridicule or anger.
To me Arsene Wenger is brave AND smart personified.
It’s good to know that Kos is not too badly injured, but if the France medics have pulled a fast one on us, then we have to submit a claim for the most we possibly can. This could be Deschamps at work again, as I am sure he would want to play the experienced Kos against Spain again. Losing badly to them wouldn’t do his management credentials a lot of good.
I had no idea that Poldolski was carrying a knock. I hope he doesn’t play, but of all the int’l managers out there at the mo, Loew is one of the ones I respect the most. As for Del Bosque, I am sure Cazorla wouldn’t agree with me, but I find it irritating that he is now playing him more. What happened to those rumours that the reason that Cesc didn’t start for Spain was because he didn’t play for a Spanish team? I don’t know what the stats are, but it seems that Cesc plays less now for Spain than he did when he was at Arsenal. Cazorla could do with a bit of rest and recuperation, I would of preferred to see Silva & Mata picked ahead of him.
As for England Wayne Rooney has been given the captaincy – haha! John Terry to now Wayne Rooney, dear o’ dear. I was hoping to see Walcott get a chance upfront, I wonder if that still might happen even if he has to play alongside Rooney.
The transfer window is firmly shut, but that hasn’t stopped the gossip mongers. The only thing mildly interesting is that Arsenal are being linked to both strikers and wingers, which doesn’t look good for our current reluctant winger/wannabe striker. I wonder why the Llorente Juve move didn’t happen? I thought his agents were briefing that it was a done deal a while back. I am not sure he would be a big improvement on Giroud, but I would like Lopez at Arsenal if there was even the faintest whiff of the truth about that rumour.
Personally I would be prepared to stick with what we have and see whether any of the following: Campbell/Gnabry/Ryo/Afobe/Wellington come good.
Just come and get me Mr Wenger!!
I will score you 30 goals a season, no excuses!
Handy that Mr. Huntelaar commented, as I was just about to mention him. I know everyone loves to throw out their favorite signing, but if he’s truly available for as little as the media have been claiming (is that even possible? I know he’s getting up there in age, but that kind of goal scoring record is not something I’d ignore. Would he be willing to earn Arsenal wages?
The negatives I can see are his age and that he would be cup tied for the Champion’s League. How much would Arsenal be willing to pay for a few seasons of him? I guess the risk of him not bedding down quickly in the Premier League would be enhanced at his age, but he’s coming from the Bundasliga and has a great international goal scoring record.
Is it true that O’Neill had Falco offered to him in 2009 for £7 million but bought Heskey instead? I’d like to go for Falcao, we can afford him and it would be huge for us. Ship out Bendtner and Chamakh, bring in a top talent who could be the difference between trophies and another barren year.
Not going to happen but there are cheaper alternatives who could offer us real quality.