From a nobody to a somebody to a nobody? Exit time for Arsenal’s ice-cream man?

Hleb may be following Flamini out the doorThings are starting to get a little wobbly.

The official announcement of Mathieu Flamini’s departure to AC Milan has been followed by the growing rumours that Alexander Hleb is set to follow him out the door to sign for Milan’s bitter rivals Inter. Although there have been no concrete evidence of a move being made for Hleb by the Italian club the speculation is running rife that Belarussian has ‘confided in his colleagues’ that he wants to leave Arsenal.

In all honesty I really don’t know what to make of this. On one hand you have a pretty hopeless-looking situation involving lies about ice-cream and tapping up and the prospect of another Arsenal being able to earn a lot less at another club but on the other you have a player under contract who the manager says will not be leaving. It’s all very confusing.

The one thing that will favour a move to Inter Milan is the fact that Hleb has the opportunity to buy out the remaining two years of his contract under the newly-coined ‘Webster clause‘. Indeed, what Inter are likely to do should they genuinely want to sign Hleb is pay the money required to buy out his contract – a fraction of the €14m that he is valued at – and increase his wages in a similar way to a certain Frenchman. Harsh on Arsenal, but ultimately fair with regards to the rules.

Should Hleb leave then Arsenal are left without two of it’s first choice players from an almost-title-winning team. They will need to be replaced but at this stage I’m going to hold my tongue as to who I think should replace them, at least until after the final game of the season against Sunderland. The rest of you can run amok though, of course.

Adebayor needs to continue to work hardNobody to somebody to nobody?

Turning to one of the players who will definitely be at the club next season and Emmanuel Adebayor has been told by the manager that he can still improve a further as a player and goalscorer, but only if he continues to put in the hard yards.

“I believe if Ade keeps his work ethic, there is still 20 per cent more to come from him. Does he want it enough – to get this extra 20 per cent out? Well that is where his future lies. If you lose that desire, you quickly become a nobody.”

As a nobody myself I sincerely hope he remains a somebody. But as the manager intimates, if he wants to be considered a top quality striker then he needs to keep bagging buckets of goals on a season-by-season basis. Thierry Henry was able to do it and although I don’t think Adebayor will ever be as good Frenchman, I still feel he has the ability to become a consistent goalscorer.

Although Adebayor is my favourite player I did get the feeling at times this season that he seemed to act a little too big for his own shoes, so perhaps that is what Wenger is getting at with these comments. Hopefully the big man will heed his advice.

Lehmann heads down the tunnel after his farewell matchLearning from Lehmann

From a goal scorer to a goal saver now and young Lukasz Fabianski has praised Jens Lehmann for his never-say-die attitude. The Polish goalkeeper praised the professionalism shown by the German on the training ground even despite him being out of favour at the club for most of the season.

“During the whole year he never gave up. Everyday he was [at the] training ground and that shows how you have to behave to be at the top of your game. I learnt a lot of things, really small details.”

When it comes to learning from someone like Lehmann you get the feeling that it’s like learning from your parents. You try to imitate the good traits and learn from the bad traits and if he can do that then the club will have quite the professional on their hands. If he does the opposite then they’re going to have a lazy player who can’t keep his mouth shut (sounds a bit like Lassana Diarra to me – heh heh).

Seriously though, Fabianski has had a reasonably good first season in his time at Arsenal. He performed well in the Carling Cup – even the 5-1 loss to Tottenham was not entirely his fault – and has done well in the last two games against Derby and Everton. Let’s hope he can pick up another clean sheet against Sunderland to finish the season on a high.

That’s that then. More tomorrow. Have a good one.

Update: Congratulations to Arseblogger for making it big. Click here to see what I mean. All the best mate, you’ve been a wonderful supporter of my blog over the past year and you deserve all the success you get.

What do you think?

Have your say on Hleb, Adebayor, Fabianski or Lehmann by leaving a comment.

Loading...

Comments

  1. we came so close to winning the title so ask yourself why players want to leave? If they truly believed we would be premiership and CL winners in the next 3 years would they go?Do they see a team that when the big games came around we have to play Planks like Eboue and Sender-dross.Does that really imspire them.Do they see a team that can only go so far. Remember Flamini is joining a team that has won 2 out of the last 5 European cups,We have reached just one final in our history.Are Arsenal a team with a great manager a 60,000 stadium but a board that lacks any ambition.If we lose Fabregas blame the likes of Fitzman and co

  2. Hleb leaving is not a completely bad thing, maybe Arsene will get somebody like Pires, who can score. I say lets sell him and go for Robinho.

  3. They are leaving for the wages. It’s hard not to blame them, but you know, these players are truly foolish. They seem to have no real sense of how much of their “talent” and skill comes from actually playing at Arsenal in a team that fits them like a glove. The examples of “stars” that left Arsenal and went on to do very little are numerous. It’s like their careers just wind down after they leave. Flamini is not going to have a good time at Milan and Hleb will fare even worse at Inter.

  4. The Webster clause has not been tested in law (unlike the Bosman ruling).
    If Hleb wants to go to court, he might be forces to pay massive damages to Arsenal. Plus horrendous legal fees. Could be the most expensive icecream ever.
    There is also a gentlemens agreement between clubs, that they will not encourage any player to try it. Hleb is staying put.

  5. I feel Wenger needs to be brave (again) and go with youth. Fabregas was given a chance to convert his talent into results, going on to rival Ronaldinha, for the pundits praise. I think the lack of goals from midfield has placed undue pressure on Cesc, possibly the cause of his more subdued performance this season.

    Another more dominating midfielder will be required to replace Flamini and his battling skills. I would like to see Merida get on a few teamsheets, he is not the forceful player the Flamster was for us but he could start to provide another flair player. Players like Randall and Barazite need a shout.

    Goals came harder this year and just when Eduardo clicked, he got mullered by the northern clogger. RVP is beginning to look worryingly like Aliadiere, spending more time on the table tham the pitch.

    Diaby (when fit) has found his boots, Rosicky I feel needs to have an exteneded run, before judgement is passed. Theo shows lots of promise and of late some product.

    So a centrebackand a defensive midfieldier, with an eye for goal. Hopefully when Arsene hits the piggybank with his hammer, there will be funds available. Otherwise, next year will see Yaaaaaanit’d and the Chavs move further away…horrible cnuts that they are.

  6. I have to say it’s pretty sad to see Jens go. I loved the mad old bastard, and even though it’s not very nice, I rather enjoyed his honesty. It’s obvious he doesn’t rate Almunia (I think Jens is a better player myself), so what’s the difference between him saying it and not saying it? He kept his fitness up, and it’s sad to see a great character and one of the finest ‘keepers of the past 5 years leave the club. Auf wiedersehen!

  7. Things seem to be going from bad to worse when it comes to Arsenal’s transfer saga and it would be stupid of Wenger to let another his star players this season leave. It’s all very well saying we could get someone in to replace him but why bother when you could keep the guy in the first place. In my opinion Hleb has been excellent when playing just behind the striker, he may be lacking when it comes to goal scoring but the guy can unlock a defence on his own. On the wing I think he is less effective but still one of our better players, I’d rather see him bursting down the wing than a certain Eboue.

    As for Adebayor, I believe he would be a fool to leave Arsenal now, as they say one swallow doesn’t make a summer and one season shouldn’t automatically create a world class player. The guy still has so much to learn and where better to do it than under Wenger. I have heard rumblings that Milan have been linked with Ade but that can only be media tiddle-taddle in my eyes, especially if they are still interested in Ronaldinho.

    Finally it’s sad to see Lehmann leave, but it is time for him to move on, the guy has proved to be a liability this season, his performances against Man Utd in the FA Cup and Blackburn have been dreadful. I will always remember Lehmann for the season we reached the Champions League final and he didn’t conceded a goal after the first game, it may not have ended well but his penalty save still brings back brilliant memories.

    http://www.betting.betfair.com/football/

  8. Honestley I’m not bothered about Flamini. Milan wanted him purely because he was on a free transfer if he was on a contract they would not bother to buy him as for Hleb I would rather see him go.This guy is wonderful to watch just like ice cream that falls off your cone he goes missing in the final third and does not score goals.We still haven’t replaced Robert Pires we need goals from all over the pitch. In the past we had Henry, Pires, Lunberg, Berkamp Rvp they all scored lots of goals and now we have Fabregas and Adebayor.I would only panic if Fabregas goes they are very few players of his calibre the rest of the squad are all replacable.So no doom and gloom. I have a feeling we are going to see some exciting players coming to the Emirates no big names but very intresting.Wenger didn’t rate Diarra and Flamini very highly that is why he wasn’t cautious about keeping them with Fabregas you get the feeling Wenger would break down crying if he goes.In my opinion Regardless wether Flamini stayed or not Wenger was on the look out for the complete midfield player to play along side Fabregas.

  9. “This guy is wonderful to watch just like ice cream that falls off your cone he goes missing in the final third and does not score goals.”

    Hahah – classic. The point you make about Robert Pires is interesting. What a great player he was.

  10. for my persnal feelings,the loss o0f hleb and flamini cant be forgotten at once.as they say getting over a relationship is going under a new one.if arsene accepts spending money,their loss wouldn’t be so harmful

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.