Hello there – good to speak to you again. Yesterday’s post about Arsenal’s interest in Gareth Barry got some lovely feedback from the readers and I’m pretty sure today’s news will get something of a similar response.
I’ll start a little bit out in left field today with the news that AC Milan have confirmed they will complete the signing Ronaldinho today (Wednesday). Now, it might not seem like big news to Arsenal fans but I can assure you it is, as it probably means Emmanuel Adebayor will be staying at the club.
Less than a week ago Milan’s vice-president Adriano Galliani made the statement that his club would be signing either Ronaldinho or Adebayor. That they’ve chosen the former means their previous interest in Adebayor has now become meaningless and leaves Barcelona as the only club who are seriously interested in signing the Arsenal man. But with Barca set to fork out upwards of £15million for Alex Hleb and their manager Pep Guardiola claiming that he ‘has the squad he needs’ already at his disposal for next season it seems even their interest may be dwindling.
In my opinion this means that Adebayor’s chances of remaining at Arsenal for next season are as high as they’ve been at any stage during the summer break. There will be people that don’t agree, but I see this as very good news. As I said in a previous post, an Arsenal side with Adebayor in the starting team is better than a side without him, regardless of the ridiculous comments he made a couple of weeks ago.
While Adebayor might be staying the rumours are growing stronger that Gilberto Silva will be leaving Arsenal shortly to join up with Greek club Panathinaikos. According to reports in Greece the Brazilian midfielder is set to sign a huge £6million contract which will make him the highest earner in Greek football.
In all honesty I’m not too concerned about Gilberto leaving. While there’s no denying he’s been a wonderful servant of Arsenal during his time at the club the unfortunate reality is that he is now past his best. There was a distinct lack of dynamism in the midfield whenever he played last season and it is clear to me that if Arsenal are to achieve success this time around they need to have players in that role who can promote the sort of urgency that Mathieu Flamini provided last time around.
Whether that is Abou Diaby, Alex Song, Denilson or a new signing I’m not quite sure yet, but it would’ve been a big step backwards to have Gilberto starting in the middle next season. Gilberto knows it, Arsene Wenger knows it, and that’s why the Brazilian had to go.
And that’s about it for today. I’ll leave you with the first in what will be an ongoing feature on the blog – the Wednesday Poll Question. Today’s focuses on an area that has been talked about quite a bit in the blogs if not by Arsene Wenger himself – the need for Arsenal to bring in a new centre-back in the Nemanja Vidic or Tony Adams mould.
So, do Arsenal need one or are things OK the way they are? Answer the poll question below to let me and everyone else know what you think.
| Do Arsenal need to sign a new ‘Vidic-like’ centre-back? | |
| Yes | |
| No | |
 |
|
| Web Polls | |
I look forward to discussing the results in tomorrow’s post. Adios!
Have your say on Ronaldinho, Adebayor or Gilberto by leaving a comment.
I should add that if anyone wants to discuss whether or not they want a centre-back they can do so by commenting. Cheers.
Top Gun
Great post , thanks for the wonderful job.. I think Ade should go , hey don’t get me wrong I love Ade I believe he can become a better player but I will not buy his idea of an increased salary good he deserves a pay rise but we don’t have to become poor to keep a player. His demands makes it clear that he is not wholeheartedly a gunner and he should be allowed to go at least we have quality strikers who can play in his place , when you talk about Vela , Jay Simpson ( hoping he does not leave ) , Dudu , RVP , Walcot and Bendtner then Ade can afford to go to hell if he wishes.
http://soccerfanbase.com
We should have got Ronaldinho but unfortunately he is belongs to Milan now. Gilberto lost of form bcoz lacked first team football & he must stay atleast for another 2 years as he can play at the highest level still. Adebayor need to go as this piece of shitte is not that good a he looks. Swap him for Eto’o + 15m. The 15m profit + Gallas we can land Micah Richards at the Emirates, tho. Thats all.
Cheers 🙂
i like the new template looks nice
he should stay please
@ nr790 – Thanks mate.
@ Ugamba – None of that please, heh heh. This place will be a lot more interesting without all that ‘Top Gun’/’First Gun’ nonsense.
Hahaha – with my vote, the poll comes to 53 in favour of a Vidic-style centreback, to 3 against. Hilarious.(I voted for one by the way) Keeping Adebayor is not 100% absolutely essential as I think Thierry Henry proved that no one man is bigger than this club with his move to Barca. It would be nice to have him though I think – so I agree with Spanish Fry on this one.(I also think it would have been nice to keep Henry on a personal level – not on a Arsenal would be playing better with him still there level…) Which brings me to my next point – I think it is a huge mistake to let Gilberto go. The invisible wall was our second highest scorer two seasons ago and despite one lacklustre season I think he’s still one of the greats. He is the captain of the Brazilian national team and he has won everything with Arsenal and Brazil – and that is a man you want in your squad. The youngsters will have someone besides Fabregas to look up to in the midfield and his leadership qualities are undeniable. Big, big mistake to let him go… To Panathinaikos no less…
As for the centreback issue, yes, one is needed. I love Gallas and Toure – but they are too similar and there isn’t enough genuine competition for their spots. Song? Djourou? Senderos? Yeah, none of them are going to displace Gallas or Toure long-term, hence someone like Per Mertesacker – who has said he wants to play for Arsenal – is needed. Micah Richards has said similar things in the past and I would sign both of them immediately. Both would fit in as they are at ease on the ball, and they could both boss that 18-yard box.
Adebayor and Gilberto to stay and sign Richards and/or Mertesacker please!
Sorry for the long post… 🙂
Wow. I really do apologise… That was way longer than I expected. The last line contains my main points. 🙂
in my view, we need an orthodox CB in the Adams or Vidic Mould. A rock solid CB who can head the ball, who possesses high tactical awareness, and who has the ability to marshall the defence. Trouble is Wenger seems to favour the athletic sort regardless of their innate defending ability. Ive never fancied Toure in the CB position. He just doesnt have the required instincts to do so. His main and only asset is his pace. I had high hopes for Gallas but the guy is mental and goes AWOL in crucial games. I dont care if he scores important goals. Id rather have him prevent important goals at the other end. Sanderos is average, Song and Djourou r just not top 4 material. It buffles me how could AW refuse, for so long, to see what everyone and his dog sees on the pitch.
On another note, our lack of hight is an issue that AW seems to ignore. Whenever we defend a corner or a free kick, We actually manage to get away with it more thanks to luck rather than solid defending.
I hope that the majority don’t lose their heads over this but of course Ade should stay…he was never going to leave. His agent is the one who should be getting the abuse because his agent is the one who put the nonsense about leaving Arsenal in Ade’s head to start. Let’s not forget that if healthy Arsenal present a powerful three in RVP, Ade and Cesc to go with Theo and the new additions that they have made thus far. If they grab a centre back then it should be silverware time for the Mighty Arsenal. I cannot wait for the new season to begin!
I don’t mean to double post but…this I just saw on Sky sports:
Gilberto’s departure could kick-start one of the summer’s more surprising transfers, according to reports. Liverpool’s Xabi Alonso is wanted by Arsene Wenger to partner Cesc Fabregas in a new look Arsenal midfield. Should the Gunners move for Alonso, it would certainly clear the path for Liverpool to seal a deal for Gareth Barry, who is also interesting Arsenal.
Xabi with Cesc? What goes on Spanish?
I really do want to see Adebayor go , he does not mean well for us , he obviously prefer money to the success of the gunners.
I invited football fans and gunners to join http://soccerfanbase.com today .. fry I hope I am not spamming your site
Adebayor is frustrating but is nowhere near his peak. He will peak this season, we will then offload him for 45 Million.
I’m not surprised that Ronaldinho has signed for AC Milan, I’m just surprised it took so long. Berlusconi has wanted him for three years now and AC Milan was the only place the player wanted to go. Brazilians seem to love the city of Milan – Ronaldo always urged team mates to go there if they could when he was at Madrid.
At this point, are there any Arsenal fans who want Adebayor at the club next season? With a potential £30million for a player who has demanded huge money and has let his ego take over, I’m not sure he would be a benefit to the club next season. With his whole plan in disarray, how on earth could we expect him to replicate his form from last season?
As for the Flamini void and Gilberto – the man has been a great servant to the club and I think he wanted to finish his career at Arsenal if he could have. And as cover he would have been a great option. But with our over 30s policy a move such as that which he is taking probably suits him best. As much as I’d like to see Barry partnering Cesc next season, I think it will certainly be Diaby with Song and Denilson in reserve.
Arsenal can still make it,Cesc Fabregas,Van Persie,Samir Nasri,Clichy and Carlos Vela
Vrs
Rosicky,Sagna,Adebayor,Walcott and Diaby.
We still need one or two players
arsenal need for a defender because defense is a poor . for against factually midiefler and atacker is a very good …..
It’s a sad day when Gilberto leaves. He’s been a class fixture for our squad. He will be missed. Of course, that means after Hleb fucks off (and If I were the club, I’d find a small hole in the wall and send him there instead of Barca) we’ll be short 3 midfielders. We should stop sending our players to the top 4 clubs in the world, so they could possibly damage us in the CL. If Hleb wants to leave so bad, I’d give him a free transfer to FC_____ (pick the most remote, out of the way town spot where he’d be the ONLY player they have) so he’d have to play at least one season somewhere without getting into the CL with someone else.
@ JRoy – Hleb could come play for the Queensland Roar in Australia. That remote enough for you?
I’m sad to see Gilberto leave but it is in the best interest of not only the Gunners as you pointed out SF but also for Gilberto. This is one of the few older players who chose to continue playing for the Brazilian National Team. Captaining it in fact. If you’re going Captain a country with the footballing history of Brazil you had best be playing regular first team football. There’s no way you can legitimize it if you are not.
As for the poll I voted yes. Clearly we would be a better team with a terminator type in the back. That said Toure, Gallas, Senderos and Yohan are not the end of the world. I dream about what it would be like if Sendi decides to put in a consistent performance through the whole season. If he does we’ve got what it takes to be polishing a trophy.
lol…@spanish fry, hey mate thats seriously too remote…lol
@ JRoy ; He could play in New Radiant Sports Club of Dhiraagu Dhivehi League in Maldives…..what do u guys think about ali ashfag of maldives…..he was wanted by Portugals Benfica
A big thank you to Gilberto for 6 years of service at Arsenal. A fantastic man as a player and as a person. I ‘m very happy for him for getting a very good deal (retirement cheque) at Panathanaikos and I wish him all the best.
I am sad to see Gilberto go. This is good for him and for arsenal as well. Although he was the best option we had for DM, we were facing the posibility of losing Diaby, Denilson, Merida et al, if they had to go into another season and probably finish it devoid of first team berths, and I couldn’t see Gilberto being satisfied with a part-time role for another season. Sometimes we have to thrust these youngstars in the mix and let them get bloodied on the job like Fabregas did, and I believe we will be rewarded. With our fixture list in the begining of a season, we can afford to let Denilson and Diaby grow in that DM role for the first 12 weeks and by then one of them would have completely staked his claim to the position. I was impressed by Denilson at the end of last season.
It looks like Adebayor is is going to learn how easyly replaceable he is, and will have to fight harder to be a regular this season. Remember how TH14 was sometimes left out of the squad in some important games (Old Traford)?
Well Buckle up Adebayor
I’ve polled yes on the Defender issue, but mainly as a Gallas replacement, otherwise I think our defense is adequate. We couldn’t deal well with long balls not because of the height as many people seems to misconstue, (Drogba’s goal a perfect example, as it was below/at chest level when he received the ball) but primarily because our centerbacks were also our center forwards. By nature, a long ball results from the ball being further up in the opponent area and our CFs, a.k.a CDs had either just pushed forward and are falling back into positions or are out of positions, trying to counter a forward who is already in position, you can infer the rest. A Vidic type defender won’t attack as much as our defender so will always be in position with extra conserved energy if needed. THAT IS THE PROBLEM. I think AW knows this and decided his defense does not need re-inforcements, just a tune-up in attitude towards the game.
I picked Gallas not because he is not a good defender, but because he seems more suspect after he goes forward, and he is the clubs top earner at the moment. Free the mulas to improve others pay!
i really think that we need a centre back strong and fast…We all know that our defeat in UEFA champions leauge to liverpool and our away lose to chelsae was obviously due to our centre backs…i truly love Toure and Gallas but that doesnt mean that they shouldnt be doin their job…Hope we get strong and reliable centre backs this season
bye gilberto, thanks 4 da service but time 2 go! As for ade staying – BOUT TIME!! id like 2 c barry and a def 2 sign b4 the seson starts.
Wow – it seems A LOT of people want a new centre-back. Interesting…
Good luck to big man – Silva. He is great player. i wish we could keep him as a world class backup for both midfield and centreback. As some of you said, he certainly deserve his retirement cheque from Greece.
ade is better