Some Gooners seem just as frenzied this summer as last, if not even more. The list of Arsenal that absolutely must depart is lengthy and constrained only by the number we actually have. There is no such limit on the players we absolutely must buy of course and I’ve already lost count of the number who have apparently snubbed Arsenal by announcing that they are not coming here.
You might imagine from all this that Arsenal finished lower in the league this year than last rather than higher; and that first choice players had already left which they haven’t. No complacency needed, but no panic either.
I try to stop myself clicking on blog posts that start ‘Reports are emerging….’ or the like. But such is my addiction that I don’t resist of course. Something compels me to search for that high, only to descend rapidly into the low of another warmed over account of Jan Vertonghen going to Spurs. I sigh morosely whilst someone smiles gleefully over their Google Analytics chart.
To console myself, some football. The mighty England take on Belgium. Well, the mighty England back five in any case with some fringe selections further forward. And it shows. England fairly solid at the back but struggling for chances at the front. Actually it was mostly a case of struggling to hold the ball in midfield. But they won, against a talented Belgium line-up.
There are some today taking comfort in the lack of impact made by Eden Hazard. Haha Chavs, fancy flashing your cash on that! But I suspect that a friendly game at the end of a season may not be the true measure of his talent.
By the same token, The Netherlands putting six past a naive and inexperienced Northern Ireland doesn’t mean that Arsenal absolutely must buy Ibrahim Afellay. Not saying we shouldn’t, just no more so than the day before yesterday. In fact, given that we are not completely sorted for a wide left player, this is a rumour that at least makes sense as far as Arsenal’s real needs go.
I’m not saying it’s a disaster area for us but Gervinho has yet to convince, Oxlade-Chamberlain is still learning his trade and Yossi Benayoun is a 32 year-old loanee who may not be with us next season. New signing Lukas Podolski can also play there, but personally I think this is the second biggest priority for improvement now that we have Podolski to give RVP a rest up front.
Top priority, in my humble opinion from the sofa, is a good and genuine defensive midfielder. I know we have Song and Arteta but that doesn’t quite do it for me. Arteta was fantastic for us but we were lucky to get a lot of games out of him. As someone else said (Arseblog?), Song isn’t really a DM, just the most defensive midfielder we had.
I also think that with Koscielny, Mertesacker and Vermaelen to choose from in central defence, our next biggest improvement to stopping goals will be from owning the space in front of the back four. Which is why I’m still a sucker for any blog post about the likes of Yann M’Vila or Lucas Biglia and will continue no doubt to plough through all the rest of the feverish chaff.
But there will at least be a feast of football to watch now. Hopefully more of a feast than England v Belgium, but actual football rather than transfer talk.
We’re just three days into the window and we’ve signed Podolski. Keep calm and watch some football.
