Gilberto for captain and Arsenal transfer speculation mayhem

Gilberto is absolutely right about DrogbaGilberto puts Drogba in his place

Gilberto Silva has hit back at Chelsea’s Ivorian striker Didier Drogba’s comments that Arsenal will not challenge for the title next season, suggesting that he should keep his mouth firmly shut.

“What I do know is last season Chelsea spent a fortune on new signings and still couldn’t beat Arsenal once in the league. They didn’t defend their title either, so I think Drogba is talking a little bit too much.”

Right on, Gilberto. I admire Drogba greatly as a player – I think he is almost the perfect forward – but there are a couple of things about him that really infuriate me; his tendency to hit the deck like a little girl when things aren’t going right and his big mouth. Hopefully these comments can provide the tonic for Gilberto and the rest of the Arsenal team to prove him wrong.

Gilberto has been a fine example for a young Brazilian side at the Copa AmericaAn obvious choice for captain

Gilberto also stressed that Arsenal need to recover quickly from the loss of captain Thierry Henry or they will struggle to avoid the type of hangover they suffered just after losing Patrick Vieira to Juventus.

“It’s true that replacing him will be no simple task. But we can’t go through the kind of spell as we did when Patrick Vieira went to Italy. He was the leader of the squad and it took us time to adapt to playing without him. We don’t want that again.”

Again, he’s absolutely right. Gilberto is not usually a big talker but you have to agree that when he does have something to say it’s worth listening to. There has been a lot of talk about who the captain for Arsenal should be next season but there is little doubt in my mind that it has to be the Brazilian. In this very difficult period for the club Gilberto’s calming influence is what Arsenal needs first and foremost. His recent comments suggest that he is personally ready to take up the responsibility as captain and will help the young players adapt to life after Henry. Good luck to him.

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Tevez looks set to join Manchester United after the Copa America

Malouda and Tevez set to join Arsenal’s rivals

One person who seems convinced that Drogba is worth listening to is Florent Malouda. The left-footed Lyon attacker will reportedly meet up with Drogba next week after the Ivorian convinced Malouda to join him at Chelsea. I previously mentioned that if Malouda moved to Chelsea I would cry and whilst I haven’t shed any tears I’m still very disappointed that the Frenchman will be playing against Arsenal next season rather than playing for them.

In other transfer news, previous Arsenal target Carlos Tevez looks set to join Manchester United despite complications surfacing over the ownership of the Argentine. Tevez, who is having a great Copa America tournament so far with Argentina, has made a promise to Alex Ferguson that he will definitely be playing for Manchester United next season.

“I have given my word to Mr Ferguson. They have told him I will be at Manchester United next season and once I make a promise I don’t go back on it.”

I have to say that I am most disappointed that Arsenal have missed out on both Malouda and Tevez and perhaps even more annoying is the fact that they have gone to the club’s main rivals – Chelsea and Manchester United respectively. Tevez was superb in the back end of last season and everything I’ve heard from him in the media suggests that he is not only a talented player but an intelligent and loyal person. The more I think about it the more I realise that Arsenal will miss out on a real gem when Tevez signs for Manchester United.

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Fabregas has stated he does not want to leave ArsenalFabregas to Madrid? Ha!

One of the more annoying transfer rumours of the summer has reared its ugly head again after stories have reported that Real Madrid are chasing Cesc Fabregas. I find it annoying that so many supporters have either lost patience with Fabregas or been scared by this speculation when just last week the Spaniard made the following comments:

“I’ll be back training with Arsenal. My team. I’m staying in London.”

How much clearer can you get? Unlike Henry, Fabregas has done the gutsy thing and publicly declared his loyalty to the club and it is frustrating to see him punished for it. You would think if Fabregas wanted to leave Arsenal he would either say nothing (like Henry) or say something like this:

“I won’t be back training with Arsenal. They’re not my team. I’m leaving London.”

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If Flamini is smart, he’ll join ValenciaValencia want Flamini

One man who might be leaving the club for Spain is Frenchman Mathieu Flamini. The talented – and in my eyes underrated – midfielder is wanted by Valencia and the Spanish club’s sporting director Amedeo Carboni is desperately awaiting his decision on the matter.

“We have spoken to him and we want an answer soon as we must make plans for the coming season.”

Whilst Arsenal have never really found a use for the tough tackling midfielder it seems to me that Valencia hope that Flamini could eventually replace the likes of David Albelda as the side’s premier defensive midfielder. I’m a big fan of Flamini and I think Valenica’s style of play would bring out the best in the Frenchman. He’s always given 100%  at Arsenal and – in my opinion – been undervalued by Wenger and if he did move to Valencia I think he will get the attention he deserves.

Finally today, the very popular Gunnerblog has released it’s end-of-season awards for 2007 and it’s definitely worth a read. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the results are very similar to those my very own Arsenal FC Blog Season Review which you can also check out here.

Have your say on Gilberto, Drogba, Malouda, Tevez, Fabregas or Flamini by leaving a comment.Икони

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Comments

  1. Hrm. The move of Tevez to United is disturbing. While I respect the rationale Wenger uses in making up the team, I do feel like they need to sign a dead certain player of quality and experience. Tevez would have suited.

    It seems that since the Henry saga, the only transfer news out of the Arsenal camp is players leaving the club, and nothing much on the joining front. This unsettles me slightly.

    Anyway, the season is still a few weeks away from starting again, I’m sure there will be plenty of twists and turns.

  2. “It seems that since the Henry saga, the only transfer news out of the Arsenal camp is players leaving the club, and nothing much on the joining front. This unsettles me slightly.”

    It’s easy to say that but remember we hadn’t heard even a whisper about Eduardo before he signed. Wenger just doesn’t work that way. The signings will come, we just have to be patient. I am disappointed to miss out on Malouda though, despite Arseblogger’s appraisal of him being average at best.

  3. When i started supporting Arsenal i was never a big fan of gilberto. But my appreciation for him grew bigger every season. Hes got everything you need in a captain- Experience,commitment, the respect of his team mates and more importantly passion and hard talking(lately..ohh i absolutely loved his response to dogbra’s comments).

    i just dont understand why the club doesn’t come out and say that “Fabregas is not for sale”.End of story.Instead theres speculation all around and even though his agent came out denying any such offer, his words are being misinterpreted as “Cesc asking Arsenal to consider Real offer”.

    And i am really sad that we missed out on Tevez and that too to Man u..booohooo

  4. i agree that Tevez going to man u is a bit alarming but not to arsenal. one distinct feature of the gunners if you haven’t noticed is that it is ‘independent’ of the opponent’s prowess. i hate to revisit the last season but you got to admit, at the poor form we were in, the big teams were never a threat to us (read man u, chelsea, liverpool) in the leauge. in fact it was the likes of nearly relegated west ham that proved to be a tough nut to crack.
    being objective, i got to admit though that it would have been an added joy to my heart to see tevez in the gunners shirt..
    i still got hopes on obafemi (plus the few other tricks that wenger got up his sleeve) and guys SAGNA is coming..hope my source was reliable enough

    Da Silva for captain is acceptable for me but i really felt that Toure deserved it more because of his undyng ‘pysche’ during a match

  5. I absolutely loved Fry response to darragh’s comments!(The signings will come,we just have to be patient)
    God richly bless you.

  6. Really, I don’t know what is happening now. AW has been given money to spend and should spend to improve the depth in the team. So many players are not championship quality; Hleb, Senderos, Song, freddie etc and their still in the team for next season. Can we challenge? Or AW is tired or fed up? Lets hope not and still having something up his sleeves.

  7. Harlan: Picking on Song is a bit harsh. It’s like picking on Randall or Merida for not being able to win the premiership. He is in a state where in 1/2 seasons time, he may make the team but for now, he is just another part of the youth team.

    Yet another myth, we haven’t been linked to anyone since Henry left: Well, we bought Eduardo and have been linked to Malouda, Babel, Sagna, Anelka, Huntelaar, Martins, Owen, Davies, Quaresma, Angel di Maria, Guardardo (sp?), Goufrann, Nordteivt etc.

    Fuck me our team needs strengthening though.

  8. I’m not sure william Gallas knows more than Arsene Wenger,he must be kicked out of the club immediately to set an sample to others.

  9. liverpool have bidded £10m for ryan babel, now this player we cant lose.

    we really cant, this guy is going to be a really good player, he loves arsenal, but i would be really gutted if he went to liverpool

    £13.5m is what ajax want, now you can get florent malouda for that much

    please wenger sign this guy up, he will be the “next theirry henry”, not as good but he has the potential

  10. Arsenal at the moment is behaving like a selling team{apologies to Spur},What is wrong in buying at least two quality players to strenghten the team and boost morale of the young squad.
    Ryan Babel would be a great loss to us if he goes to Anfield,Marthins is there for the taking.
    Lets not be too quick to crucify Gallas,our ambition should surely match his!

  11. i understand gallas, i agree with him, we need to show more ambition

    instead we got liverpool, man utd, chelsea and spurs even west ham are showing ambition

    am not saying we crapper then west ham spurs and liverpool, they are showing there intentions

  12. Arsenal at the moment is behaving like a selling team{aplogies to Spurs}.What is wrong in buying two quality players to strengten the struggling young team.
    Ryan Babel would a great lost to us if he goes to Anfield,Martins is a fantastic player and is there for the taking.
    Lets not be in too much hurry to crucify Gallas for his remarks,our ambition should surely match his!enough of 3rd or 4th positions.

  13. I have no problem with Gallas, I’d just wish he’d have talked to the manager first before the public.
    Paying 10 million for Babel is ludicrous. He has a release clause of 6 million, why bother spending anything over that. No seriously, I don’t get it, ajax have to accept offers of 6 million, why the fuck should they waste 4 more million? He is a kid only as good as the rest of the ones we have, or Goufrann, calm down. Liverpool are worried because they didn’t get their other targets while Rowley and Wenger didn’t want him.
    Calm down and let them do their job in finding someone better. Plus, copa america will be over in like a week. Patience is a virtue. A virtue no arsenal fan has.

  14. If we do add Tevez to our squard we will be unstopable if Chelse,Arsenal or Liverpool want then they can sign Ronaldino,Eto,Messe or Kaka we can kick any one,sorry i have to spy cause i want to know about by rivals.
    UNITD 4 LIFE

  15. Joseph: Won’t losing your best three players, the backbone of your side forever stop your “unstopable” side? What about replacing them with unproven kids (arsenal do it for cheap, it’s the end of us, united do it expensively, it’s amazing) and a canadian flamini?
    Tevez would be good in any side but would cancel out Rooney. Look at the current english side, Lamapard and Gerrard are the same players and because you can’t have the same two players trying to do the same two things, they cancel each other out and you forget they are there. United are in danger of being a 9 man squad next season (unless they play o’shea or richardson in which it’ll be 8 man).
    And sorry but a side with “Messe”, “Eto”, “Ronaldino” and Kaka would kick anyones arse.

  16. My only concern is the quality of some of the players as per their perfpormers in recent seasons. Being ambitious does not mean we should buy any crap at any price. Some of the prices being quoted are really funny. 13.5+ for Babel? and Pool bidding for 10+? We need some two or three players, one to replace Ali and the Beast then LW as Reyes is not coming back and also a proven CB to cover for Toure during ANC games and in case of injury to Gallas and Djourou; as for Sendy I don’t rate him. So those are the problems to the team we need to fix. Buying, buying any player as Spurs and Co are doing don’t give a guarantee for the title. I’m not in the mind of AW but I’m sure he’ll be working hard to reverse last year’s failure. Ajax may be taking advantage of the market situation to make more money out of Babel but I don’t think Babel will play for Pool; they can’t develop him further. I believe Arsenal don’t Babel now as he still need about two years to fully develop. I’m seriously worried too but I’m counting on AW to deliver, learning from the mistakes of last season.

  17. I agree with everyone else, silva will be an amazing captain, he has already proved he can do the job last season, and in my opioin he is a better captain than henry ever could of been. We defintly need to sign a highly rated player soon, with all our rival clubs spending big cash on the celebrities like hargreaves, Tevez, Malouda and Torres.. Someone tell me how we are gunna compete with signings like that!…

  18. For some reason I am just not worried about when the signings will come or who they will be. Arsenal has the makings of a superb squad and if they can grow together over the next year or two and be complemented with two more quality signings this summer then we have the ability to challenge for the title. We might not win it (I won’t be predicting Arsenal!) but we definitely have the talent to surprise a few people. Is anyone actually excited about the fact that Arsenal is being written off – I think it means the team will be so motivated to prove everyone wrong and if they do, I’ll be getting in a few peoples’ faces!

  19. “Two players trying to do the same two things, they cancel each other out and you forget they are there. United are in danger of being a 9 man squad next season (unless they play o’shea or richardson in which it’ll be 8 man).”


    Sorry, Samuel, but I don’t agree with this. There is no doubting that Manchester United will have a tough, tough team and I don’t buy into the idea that their players will cancel each other out on the field. Tevez and Rooney will compliment each other quite well and they have quality all over the park. When I say I’m not too worried about Manchester United’s or Chelsea’s signings I mean that you can only play 11 players and in my opinion, our best 11 can challenge any other in the Premiership. Arsenal’s weakness is that they lack depth – the second-rung players are young and inexperienced. They have quality but that is the reason why we may struggle to compete over the course of a long season.

  20. SF=Markings of a superb squad? Don’t believe so. There are a lot of craps in the team who wouldn’t fit in MANU, Chelsea and even POOL. Players like Song, Senderos, Hleb and now Freddie. We need to replace these players with quality ones. Freddie has done his bit for us but at 70k a week, we can’t allow him to sit on the bench. Besides, we can’t wait for one or two years as our opponents are not standing still waiting for us; they’re always replenishing for a new challenge. Arsene has to rebuild the team for the upcoming season but he seem not to be bothered. I’m informed the board has given him money to do so. First, a 40+ facility, then sales of Henry, Muamba, Ali,Larson, Stokes and possibly Reyes, So what is he waiting for. People always accuse the board for not releasing funds but its Arsene who don’t want to spend. Is like he is no more interested in trophies but only training young lads. Because we seem to be buying for the future all the time but negleting the present.

  21. I don’t think Arsene is “waiting” for anything. Deals take time to get done. With Arsene you never know where the next player is coming from so in that respect you never really know what is going on behind the scenes. Wenger loves the club, but his way has always been to build players up into the Arsenal style rather than buying players to build the style around. I don’t think Song is a legitimate topic of this conversation, he’s young and not even close to starting for the club. Freddie, like you said, has done his bit. Paying 70,000 per week for him might sound excessive but he is the most loyal player (in terms of years at the club) that Arsenal have – he is the captain of his national team and a driving force for the Arsenal squad. I still think he can have an impact. The jury is out on Senderos and Hleb, I just don’t know what to think yet. I know you’re not a fan of Senderos and Hleb was truly awful at times last season but if Wenger can instill some confidence in him then he could bounce back quite well next year. You have to remember that teams can grow together over time. They can be virtually the same group of players one year to the next and have remarkably different successes. In saying that, I do admit that the club need strengthening in the present (and that is why I was so keen to see Malouda join) but I will stick by my statement that Arsenal does posses the makings of a great squad.

  22. we have a talented squad and we will get stronger, but everyone is writing us off, well fair enough we been written off for years.

    ryan babel i really wanted to see, he does remind me of henry. now if he loves arsenal, he may turned them down and say il wait till next season or something

  23. “one to replace Ali and the Beast then LW as Reyes is not coming back and also a proven CB to cover for Toure during ANC games and in case of injury to Gallas and Djourou”
    Surely Eduardo+Bendtner replace Ali and Beast
    LW still needs to be sorted.
    Sagna can play CB and RB for Eboue going.
    Henry replacement still needs to be sorted.

    SF – what I meant with Rooney+Tevez was they both drop back and aren’t natural goalscorers. I think Ade is great, but if our attack was just two of him, i’d go mental. Best strikeforces have always been a #9 and a #10. Tevez+Rooney are two #10s, they won’t mix as well as everyone thinks. If Ronaldo is Utd’s top scorer again, they won’t win the season.

  24. Gilberto is a natural leader i even thought he was going to be captain instead of henry so i think he is the best choice. As far as the signings go if liverpool land babel then its another tough seaspn for us! Why the hell isnt Wenger making any big signings coz soon we might pay for it. I dont know how but we might just…

  25. If the signing of Bakary sagna,Obafemi Martins and Robinho completes,
    Perhaps William Gallas will shut up.

  26. Gallas does need to shut up, his comments are way out of line. There’s no need to put even more scrutiny on the club. He should keep his feelings within the club. The situation surrounding Babel is an interesting one. He previously commented that he would “eventually” play for Arsenal but that it would not be this season. Now Liverpool are looking to sign him? What can you believe? As for the rumour about Ljungberg the fact that the source is Tribal Football just loses all credibility. Ljungberg won’t be going anywhere, and rightly so.

  27. ARSENAL XI
    1.Lukasz Fabianski
    2.Bakary Sagna
    3.Gael Clichy
    4.Toure
    5.Eboue
    6.Gilberto-cpt
    7.Robinho
    8.Fabragas
    9.Obafemi Martins
    10.Eduardo da Silva
    11.Robin Van Persie
    BENCH
    Lehmann,Gallas,Rosicky,Walcott,Adebayor and Diaby.

  28. Joshua, please provide some more information on this Robinho link-what is your source? It would be good though to have him…..

  29. Ya; Sagna is definitely scheduled to be unveiled this week. I’m told he’s a very strong defender, capable of playing all the back positions including DM.So he can cover every defender from clichy to Gallas and Eboue. It will be a big signing for us. I’m told Martins is demanding 110k from Newcastle, we can’t pay that, AW can look at Defoe; he scored 18 goals from the bench last season and can only be better at Arsenal. It’s like Freddie is on his way for 5.5+, it will hurt me to see him go even though he has to move due to drop in pace, recurrent injuries and goal drought in recent times; its painful but Arsenal can free itself of his 70k a week wages that we’re paying now. I pray that we complete our signings by going for Robinho, he will be the next pires at LW. I’m breathing a sigh of relief for now; the information dropping in are very encouraging

  30. Fry, the Ljungberg story first came from the Guardian as 5.5 and possibly Bojinov way before Tribal.
    Fiorentina do have people in London at the moment. They have expressed an interest in both Flamini and Freddie. 10 million and Bojinov? Then Sagna only leaving the left wing.
    Robinho has been suggested by Arsene’s previous interest and Real bringing his name up concerning Reyes. It seems to be between Robinho, di Maria, Guadardo and the unknown.
    Don’t worry people.

  31. Big names cann’t do the job !
    I wonder why people keep screaming for all this big names,Give Arsene Wenger a chance to do his job.He has done it in the past and will do it again.
    Arsenal will definitely sign Robinho from Real Madrid before the end of this month,Trust me.

  32. Joshua, I am trusting you. And if by August 1st, he isn’t, I will bury you alive in a coffin that smells of wee. 🙂

  33. Robinho would be an amazing signing and would defiantly help towards contending for the title, I was just watching sky sports news and Chelsea now have 3 left midfielders… Is it just me or is this an ideal opportunity to sign ether Joe Cole or robin?.. Just a thought… I don’t see why people don’t rate Senderos I think he has some really good qualities, good leader, and quite intimidating… I also rate Helb very high, he did have his bad points last season but in some matches he really carried the team with his darting runs through the defence.

  34. It seems Freddie is finally on his way out, it hurts but it will be good for Arsenal if he leaves. His wages at 70+ is too high if you take into consideration time spent on the bench for the past two seasons. However, he’s a great person who genuinely loved Arsenal. He scored in all the FA finals that he played. I feel sad that we’re letting him go, but everything that has a beginning has an end. I only pray that Hleb don’t fuck up once more this season and that Theo will be stepping up. We,re trully in a new era.

  35. The reports i’ve seen, say the only way Robinho comes to Arsenal is if Fabragas goes to Real. I’d rather keep Fab then gain Robinho. If we can get Robinho without losing Fabragas, we have an equal chance of winning the league this season as Man U, Chelsea and Liverpool.

  36. sorry guys robinho is going nowhere….tell me why hed go from MADRID to arsenal and plus madrid have a new coach and he likes robinho….all in all babel is on his way to liverpool or nowhere at all and it looks to me that arsenal will struggle this season and wont really sign anyone of the the big names…..sorry arsenal but if i was a supporter i wouldnt be happy with wenger..he is getting dominated by the 3 big clubs in chelski, man u, and pool….yess some of u say we arent as big as them but the fact of the matter is, is that AW went off and sold your best player Thiery Henry and YOU do have money so why not actually use it. personally id be worried if it was my team. Yes there is life after henry but it will be the toughest road ahead

  37. i agree somewhat, Real will let Robinho go, but only if Arsenal send Fabragas the other way and they get to keep Reyes, and i’d rather see Fabragas stay! Reguardless of what others think, i wouldnt be mad at all if Arsenal sell out to someone who is willing to spend money, this is the new age of football, and unless there is a European salary cap of some kind, we’re gonna get lost among the teams with more money. It might be selling out, but when you win trophies no one complains!!

  38. I am going to have to agree with ronaldo7 on this one I think Robinho wants to stay at Madrid and I think some people in the Madrid boardroom want him to stay so that is a non-starter IMO.

    Also I do not think he is the ideal choice he is a LWF/SS not a LMF, same with Babel really. We need a LMF who can score not a LWF who cant cross. He is better than nothing but not what we are crying out for.

  39. I don’t think Robinho will be going anywhere. Even if Arsenal were to look at signing him, after his performances with Brazil at the Copa America his value will rise significantly. Robinho is not the answer, a great player for sure, but too lightweight for Arsenal. I just think that the club would not get the best out of him because the likes of Gary Neville would kick lumps out of him like he did to Reyes. As for why we’re not using the money, Ronaldo7, Wenger never really does that. You can argue that it’s good or bad but his track record over the years speaks for itself.

  40. Ronaldo7

    Yes, Arsenal don’t buy big players and big buys don’t win often. Chelsea brought in Shevchenco, Ballack, Kalou and Mikel last season, did they win? Who was Henry, Viera, freddie and Pires etc when we bought them? By our nature Arsene don’t buy big but we’ve managed to be successful while big spenders like Spurs and Pool are still struggling to win the title. Arsene will replace all these players with unknowns but they will turn out to be greats. I’m just hoping that Arsene has plans to replace all the players we’re losing and that he’s also working to offload those who can’t cut it after having loads of opportunities. It will help reduce the wage bills. Buying big players is not the way of Arsenal club. So we won’t buy big but if we buy the small players who can prove themselves then we can challenge. Mind you, unknown Anelka was brought in to replace Wrighty and he ended up helping to bring in the first double after several years, so let’s hope for the best and trust Arsene.

  41. when Spanish fry said “…. Arsenal has the makings of a superb squad and if they can grow together over the next year or two and be complemented with two more quality signings this summer then we have the ability to challenge for the title…” i nodded. the key word here guys here is ‘QUALITY’ signings not ‘big’ names. on that note, a quality signing doesn’t have to be the likes of Eto’o alone even our own Eduardo could be really qualityliscious so let’s stop the bickering about ‘the big name signing’ and cry for more quality signings

    My opinion is Gallas should go to where he thinks his super players are or leave the management to Arsene Wenger as it should be…

    SF- i am also enjoying the bad talk and the assumptions that guys like drogba are making coz it only works to strengthen as more and if there’s an encounter anyone would like to avoid is a gunner out to make a statement. CHEERS!

  42. i think we can still teves.cos is agent said he is an arsenal fan. robinho is the best for arsenal now.

  43. Hey c’mon guys van-persie is around ask any goalie and they’ll let you know who’s the best.

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