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There is no doubt that we need a new striker with van Persie sidelined. But who?

I think it should be a more natural striker If it is they will certainly push van Persie more to the left, which in my mind is a more natural position for the Dutchman.

A few major targets have been discussed and I’d like to point out the positives and negatives of each of the four players that I consider to be major targets for Arsene Wenger: Edin Dzeko, André-Pierre Gignac, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and David Villa.

Jean-Pierre Gignac, 1.87m, 24 years-old, Toulouse

Gignac has capped for the French national team 10 times and has scored 4 goals in those appearances. He is a physical presence and can beat players on the ground as well as in the air. However, he has struggled against opposition of a higher quality. Even if you look at his performances in qualifying, specifically against Ireland, he just did not stand up.

Also, from many of the French blogs, it seems like he is a much streakier player than Arsenal are likely to invest in. His fitness and injury record is generally very high, however, which may lead Wenger to believe he is the right choice. His estimated price is roughly 12-14mil and that does seem to be well within our price range. Probability: 6/10

David Villa, 1.75m, 28 years-old, Valencia

I’ll start this by saying; I don’t think there is any chance that we will sign David Villa. His name is being thrown around by the media, and a lot of teams, but he is just not in the mold of a player Arsene will buy. Let’s start with the good however. Villa is arguably the best striker in the world, bar none. His game to goal ration for Spain as well as Valencia is basically unheard of.

He has scored 98 goals in 145 league games for Valencia, and 35 in 54 appearances for Spain. No doubt the man can strike but there is one main reason he will not ever appear in an Arsenal jersey, money. He has been valued by his own club at 40mil, which is obviously an insane amount. But recently Llorente has effectively priced everyone bar Real Madrid and Barcelona out of the race for his ace striker, stating that his value to the club is upwards of 80mil. Also, he’s Spanish and is not likely going to leave Spain for anything less than 40-50mil.

Finally, he is already 28 years old, while I do not believe that is too old; there is a Frenchman in London, in particular who would disagree. Also, he is about .15m shorter than the kind of aerial threat we really need as a striker. While he could be a dream come true come January I’d say the probability of him coming to Arsenal is about 2/10.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, 1.86m, 26 years-old, AC Milan

Klaas, Klaas, Klaas… How badly I wanted you for my own two summers ago. You looked like you could answer our prayers especially with want away Adebayor whoring himself all over Europe. Alas, he stayed, you went to Madrid in January 2009 and everything has been downhill from there.

Well, two clubs, a season and a half, and less than a dozen goals later you are again looking for a club. Milan don’t love you as we would have, neither did Madrid. However, you’ve burned the bridge that would likely have led you to London. You have proven, in two top leagues that your form at Ajax was down more to poor competition than your own actual quality. You have size, pace and quality on your day. But I fear that that day has passed, enjoy heading back to the Eredivisie or some other second rate league. Or will you?

Would your plummeting price tag be enough to spur Le Gaffer to splash out on you? Even as a bizarre half season trial your quality may show through. I very much doubt that however, and your recent double in the league for Milan may very well be strengthening your position in the squad. Quality player, great nose for goal, chance he comes to Emirates? 4/10.

Edin Dzeko, 1.93m, 23 years-old, Wolfsburg

Well, I hope I haven’t been too transparent in my build up to the player I truly think we should well and truly pursue, Edin Dzeko. Dzeko has played out of skin for the last two seasons. For Wolfsburg he has been on fire and that form has translated to his performances for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He is large, 6ft 3in, and is absolutely killer in the air. With van Persie, arguably our best crosser of the ball, pushed wide, Dzeko could dominate in the penalty area with his size and athleticism. On the negative side, he has been playing in the Bundesliga, which is not nearly as tough of a league as the Premiership. I think his skill set translates very well though and he is still young which gives him time to adapt.

There are two major problems with gaining his signature come January, though. The first is competition. Seems like Wenger and Co. are not the only group to have noticed Dzeko’s increasing stature and quality. ManU, Chelsea and Milan have all been linking with the Bosnian. Secondly, the price tag poses something of a threat to our potential signing of Dzeko. I have heard reports that he is being shopped between 25-35mil. On the lower end of that I can just barely see Wenger justifying the purchase, on the upper end, no way.

If the price is right I think there is a 7 in 10 chance that he will in fact be the player coming to the Emirates this January.

What do you think?

Have your say on Arsenal’s January transfer targets by leaving a comment.

Today’s guest post comes from Peter Dalison – or Dally as he is know on the blog – a 46-year-old Arsenal fan from England who currently lives in Ankara, Turkey. Peter takes a trip down memory lane with a really nice article about his memories of “Champagne” Charlie Nicholas, a player who brought flair and creativity to Arsenal well before my time.

Enjoy the post and I’ll be back tomorrow with a beer in hand and some pre-World Cup qualification thoughts. Cheers.

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“Champagne” Charlie by Pete Dalison

I thought it would be a good opportunity to write about flair players and how they have affected the Arsenal Football Club. I am going to start off with what could become a bit of a series by writing about Charlie Nicholas. I have chosen Charlie as I still remember all the hype surrounding his signature for the club and you must remember we didn’t have this internet thingy back in those days.

Some will say that Nicholas or “Champagne” Charlie as his name became was not a success but at the time of his arrival he was amazing. The Arsenal fans needed a new playmaker after losing Liam Brady and the signing of Charlie Nicholas was just what we needed. Or so we thought.

Terry Neil somehow managed to capture the signature of Charlie who arrived at Highbury in June 1983 after he has scored 50 goals for Celtic the previous season. Charlie was only 21-year-old and a huge weight was put on his shoulders as he was expected to bring back trophies to Arsenal after four seasons without silverware. Sound familiar?

As already said  the departure of Liam Brady in 1980 had hit the Arsenal supporters hard but Nicholas’ arrival gave us all new hope. Charlie had the artistry and skill which we had been missing and he soon became the new darling of the North Bank. Before signing for Arsenal he had also turned down both Manchester United and Liverpool and in those days there were a lot of Scots playing for Liverpool which made it a surprising choice for Charlie. I think the lure of London rather than Arsenal was behind his decision.

Champagne Charlie did not bring the trophies that the Arsenal fans longed for but he gave excitement back to the team the flair and flamboyance that he played with.

Charlie started the season as he had finished the previous one for Celtic scoring two goals against Wolves in his second start for the club but he didn’t get on the score sheet again until Boxing Day. I and my Spurs-supporting step-mate were lucky enough to be there on that amazing day. We used to go up and watch the Arsenal v Spurs game togerther, which were either on Boxing day or New Years day. In 1983-1984 season it was a Boxing day fixture away so off we went to White Hart Lane, on the tube, quite cheap in those days.

We never had tickets before we got there but that never seemed to be a problem, it wasn’t all seating then. We also used to change where we stood, one year with the Spurs supporters, very difficult, and then the next one Arsenal and then on the sides, I can’t be certain but I am pretty sure that we were with the Spurs supporters on this day so I had to be pretty quiet.

I don’t remember much about the other scorer – Meade was his name scoring the other two in a 4-2 win. I do remember one of Charlie’s goals though. As he collected the ball  I was directly in line behind him, he saw the Spurs goalkeeper off his line and chipped him from what looked at the time to be about 30 yards. Time does have a habit of changing your memories but it was certainly one of the best goals I have seen live.

Unfortunately even though the darling of the North Bank could mesmerise opponents with his extraordinary skills he also suffered from a lack of consistency which restricted his influence on games. This was reflected in the number of goals he managed to get for Arsenal; he scored 50 for Celtic in one season and only managed 54 for Arsenal in total, only just breaking double figures in each of his first three seasons at Highbury.

After Terry Neil’s sacking in December 1983 and after surviving Don Howe’s reign the arrival of George Graham in the summer of 1986 was the beginning of the end for Champagne Charlie with his departure in January 1988 after being dropped for George Graham’s new signing Alan Smith, what a decision that turned out to be. Charlie Nicholas had been brought in to bring trophies back to the Arsenal and he finally succeeded with two against Liverpool in the league cup final in 1987 securing Arsenal’s first trophy in eight years.

Well we all remember Charlie Nicholas the darling of the North Bank but the big question is – was he a success? It’s a difficult question to answer, he certainly brought the flair back to the team that had been severely lacking since the loss of my all time favourite Liam Brady, but he also brought with him a bit of controversy, hence the name “Champagne” Charlie. He may not always have produced on the pitch and he certainly didn’t bring the goals that we all craved but I will always remember that chip against Spurs.

What are your memories of “Champagne” Charlie? Let me know in the comments.

I’ve made the decision to switch the Arsenal FC Weekly podcast from Monday to Tuesday from next week onwards and Guest Post Tuesdays will become Guest Post Wednesdays as of today. As always though, before I get onto today’s guest post I just want to run through the latest Arsenal news:

• Johan Djourou has been sent home from international duty with Switzerland with a minor knee injury. It’s unsure as to whether the knock will keep him out of the team against Everton but it’s certainly not the greatest piece of news.
• Fabio Capello has admitted that Manuel Almunia is not in his England plans. Meanwhile, Almunia has commented on the height of our defensive options, stating that our previous problems have been more of an issue of attitude than size.
• Nicklas Bendtner is looking to sign a new contract with Arsenal.
• Former Arsenal striker John Hartson, who has recently been diagnosed and treated for testicular, lung and brain cancer, has been released from hospital.

And that is that for the news. Hopefully Hartson is enjoying being home with his family and hopefully Djourou pulls up OK for the weekend.

Onto today’s guest post now and John Law is back for a second go. He wrote the first ever Guest Post article for the Arsenal FC Blog about unsung hero Manuel Almunia and this time around he has written about the state of our defensive options, with the overall view that they will be good enough to challenge for the title this season.

I’m pretty sure this one will divide opinion so be sure to have your say on John’s article by leaving a comment.

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Why Arsenal do not need another centre back by John Law

Having opened up the guest post Tuesday section on Manuel Almunia, I was overwhelmed by all the positive comments I received from you all so thank you very much for that! However, when writing this one, I do not feel that the same praise of the article will be given as pretty much every other gooner I talk to disagrees with me on this particular topic! Anyway, in the next 1,300 words I am going to try and convince all of you why, in my opinion, Arsenal do not need to invest in a new centre back.

In my view, 3 top centre halves plus one or two others as extra cover is what one needs in that area to win the league and champions league and in my view Arsenal have just that. 4 world class centre halves is too many and needless transfer and wage money. Start not playing a world class centre half and all that will happen is he will want out. 3 is the magic number followed by one/ two adequate ones. Throughout this article, I will work from what I believe to be centre half choice number 1 to choice number 5. 

Gallas, I believe I do not need to justify too much. Yes he had his problems as a captain and his character does not endear one but since stripped of the armband his performances were nothing but exceptional and it is my belief that he has and will be a world class centre half. With aggression, pace to burn, a superb tackle on him and ability on the ball, I believe that with the right partner, this man has everything. Add to these attributes his CV and abundance of experience; 31 years old, 8 seasons of premiership football, 72 caps for France (with a World Cup final in 2006), 2 premier league titles, a league cup, a community shield, a confederations cup and twice occurring in the PFA team of the year, the man is a world class defender and is the finished article. Enough said. 

My belief is that Johan Djourou is now that perfect partner for Gallas. Having been with Arsenal since 2004, I feel young Djourou has been constantly progressing and it is now perfect timing for him to make the step up. Having improved year on year to cement himself as Arsenal’s first choice back up last year, there is one more step for him to make and that is to become 1st choice. He now has plenty of experience having spent half a season on loan at Birmingham and making 25 starts for Arsenal last year, playing in the premiership and champions league and has made a total of 77 appearances in an Arsenal shirt. Now we have cashed in on Kolo, the question in Arsenal’s current defence seems to be who is going to play alongside Gallas. My view on this is that Gallas, as stated above, has many attributes a top class defender needs and it is positive that he is going to be playing for us next year. However, to get the best out of him, I think he needs someone who is aerially dominant and at 6ft 4inches and with substantial strength, Djourou could just be that man.

When he came into the side last year, very little got past him and Gallas and given there is a clear void which has been left by Kolo, I really feel it is time for Djourou to step up and fulfil all that potential he clearly possesses. Attributes he has; strength, pace, good timing of the tackle, good positional awareness, ability on the ball and good in the air. I can’t think of much more a centre back needs? Where he has previously let himself down on occasions is lapses of concentration but I am confident that this is something which can be ironed out when one matures and my feeling is that he has played enough for this to happen. The only thing he now needs is a run in the side…..what better time than the present?

Having hopefully justified to you why my 1st choice pairing is going to be rock solid, the next question I must ask; is there suitable cover? If I am honest with you all, I do not know too much about Vermaelen. However, my feeling is that a 23 year old left footed centre back, formerly captain of Ajax, with plenty of champions league experience and many international caps under his belt, will be more than an adequate 1st choice back up and a suitable partner for both Gallas and Djourou. With the reputation of being commanding and aggressive, his attributes seem suitable for the English game and I simply do not believe Wenger would shell out £10million on a centre back who won’t be any good.

As mentioned earlier, I also think that at least one other adequate player is needed to provide sufficient depth and cover if there are a string of injuries in that area. I am not going to pretend I am a massive Silvestre fan. His performances in the semi finals of the FA Cup, the 4-4 league match vs Liverpool and the champions league semi-finals were, in my opinion, not far short of shambolic. Nevertheless, I do believe that players are allowed to make mistakes as they are human and in Silvestre and Song, I believe these two are more than enough to cover the 3 first choice men when needed. To me, Silvestre is experienced, has decent aerial ability, sound distribution, a fair amount of pace on him, and a fair sense of positioning with the eye for an occasional goal.

Over the course of last season, I actually thought Silvestre played well for most of his games in the league. He provides vast experience and a left footed centre half alongside Djourou, Gallas or Song balances the back four nicely. Experience is something which this Arsenal squad is light on and Silvestre provides that. With 4 premiership titles, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 2 Community Shields, 1 Champions League, an Intercontinental cup and 2 FIFA Confederation Cups, I hardly think that is too bad as a 4th choice and having seen him keep a lot of decent league strikers quiet last season, my belief is that although not world class, the man does the job and is as good as one can get for a 4th choice cover.

Even when there are 3 injuries to 4 of the previously mentioned players, I think that Song can also be adequate to shift to centre half for 4 or 5 games a season at least. When playing at Old Trafford in the 0-0 draw last season, not once did he look out of place. He now has experience under his belt and has developed tenacity last season which he previously seemed to lack. In possession of the ball he is fantastic and he seems to read the game exceedingly well, especially in the centre half position. Furthermore, given he is still young, the man is only going to go from strength to strength. 

So there you have it! My belief is that those 5 players bring all the various attributes and qualities a side needs in the centre half department to win cups and titles. There is enough talent, experience and depth there to satisfy me that we do not need to delve into the market for another player. My feeling is if a super class player who would be ideal to the team set-up comes along at a bargain then it would be foolish to turn that down but unless that happens, I believe we should, and will stick with what we have and that other areas(i.e holding role) are in far more need of strengthening. Gallas, Djourou, Vermaelen, Silvestre and Song I have faith in you! Please do not let me down!

Have your say on the latest Arsenal news or John’s guest post by leaving a comment.

Before I get started on today’s post I just want to thank everyone for their kind words on yesterday’s season launch post. The enthusiastic support I received for my plans for the season were most appreciated and although my beard received mixed reviews, I’m really excited about the potential of this blog going forward. I won’t add anymore just now because I’ll probably have a teary…

Anyway, it’s Tuesday again and that of course means another Guest Post. I’ll speak about today’s post in more detail in just a moment but before then it’s a very quick Arsenal news round-up:

• Philippe Senderos’ move to Everton has been confirmed by the Swiss Football Federation. It was inevitable and although I’ll speak a bit more about the impact of this move when it is confirmed by Arsenal.com, in short it means we have to (repeat x 10) sign another centre-back. Interesting times await.
• Tomas Rosicky thinks we’re in a stronger position than last season despite the exits of Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure. He would say that, the cheeky little devil, but in many respects I agree with him.
• Meanwhile, Bacary Sagna has been speaking about how much of a boost it is to have Rosicky back. Can you feel the love? I can. It feels good.
• Bordeaux’s president has confirmed that Arsenal have made a €7 million bid for Marouane Chamakh and that he will not be selling him unless the bid is at least doubled. In my opinion €14 million+ for a player of Chamakh’s reputation is simply not worth it considering the attacking options we currently have and I’d be very surprised (and disappointed) to see us go much higher than the original bid.

And that’s really it – onto Guest Post Tuesdays.

Today’s guest post comes from regular reader The Next RVP who lives in Milton Keynes in the UK. He’s undoubtedly the youngest guest poster I’ve had on the blog so far but displays a very reasonable and rational (and positive!) view of Arsenal’s current situation in his article entitled ‘In Arsene We Trust’.

Anyway, I’m off to run around at football training in my new ‘Djourou 20′ Arsenal home kit complete with shorts and socks. I hope you enjoy and if The Next RVP inspires you to get out your pen (or laptop) and write an article then make sure you follow the details at the end of the post to get in touch with me. Cheers.

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In Arsene We Trust by The Next RVP

Victoria Concordia Crescit, which is Latin for “victory comes with harmony”, is the long standing motto that is embedded into the history of Arsenal. The motto goes hand-in-hand with the club’s current playing style, which was introduced by Arsene Wenger back in 1996. When he joined the club as a relatively unknown manager with two stints in Japan and France under his belt, I doubt many of us saw the prosperity he’d bring to Arsenal.

Wenger turned things around at the club with a brand new training regime and a new style of play. His new style of play brought fluidity, movement and grace to each and every attack – something that Arsenal supporters hadn’t seen before. And although there were doubters and those who claimed that “passing the ball into the net” wasn’t efficient, most of us were happy with the more than occasional with the success it brought. It made “1-0 to the arsenal” an almost forgotten theme; with Wenger’s football 1-0 just wasn’t enough.

The Frenchman made an array of signings early on in his career (such as Henry, Viera, Overmars, and Petit) which laid the foundation for his success. The smart signings continued and slowly so did the trophies, starting off with the double (Premiership and FA Cup) in 97/98 and another double back in the season of 01/02, made famous by Sylvain Wiltord’s winner at Old Trafford and Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg’s FA Cup belters against Chelsea.

Wenger lifted the FA Cup again in 02/03 before delivering, in my opinion, what deserves to be viewed as the pinnacle in English football; a 38-game unbeaten season with ‘The Invincibles’. Only one other team (Preston North End, way back in 1883) had accomplished the feat but in completely different times in a completely different type of competition. 

Maybe it was Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s injury time missed penalty, or beating Chelsea twice, or thumping Liverpool 4-2, or Arsenal clinching the title at Spurs, but the magic that still shrouds that unforgettable season will never be forgotten. “In Arsene we trust” and at that point – more than ever before – we all did.

Since then however, things have slowly gone slowly downhill. Arsenal had reached the top and had to come down to earth at some point. The unbeaten streak came to a halt at 49 games against Manchester United and defeat was a bitter taste that rudely greeted us all. All was not lost though as Arsenal once again lifted the FA Cup in 2005 – but with Vieira’s match- winning penalty came the end of an era.

During the following off-season we saw the departure of Vieira to Juventus for a fraction of what he was actually worth. Henry followed in 2007 and with those two losses went the leadership quality that Arsenal so desperately need. Since then there has been the silverware drought with Arsenal coming agonizingly close on a number of occasions, but never quite close enough. Increasing numbers of fans have turned against the club and become tired with one transition season after another. And some have begun to trust Arsene less than ever before. 

But there is light at the end of the tunnel and we must realize that it is unfair to heap the blame on one man’s shoulders. When clubs come calling with more money than us the departure of top players is inevitable. Hleb, Flamini, Adebayor – just to name a few – left for the sort of money that our club just cannot give. 

However, as with every year since Wenger took over there comes a crop of promising new youngsters and this season is no different. I strongly believe that this year could be the year and it’s time to repay Arsene for all he’s done in the past by putting our trust in him again. 

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Got a great idea for an article? If you want to write for Guest Post Tuesdays on the Arsenal FC Blog then be sure to get in touch with me via Facebook or Twitter. Just let me know your idea and we’ll take it from there.

Have your say on  or The Next RVP’s guest post by leaving a comment.

Hello there – hope you’re having a lovely Tuesday.

Just a quick news Arsenal news round-up to get through before things get all Guest Posty. Here goes:

• The Arsenal boys continued their impressive pre-season overnight with a comfortable 5-0 win over Hungarian side Szombathelyi Haladas. Eduardo returned to the team with a brace, Nicklas Bendtner also got two and Robin van Persie scored the fifth with a trademark rocket penalty. Meanwhile Szombathelyi’s Maikel missed late on with one of the worst penalties you’re even likely to see. You can see all the highlights here.
• The Daily Mail (I know, I know) has claimed that Kolo Toure has joined Manchester City for £15 million. Toure started yesterday’s game so it does seem that this could be made up, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it turned out to be true. However, I’ll be waiting for a more reliable source to break this sort of news before I make any sort of comment.
• Nicklas Bendtner has denied he’s on his way to AC Milan. Good man.
• Bacary Sagna loves Thomas Vermaelen. I would like to add that I like the idea of Vermaelen but I’m not going to proclaim my love for him until I see him play. After that I will send him a bunch of twelve red roses attached with the best haiku I can muster in the hope of wooing him all the way to Australia. You know how it is.

That’s that for all the news bits. I’ll be on Twitter and Facebook to break any further Toure-related information as it happens but in the meantime it’s Guest Post Tuesday time.

Today’s guest post comes from a London-based Gooner and regular commenter on the Arsenal FC Blog who goes by the name of Enemy Airships. I’ve been begging him for the last few weeks to write something for the blog as he’s a great writer who has his own blog about life adventures and music among other things called, funnily enough, Enemy Airships.

Anyway, enemyairships’ post today attempts to answer the question: do we need to replace Emmanuel Adebayor? It’s another superb read and as always, I hugely encourage everyone to let Enemy Airships know what you think via the comments. 

Enjoy!

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Arsenal don’t need to replace Adebayor by enemyairships

Now that the dust has settled on the Adebayor saga, it’s time to fantasise about what to do with the £25 million that’s suddenly burning a hole in the club’s coffers. Even though we sent him packing with a collective ‘good riddance’ instead of a ‘good luck’, the fact remains that he had an enviable goal scoring record at Arsenal and provided a majority of our goals over the last two seasons.

The gut reaction of many of our fans has been to vomit up a list of every striker who’s ever had a reputation in world football and demand that we sign one as a straight replacement. I’ve seen The Good (Huntelaar, Villa, Eto’o) suggested alongside The Bad (Chamakh, Trezeguet, Kalou) and the downright Ugly (Van Nistelhorse… I mean seriously, guys?).

You can’t blame them, it’s been a long time since we were in a position to potentially offer huge sums of money for a major star, but when you start seeing the names of your ex-arch rivals popping up you can’t help but assume the fans have gone mad. I mean, we’ve all been Arsenal supporters for long enough now to know that it’s simply not the Arsenal way to a) spend money and b) actually replace the players we sell!

Joking aside, I really don’t see the replacement of Adebayor to be a club priority at the moment. I believe that the attacking prowess he’s left behind at The Emirates is one of the most impressive in the league. Both Chelsea and Liverpool have been solely reliant on one and a half decent strikers for the past couple of years now, with Drogba and Torres shouldering the majority of the goal scoring burden at their respective clubs. The trick to this success is that a hefty chunk of their goals come from a dependable goalscoring midfielder.

In Fabregas, Arsenal have a midfielder with the ability to score as prolifically as Lampard and Gerrard. Two seasons ago, when he was given the freedom to prowl the pitch at will, he notched up 13 goals. He’s two years older now, with an international trophy under his belt. If we find the correct partner for him in midfield, he has the talent required to create and score goals in abundance. He might even earn a place as my dream team captain again!

Adebayor’s entire reputation was crafted from the attacking ability of our midfield – he simply had so many chances that he just had to score some of them! The fact that our midfield remains unchanged is good news, considering we still managed to conjure up the joint-highest amount of goals in the league last year, even with a lazy, disinterested striker up front.

A constant criticism of Arsenal’s football is that we are too intricate around the goalmouth and never get the ball into the back of the net. Next season will see a rested Arshavin and a returning Rosicky from day one, and they’re two players who love to have a crack from outside the box. Couple that with the fact that they’ll probably be playing just behind Eduardo and RvP – players who are naturally gifted goalscorers – and you’ve got an offensive quarter that that could really do some damage next season.

The single facet of Ade’s game we may miss is his aerial presence. He was brought in at a time when we were criticised for being too lightweight up top and he also occasionally used his head to teach our vertically-challenged defence how to mop up a set piece. Even so, Arsenal fans should worry not as we still have a player who can assist in that department – everyone’s favourite cult hero/pantomime villain – Nick Bendtner. I’ve completely changed my opinion on Super Nick and am now anticipating a big season from the much-abused frontman. Who knows, hopefully he’ll be looking to grab this opportunity with both hands and he might even shake off the ‘not bad for a fourth striker’ tag.

I haven’t even mentioned our younger players who could be promoted from within to fill the gap up front. Sure, the likes of Carlos Vela and Jack Wilshire are still too young to lead the line, but then again so is Fran Macheda, and just how many points did he single handedly notch up for Man Utd last season?

I don’t think our transfer priority has changed with the sale of Ade, and it was perhaps the only area of the pitch where we could tolerate a player leaving this summer. We should continue the search for a defensive midfielder who can cut the tethers that hold the rest of our midfield back. In the mean time we have a completely competent manager who should have fun experimenting with his well-rounded and able attack force next season. I have to say I’m looking forward to it! 

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Got a great idea for an article? If you want to write for Guest Post Tuesdays on the Arsenal FC Blog then be sure to get in touch with me via Facebook or Twitter. Just let me know your idea and we’ll take it from there.

Have your say on Kolo Toure or Enemy Airships’ guest post by leaving a comment.

That’s right, after my admission in yesterday’s post that I had no-one lined up for today’s guest post, my Twitter buddy and fellow countryman White Ox came up with the goods and has delivered a brilliant piece about the impact that Arsenal has had on his life and football in Australia in general.

It’s a piece that I relate to very personally. Not only because I am Australian but because my head was turned towards football and Arsenal at the very same moment that White Ox’s was, when Dennis Bergkamp netted his fabulous goal for Holland against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup. 

Anyway, I won’t spoil any more of White Ox’s wonderful piece and I promise I’ll get out of your hair after a very quick Arsenal news update.

First up is ex-Arsenal boy Alex Hleb who – can you believe it? – has admitted that he made a mistake leaving Arsenal for Barcelona after spending virtually all of last season on the bench. It really is a remarkable statement given the manner of his exit although I’m sure his sentiments would be echoed by a number of players who have left Arsenal and gone on to do very little.

I’m sure his comments will cause a few people to yell “bring him back!” but with Samir Nasri a more effective replacement and the turbo-charged Andrey Arshavin another option, I don’t really see the point. He’s missed his chance, Hleb, and unfortunately in the football world there’s very little that can be done to help players who make the wrong career move. I’m just waiting to hear Adebayor make a similar statement in a year or so, but somehow I can’t see it happening.

Moving on and according to Arsenal News Review, Kolo Toure will be leaving us to join Emmanuel Adebayor at Manchester City. Not sure if this will happen but it does make sense. Thomas Vermaelen has obviously come in to do a job and I believe both William Gallas and Johan Djourou to be better options than the Ivorian central defender at the back. If he does go I think we’ll need another central defender but this is certainly a situation that requires us to wait and see what develops. 

Anyway, I’ll leave it there. Onto White Ox’s guest post…

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How Arsenal have ensured Arsenal will host the World Cup in our lifetime by White Ox

Hi loyal readers, I’m White Ox your rural NSW Arsenal correspondent and 50% of the Arsenal support in this tiny farming town. You might even call me the town expert!

So here I am checking twitter when I notice my good Arsechum Spanish has posted a youtube shortcut with 77 great goals, his favourite being rumoured Arsenal target Yohann Gourcuff’s teriffic solo goal for Bordeaux and I’m moved to thinking “wouldn’t it be so like Arsene to buy another attacking midfielder when we clearly need a Flamini type terrier”. That, good people, is a thought that I should not be entertaining.

Why is this? Because I’m your meat and 3 veg Aussie bumpkin who was brought up with the teaching that there are only two seasons, cricket and (Australian Rules) football. I never should have known the world game, it was an afterthought as a school sport, something to be played when too young or small to endure the rough and tumble of AFL. How we all wanted to play AFL, be the next Brereton, next Lockett, next Abblett. After that? Well of course it was natural I would opening the batting at the SCG with Boony one day. That was life.

That was life through the primary school years and the teenage years and it appeared how it would always be, wearing the baggy cap in the local team’s premiership, running onto the field with the home colours on for the first time in the senior side, moments to savour with pride. It was then in 1998 that the next stage of life came calling; University.

Suddenly there was the cultural melting pot to deal with. No problem, by and largely I like to think I can be firends with everyone, but some of these blokes well, I go to the uni footy ground and they were kicking the wrong shaped ball. I noticed only a couple of them were seeming to catch it in their hands. I thought, “but I need to practice snapping a six pointer for this weekend’s match but where can I?”. I suppose if you can’t beat them join them so I yell “Can I play you fellas?”

And I absolutely loved it. LOVED it.

Then some Scottish bloke mentions something about the World Cup and single malt whisky (you think that’s what he said becauase that accent is thicker than pea soup) and more single malt whisky and you find yourself beside yourself with laughter drunk and half watching a cracking game and half watching some kilted excitable hurl language that would make a pimp blush as Scotland endure glorious failure again.

So there you have it, nothing more than a fad, a time during uni holidays where you booze up and watch the late night servings of “soccer” which is good but hardly compares to what you know. Until (cue Brian Moore)…

“Long ball from De Boer, beautiful pull down by Bergkamp, Ohhhhhhh what a goal!!! Dennis Bergkamp has won it for Holland!”

That was that. The beautiful game at its beautiful best. Stunned speechless, jumping up and down like a maniac with mates passed out around me this man had converted me forever. Soccer became a word obsolete to the English language. I played Aussie Rules on Saturdays, not football. Football was something else, something more difficult, more exciting.

Oh yeah, and because of Dennis Bergkamp, I loved the Arsenal.

Over time my interest in the team has grown into the obsession described by Nick Hornby’s fever pitch. I check soccernet 3 times a day. I found Arseblog and made it a must read every day. I even read the tripe Myles Palmer serves up for a laugh. I revelled in the invincibles, sat through many European disappointments before that glorious cup run that brought us so close to the only trophy to elude us. I have sung myself hoarse at a TV set, “One-Nil to the Arsenal…”, “We love you Freddie…”, “Whoa oh oh Vieira!”; honestly how daft is that? But most importantly I have recently found twitter and a legion of ‘Arsemates’. Next season I won’t be alone in supporting the Arse, even if those supporters are from afar.

So what does this have to do with Australia hosting the world cup? All I can say to that is the evidence is everywhere. Of course it is facetious to suggest Arsenal have direct input but if a blood and thunder Aussie Rules knucklehead like me can come to love this game I promise you it is happening more and more often. The other codes are worried. When your sports journalist brother in law rings you in excitement to explain that no, he hasn’t got engaged, he just interviewed Harry Kewell (something much more important) you know where this game is heading in our country.

So thank you Arsenal, thank you for bringing football home, home to Australia. Oh and Arsene – there’s 25 million quid burning a hole in your pocket, please spend it on the best partner out there for Cesc. After all, you do know best.

But I shouldn’t be thinking that should I?

Have your say on WhiteOx’s guest post or anything else to do with Arsenal by leaving a comment.

It’s Tuesday and it’s Guest Post time. I’ll get onto that in a moment but before then it’s a quick, bullet-pointed Arsenal news round-up:

• Manuel Almunia has called for Arsenal to make a better start to the new season than they made last campaign. Makes sense: if we want to win than we’ve got to start well.

Oh. That’s it. Right-o, moving on.

As I mentioned earlier today is Guest Post Tuesdays and that means another guest post, this time from Australian reader Shane Nash. He’s written about that death trap of inflated money and ridiculous transfer fees that is the transfer market, with a direct focus on how it effects Arsenal and their very respectable youth policy. It’s a good read and as usual, both he and would love to hear your opinion.

Just a reminder that if you’re keen to write for Guest Post Tuesdays just drop me a line via Twitter or Facebook.

Have a lovely Tuesday folks.

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Big Spending…. Big Trouble? by Shane Nash

In the current economic climate of a world recession, there has been a strong focus on the debts of clubs in the major three leagues who have shown their willingness to spend big money on players.

Michel Platini labelled Manchester City unethical for their reported 100 million pound bid on Kaka. The Citizens immediately showed their willingness to spend big when they broke the British Transfer record with their signing of Robinho. Real Madrid similarly showed their willingness to use the chequebook upon spending 160 million Euros in current window on both the current and former FIFA World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka. 

But what impact does this have on Arsenal?

There is very little doubt that for Arsenal to remain competitive as a top four club need to strengthen the squad. The youth policy which was implemented by Wenger four years ago has not bore the fruit that it was expected to. This is of course not to say that it has been a complete failure. But there has been a recent need for Arsenal to move in the transfer market to obtain targets who have the required credentials to help the team win i.e. Arshavin.

Buying established players already comes at such a high cost, but recently with Real Madrid’s splashing the cash in the current transfer notable managers and officials such as Barcelona’s Joan Laporta, UEFA president Michel Platini and our very own Arsene Wenger have been quick to recognise the negative impact that the spending of both Real Madrid and Manchester City could have on the transfer market.

The policies of both these clubs is going to have a profound effect for any club entering the transfer market. The transfer prices and wages for the best players is going to surge and incorrectly represent the economic times. Angel Barajas, a professor of Finance alluded to the current market as being inflated by the big spending clubs.

The impact on Arsenal currently is not as significant. As highlighted earlier, its youth policy has given it other options by which it can promote players from the reserve squads rather than purchasing established stars within the market and training them to Arsenal’s style of football. It is however having an impact on the club’s transfer practices in two ways.

First of which is the price of players increasing. I am sure that many have heard of the Gunners proposed interest in Lyon star Karim Benzema (who has since joined Real Madrid on a 35 million pound move). Lyon president were said to be willing to sell, but the interest of Real Madrid has proving to be a driving point for the price. While it would be optimistic to assume that Arsenal were intent on gaining him, and willing to battle Real Madrid for his signature, it is fairly unlikely that with Arsenal’s amounting debt that they would be willing to take on the big spenders. Arsenal is faced with a strong competition in the market, and are unable to compete with the large spenders.

Even in cases where the players are purchased for reasonable prices it is still unlikely that Arsenal can compete, not only on the transfer fee but also the personal agreements for the players. Manchester City were able to capture Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry for a 12 million pound move. And while it may look like a steal now the question has to be asked: how often do players perform at their peak after age 31? Rarely.

Additionally, when you add in his wages of 14 million pounds for, say, three years plus the transfer fee you’re looking a total of 26 million pounds for three years service for a player likely to dip below his peak. Hardly good business. There is no denying Barry’s quality, but this shows the impact that personal terms and the willingness to meet huge demands have on the transfer market. Subsequently Arsenal, a team with a rigid wage structure, is not able to compete with the money monsters like Manchester City.

Another way that Arsenal are effected in the transfer market is via other clubs willingness to be open with the transfer fee figures. Ronaldo, Benzema and Kaka for example, all had large figures confirmed by Madrid, which becomes an issue when the selling club chooses to purchase a replacement.

Using Fabregas as an example; if Arsenal was to sell him for 50 million pounds and Real Madrid were to make the fee known, it is going to have a negative effect when Arsenal seek an able replacement. Attempts to secure a player from another club may mean that they will demand a higher price for a player. Once the fee is made public, smaller clubs are more likely to charge a higher fee for players upon knowing how much certain players were sold for.

Michel Platini has come out and said that the mega transfer fee and huge wages are destroying the game. I think there is some truth to this, but at the same time I think that Arsenal with their youth policy are less reliant on this than other clubs. Arsenal stand alone in the top four because they are less likely to spend because of the huge debt which they had massed from moving to the Emirates. Liverpool splashed the cash on Torres, United on Ferdinand and Chelsea are one of the biggest culprits of transfer inflation in the football market.

I believe that Arsenal’s youth policy has helped us massively. However, I do feel that if Wenger wants to bring success back to the club then he and the club’s management need to find a way to bring experienced heads in this inflated market.

Have your say on Shane’s guest post by leaving a comment.

I’ve picked up a fairly nasty cold over the past couple of days so today’s post is a bit of a sniffly one. It’s also full of guest-posty goodness – something I’ll talk about shortly – but before then I have couple of quick Arsenal-related news stories to get through:

• Theo Walcott and Kieran Gibbs played in the U21 Euro Championship Final overnight but their English side were absolutely smashed 4-0 by Germany. You can see all the goals here.
• Apparently we’re showing some interest in 22-year-old Stuttgart central defender Serdar Tasci. Whether the speculation has some legs is debatable, but with Thomas Vermaelen arriving unless one of William Gallas or Kolo Toure leaves there’s probably no need for another defender. A central midfielder on the other hand…

And that is that for news. Now to the good stuff.

Guest Post Tuesdays

As I mentioned earlier, I’m excited to announce that today’s post will feature the first article of what will now be dubbed Guest Post Tuesdays. The idea to let readers have their say via article writing is something that I’ve been wanting to start for some time now, and I’m happy to say that Guest Post Tuesdays will make that a reality.

Each week I will be including an opinion piece from various readers of the blog in order to give you guys more of a say and give myself a bit of a break on what is usually a very slow news day. It’s a win-win.

Basically, if you feel you have something worth saying about Arsenal and the writing skills to back it up, I’d encourage you to send an email to guestposts[at]arsenalfcblog[dot]com (just remove ‘at’ and ‘dot’ and put in the appropriate punctuation) outlining your idea or if you’re really keen, including a completed article. Alternatively, you could get in touch with me via Facebook or Twitter to register your interest.

You’re piece will likely be seen by 3000+ readers which is certainly no kick in the teeth if you’re a budding writer or blogger, or even someone who just likes to feel popular. And let’s face it, we all love to feel popular from time to time.

Today’s guest post comes from John Law, an Arsenal fan and regular reader of the blog from England with a soft spot for Manuel Almunia. It’s a lovely piece and I’d encourage you to let John know what you think in the comments. Enjoy!

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Manuel Almunia: Arsenal’s forgotten role-model by John Law

If there is one man at Arsenal who does not gain the recognition he deserves it is Manuel Almunia. What this man has achieved when one considers his ability is something fairly unique and phenomenal. Fellow Gooners may well look at his CV and put him alongside goalkeepers at other top clubs such as Buffon and Casillas and think what on earth am I going on about?

Take yourself back to 2004 where he signed as a keeper who had previously been loaned out by Celta Vigo because he was not good enough to make their bench! He arrived at Arsenal and did not play for a while. Once he did play he gifted Man Utd a 1-0 win in the Carling Cup and made an error against Rosenborg in a Champions League match where we were lucky enough to put 5 past them.

Who would have thought that back then we would see the Manuel Almunia that we do today? I know I could not have imagined it and I doubt many other Arsenal fans could have either.

I think the first thing to note has to be the clear improvements he has made as a goalkeeper. When playing as a second choice keeper he obviously didn’t get many games. But in just a handful of games back then than over the course of a season such as the one we have just had. Other essential factors to being a goal-keeper such as his shot stopping and distribution have also seen clear improvements. These are things which can only be achieved through dedication and hard work which is why he finds himself in complete control of the number one jersey at Arsenal.

Something else which he must be commended for is the manner in which he conducts himself both on and off the pitch. When playing second fiddle to Lehmann, never did he speak out of turn. If a journalist asked him on the matter he would be confident about it but never arrogant, malicious or bitter.

Having cemented himself as the 2nd choice keeper he still had to wait until October 2007 to have a real crack at becoming Arsenal’s number 1 between the sticks; having improved throughout each season. It was a chance which he seized with both hands in spite of constant jibing in the press and no doubt at the training ground from mad Jens (who by the way I am also a big fan of but he certainly made life difficult for old Manuel!). Not only did Almunia cement his place as first choice keeper but he is now without doubt one of the senior players in the side who any youngster must surely look up to, even skippering the side on several occasions.

When dealing with the press he is superb and with quotes like this after a 2-0 loss to Porto, one cannot help but feel the man is a genuinely decent human being who knows how lucky he is; something a lot of modern day footballers appear to lack. These comments seemed to echo some of Gallas’ thoughts but were simply put in the right manner:

“I was very frustrated after Porto because no matter what team we put on the pitch, everybody has to give more than they did. I don’t care that we had already qualified for the next phase, it’s a Champions League game. The club gives us everything that we need. Every time we lose, we should feel responsible. The club makes every effort to spend money for us to be comfortable everywhere and we love to win for the club. I hope that everyone realises we need to give more on the pitch to stop us having another poor result against Middlesbrough.”

If only more footballers were like this; gentlemanly, hard working and honest.

Another clear quality of his in my opinion is his dignity. When the chips are down, whether it is individually or the club as a whole he will make his contribution in bouncing back. You can bet your life on that. His only really poor Premier League game this year? Against Spurs of all teams! Yet look at the season he had after that game. When things are going well he remains calm and is one of the few who appears to not get carried away and is only too happy to be gracious towards his team mates.

I could also not write this without mentioning his performance against Manchester United in the 1st leg of that Champions League tie. I realise that we all would like to hear less about this however, it confirmed completely my view of Almunia as one of the Premier League’s best goalkeepers and that he fully deserves his number 1 spot at Arsenal. To keep a side in a tie single handedly against Man Utd at Old Trafford really is some achievement and anyone who saw the interview he gave after would no doubt have seen the dignity of the man again.

What has to be even more impressive this season is the consistency he has shown week in week out. Something which can only be achieved through sheer dilligence, hard work and intensity. It is one thing to gain the number one spot, to maintain it is another.

I am not going to sit here and say Manuel Almunia is one of the most talented keepers we have seen at Arsenal. That, in my opinion is a completely incorrect statement. I will however say that in sport and more to the point, life in general, you can only work with what abilities you are born with and it is down to you to make the best from it. To me Almunia is a prime example of that.

Having fully established himself now at a top four club in the best league in the world, it would be foolish to think that at 32, he is anywhere near done. For someone who probably does not have the ability of certain other keepers we have seen at Arsenal (Seaman, Wilson, Lehman etc), he more than makes up for it in other areas and I think if he has one more season like last, he will have earnt the right to be put alongside keepers such as Reina, Valdes and Dida. Furthermore, he is an absolute credit to Arsenal and football in general.

Hopefully this article has taken a small step forward in helping him obtain all the credit and recognition he deserves.

Manuel, I salute you!

Have your say on John’s guest post or anything Arsenal by leaving a comment.