So, after a couple of weeks, where we have tried to figure out what is happening in that old French head of Wengers, we are now closing in on the first real signs of what will happen: Emirates Cup. As the excellent Tim Stillman wrote in his occasional visit at Arseblog, it is hard, perhaps even pointless to make any conclusions at this point, and transfer gossit is once again sucking all life out of otherwise excellent thinking creatures. However, I'll still make a few comments on three of the most discussed players these days:
1) Ryo is a star in the making!
Admitted, at first I expected that the Japanese fellow was just another T-shirt, but after reading some of the descriptions from YoungGunsBlog and hearing a lot of stuff from Netherlands, and even seing him a few times, I think otherwise.
Ever since Pires left the club we have needed at strong left wing, who had pace, could use boths feet, who read the game well and could keep out wide when needed. We have tried with Rosicky, Reyes, Nasri and Arshavin. Even though the latter had some good periods, he is simply not what we are looking for at the moment. Ryo will soon be. He is a clever player, about as fast as Theo, can use both legs, challenges his opponent and can keep wide. Obviously he still needs to learn. But when also including his really great attitude towards the game, it is obvious we have a star in the making. It took him no time to settle in at Feyenoord, which means he is a quick learner. The soming weeks will show whether he will have the work permit or not. If he gets it, he will play a role in the squad. If not, there is room for him at Feyenoord, where technical director Martin van Geel has revealed he is ready to take Ryo on another loan spell.
2) We will miss Bendtner
There are a lot of opinions about Bendtner. Mostly about his comments to the press and his impressive self confidence. For some, these opinions have unfortunately been included when evaluating the contribution on the pitch.
In my opinion, there is no doubt that Bendtner has been a decent player for us, providing us with physique, aereal threat and important late goals (look at these stats: Mins/goal involvement last 3 seasons - RVP 84 Cesc 113 Adebayor 134 Bendtner 139 Arshavin 140 Theo 164 Chamakh 168 Ramsey 169).
And this is not all: He always tries to make things happen. Often he fails, but so many other times something DOES happen. Defenders are dragget out of space. He succeeds with a 1-2, he delivers a good croos etc. When Bendtner moves on, we have Chamakh left. He started out well, but has since then been absolutely rubbish. Even in pre season. Where Bendtner has the courage and is opportunistic, Chamakh is the opposite. When coming in, nothing really happens. He is strong in the air, he is good at recieving the ball at link up (this is where Bendtner still needs to develop) but he simply doesn't give the attack that extra and unexpected. So, Bendtner will be missed, stupid comments or not.
3) Mata is not the most needed signing, noor centre back.
It's simple. If we sell Cesc, we still have creativity from Nasri, Rosicky, Ramsey and Wilshere. Moreover, with gervinho we will once again get those runs at the back line that we have missed, which will give us space to the midfielders. As a backup Arshavin is decent, And we also have Ryo. So on the wings we actually look fine. Arshavins wage is one of the highest in the club. Should he be 3rd choice then? No, of course not. He must either be sold or used. We can't afford to have fringe players on such wages.
Well, to get to the point: We have a defence that doesn't require signings to be strong. It requires traing (as I wrote in my last blog). We have a fine selection of wingers. What we do need is still the strong box-to-box player. We have now missed out on Vidal, Witsel and Cabaye.
While I wont really be upset if Mata doesn't join us, I will if the midfielders (besides the holding role) consists of only Wilshere who is commanding in the defensive aspects. Nasri is okay (but nothing more) in the defensive work. Diaby is too lazy, Rosicky too, Ramsey is too easy to intimidate.
Anyway, that was the jabber of today. I'm taking off to Netherlands today, to attend a birthday, but I hope I will have some time to watch some Emirates Cup.
Enjoy the weekend!
Ingen kommentarer:
Send en kommentar