Tag Archives: Arsenal FC

5 key factors to remember during the transfer window

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With the transfer window less than 6 weeks away, speculation is beginning to mount on who will be coming to join Arsenal in January. Whilst thinking about what to write on the matter, 5 key factors came to mind. Rather then write on each individually, I have collated the thoughts into ‘5 key factors to remember during the transfer window.

Ignore the Speculation

Journalists throughout the globe use transfer speculation to write easy stories. Sports editors use speculation to fill up column space and gain hits for advertising revenue. And ITKs use transfer gossip to gain followers, to fill the void in their lives where friends should be.

My advice, as always, is ignore the bullshit. It can be hard not to get drawn in at times, such as with the Higuain deal last summer, but its important to remember the basic stats. We will be linked with over 100 players, and likely sign 1 or 2. I have seen people getting angry at the club when one of the targets a paper prints ends up at another club. It is unlikely this player was ever a target, so the person is getting angry for no reason.

Finally, remember planted stories. Agents representing players will play a story, in the hope it brings to light the availability of said player and someone else signs him. They will also plant a story to quicken up a deal, or in crease a contract offer, with another club. And often a selling club will plant a story in the hope that it will generate interest in a player. This is where Arsenal’s world wide media appeal is a disadvantage. Link a player to Arsenal for those reason, the world will write the story.

Do not believe the speculation until you say the player holding the shirt.

If you want to keep up with the transfer speculation, or just have a laugh with how many players we get linked with, from Sunday, we will be running SheWore’s famous ‘A to Z of Transfer Speculation.’

The World Cup Matters

One player generating a lot of interest at the moment is Diego Costa. The Brazilian Spanish striker has recently declared his allegiance to his new nation. Yet to win a Spanish cap, yet certainly on the radar of the Spanish management, he will be foolish to leave Spain.

Join Arsenal, have to settle in a new country, and no longer be guaranteed the starting spot that he currently gets for Atletico Madrid, he would likely be cast aside in the thoughts of the management before he has even kicked a ball for Spain. Why would he leave?

We saw a similar situation nearly 2 years ago with Lukas Podolski. A deal was done in January, however he decided to hold off until the summer as he was worried about his Euro 2012 spot.

The World Cup is key in players’ thinking. Better to be playing and performing for a lower side and get into your countries squad, then make the move, fail to settle then lose your place. It’s why I can not see the likes of Diego Costa and Karim Benzema changing club, let alone moving country.

Obviously when it comes to players such as Luis Suarez, Wayne Rooney and Robert Lewandowski, this does not apply, as they are so key to their national sides, that the could not play for their respective clubs between now a June 2014 and still be starters in the World Cup.

The Champions League Doesn’t Matter

Whilst the World Cup is uppermost in the mind of players when thinking about a January transfer, the Champions League should not come into a clubs thinking.

Whilst a player can have a lot of short term benefits, giving the squad a morale boost, and adding depth to an injury ravaged position or improving the overall squad quality, a player needs to be signed with a long term vision. That means being cup tied for the Champions League does not come into thinking.

When you are investing in a player over a 4 of 5 year contract, the Champions League should not come into the thinking. You do not turn down a Lewandowski because he can not play in the Champions League. Likewise you do not sign a Papise Cisse for the sole reason that he is not cup tied.

When making a January transfer, it is important to not just focus on the next 6 months, but more importantly the next 4 years.

Beware the Year Long Loan

Romelu Lukaku and Loic Remy are two names on many people’s lips as January transfer. Stop them thoughts dead as they will not happen. You can not sign someone in January who is currently on a season long loan. Rules do not permit this.

Whilst both players would be ideal signings for Arsenal, they can not happen. As Donnie Brasco says ‘Forget about it’.

Sometimes NOT SPENDING is Best

Fernando Torres ( to Chelsea – £50m), Andy Carroll ( to Newcastle – £35m), Alfonso Alves (to Middlesbrough – £12m), Scott Parker (to Chelsea – £10m), Jermaine Defoe, Robbie Keane, Pascal Chimbonda, Carlo Cudicini and Wilston Palacios (all to Spurs – combined £44m), Nicolas Anelka (to Chelsea – £15m), Shay Given, Wayne Bridge, Nigel De Jong and Craig Bellamy (all Man City – combined £48m)

The best players are often not available in January. Yes you could land a Suarez or Arshavin (remember his 1st 12 months!), but these players are few and far between.

Whilst Arsenal’s squad does need strengthening, and a couple of key transfers could see us lift the title come May, it is important that we buy the right players, and not just spend because we feel we have too.

Last January we were heavily linked with Diame and Ba. We could have tied up a big chunk of money over many years on two players who are not really Arsenal quality. Just because you have money in your pocket, it does not mean you should spend it.

If the right player (Lewandowski, Ginter, Benzema, Suarez) does come available, by all means sign him. But if what is available is not good enough, then not spending is best. ‘Keep your powder dry for the next window’ is the key moto.

What you are usually best off doing is investing the future. In January 2006, Manchester United signed Patrice Evra (£5.8m) and Nemanja Vidic (£7m). Both looked vastly out of depth in their 1st 6 months at the club. After the initial settling in period, they became amongst the most consistent players in the Premier League, winning back to back to back Premier League titles and a Champions League. Did the 6 months pressure free time to adjust to England give them an advantage? Likely. But in  January 2014, not for the 2013/14 season, but for the next 4 or 5 seasons. Let them adjust and adapt, then become world beaters of the futures.

The January transfer window is a tricky one. Arsenal got it spot on back in 2004 buying Jose Antonio Reyes. Whilst he ended up struggling as he failed to fully adapt to England (dyslexia, bullying, consistently fouled) he was an important cog in the title race. Who can forget his goals against Chelsea (both league and cup). He was a fresh of breath air, both for the players at the club and the fans.

Signing someone in January can be like taking a shot of adrenaline during a marathon. When you are lagging, tiring, the fresh legs can galvanise the team, the fresh face can galvanise the fans. Personally I would always make one signing every January.

Just remember, as speculation builds up, don’t believe it, don’t get your hopes up, and it is important that Arsenal sign the right player, not just a player.

Keenos

 

The Arsenal and Me – Micheal’s Story

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It’s All Lee Dixon’s Fault.

Love affairs and addictions often happen by chance. Someone or something comes into your life, possibly briefly but its impact is sudden and overwhelming. My addictive love affair with Arsenal is no different. And for that I blame . . . Lee Michael Dixon.

 I discovered Arsenal purely by chance and given the events of my first ever Arsenal match it seems almost surreal. I had been stationed in the US Navy. With my role in the Navy, I split time between London working for Commander-in-Chief US Forces Europe and Allied Forces South based out of Naples Italy. It was the late Eighties, and during that time frame I’d find my exposure to the game I played as a kid taken to new extremes.

During one of my last stays in London, I happened to be friendly with a lot of the lads from the Royal Navy (and some of the lasses as well – that’s another story). One  in particular, Rory, and I had a penchant for hanging out together and enjoying our favorite past time – drinking. One week he found out his brother was sick and wouldn’t be able to go to a football match with him. One they’d planned on going to earlier but for whatever reason they were unable to (at the time I didn’t fully understand what had happened at Hillsborough)

The match he would take me to was none other than the match at Anfield in 1989 – that magical night when “the boys of” Arsenal would put the “men” of Liverpool to the sword and capture their first league title since ‘70-’71. I would later find out that the original timing of this match was postponed from its original date in April because of the Hillsborough tragedy but much like my experience that night I was not aware of that or Arsenal.

Let me tell you, that when it was all said and done and we were journeying home, I had no idea what I had witnessed. All I knew was that it was intense, it was passionate and in my mind , it was the greatest thing I had ever witnessed.

Exposure to the European game was nonexistent growing up. You just didn’t know it. You knew of players like Pele because of the NASL here in the US, but knowing who players were in England for me never really happened,  till that night. And it was that night that I’d really be drawn to the highly effective play of one player in particular. . .

Lee Dixon. I think I was first drawn to Lee because he was the man who put that final goal in motion, and for some reason when I watched it happen, I just felt I was seeing something magical – that could’ve been Rory’s hand grasping my forearm for dear life though. That pass to Smith that eventually found its way to Michael Thomas would be the catalyst for my fascination with Arsenal.

I would leave London that following week and I wouldn’t go back again until after my discharge, but I was hooked. I had to know more and whilst finishing up my service in Napoli (watching Maradona play for them – how’s that for exposure to soccer) I began reading the weekly versions of the UK papers to keep up on Arsenal and of course Lee Dixon.

If only we had the Internet back then!

Once back home in the US information on Arsenal was harder still.  AOL was in it’s infancy and digital sharing of information was sporadic – at best. So my initial keep-up on Arsenal was through the mail from Rory and similarly to my time in Naples, through the weekly UK press (the Express could be had at certain book shops) available here in the US.  But I was a determined young man and I wanted to see them live as often as I could. And with no strings and money from an inheritance, I went as frequently as life would allow.

As I got to know Arsenal during that time, what struck me about Lee Dixon’s play was the almost unassuming way he went about his business. And for me, that is why I liked him. Where I grew up in the US, we like our sports personalities to be blue collar, hard-working, and not flashy – to me Lee Dixon was the epitome of that.  To say Lee didn’t have flash is kind of misleading – let’s say it was subdued flash. He didn’t have the silky skills we swoon over, but he had a dogged determination to win every ball he good. And because as good as he was defensively, the fact he scored 28 goals – some of a wicked variety are often overlookedObviously there is THAT goal against Chelsea. Coming in from the left side and just rifling a shot in the upper corner that any striker would’ve been envious of. Or the goal against George Graham’s Leeds. Both of those stand out as a testament his offensive skills.

Still, though, he was a defender. It’s always easy to take joy in a goal or the flash of a midfielder or striker, but to truly appreciate a player, you must watch those who ply their trade defending. Sometimes there work is non-stop, sometimes it’s non-existent.

Of course back then, defending was a way of life for Arsenal, particularly when Lee was part of that famed back four. The times I did get to see him live or  in a pub here in the US (the Dicken’s Inn in Philadelphia used to be the early spot) I just always felt watching him – he was so easily good at this. He was a fullback who was solid and determined, and while Tony Adams would wear the moniker of Mr. Arsenal (and rightly so), I always thought of Lee as Mr. Dependable.

Of course any discussion of Lee would be incomplete without acknowledging the own goal against Coventry – the best own goal ever according to some. It was something I didn’t see live but was relayed to me the phone almost immediately after the match. Looking at it now through the help of YouTube, it’s not a highlight reel moment unless you are capturing the worst possible moments of a player’s career. But as I watch it and I watch my favorite player wince and grab his head in pain, I feel it too – even now.

My last memory of Lee playing is probably the time I think I knew, as probably did others, that his playing career was in the wane. It was during the 2000-2001 FA Cup Final in Cardiff. I have to admit to crying afterwards (I’m actually cold and heartless really) and coming to terms with Lee’s mortality. Watching Michael Owen, speed by him for the eventual winner was too painful. But it was painful I think, because we don’t ever want to see our heroes stop being who we know they truly are.

I have this propensity for freezing people in time. I still envision my 35 year old younger brother as 9 year old. For me Lee will always be that man who lofted the ball so sweetly to Alan Smith, and with the start of play for that legendary goal, sent me on a journey I haven’t ever come back from.

We are blessed now that Lee has taken his talents to punditry. He is as good there as he was on the pitch. His ability to dissect a game is a testament, to me at least, to his ability to read a game as player. He is insightful, thoughtful and objective.

As I started YouAreMyArsenal and we started to get some recognition, I was asked if I wanted to participate on a Q&A video with the IAMPLAYR application on Facebook. I was curious. Then they told me who was going to be answering our questions, Lee Dixon. Curiosity be damned. It was Lee.

It’s all a little fanboy I know. But I show Lee to my sons and even some of my players (I am a coach now) videos of THAT back four and I tell them – that’s how you defend. And then I show them Lee scoring – and I say good defenders get to score too.

If I was offered the chance to meet Lee Dixon, I would simply say to him – Lee, thank you. You have given me a love affair with a club no one can take away and I am forever grateful.

Michael

Michael is the administrator/blogger for youaremyarsenal.com. You can join his Facebook group here

If you would like to tell your Arsenal story, click here

Victory, Permutations, #SleeveGate, Stewards, Empty Seats and Bendtner

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Victory

The Good: 3 points closer to qualification, 2 goals for Wilshere, 1 goal conceded in 6 games for Szczesny, 67% possession and 112 passes for Ramsey.
The Bad: Overplayed the ball, poor finishing, lackadaisical play, that penakty miss,
The ugly: What was Marseille manager Élie Baup’s all sky blue track suit about?

Permutations

Forget about the complicated permutations, win or draw and we’re through top, lose by 3+ goals and Dortmund win and we are out. That is all you need to know

#SleeveGate

For as long as I remember, and probably over twice as long as that, The Arsenal captain has picked the sleeve length, and the rest of the players have followed. It is part of the class and tradition of Arsenal Football Club. Mathieu Flamini, however, feels he is above this. As against Manchester United, he cut his sleeves. His justification is he has been a professional footballer for 10 years, and is more comfortable wearing short sleeves. Is a players comfort above the traditions of a club? Long serving Vic Akers is not happy, Arsene Wenger is reportedly not happy, but can you fine a player for wanting to wear the sleeve length he wants?

Stewards

Once again, there are reports of over-zealous stewarding. Three stories seem to be appearing from tonight. The first is of an OAP being escorted out after standing up and shouting ‘ARSENAL, ARSENAL’ at a corner. The 2nd is of a father being threatened to be thrown out after holding his daughter in the air celebrating a goal. The 3rd is a steward being reportedly over heard saying “I am going to kick someone out tonight.” I think stewards need to remember they are their to steward the crowd, not police it. After recent performances by our stewards, the club needs to review the matter before more fans are alienated.

Empty Seats

6,000 empty seats at the Emirates tonight. The club do not allow the ticket exchange to be open for Champions League games. This is the main reasoning as fans who travel from Birmingham or Devon (where the chap infront of me travels from weekly) can not make mid week. They then struggle to sell their ticket. This leads to empty seats. Yes, there were problems in South East London, yes it was a bit of a nothing game, yes it was cold, but 6,000 is a lot. I feel it also has a lot to do with people getting bored of the Champions League. A final note is that Marseille had the smallest allocation possible. The club sold all of these extra tickets in the lower tier, so it is missing season ticket holders which is the problem.

Bendtner

Lots or criticism coming Bendtner’s way after his arrest for criminal damage. Silly? Yes. Immature? Yes. But it is certainly not the worst thing as Arsenal player has done whilst still at the club. Were it someone other than Bendtner, we would defend him. Bendtner is stupid, but it’s a nothing story, and we should perhaps remember our ‘naughty history’.

Keenos