Tag Archives: Arsenal

2014/15 is a big season for 3 Arsenal players – but for different reasons

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Hector Bellerin

There is an opportunity for young Hector Bellerin to make a claim to be Arsenal’s long term right back. Bacary Sagna’s replacement, Mathieu Debuchy, is 29, so he does not have a long term future at Arsenal. We signed Calum Chambers, who had previously played at right back for Southampton, but it is clear his future is at centre back.

Where that leaves us is in a situation where over the next couple of years, we will need a new right back.

Within the squad, it seems to be a straight shoot out. Carl Jenkinson v Hector Bellerin. With Jenkinson currently on loan (and injured) at West Ham, he gives Bellerin a terrific opportunity to impress, both in training and on the pitch.

At this moment in time, you feel that were Debuchy to get injured, Chambers would be his replacement, so Ballerin’s main opportunity to shine will be in the League Cup. He is 3 years junior to Carl Jenkinson and, at 19, certainly has a bright future.

Good performances in training coupled with composed performances when he is called upon for first team duty could ensure that, whilst not this season, but certainly future seasons, he is considered as Arsenal’s first choice right back.

2014/15 is a big season for Hector Bellerin. It could be the first step towards becoming an Arsenal great.

Jack Wilshere

Young Jack is no longer that young. During the course of this season, he will be 23. For a footballer, that means he is entering being middle-aged. He can no longer be classed as someone with potential, but as someone who should be performing week in week out.

He is in a similar situation as Aaron Ramsey was last season, who himself turned 23 in last years campaign. Ramsey turned from being a boy to a man and is now a key man in Arsenal’s first season. Jack Wilshere now needs to make a similar transition to secure his future with the club.

Failure to progress from where he is now puts him in a precarious position. He is currently not a first team starter, and there will become a point over the next 12-18 months when the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gedion Zelalem start increasing the pressure on him even more.

A failure to perform this season might result in Wenger considering selling him. With the likes of Zelalem and Dan Crowley now 17, there will become a time where it would make sense to cash in on Wilshere and give one of them a chance.

Wilshere is on the verge of falling into the same trap as Joe Cole. Continually being considered has having potential without fully fulfilling it. On the other hand, he is also on the verge of greatness. If he makes the same stride forward as Ramsey, he could become an Arsenal legend.

2014/15 is the season Jack Wilshere needs to step up and begin to fulfil his potential.

Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta is 32 and entering the last year of his contract. Last season he showed signs of slowing down. A true professional, he would not have been happy with his performances. You get the feeling that his Arsenal career is coming to an end. That if his contract ran out this summer, it would probably not be renewed.

He was still a key member of the Arsenal side last year, playing 43 games. This was more games then he had ever played in a single season for any club. He is our current vice-captain, and works hard with yougnsters at the training ground, providing them with a great role model.

By the end of the season, he will be 33. With Arsenal being linked this season with every half-decent defensive midfielder throughout Europe, it is likely he will not be first choice next season.

He is fighting for a new contract. In the games he plays next season, he needs top performances. He can not look of the pace, he can not look old. He needs to show that a combination of his experience, professionalism and ability means that he is worth keeping around, even on a year by year basis.

If at any point he looks slow, looks off the pace, it will become clear he is not part of Arsenal’s bright future, and he will be told next July that he can seek pastures new elsewhere.

2014/15 is an important season for Mikel Arteta, it could be his last at Arsenal.

Keenos

Who are Arsenal’s potential Champions League Play-off opponents?

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On Friday at 11am, Arsenal will know their fate in the Champions League. Potential opponents are Athletic Bilbao, Lille, Standard Liege, FC Copenhagen and Besiktas. But who exactly are they and what threat to they pose?

Athletic Bilbao

Finished a distant 4th in Spain, 20 points behind the winners Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao would be a tricky tie for Arsenal. Famous for a transfer policy which involved only signing Basque players, they have plenty of exciting talent, with their star man being Iker Muniain. Despite having lost midfield general Ander Herrera to Manchester United, Bilbao will be a trick proposition.

Just a short low cost (until they hyke the prices up) flight, Bilbao is a nice easy journey. And who wouldn’t fancy a few days in Northern Spain?

Lille

Between me writing this and you reading this, I could have got a Eurostar to Lille and be sitting in the Northern French city drinking coffee. That is what will appeal to Arsenal fans. Little time off work. Cheap train, there and back in a day. Brilliant!

Lille finished 3rd in France behind the money bags of Europe PSG and Monaco. Since winning the title in 2011, they have regularly sold of there stars, including Gervinho, Eden Hazard, Florian Thauvin, Lucas Digna, Dimitri Payet and most recently Divock Origi to Liverpool – although they have loaned him back. Their main threat is Solomon Kalou. A good side, but should not cause Arsenal any problems.

Standard Liege

The Belgium city of Liege is around a 260 mile drive (and ferry) from London, making it easily commutable by car or mini bus. Getting a train via Brussels is also a realistic option.

Standard Liege would have been a threat 10 years ago, with Kanu and Stam in their side. Unfortunatly for them, they are Brazilian defender Kanu (Full name António Eduardo Pereira dos Santos) and former Wigan centre back Ronnie Stam. When your captain could barely get a game for Wolves, your star midfielder failed to make the grade at Spurs, and your big summer signing so far is 20 year old Tony Watt (who?) from Celtic, you can perhaps understand the challenge, or lack of, that Arsenal will face.

FC Copenhagen

In a similar vein to Standard Liege, FC Copenhagen have a numeorus players who once ‘starred’ in England. Andreas Cornelius signed for Cardiff last summer for £8million, played 8 games, did not score, and was sold back to FC Copenhagen for less than £2million in January. Steve De Ridder includes Southampton and Bolton as his previous clubs. Once managed by Roy Hodgson, they are a side who Arsenal really should beat.

Copenhagen is a wonderful city, but do you really want to be forking out for a flight to Denmark, considering the other destination on offer? Probably not.

Besiktas

The furthest journey of them all. Flights will cost over £500, so unless you already have a holiday booked in Turkey, it is a big chunk of cash to fork out.

With former Croatia manager Slavan Bilic in charge, Besiktas will not be an easy game. It is always tough playing away to a Turkish side, with their passionate and hostile fans creating an intimidation atmosphere. As usual with many Turkish sides, the majority of their squad is made up of Turkish players. Former Arsenal trainee Oguzhan Ozyakup runs the midfield, whilst former Fulham wonderkid Karim Frei (now Karim Koyunlu) provies a threat on the wing.

Their undoubted star money is Demba Ba, recently signed from Chelsea. With him upfront mixed with the Turkish crowd, they are one to avoid.

So who do I want?

1) Standard Liege
2) Lille
3) FC Copenhagen
4) Athletic Bilbao
5) Besiktas

Keenos

Could Arsenal sign both Sami Khedira and William Carvahlo?

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According to reports, it seems to be a straight shoot out between Sami Khedira and William Carvahlo to become the next Arsenal defensive midfielder for the 2014/15 season.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages. One is experienced, comes with a low fee, but high wages. The other has potential, comes with a high fee but low wages. Both are suitable for the role and both are realistic targets.

But why do we need to talk about ‘either/or’. Why can we not sign both.

“We do not need two defensive midfielders” I hear you cry. Maybe you are correct, but stick with me, lets work this out.

Sami Khedira is 27. He is ready now. He could slot in and perform from day one. He is a class talent. William Carvahlo is 5 years his junior, rawer and would take a bit more time to settle in. You could easily have Khedira in the squad for 5 years, and by the time his legs start to go, Carvahlo will still only be 27 himself.

Both would get plenty of playing time. With defensive midfield being the position you are most likely to pick up bookings, there will be suspension aplenty. It would also give us the option of playing both men in the tougher games. After heavy defeats to Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool last season, it would make sense to start both men to create and stronger defensive spine. Add in Aaron Ramsey and it would make the middle of the park pretty impenetrable.

And who is to say we can not play both men every game? With reports that Alexis Sanchez will be our first choice striker next season, we could line up:

Szczezny
Debuchy Koscielny Mertersacker Gibbs
Khedira Carvahlo Ramsey
Walcott Sanchez Ozil

A lot more defensive than last season, but still with plenty of attacking talent. In would certainly be an option.

Another factor could be Thomas Vermaelen.

With the captain set to leave (have we ever been so unbothered about a captain leaving?), it leaves us without a back up centre back. Now so more learned people than myself have said Carvahlo can play centre back. So lets look at it another way, Carvahlo would be coming in as 3rd choice centre back, 2nd choice defensive midfielder.

Last season Vermaelen played 14 league games and 21 in all competitions. Bacary Sagna played twice at centre back. Matuieu Flamini played an additional 25 league games, 34 in total. That is 57 games in total where we did not play our first choice defensive midfielder (Arteta) or one of our 1st choice centre backs were out injured.

57 games last year. Suddenly buying a centre back / defensive midfield hybrid becomes an interesting proposition.

Last season, between Flamini, Arteta, Vermaelen and Sagna (at right back), exactly 100 games were played. That is more than enough to go around to justify spending big on two players.

“But if we sell Vermaelen, we still have Flamini and Arteta in the squad, and what about Chambers?” I now hear you think. Well, we are moving forward, it is about improving the squad. Chambers will get enough game time as 4th choice centre back / 2nd choice right back, so do no worry about someone coming in ahead of him, it will not, to quote Wenger, “kill him”.

Flamini and Arteta
Khedira and Carvahlo

When it is put down that plainly, the decision is obvious. Khedira and Carvhalo are far superior.

But what for Arteta and Flamini?

Well Arteta has 1 year left on his contract. He has already been linked with moves away. The decision could be up to him. Stay at Arsenal, see out his contract, get little play time, and leave for a free next year, or take a move this summer. It would be his choice.

Flamini would be worth hanging on to. With 2 years on his contract (people are actually moaning we gave him a 3 year deal!), he would still have a place in the Arsenal squad, covering both defensive midfielders, as well as full backs. He would still get game time, just not as much as last season.

Either way, were we to buy Khedira and Carvahlo, one of Flamini or Arteta would have to leave, or be happy playing single figure games next season.

Of course, buying both would be expensive. In the region of £40 million. But we can afford it. We have a current net expenditure of circa £41,000,000. Taking into account Vermaelen is set to leave for £10 million, that will be reduced to £31,000,000. Adding two additional players for a total of £40,000,000 would leave us with a net spend of £71,000,000. A lot, yes, but we have the money.

This total would be reduced further if, as reported, Santi Cazorla returns to Spain, however, I believe he will stay.

What buying both might do is restrict us from buying a striker. It would leave us with not much left. Of having to wait for the right person to come available, rather than buying a ‘he will do’ type striker. But with Giroud, Sanchez, Sanogo, Walcott, Campbell & Podolski, we have plenty of options up top.

Can we afford and accommodate signing both Sami Khedira and William Carvahlo? The answer is yes.

Keenos