Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

Arsenal set to release £12 million worth of players

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At this end of this season, it seems like Arsenal will continue what they started last summer. Culling the ‘dead wood’ – although I hate this term.

Last year saw Abou Diaby, Ryo Miachi & Lukasz Podolski leave the club. According to the Evening Standard, Arsenal are unlikely to renew the contracts of Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini. All of whom’s current deal’s run out at the end of the season. This will free up nearly £12 million from our yearly wage bill.

Whilst many will say they should have gone a long time ago, all 3 will leave with their heads held high knowing that they helped Arsenal through a tough time in the clubs history.

Some will claim Mikel Arteta was one of Arsene Wenger’s most important signings. Whilst this is a tad of an exaggeration, he joined the club during our darkest hours.

Clichy, Fabregas, Eboue & Nasri had just left. Arsenal had only signed two first team players – Gervinho & a young Oxlade-Chamberlain. We had just lost 8-2 to Manchester United. The club was in crisis.

On transfer deadline day, Arsenal spent nearly £30 million bringing in 5 players.

We needed calm, experienced heads. And in Mikel Arteta – and Per Meresacker – that is exactly what we got.

His influence on the club, both on and off the pitch, was there for everyone to see.

On the pitch, he was like a metronome. His ball retention ability was 2nd to none in the league. Whilst he did not have the flair of Nasri, or the creativity of Cesc, he was able to influence the team from deeper, leading many to say it is a pity we did not sign him sooner.

Sacrificing his own attacking instincts, he went back to the defensive role which he played earlier in his career, and he was excellent, if not always ideal.

As captains continued to leave around him, Robin van Persie & Thomas Vermaelen, Arteta became more important off the pitch. He grew into his current role of club captain.

He might not have been a first choice for 18 months now, but a captains job is not just for the 90 minutes on the pitch. Many players have often spoken about Arteta’s role in the dressing room.

Santi Cazorla said “He is always up for whatever the guys need. And that is what a captain has to do: transmitting conviction in order to keep the team together…. Whenever there is a problem he is the one that goes and talks to the manager. He leads this group, so this captaincy is well deserved after his hard work here at Arsenal.”

He is also often found at Hale End with the Arsenal academy taking training sessions, and is the man who makes youngsters welcome when they are invited to train with the first team.

Arteta is a true captain. After the ego captains of Henry, Gallas, Cesc, van Persie & Vermaelen, he was the right choice to get the arm band 18 months ago.

It is just a pity he is not a few years younger, as he would still have an important role to play within the club.

Personally, I would not mind seeing him getting a contract extension. He is clearly influential off the pitch, and he could fill a role that the likes of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes did at Manchester United. Guiding other players through the early stages of their career and ensuring squad unity.

I would not be surprised to see Mikel Arteta become a very successful manager in the future.

Tomas Rosicky joined Arsenal in 2006. After a brilliant World Cup, where in my opinion he was the 2nd best player on show after Kaka, he had just been made captain of the Czech Republic. I was excited about his signing after having first seen him at Dortmund.

This was a player who had the talent to fill Robert Pires’ boots. To become a World Class player.

Sadly, injuries damaged his career.

A mysterious injury in 2008 saw him make no appearances for the club in 2008/09. However, his contribution to the club is certainly not to be sniffed at.

Memorable goals against Spurs showed his talent. He was just unable to put together a run of games.

I was very surprised (as was he) when Arsenal decided to take up the option of renewing his contract for a further year this summer. It was clear he was surplus to requirements, and wanted out to seek regular football elsewhere in the twilight of his career.

Was his contract only extended to ensure there was a friendly face at the club in our pursuit for Cech? If so, it is a years salary well spent.

He Resigned for 12 months, and has since been injured. It is the tale of his Arsenal career.

Like Rosicky, Mathieu Flamini nearly left in the summer.

Moves to turkey were mooted, and then turned down. Whether this was Flamini wanting to stay and fight for his place in the team, or the club realising that he made Mesut Ozil happy, and Mesut Ozil’s happiness was more important than saving a few million, only the club know.

What is for certain is the two goals he scored against Spurs will write him into Arsenal folk lore.

It is amazing to think that if Flamini does move on this summer, he would have been transferred 4 times during his career. All on a free transfer.

On his return to the club, he was good for the first season. Providing the legs and energy that Arteta was perhaps unable to.

Imagine a Flamini / Arteta hybrid, 10 years younger. It would be the perfect defensive midfielder.

After his first year, it was clear Flamini was no longer good enough. Arsenal needed more than someone who could just ‘run around a little bit’. The defensive midfielder saw the ball more than any other player in a red and white shirt. They needed to be able to pass. And that was Flamini’s weakness. He was not a very good technical footballer.

His demise is mirrored by Francis Coquelin’s rise. Coquelin was as close to a hybrid as we could get. He has the legs and energy of Flamini, but can also play. He showed in a few games around 12 months ago everything Arsenal was missing. Everything that both Flamini and Arteta could not do.

Flamini did a job for 12 months, and then picked up a wage for 24 months. He clearly still has the passion to play, and could still perform at a mid table side in England or France. Arsenal should thank him for his contribution and let him depart.

The money that letting these 3 leavIng free’s up essentially means that Arsenal could go out and add a World Class talent to the squad, an Ozil or Sanchez, without the wage bill increasing. Of course, this relies on us spending, but that’s another blog.

All 3 have played a key part in Arsenal’s history. Whether it is a single game or a season. We should all wish them well.

Keenos

Is German football really superior to the Premier League?

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Over recent years, German football has been held up by the British media for everything that the Premier League is not.

  • It cares about its fans, from ticket prices to standing
  • Clubs own 50% of all clubs
  • Its top sides succeed in Europe
  • The league provides top International players for the German national team

On paper, the Bundesliga is nearly perfect. That is until you actually dig down below the surface

  • It has become uncompetitive
  • It is riddled with corruption

Inequalities

For a long time, people mocked La Liga with being ‘The Sunny SPL’. As 2 sides dominated the league – Barcelona & Real Madrid – in the same way the Rangers & Celtic dominate Scotland.

It is rather ironic that as Rangers dropped out of the SPL, leaving just one team to dominate, over in Germany, a similar situation has risen, with Bayern Munich now dominating to such an extent that it would not be a surprise if they go on to win 10 league titles in a row. Which is currently Celtic’s target.

What should we nickname the Bundesliga? ‘The German SPL’ does not quiet have the ring to it as The Sunny SPL.

In the last three years, Bayern have won the league by 25, 19 & 10 points respectively. During that time, they have only lost 3 league games when the title was still to play for. Losing an additional 5 after the title was won.

This season, the lead by 5 points, with 10 wins and a draw from their opening 11 games. Scoring 33, conceding just 4.

They have also begun picking off the best players from their opponents.

In recent years they have signed Claudio Pizarro, Tom Starke, Mario Mandzukic & Dante from fellow Bundesliga clubs. On top of this, they snatched Robert Lewandowski and Mario Gotze from Dortmund, their nearest competitors.

Whilst this happens in all leagues, in none of the 4 major leagues in Europe (Spain, England, Italy & Germany) has there been one way traffic to a single club.

You rarely get players moving from Real to Barca, or Atletico to Real. Or Man City to Man Utd or United to Liverpool. Regional rivalries limits players ending up at a single club.

Bayern Munich do not really have any regional rival. This creates a situation where for most kids growing up in Germany, they do not have a hatred for Munich (in the same way a Scouser would have United), and it would actually be considered the pinnacle of their career to join them.

Add in the money factor, that Munich are the only side in Germany with real cash, they can blow any other German side out of the water when it comes to a contract offer.

In 2014, Bayern Munich’s wage bill was €215 million. Dortmund was nearly half that at €108 million.

To put that into relative terms, imagine the Premier League, where Manchester City are doing what they do now, and their nearest competitors were Tottenham.

At least in the Premier League, you have 4 or 5 teams capable of sweeping up the best players. The same in Italy. A couple less in Spain.

There is a chance that Bayern Munich are going to become to detached from the rest. And this will make the Bundesliga weaker as a whole.

There are two ways other Bundesliga sides have a chance of competing with Bayern Munich:

  1. Increasing their own revenue enabling them to compete for the better players. The easiest way for this will be to raise ticket prices.
  2. Allow more clubs to be owned by a single person (or company), who can then pump millions (or billions) into the club creating a German Man City / Chelsea / PSG. This would then move away from the fan owned model

Both of these solutions would be at the detriment to the fans.

In my opinion, the reason the Bundesliga appears to be better for the fans is because it is behind the Premier League.

To break up Manchester United’s dominance, ticket prices rocketed (Arsenal) and we saw Sugar Daddies introduced. Whilst these were both at the detriment of fans, it made the league a lot more competitive.

It might not happen quickly, but sooner rather than later, Bundesliga clubs and owners will become fed up of the dominance by Bayern Munich, and seek to increase their own competiveness.

German fans, enjoy the Bundesliga whilst you can. It will change soon.

And this commentary does not even take into account the state funded stadiums…

Corruption

In recent years, the German has been riddled with corruption (and this is just what I remember):

  • The 2005 match fixing scandal involving referees
  • Bayern Munich (ex) President Uli Hoeness being jailed for tax evasion
  • Bayern Munich (ex) President Franz Beckenbauer being banned from football activities for allegedly refusing to cooperate with an inquiry into corruption dealing with the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar
  • Reports continually being leaked that Germany secured the 2006 through a series of cash deals

And even as recent as a couple of days ago, tax authorities launched raids on the German football federation (DFB) and private residences, following the disclosure that the DFB made a secret payment of 6.7million euro (£4.6million) to FIFA in 2005.

It seems the Bundesliga is riddled with corruption.

As we saw with Italy, once the ball starts to unravel, it does not stop. How far with the allegations of corruption and financial irregularities go?

It is all well and good President’s talking about how great they are that they are keeping ticket prices low, when on the other hand, they are doing everything they can to cheat the taxman out of money.

 

The Bundesliga is being held up as a good example to the rest of football, and mainly the Premier League. But this will not last. Clubs will start changing attitudes as success becomes more unlikely, and the current corruption scandal involving FIFA and the DFB could unveil more skeletons in the closet.

Once the commercial side of the game gets a bigger hold of German football, with clubs realising they must generate more money to compete with Bayern Munich, German football will change. Forever.

Keenos

Mesut Ozil – The World Class Superstar

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Who would have thought it, by playing a World Class player in his favoured position, granting him the freedom to get around the pitch that he desires, results in World Class performances.

This is now Mesut Ozil’s 3rd season at the club. It has been a love hate relationship. People’s comments on his ability have tended to side on whether you back Wenger or despise him.

Back him, and you would have pointed to obscure statistics showing that he has the highest pass percentage in the Premier League using his little toe on his right foot.

Believe he is useless and you would have questioned his work rate, desire and toughness.

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What has happened this season though is he has come into his own. This season, he has been Arsenal’s stand out performer.

Before now, he was a scapegoat. He had not performed to his previous high ability at Real Madrid. Plenty of myths as to why he had no performed. Mainly surrounding where he had been played. People tended to ignore the fact that he played every (or almost every,  I do not have the energy to look it up) minute in Germany’s World Cup winning side. And that he had previously played on the wings countless times for club and country.

It was easy to blame the positioning and therefore the management, for his struggles. Or perceived struggles.

What a lot of the criticism came down to was a lack of understanding about Mesut Ozil the player. He was not a Messi. A Neymar. A Hazard. A player who would pick up the ball, take it past 4 players and bend one in the corner. He is just simply not that type of player.

Now people are starting to appreciate his set of skills, a very particular set of skills, skills he has acquired over a very long career.

Whilst I have slightly contradicted myself talking about positions, it is the freedom that he has been given playing in the middle that has now seen him flourish.

Ozil follows the ball. When you watch him closely, he is always there, always available, within a 10 yard pass of the ball. He loves to be involved. Playing in the middle means he can follow the ball, left and right, without it destroying the sides structure.

He drifts into pockets of space, where he is hard to pick up, dragging players out of position, creating space for other players to move into.

His movement, his ability, everything about his game at the moment is exceptional.

He is the king of assists. But we already knew that didn’t we?

With 9 assists this season, he has 3 more than the next highest on the list, David Silva, with 6.

In fact, he has more assists this season than Juan Mata, Cesc Fabregas, Eden Hazard and Coutinho. Combined. Between them they have just the 8.

Of course, there will still be those who will always be on Ozil’s back, unable to ever accept him as the talent he is. However, these people are idiots. what they are doing is using Ozil as a pawn to bash Wenger. An example of how Wenger ruins players (untrue). An example of how Wenger can not spend big money (whilst also demanding that Wenger need’s to spend big money).

It is mad to think that Mesut Ozil has only just turned 27. It seems like a decade ago that he ran past the heavy legged Gareth Barry for Germany. He is entering his peak. And will continue to get better.

With the way Ozil plays, he does not rely on blistering pace. Realistically, he has another 6/7 years in him at the top level. Pulling the strings at Arsenal.

In 1995, Arsenal signed a 26 year old Dutchman named Dennis Bergkamp. 11 seasons and 423 appearances later, he became an Arsenal legend.

If Ozil wants to, he can also become an Arsenal legend.

He is that good.

Keenos