Happy Friday to you.
I have to say I’m always delighted to write for Dev when he goes away. However I’m really struggling to bring you any news as there isn’t any. If you’ve read my previous posts you’ll know I’m not the type to go on about far-fetched transfer rumours because they rarely materialise. There’s clearly something going on with Mark Schwarzer but the last I heard was that Fulham rejected a £3m bid. As far as I’m concerned that’s where our interest should end as it’s not worth paying any more than that for a 37 year old.
In one of my World Cup posts I addressed the ‘keeper situation at the club and the bottom line was that we really need a new one. Heaven help us if we go for another season with Almunia and Fabianski as our 1 and 2. I’m also very concerned about our defensive line-up. Are we happy with Vermaelen, Koscielny and Djourou, and a relatively unknown Nordveidt as our CB’s? I don’t think we are.
I don’t expect us to sign any players in other positions (even though I’d like us to) but a new goalkeeper and a CB are absolutely vital if we are to mount a serious challenge on all fronts next season. I’ve always defended Manuel Almunia but his chance to prove his worth has been and gone and some of the crucial goals we conceded last season were so painfully weak that we really need to address the obvious goalkeeping frailties. Our defence has very limited Premier League experience in it – Vermaelen 1 year, Djourou the occassional bit-part role when fit, and Nordveidt and Koscielny have nothing. Quite terrifying when you break it down like that but if I’ve managed to work that out then surely Arsene has also. We can only assume/pray that he has a few ideas in mind.
Barcelona declared their remaining transfer kitty this summer as being little over £40m. That ends the Cesc saga then.
We play Barnet tomorrow in our first pre-season friendly. I’ve been to-ing and fro-ing all week about whether to head down to Underhill for this one. Ultimately I reckon my disliking of non-competitive Arsenal games will prevail but there are usually a few first-teamers who feature in this fixture and at the very least it will be good to have commenced the programme for the 2010-2011 season. The World Cup was a total saviour in terms of withdrawal and I’m sure I’m not the only one to feel this way. But now we’re back to what matters most – the mighty Arsenal. It’s good to have ‘em back.
That’s pretty much it for today, if anyone finds anything interesting please keep us all in the loop in the comments section below. Til tomorrow…
