Robin Expected to Sign Soon

Two new signings?

First off, I hope everyone had a wonderful Father’s day yesterday. I had a kickaround, then had some beer, then indulged in some razor clams and some more beer and watched Young Frankenstein with the family.

It was nice, but I was thinking, Father’s day should be held on Saturday so that you can have a hangover on Sunday and be ready to go back to work on Monday. Just saying…

Anyway, while I was consuming my first round of beers, I had a chance to watch the Italy v. Brazil game and check out supposed Arsenal target Felipe Melo. The Brazilians played a sort of 4-2-3-1 and I thought Melo did pretty well, backing up the far superior Gilberto Silva. I’m not sure who that Gilberto guy plays for but we should sign him, he would be perfect.

Seriously though, I don’t think Melo looks the part that Arsenal need. I mean, in 90 minutes I don’t think I saw him put in a single tackle. He had plenty of opportunity, mind you, but he seemed to be coasting behind Gilberto who was everywhere, doing everything. Maybe he’s better than that and had an off night, but I’m struggling to see what he offers that our Denilson doesn’t already have. I’m looking for one of three types of players; the Gilberto type who is everywhere filling in for everyone, a destroyer, or just a solid box-to-box midfielder. The last thing we need is another slow, technically proficient, midfielder.

Oh and hey, I also caught the tail end of this one game, where the USA beat some Egypt team? Was that an important game or something? Because I read that the winner of that game gets to be Spain’s next win.

Wasn’t someone saying that Egypt was going to beat USA 7-0? Hmmm…

Anyway, enough of that International crapola, we’ve got Arsenal “news!”

Robin van Persie is supposedly going to be (like) a new signing any minute now. Yay. Bendtner’s daddy said that he’s NOT leaving the club, not for Roma, even though they are traveling to Rome. Yay. Arshavin says he wants to end his career in Russia St. Racistberg, possibly to be closer to his hairdresser. Meanwhile, the press are pushing hard for Chelsea to buy Adebayor. OMGPLEASELETTHISHAPPEN. And finally, on-again-off-again Arsenal target Blaze Matuidi has asked his directors for a sign over his future at Saint-Etienne, this totally means that Arsenal are going to sign him.  Totally.

Setanta Follow Up

Setanta finally got their US site up and running and they have a statement on the US site that says

As has been widely reported in various media channels, Setanta Sports has today had its agreement to broadcast 46 Barclays Premier League matches in the UK terminated.

This development does not affect our channels and other services in the US.

Setanta Sports in the US is a separate operation that has separate agreement to show the Barclay’s Premier League. Our channels and other services in the US continue to broadcast and our subscribers can still enjoy our programming including the Lions Tour of South Africa and the UEFA U21 European Championship.

New customers are welcome to subscribe to watch some of the world’s best soccer and rugby either by contacting our cable and satellite partners or online at www.setanta.com.

We thank you for your continued interest in Setanta Sports and look forward to bringing you a wealth of sport over the coming months and years.

I guess that’s that and we’ve got another season of Setanta to look forward to over here — because even if the UK enterprise collapses, they may be able to pull off a leaner version in the states. We’ll have to wait and see. For my foreign readers, the UK rights are going up for sale and it’s looking like you all may be watching the games on Sky.

Right, that’s it for today, see you all tomorrow!

0 comments

  1. Van Persie, I’ll believe it when it’s announced on the official website.

    I’m delighted Bendtner is staying, he’s going to be a world class striker, if not next season then the season after. 15 goals (some of them vital) for a 20 year old that played mainly as a sub is brilliant, I know he’s missed some sitters but with match practice and confidence he will become clinical, I can only applaud both his work rate and his loyalty to the club.

    I hate transfer news, none of it is ever reliable so I never check out potential signings, it bores me, I did check out some vids on vermaelen though, problem is and I don’t get this but I couldn’t find any videos of him defending, putting in last ditch tackles and things like that, just goals he’s scored etc. What’s the point in that? He’s a defender you can’t gauge how good a defender is by the odd goal he scores. Mindboggling.

    As usual we’ve been linked with loads of people from huntelaar to melo and so on. One thing I will say ois the last thing we need is a new attacking player even if Adebayor goes, we have enough.

    Vela is continuing his development and I believe he will gain valuable experience as Eduardos understudy, they are quite similar in their styles of play, although Vela seems to be firmer and holds off defenders surprizingly well. Eduardo’s return to regular first team football will be a breath of fresh air and I can’t wait to see him and Van Persie form a regualr partnership, with Vela as a rotational player and Bendtner as the usual super sub.

    Apparently Rocky was available to play at the end of last season I can understand why he wasn’t played, I got the impression from interviews I’ve seen that he’s a broken man if he was to enter the unforgiving cauldron that was the emirates last season and not play well it would have crushed him and that would have been the end.

    I can’t wait for next season, we’re going to win everything. Manure have made a huge mistake although my guess is they had no choice in getting rid of ron and tevez, chelsea are still dangerous but their revolving door managerial policy will not help them and liverpool seem broke.

  2. Good to hear the RVP news – if it’s accurate. Last week the Sun or some other dodgy rag had him all but signed at United. So, as the Zen Master said – “We’ll see”. I do want him to sign though…

    It’s a funny thing with Melo. Clearly the guy has class. But he didn’t show up at all against Italy. He was there, on the pitch, and wearing a Brazil kit. Beyond that though, nary a memorable moment. I wonder if it’s hit or miss with him in matches? If so, that’s DEFINITELY not what we need. And Cesc would rightly be frustrated with Arsenal for spending money on a guy who isn’t going to provide either the defensive cover he needs or the strong link to the back four every match. It’s all well and dandy to look good on occasion, get a run out and collect your paycheck, but that’s not going to help us win trophies. If we sign a DM, it’s got to be somebody who shows up for EVERY match, rules behind Cesc and has the wherewithal to be both the first link in the attack leading to Cesc as well as the “5th” defender.

    Good news on Setanta US. If I’m still in the US when the season starts, I’m definitely getting the subscription. It was ever so painful this past season to see that Arsenal were being broadcast on Setanta or SetA (the alternate channel), while Fox were showing a snoozefest between Bolton and Hull or some such rubbish.

    Oh…and a belated Happy Fathers Day to you all. I’ll get around to joining your ranks one of these days. 🙂

  3. It seems to me that Tim is slowly succumbing to internationals, mbwahaha. Will you cheer for the US if they make it to the finals? They (US) went to semis due to goal differential, leaving Italy out. Actually the last minutes were quite entertaining due to the fact that one Italy goal would have them on semis. Not that they were close, though. Go figure, the current world champions, LOL.

  4. Tim I have to disagree with your assessment of Melo simply because Brazil play a different tatic than Arsenal. It’s really an odd formation but Brazil have been using it for a while now where they set up 2 CMs, previously Emerson and Gilberto, and one of them does the link up and the other does the dirty work. It’s all strange to me but it works for Brazil. What I do like about Melo is his ability to go forward and pass more than 5 yards – something Denilson is clearly lacking right now. I haven’t seen many Fiorentina games but if his record is anything to go by then Melo isn’t exactly Mr. Nice Guy. A friend of mine who is a Juventus fan and watches Serie A all year round, assures me that Melo is capable of being a very solid CM and th Arsenal style could fit him well. I would have no problems bringing him into the team and covering Cesc as Melo also provides the height that Denilson doesn’t have and the poise that Song seems to lack,. while being at a pretty good age of 25.

    If the Chavs want Ade for 25M, then be my guest as long as we can get a deal for Huntelaar.

  5. off topic, but i just saw on soccernet that espn has won the rights to the epl that setanta has given up. i take the announcement to mean that espn has the rights in the uk for 09-10 and then the full rights for 10-13 seasons so setanta will still be showing the matches that fox does not (in north america) for this upcoming season and then it will be between fox and espn after that. this probably means the demise of setanta in north america, i know i won’t keep paying for it if they aren’t showing he epl. the positives are that hopefully by the 10-11 season both fox and espn will be showing the epl in the usa in HD and hopefully the espn portion will be on one of their widely available channels and matches will be shown live rather than on tape delay basis. i know this thread is not about this, but seems like a big development for american arsenal fans.

  6. if denilson grows a cm or two, he will be “like a new signing”

    jokes aside, although i would like to see a new defensive midfielder – im not so sure melo is the answer. from what i’ve seen he’s decent in the air but not too impressive in his tackles. he didn’t impress me as a player who reads the game well either. that honor has to go to gilberto – who broke up most of the plays. although it must be said that pirlo’s passing helped! melo’s probably a bit better than denilson but the 15MM valation seems too high and it doesn’t look like he is going to significantly improve the team. if arsene is going to replace the “most under rated player in the league”, it will probably be someone who makes a real difference and not just someone who may “destroy their career”.

  7. Not convinced Setanta US is going away just yet, since it is evidently profitable…

    I know it sounds simplistic, and almost a cliche at this point, but if Wenger thinks Melo fits our schemes and is better than the incumbents, I’d never doubt his player evaluations. Especially when it comes to the big money deals, he and the scouts really put in their homework!

  8. Wenger should not sale any player,let them all renew their contracts and continue signing new faces to join his team,which will boost moral of all players,resulting into success, thanx to Van-persie to keep faith in arsenal

  9. Denilson is world class. We don’t need another DM although I admit some height in midfield would be invaluable.

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