Best/Worst of 2008 #3; Euro 2008. Plus, £12m for Arteta?

by Tim B

I WON SOMETHING!!!

I make no secret that I’m not a fan of international football. At best I tend to look at internationals as “the time that Arsenal players go away and get injured” rather than “a glorious moment for Spain!” And at worst they are an exercise in antiquated nationalism.

Whether I like them or not, Arsenal’s players love internationals. It’s a huge deal to them to just be selected to represent their national team and if they win something well, that’s the biggest thrill. So, kudos to Fabregas for his part in Spain’s triumph at Euro 2008. It’s his first trophy since the 2005 FA Cup and even though I’m no fan of internationals it’s always good to see an Arsenal player lift a trophy.

The only down side to the Euros was that Cesc had put in some 50 matches for club and country that year, then went off and played 6 more matches in 20 days. Wenger rightly gave him some time off instead of getting him back into the squad during pre-season. But to me, he hasn’t looked like his old self quite yet. He looked tired at the start of the season, and for the first time in his career has come up with a major injury. What part his 54 matches in 2008 played in that injury we’ll never know.

Regardless of the grueling schedule, Euro 2008 gave Cesc the chance to win a trophy alongside some of the best talent in the world and I think we’ll be feeling the effects of that for years to come.

Transfer Rumors

Today’s transfer speculation is brought to you by Arteta! The Telegraph is reporting that The Sun has it on good authority that Arsenal have bid £12m for Mikel Arteta. Arsenal can bid all they want but unless Arteta throws a wobbler and demands a transfer I would be surprised to see Everton let him go. Though I guess Arsenal are offering a nice salary increase, international exposure (hey Euros can work for Arsenal), Champions League football (well, 2 more games — I keed, I keed), and a classy club, given all that maybe Arteta could agitate for a move.

Meanwhile Arsenal’s £8m bid for Shay Given seems to have been rejected, with Kinnear reportedly saying, “Arsene? Where is he? [points at Arsene] Listen here you f*cking c*nt… Shay Given is the best f*cking keeper in the f*cking world. All of f*cking Newcastle loves him. I’m not letting some sh*tty f*cking bid from some c*nt like you prise him away. Now f*ck off.”

I think I read that quote in The Sun.

The Arshavin saga drags on and I’m almost 100% convinced that he is not coming to Arsenal. Here’s my evidence:

  1. £20m? HA HA HA From Arsenal???  HA AHA HAHAHAHA HA Come on, Arsenal sold Thierry Henry for £16m, are we really going to bid £20m for Arshavin?
  2. Zenit and Arshavin’s agent are driving all the talk. You will find no quotes that show Arsene Wenger with any interest in this guy.
  3. In fact, they seem increasingly despirate to move Arshavin. Going so far today to say that Arshavin is lowering his salary demands.

This whole thing stinks. From the overt racism of the club, to the despirate flailing of Arshavin (his dream is to move to Barcelona, no wait, Man U, no wait, Tottenham, no he meant Arsenal — where do they play again?) and now the obvious dangling of this guy in front of the Arsenal supporters trying to whip up some support for their stupid transfer demands.

Don’t do it, Arsene, this stinks of “massive flop.” We’re talking flop of Tottenham porportions: Darren Bent, Pavlyuchenko, Rebrov, and Juande Ramos all rolled into one. None of those guys had beg people to take them and offer half off their salary demands — it’s a clue.

Finally, Toure is supposedly agitating for a move and Man City are supposedly going to offer £10m — according to the Daily Tits. Oh wait, I mean Tits Star. Damnit, it’s the Daily Star (with tits). I think of this as good news and bad news. The good news is that if Kolo leaves, I won’t have to hear people say “Arsenal should get Yaya Toure” ad nauseum for the next 2 years. The bad news is that if Kolo leaves, Arsenal will be without Kolo Toure.

Have no fear Kickers, Arsene Wenger has said that no one is coming in and no one is going out. Not even Bendtner.

Ok, that’s enough, I’ve got the Best/Worst of 2008 #2 article already written and I’ll probably publish it tomorrow morning, so check back… hangover and all.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Let’s hope this one is better than last.

0 comments

  2. No one coming in??? No No Noooo, I think even Wenger will see that we have to buy someone now or we might not make the top 4. We need someone to take Cesc’s place while he’s injured….I personally think we’re goning to buy Arteta maybe not for 12Mill but maybe for 15….I hope so anyway 😉

  3. I think we will see 1 body come in permanently at most and no one leaving unless it’s a loan for some of the fringe players like Simpson, Randall, Merida, etc.

    The possibility of a second body would perhaps hinge on a loan transfer rather than a permanent acquisition. Arteta would be great, but Arsene could solve two problems with a single stroke if he brought in a pure winger like Lennon (who could be available) or Steven Pienaar and move Nasri into the middle of the park. We could also use Vela on the wing to supplement our width and pace and end up with a decent starting eleven.

    Almunia

    Sagna, Gallas, Djourou, Clichy

    Lennon/Pienaar, Nasri, Song/Denilson, Vela

    Adebayor, RVP

    This would provide us with pace on both wings and creativity/goal scoring from Nasri in the middle and would certainly boost our counter attack which has been severely lacking.

    As my final post for the year, I wish all a HAPPY NEW TEAR and may we see a brighter start to the new one in our personal lives and with the Arse.

  5. Tim – great post.
    One thing though: Despite our love for the club, NOTHING gets close to the passion for one’s national team. Keep in mind that we live in the US where: A) The National team usually sucks B) The opposition is usually some island in the Carribean C) People care about ‘soccer’ less than american football, basketball, baseball, college sports, hockey, pocker, bowling, swim suit contests, and hot dog eating contests. The latest study had soccer tied with curling. If you had grown up anywhere else, you would and could never say that you don’t care for the national teams.
    Happy New Year to all!!!

  8. Tim, Arseshaven(yes the butt of many jokes were he to arrive) is quality but be assured wenger will never pay ‘a lot of money’ for this player(he didn’t before, wont’ now) he’s too old for big money, it’s just not going to happen unless zenit comes back down to planet earth. Wenger may bid 8-10 that’s it. Arteta may be a better bet, but unlike most I think Arteta would cost more(maybe much more) and we may be met with a similar response as we received from the maggies after a bid for given. A few thoughts – Bendtner for Gomis, Gallas for Zapata(though I think that would rule out inler)? and a high quality dm – happy new year indeed.

  9. There is one signing that is going around that excites me! Shay Given……….Arsenal have been after a world class GK and i would love to Given at Arsenal. I believe if Arsene can get him it will be Arteta and not Arshavin…..Arteta will fit straight into the team…..Arshavin will have to be gently introduced! As Arsene has done with Nasri and Walcott!The Center half from Moscow also sounds a good signing

    Given
    Sagna Toure Pape Clichy

    Nasri Dennilson Arteta Vela

    Van Persie Adebayor .

    then the back up looks strong:
    Eduardo,Rosicky,Vela,Eboue,Walcott,Fabregas,Fabianski,Gallas,Silvestre,

Related articles

Read more stories on our homepage