Good evening everyone.
Wenger's grand scheme of signings has kicked off today with the acquisition of Mathieu Flamini, who rejoins the Club after a 5-year absence. The former Gunner was released by Milan this summer, when his contract expired and has been training at London Colney ever since. The Frenchman joins Arsenal on a free transfer and, according to Daily Mail, was tied to a three-year deal worth £40 thousand per week.
Now, everything considered, I don't think it's a bad signing. Flamini is 29, and though you can't say, his best years are ahead, this is definitely a boost for the current squad. Mathieu is experienced, versatile and seems to be in good shape. His versatility doesn't mean we can stop buying players now and use the Frenchman in every position we want, should an injury occur in that particular area of the pitch. It does, however, come in handy. I don't remember much of him during his first spell at the Emirates (mostly because I didn't have an opportunity to watch as many games as I can now), but I do recall his wonderful run as an improvised left-back position in the Champions League, back in 2006. It was then, when our sterling defence went on an 10-game run, which saw us keep our goal at lock and key, until those Barcelona jerks beat us in the final. Scumbags. But I'm getting side-tracked here.
Point is, Flamini was a part of that brilliant defensive unit, playing a huge role in us getting to the finals. So he mostly brings about pleasant memories and I can't help but think, he's a really nice addition to the current mix. He will, of course, be in contention for the Spurs game. Fingers crossed, he's in as good a shape, as Wenger thinks he is.
The arrival of Flamini, however, doesn't solve all of our problems in a wave of a hand. The number 20 he'll be wearing on his back symbolises, he's a direct replacement for Djourou (though I suspect, the Frenchman will mostly be involved in midfield, for the time being, just to give us some options there), but, as I've already said, he isn't a be-all end-all of our transfer business. Should we hand him a mostly defensive role, we'll still need a midfielder and the other way around. His versatility doesn't mean he'll be able to take up several on-pitch positions at once and, should we lose him through injury or suspension, I don't want us to find ourselves short in several areas at the same time. We didn't spend any money on signing the Frenchman, so please use this money to strengthen other positions in the remaining days.
Speaking of which, the manager gave us the heads-up on the situation with injures. Ramsey and Whilshere are alright (thank God), but Podolski's hamstring is in much worse condition, than expected in the immediate aftermath of Fenerbahce game. The German, as you can all remember was stretched off the pitch, being unable to walk even with the help of one of our physicians. Because of how bad this injury looked, I didn't believe back then, that he'll only be out for three weeks. My misgivings were, sadly, confirmed, as Podolski is expected to be out of action for the next 8-10 weeks. It is, as the manager rightly pointed out, too heavy a price to pay, for a win that meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.
It is, however, a price we payed not because of Podolski's stupidity or anything like that. The blow seems to be especially harsh, because we know, there's no one to replace him with. It is a problem borne out of our incompetence and/or unwillingness, when it comes to bringing new players in. I know I keep coming back to that, but we are where we are, because of how we've handled things this summer. Every injury is a real blow, because we know, how thin out numbers are. Hopefully, the signing of Flamini indicates the start of our buying spree. Though we haven't actually bought him. But you know, what I mean.
In other news, the draw for the Champions League group stages took place this evening, and it's hard to think of a scenario, which would have us in a worse group. We drew Marseille, Borussia Dortmund and Napoli. I don't know, what coefficients they have, but Borusia and Napoli are arguably the strongest teams in their respective pots. Even if their UEFA coefficients are low, that's because the clubs themselves have little to show for it, not their countries. As for Marseille, we actually got a bit lucky here. We could have drawn Milan, Juventus or Atletico Madrid, which were all seeded in the second pot. I'm not sure talk of luck is appropriate here, seeing as we got ourselves in a real group of Death, but here you go. It COULD have been worse.
However bad our position may seem at the moment (though I think it got a little better with the acquisition of Flamini), there are still people out there who can make the whole situation a bit brighter, due to their remarkable sense of humour. Have a look below.
Until later
Wenger's grand scheme of signings has kicked off today with the acquisition of Mathieu Flamini, who rejoins the Club after a 5-year absence. The former Gunner was released by Milan this summer, when his contract expired and has been training at London Colney ever since. The Frenchman joins Arsenal on a free transfer and, according to Daily Mail, was tied to a three-year deal worth £40 thousand per week.
Now, everything considered, I don't think it's a bad signing. Flamini is 29, and though you can't say, his best years are ahead, this is definitely a boost for the current squad. Mathieu is experienced, versatile and seems to be in good shape. His versatility doesn't mean we can stop buying players now and use the Frenchman in every position we want, should an injury occur in that particular area of the pitch. It does, however, come in handy. I don't remember much of him during his first spell at the Emirates (mostly because I didn't have an opportunity to watch as many games as I can now), but I do recall his wonderful run as an improvised left-back position in the Champions League, back in 2006. It was then, when our sterling defence went on an 10-game run, which saw us keep our goal at lock and key, until those Barcelona jerks beat us in the final. Scumbags. But I'm getting side-tracked here.
Point is, Flamini was a part of that brilliant defensive unit, playing a huge role in us getting to the finals. So he mostly brings about pleasant memories and I can't help but think, he's a really nice addition to the current mix. He will, of course, be in contention for the Spurs game. Fingers crossed, he's in as good a shape, as Wenger thinks he is.
The arrival of Flamini, however, doesn't solve all of our problems in a wave of a hand. The number 20 he'll be wearing on his back symbolises, he's a direct replacement for Djourou (though I suspect, the Frenchman will mostly be involved in midfield, for the time being, just to give us some options there), but, as I've already said, he isn't a be-all end-all of our transfer business. Should we hand him a mostly defensive role, we'll still need a midfielder and the other way around. His versatility doesn't mean he'll be able to take up several on-pitch positions at once and, should we lose him through injury or suspension, I don't want us to find ourselves short in several areas at the same time. We didn't spend any money on signing the Frenchman, so please use this money to strengthen other positions in the remaining days.
Speaking of which, the manager gave us the heads-up on the situation with injures. Ramsey and Whilshere are alright (thank God), but Podolski's hamstring is in much worse condition, than expected in the immediate aftermath of Fenerbahce game. The German, as you can all remember was stretched off the pitch, being unable to walk even with the help of one of our physicians. Because of how bad this injury looked, I didn't believe back then, that he'll only be out for three weeks. My misgivings were, sadly, confirmed, as Podolski is expected to be out of action for the next 8-10 weeks. It is, as the manager rightly pointed out, too heavy a price to pay, for a win that meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.
It is, however, a price we payed not because of Podolski's stupidity or anything like that. The blow seems to be especially harsh, because we know, there's no one to replace him with. It is a problem borne out of our incompetence and/or unwillingness, when it comes to bringing new players in. I know I keep coming back to that, but we are where we are, because of how we've handled things this summer. Every injury is a real blow, because we know, how thin out numbers are. Hopefully, the signing of Flamini indicates the start of our buying spree. Though we haven't actually bought him. But you know, what I mean.
In other news, the draw for the Champions League group stages took place this evening, and it's hard to think of a scenario, which would have us in a worse group. We drew Marseille, Borussia Dortmund and Napoli. I don't know, what coefficients they have, but Borusia and Napoli are arguably the strongest teams in their respective pots. Even if their UEFA coefficients are low, that's because the clubs themselves have little to show for it, not their countries. As for Marseille, we actually got a bit lucky here. We could have drawn Milan, Juventus or Atletico Madrid, which were all seeded in the second pot. I'm not sure talk of luck is appropriate here, seeing as we got ourselves in a real group of Death, but here you go. It COULD have been worse.
However bad our position may seem at the moment (though I think it got a little better with the acquisition of Flamini), there are still people out there who can make the whole situation a bit brighter, due to their remarkable sense of humour. Have a look below.
Until later
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