Good evening everyone.
First things first: Arsenal has officially confirmed the capture of Mathieu Debuchy yesterday. He will play in number 2 shirt and will be (of course) a direct replacement for Bacary Sagna. This is what the player himself said upon joining:
And this is how Arsene reflected on a new signing:
The situation is kind of funny, isn't it? We have a good back-up in Jenkinson, but the loan may actually be of benefit to him. He's good, but it's obvious he's not yet starting-eleven good, so why not let Jenks get some playing time under his belt (since there are options even in England) and have Manquillo as number 2? This way, everyone wins. We have Debuchy as number 1 and Manquillo as number 2 and keep an eye on Jenks. If Carl convinces he can be number one (or, at least, properly compete with Debuchy) we get him back and let Manquillo return to Atletico. If it doesn't work out for Jenkinson, we can always sign Manquillo, but it'll probably be good-bye for Carl.
Frankly, I don't like that second scenario. I have a soft spot for Jenks, this is further fuelled by his promising performances and, what is more, we know that whatever happens, Jenks will always give us 100%. Like, for example, Wilshere, he's a fan of this Club, you could say how much it means to him to put on a red-and-white shirt by the way Jenks celebrated his goal. This guy will never leave us because the grass is greener somewhere and he'll always be committed to our cause. That's why I maintain we should think carefully before pursuing Manquillo and take into account how the arrival of the Spaniard may influence Jenks' chances.
Anyway, back to Debuchy and I cannot express how relieved I was when the official confirmation finally emerged. It was clear we were in for Mathieu long before we were in for Sanchez, yet the Chilean's signing was announced a week ago. The talk of Debuchy joining us seemed to die down and I was getting scared it was all made up by the media. Then, a couple of days back, Newcastle paraded Janmaat (a right-back from Netherlands national team) and I've sensed the announcement couldn't be far away. And I was right. Don't know what more there is to say about the Frenchman, apart from what I've already said, so I'll only add quotes from a Newcastle blogger, just to give you some more insight and ease your mind. It's a good read, so go ahead and click the link (I'm sending you over to Arseblog, cause nufcblog is an atrocious site).
In the light of all this excitement, we shouldn't forget that our business in the market is not yet done. While Sanchez and Debuchy plug two gaping holes, there are still two left: a goalkeeper and a centre-back. With goalkeepers the situation is more or less clear: we have only one. We cannot go through an entire season with just Szczesny. Ospina is much talked about in the last few days, but we've been linked with a hell of a lot goalies apart from the Colombian international, so I'm not too worried here. If we don't sign a star-keeper (which we don't need to do), I'm pretty sure we'll buy SOMEONE. Whether it'll be a professional back-up guy (like Schwarzer) or a shot-stopper who'll push Szczesny all the way (like Ospina) doesn't bother me in the slightest. We aren't purchasing a vital starting-eleven player, so I'm not all wound that it's July already and we are a player short. I'm sure there'll be a purchase in that area sooner or later.
What does bother me, is our situation with central defenders. We only have three, Mert is unlikely to feature until late August (due to his continued involvement in the World Cup) and this leaves us with Koscielny and Vermaelen to get through Community Shield, a couple of PL games and both (crucial) qualifiers. Three to five games with just two central defenders and one of them is weighing up his options. Yes, Vermaelen may leave us and this won't surprise me in any way.
Moreover, it's just unhealthy trying to get through an entire season with just three centre-backs. Last year Sagna could at least serve as emergency back-up, this time around we don't have even that luxury. Which means a buy in this area is vital, yet somehow I haven't heard any central defenders being linked with us. Not a single one in a month and a half.
We maybe keeping it all under wraps, but we'd better be on to someone. I consider us extremely lucky not to have faced a defensive crisis last season, when even our packed midfield had one. I've heard United is ready to let go a roster of players, would that be a bad idea to stock up? I wouldn't even mind Chicharito joining.
Finally for today, we have our first friendly coming up. We'll get the chance to see it live on Arsenal Player and I think it'll be worth the time. With the likes of Ramsey, Arteta and Monreal all involved we should be in for an interesting game. I'll do my best to watch and will be back to report on it on Sunday.
Until then
First things first: Arsenal has officially confirmed the capture of Mathieu Debuchy yesterday. He will play in number 2 shirt and will be (of course) a direct replacement for Bacary Sagna. This is what the player himself said upon joining:
"I’m very proud to be joining a great club like Arsenal and to wear its colours, it’s one of the biggest clubs in the whole world. I’m looking forward to working with Arsène Wenger and to helping the team build on last season’s FA Cup success. Playing again in the Champions League is a big excitement for me and I will do my best to help Arsenal compete for trophies."The interesting bit is about Champions League football. Mathieu had it while playing for Lille, then was derived of that pleasure during his 18-month stint with Newcastle and now he'll get it again. Probably CL football was what made his decision to join us easy. Apart from the fact that we are a huge club with a long and successful history.
And this is how Arsene reflected on a new signing:
“We are delighted to welcome Mathieu Debuchy to Arsenal Football Club. He has shown he can perform at the highest level with his club sides and also for France. He is a quality defender who has good Premier League experience and I’m confident he will fit in very well with us.”All the usual waffle, really. However, Arsene's other quotes on Debuchy and Jenkinson are much more intriguing:
"The obvious replacement for Sagna was Debuchy and he's a player who has experience, he's played in the Premier League and he will also be in competition with Jenkinson, who I expect to move forward as well. There's an interesting fight there but of course he has experience and he's a guy who will bring something to the team with the departure of Sagna. We needed to sign somebody and I think Debuchy is the perfect signing."We all knew Debuchy for Sagna is a like-for-like, didn't we? So it was a no-brainer for Arsene to sign the guy. I back Wenger completely in this decision, especially after acquainting myself with the numbers above. We don't need a right-back bombing forward and leaving his position exposed. We need an experienced guy, who can win tackles and make interceptions without breaking a sweat. We got this in Debuchy. Back to the interview, however:
"He (Jenkinson) is going to compete, of course. There is nobody today who can play 60 games at the top level - that's why you always need two players. People always want for you to have two players in every position or sometimes three, and then they will ask you 'who will play?' You don't know before the season starts but what is important is that you have good players to have a chance to compete at the top level."It looks as though Jenks will have to contend himself with number 2 role for the time being. If we don't sign Manquillo, that is. In case the Spaniard joins us, Jenkinson will likely be shipped out on loan.
The situation is kind of funny, isn't it? We have a good back-up in Jenkinson, but the loan may actually be of benefit to him. He's good, but it's obvious he's not yet starting-eleven good, so why not let Jenks get some playing time under his belt (since there are options even in England) and have Manquillo as number 2? This way, everyone wins. We have Debuchy as number 1 and Manquillo as number 2 and keep an eye on Jenks. If Carl convinces he can be number one (or, at least, properly compete with Debuchy) we get him back and let Manquillo return to Atletico. If it doesn't work out for Jenkinson, we can always sign Manquillo, but it'll probably be good-bye for Carl.
Frankly, I don't like that second scenario. I have a soft spot for Jenks, this is further fuelled by his promising performances and, what is more, we know that whatever happens, Jenks will always give us 100%. Like, for example, Wilshere, he's a fan of this Club, you could say how much it means to him to put on a red-and-white shirt by the way Jenks celebrated his goal. This guy will never leave us because the grass is greener somewhere and he'll always be committed to our cause. That's why I maintain we should think carefully before pursuing Manquillo and take into account how the arrival of the Spaniard may influence Jenks' chances.
Anyway, back to Debuchy and I cannot express how relieved I was when the official confirmation finally emerged. It was clear we were in for Mathieu long before we were in for Sanchez, yet the Chilean's signing was announced a week ago. The talk of Debuchy joining us seemed to die down and I was getting scared it was all made up by the media. Then, a couple of days back, Newcastle paraded Janmaat (a right-back from Netherlands national team) and I've sensed the announcement couldn't be far away. And I was right. Don't know what more there is to say about the Frenchman, apart from what I've already said, so I'll only add quotes from a Newcastle blogger, just to give you some more insight and ease your mind. It's a good read, so go ahead and click the link (I'm sending you over to Arseblog, cause nufcblog is an atrocious site).
In the light of all this excitement, we shouldn't forget that our business in the market is not yet done. While Sanchez and Debuchy plug two gaping holes, there are still two left: a goalkeeper and a centre-back. With goalkeepers the situation is more or less clear: we have only one. We cannot go through an entire season with just Szczesny. Ospina is much talked about in the last few days, but we've been linked with a hell of a lot goalies apart from the Colombian international, so I'm not too worried here. If we don't sign a star-keeper (which we don't need to do), I'm pretty sure we'll buy SOMEONE. Whether it'll be a professional back-up guy (like Schwarzer) or a shot-stopper who'll push Szczesny all the way (like Ospina) doesn't bother me in the slightest. We aren't purchasing a vital starting-eleven player, so I'm not all wound that it's July already and we are a player short. I'm sure there'll be a purchase in that area sooner or later.
What does bother me, is our situation with central defenders. We only have three, Mert is unlikely to feature until late August (due to his continued involvement in the World Cup) and this leaves us with Koscielny and Vermaelen to get through Community Shield, a couple of PL games and both (crucial) qualifiers. Three to five games with just two central defenders and one of them is weighing up his options. Yes, Vermaelen may leave us and this won't surprise me in any way.
Moreover, it's just unhealthy trying to get through an entire season with just three centre-backs. Last year Sagna could at least serve as emergency back-up, this time around we don't have even that luxury. Which means a buy in this area is vital, yet somehow I haven't heard any central defenders being linked with us. Not a single one in a month and a half.
We maybe keeping it all under wraps, but we'd better be on to someone. I consider us extremely lucky not to have faced a defensive crisis last season, when even our packed midfield had one. I've heard United is ready to let go a roster of players, would that be a bad idea to stock up? I wouldn't even mind Chicharito joining.
Finally for today, we have our first friendly coming up. We'll get the chance to see it live on Arsenal Player and I think it'll be worth the time. With the likes of Ramsey, Arteta and Monreal all involved we should be in for an interesting game. I'll do my best to watch and will be back to report on it on Sunday.
Until then