The recources within

Hello everyone.

Arsenal's USA tour is going well, from what I can gather, and, what's more important, it's generating a lot of news to talk about. Most of these come right from our manager, so we can be sure these are concrete.

The biggest thing that has happened inside 24 hours is Ospina's signing. It's not the official site I'm sending you to, but this quote from Arsene is very real indeed:

“You know at the start Szczensy will be the No. 1, then again we’ll be down to performances and, if Ospina shows that he is better, he will play.”

Good to hear we've plugged the last obvious hole in our squad. It means one simple thing: we already have a decent team, which can genuinely challenge for the title. If we add someone, great, if we don't, no tragedy. Assuming no one leaves.

Talking about Ospina, I think we've signed as good a player as it gets. I can only judge him from what I've seen during the World Cup and I rather liked what I've witnessed. Ospina has let in just four goals in five games (all but one looked unstoppable) and was very solid overall. Good reflexes, quick off his line, strong in the air. The string of saves he's performed against Urugyay was match-winning stuff.

Whether Ospina will be №1 is the question Arsene answered. If he's good enough to convince the manager that he's better than Szczesny, then he'll play. Simple and very effective. The Pole knows a goalkeeper in his prime isn't coming to Arsenal to just sit on the bench, so he'll be on his toes. But, even if Szczesny is flawless, I'm sure we'll see Ospina in the cups. That's the way it usually goes.

Of course, this signing casts a huge doubt over the possible acquisition of Casillas. Just yesterday I've weighed up the chances of bringing the Spaniard in, and the possibility of Iker coming to Arsenal as a third-choice shot-stopper seemed entertaining.  Who would have thought we could one day purchase Casillas so that the Spanish international will have to fight for the second spot? Basically, he'd be warming up the bench, if this transfer happens. That's why I'd say Iker coming to the Emirates now is unlikely. His position here will be no better than it is in Spain (well, maybe slightly better), so what's the point? Yes, it'll still be a good signing, especially amidst all the talk of Casillas desire to leave Real on a Bosman, but it'll be completely non-sensical for him.

Realistically, I'd put my money on a promotion from within. Damian Martinez has been much talked about, so it's a good opportunity to give him the sniff of first-team football. His involvement in first team matches will still be brought to a minimum (League Cup only, perhaps), but it'll definitely stand the Argentinean in good stead to train with the regulars and gain experience from his older counterparts.

In other news, I've stumbled upon an interesting snippet, which claims Arsene have abandoned his attempts to sign a new DM and instead is going to try Wilshere in that role. While I don't much trust the source (the reason I haven't given the link to it), it's interesting to toy with this possibility.

I remember Wilshere was given the number 10 shirt after van Persie left. Historically, this number is given to the playmaker, the one who sits behind the striker and feeds him. This was Dennis Bergkamp, of course. Van Persie was a winger-turned-lone striker, Gallas (I vaguely recall him wearing the shirt) was a defender, who was just handed the free number, but Bergkamp fits the mould perfectly. Though often deployed as a second striker, the Dutchman played a little behind Henry (ah, good old days) and was the only playmaker Henry needed to score a bazillion goals.

So, anyway, after van Persie left, Wilshere was honoured with the shirt (he said "honoured" himself, I'm not making anything up) and everyone assumed Wilshere will become our go-to playmaker. Then we signed Cazorla. And then Ozil.

On those rare occasions that Wilshere played under the striker, he hasn't performed overly convincing, something that led to Arsene stating, that he sees Jack in a more deep-lying role. And now I think the Frenchman said that to not only shield Wilshere from criticism: he was telling us what he really thought.

See, Jack isn't exactly suited to playmaker's role. He doesn't have that selflessness that Ozil possesses. Jack likes to take on players, likes to slice defences apart not so much with his passes, but rather with his bursts of speed. That doesn't mean he cannot pull off a 100-yard passes or hasn't mastered the technique required to pass the ball quickly, no. On the contrary, I regard Wilshere as one of the most technically gifted players on our team, but that doesn't imply his style is similar to that of Ozil's or Cazorla's. Jack isn't a passer, he's a dribbler. He doesn't shy away from defensive work, like Ozil sometimes does. He's not scared to get his foot stuck in, to physically battle opponents or to do dirty work.

Is the combination of these factors enough to become a true DM? I hope so, but there are still some question marks over this (possible) decision. Firstly, Wilshere is injury-prone and that presents a problem. He isn't scared to get physical on his opponents, but he sometimes comes out of these encounters on a stretcher. After he's out, who is going to replace him? This year we at least have Arteta, next year we may not.

Secondly, Wilshere is not always disciplined, something that creates another problem. As a sitter, he'll have to really stay behind and clean up and I'm not 100% certain he'll be able to do that. Not because he can't tackle or intercept, but because Jack likes to be in the heat of things, he likes to play closer to the striker, to create opportunities for himself and his partners. Now it's not critical, because Jack's deployed on the flanks or under the striker, but it will become critical if he's trusted with Arteta's duties. One foray forward can cost us a game. That's exactly why we've dropped Vermaelen, and, mind you, the Belgian is much more experienced and tactically aware, than Wilshere.

For reasons above, I'm not sure Wilshere can make the grade this season, but if Arsene is able to discipline Wilshere and explain to him how important DM's are, then Jack has all the elements to become a good sitter. And I'm afraid deep-lying role is the only position more-or-less up for grabs in the starting line-up now, because everything else is packed with talent and it's hard to see Wilshere fitting anywhere else. Rumour has it, Wilshere will feature as a DM against Red Bulls tomorrow, so fingers crossed it's the beginning of Jack's era in that position.

Finally for today, here's a good read for you on what sources of information you can trust in today's mad transfer world. Why am I not in there, eh? Just kidding.

Back tomorrow with fresh news for you.

Until then

Transfer rumours round-up

Evening everyone.

A great part of Arsenal squad has flown to the USA yesterday and there are some glaring omissions among the 20-man roster.

Everything's pretty obvious with the goalkeepers and defenders (most haven't returned from their prolonged holiday) and we have a couple of surprises in midfield (both Wilshere and Cazorla have been included), but up front only Chuba Akpom has been elected.

Well, that's a bit unexpected. While Oxlade-Chamberlain's omission can, to an extent, be explained by the Englishman's short fitness (Santi has travelled though), Gnabry staying behind is definitely strange. Could this be an indication that his future lies elsewhere, at least for the next season? There were whispers the German could be loaned out to Southampton or Newcastle and, should this happen, I find it appropriate. Even last season Gnabry found his chances limited (and remember, we had a severe crisis in midfield in March and April), what are the odds of him playing regularly now we have bought Sanchez? Gnabry is obviously very talented and a loan spell may help him just like it may help Jenkinson. Rumours of Manquilo joining have died down, but even if we don't add in the right-back department before the window closes, Jenks can be loaned out. I'm sure Bellerin is capable of providing decent back-up to Debuchy and to him it'll be more valuable than it would be for Jenkinson for the second year running.

Further in our attacking department, and Sanogo is left out. The much-talked up by Wenger young striker hasn't travelled to New York and here your guess is as good as mine as to the reason behind that decision. Could this also be an indication of a loan move? Again, I'd find it a wise thing to do. The Frenchman is raw and, though he has shown glimpses of promise last year, he still needs playing time to improve. With Giroud and Sanchez, he'll find chances hard to come by.

Finally, Campbell. The Costa-Rican is not on that flight to New York, much to the displeasure of a healthy portion of Arsenal fans. Truth be told, I don't quite understand them. While I'd choose Campbell over any young prospect at the Club (strikers only), his talents have definitely been overplayed (pardon this pun). Yes, Campbell had a good World Cup (that's it: good. Not marvellous, not outstanding - good. Like, say, Chicharito), but that doesn't mean he's going to fire us to the title with the wave of his hand. Campbell is no star, no super-sub, rather, he is an exciting prospect, that, given the due nurture, can grow into a very good player. For now, he's definitely behind all the regulars (like Podolski, Walcott, Sanchez or Giroud) and to suggest otherwise and say that he's the player to make an immediate impact is foolish.

However, don't take any of the omissions seriously. They may have been left behind for entirely different reasons (like the most banal explanation that comes to mind: giving the chance to others) and it won't surprise me at all. It's all pre-season at this stage, which is mostly about whipping players into shape and seeing what youngsters can make the step-up, so don't overthink some of the decisions. They may not have any solid reason behind them whatsoever.

In the transfer news world the wheels slowly continue spinning. The most concrete bit involving Arsenal is an out-transfer. Thomas Eisfeld has joined Fulham on a permanent basis and it's a bit sad to see him go. The German was signed from Borussia two years ago, but failed to make the grade at the Emirates and featured only on two occasions which I can think of: 7-5 against Reading and last year's 1-1 with West Brom (in the cup). It's hard for me to make any definite judgement on Thomas, especially since I've missed both these games, but one thing is obvious: at this age, the German needs palying time and it's hard to see him getting it at the Emirates. We have an overpopulated midfield whichever way you look at it and it's fiendishly hard for the youngsters to compete, when even some seniors struggle. So I think all parties concerned have made the right thing to let Thomas go and I wish him all the best at Fulham. Hope he delivers on his promise there, cause here, unfortunately, he had no opportunity.

In other, more speculative news, we've been linked with a slew of players over the last couple of days. Among the most prominent are Matija Nastasic, David Ospina and Iker Casillas. Balotelli, fortunately, was ruled out, after Galliani denied receiving any bids for the striker. He did so on Twitter, if I remember correctly, but I just couldn't find it.

Nastasic link is a weak one, but he could be up for grabs after an unconvincing season at City. Should Vermaelen leave, we'll talk about this link again, but for now it seems unlikely. I just have that feeling that Arsene is comfortable with three centre-backs, so talk of someone else joining Arsenal before Thomas leaves seems a bit far-fetched.

However, Casillas transfer is more likely. The Spaniard has fallen behind Diego Lopez in the pecking order, didn't have a good World Cup (though it's hardly his fault alone) and, if Navas joins the Blancos, Iker may well find himself fighting an uphill battle for the second place. Not a pretty picture from his point of view.

Problem is, I'm not sure he won't be doing the same at Arsenal. If Ospina joins us (and his transfer is the most probable of the lot), would Arsene prefer Casillas to the Colombian international? I'm pretty sure Szczesny will be our №1 when the season kicks off, but who is going to be stepping on his toes? However cynical it may sound, I'd prefer Ospina to Casillas.

He's younger, his form is on the up, he had loads of practise with Nice. He may even be less prone to errors and we all know Iker has made some blunders this year. As I've said, he's not to blame for Spain's failure (had it not been for him I actually think La Furia Roja would have lost to the Netherlands by a greater margin), but he's still not at his best. Iker is not the keeper he was, say, three years ago, so I don't know whether he'll make the right choice by joining us.

All of that may change, however, as Ospina's signing is not yet announced, which casts doubt over it's actual existence. I may be seeing the problem where there is none (the hour is late, so forgive me), but we may not be in for Ospina. It'd strange, given all the talk, the Colombian's availability and his wage demands, but if that's the case, then Casillas signing makes sense all of a sudden. And, as our №2, he'll be watching Szczesny closely, eyeing up his chance. Competition, eh?

Finally, for those of you who have missed it, I've changed the design a bit. You can see the "Archive" section at the top, greater variety of social networks to choose from at the bottom and, most importantly, you can subscribe to my blog via email and get all the updates the minute they are out. Feel free to go ahead and do any action from the above. Or all of them.

That's it for today and I'll most likely be back on Saturday with all the usual goodies.

Until then

It's not Arsenal we say, it's Arsene

Good evening everyone.

The last couple of days have been rather quiet. The only thing going on right now seems our visit to the USA, so I decided it's time to talk about it. It'll be easier if I break down Wenger's interview on the official site:

"It is the first time since I [started to] go to World Cups that I've been stopped by so many American people,"

"I can tell you something I'm completely convinced of - before people didn't know who you were, but now every American guy I met knows Arsenal, knows England and knows the Premier League".

Well, this World Cup definitely seems to have sparked interest in football in a big way. Even the World Cup in the USA in 1994 wasn't able to accomplish that. Much of this interest is down to how far the national team went, but I also think we should take our hats off for Jurgen Klinsmann. The man is doing a wonderful job not only in training the side, but also by informing and involving a wide number of people, promoting football as sport, in other words. I'm sure you've heard of his open letter to all American companies, in which he asked (twice: before the game against Germany, then before the game against Belgium) to let the employees leave early to be in time for the match. I even think I saw pictures of Barack Obama watching both encounters, together with half his Executive Office.

“The enthusiasm about soccer in the States is new but big. I expect us to have a good crowd there.

“I hope that we can help to develop the interest in the game and that we can play a good match there to make people enjoy it.

“It is the perfect time to go. I always wanted to go with Arsenal to the United States, so I'm personally very happy to do it.”

I think it's the first time Arsenal goes to the US and this is a bit surprising. We have a majority shareholder who's an American, at least Gatorade as one of our American partners, but still haven't been to the USA. At least, the time is definitely right now, as football is on the upturn after the World Cup.

In other news, I've stumbled on a brilliant interview from Arsene Wenger, which he's given to ITV's reporter Gabriel Clarke before the FA Cup final. I don't know, whether I've missed it, or haven't paid due attention to it, but now the interview has resurfaced and I'm going all-out to comment on it. I also highly recommend watching it, it's plainly fascinating. There's some insight from Gabriel Clark, some quotes from Ian Wright and David Dein stuff in there. Here are the most interesting tidbits:

"Every defeat is a scar that remains for life and it's the moment where you suffer. Really."

I do not remember, whether I gave you this piece from Amy Lawrence, but here you go anyway. It wasn't written after a defeat, oh no, rather, it was written after a winning penalty shoot-out against Wigan that took us to the final. You could nonetheless sense how Wenger suffered during the game and understand how much he suffers after games that didn't go as well.

"I still take every training session. Every day"

It's a remarkable achievement, given our manager is not 20 like the lads he's training. I have always understood Wenger is in great physical shape, but until I saw this, I had no proof. Remarkable, really.

"I still eat the diet of a player. I prepare myself as well as I can and sometimes better than many players. I never go out 48 hours before the game, for dinner or anything, just prepare for the game".

Words cannot express the state of awe I'm in right now. Of course, a lot of people talk of leading by example, but not many people are ready to practise what they preach. Arsene is one of these few.

"Look, I don't know what people mean when they say I'm too powerful. I work with one goal: to do as well as I can for my club in a loyal way and in a very dedicated and committed way. This club has values and I believe in these values and I want to pay back the trust this club has given to me for years".

I'll leave the point about power for another day. For now I'm only going to say that a weak board and a powerful manager seem closely connected things to me. Someone has to step up and make the decisions, if the board won't do it, then the manager has to do it. In that case I'm happy we have such a capable person for a manager.

Which brings us to the second point: Arsene's love for the Club. I've always maintained Arsene gives the Club 100%. I've said here and here about how I'll never fault Arsene's effort and desire. He may have shortcomings, no one's perfect after all, but he well and truly compensates for these by his burning desire to make the Club successful. And Arsene will rightfully go down as the one, who has revolutionised the Club in more ways than one.

Ian Wright:

"He (Arsene) loves this Club. It might have been his project before, when he started it, the way he wanted to change it and he has changed it, but now it's like a child, it's part of him now. His love for Arsenal is deep, he loves it now".

Just to confirm my previous point. Also, I strongly advise you to watch the interview in full, cause there are parts I've omitted, which are not very interesting from a practical point of view, but they still give you insight, an opportunity to understand our manager better.

Finally for today, I'm still tampering with the design of the site and I'll try to figure out how to add RSS subscription, but until then you can subscribe via email. Go ahead and do it.

I'll end it with Arsene's quote:

"I grew up with the game and I think I will die like that".

Until later

First friendly out of the way; transfer talk continues

Evening everyone.

Well, I guess the tried and true saying of people learning from mistakes just got a bit more tried and true. Though I maintain hardly anyone learns from mistakes of the others and the line separating clever people from dumb lies in the fact that the former learn from their mistakes, while the latter don't learn at all, it's not the point.

As you may have guessed, I'm talking about yesterday's friendly against Boreham Wood. I enthusiastically promised to watch it, thinking we might be in for a spectacle, but I was wrong. Having missed all friendlies last year because I was away, I really wanted to catch up this time, but there was nothing to catch up with. The game was what I should have known from the beginning it would be: a training drill, a workout.

Five minutes into the game I realized my mistake and turned it off. I hardly had anything interesting to do, but I immediately came up with a bunch of stuff that was much more thrilling than this game. Like watching a bunch of Big Bang Theory's episodes. Or playing FIFA. Or going out for a walk. Hell, even re-reading Harry Potter series for the umpteenth time seemed more thrilling.

I'm not discouraging you from watching friendlies, mind you. I think the Emirates Cup will be much more entertaining, as we'll get a glimpse of Sanchez and Debuchy and maybe some other newcomers (in the plural!). Bottom line, the squad will definitely be stronger with all the regulars in there (bar, maybe, our German trio) and the teams we'll play against will also be up to scratch. I even think our friendly against New York Red Bulls is going to provide better value for your money, as we'll see Thierry Henry and a tad more Wilshere and Co. But yesterday's game was a waste of time. If you had the sense not to watch it, good for you. Whatever you did during that sunlit evening was better than this match.

In the end, Arsenal have won 2-0 and I really liked Rosicky's pass to set up Olsson for the opener. With just one swift move of his foot, the Czech sliced apart Boreham's defence and we were 1-0 up. Afobe then finished the job from the spot in the 86th minute, after a brilliant run from Akpom (think it was him, I'm not entirely sure though).

However, the quotes from Arsene during his post-match press conference were a lot more interesting than the match itself. Here are some of them:

On Arsenal's summer signings…

"I'm very happy with what I could do until now. It's not over - there's still a long way to go".

Good, we still need to purchase at least a goalkeeper:

"I will bring in a goalkeeper for sure".

Maybe strengthen other positions:

"I can't give you any names because you are never sure that you can do what you want. We are still out there to strengthen our squad".

And, of course, a central defender:

"Should he (Vermaelen) go, I will bring another centre back in for sure".

The last bit is the most intriguing. It seems Verminator really may go, which is understandable, given he doesn't exactly fit in in our starting-eleven right now, but this will leave us walking a thin line. Even if the Belgian stays, I still think we need another centre-back, but if he goes, our need won't be able to wait any longer. That's why I think we should purchase someone before Vermaelen leaves (if he does this, of course). Just to play it safe. We shouldn't forget Mert will be away for a while, leaving us with basically Kos and Verminator for the first games, so I'd consider buying a centre-back right now. Before the Community Shield definitely and maybe even before the Emirates Cup.

However, all the stories I've seen today only link us with Carvalho (William, not Ricardo. I'm not even sure Ricardo is still in business) and Balotelli. I'll start with the Italian.

If I'm to put my thoughts on this story in a mild and polite manner, I don't think Balotelli's arrival is likely to happen. Even from the financial point of view it seems a teeny-tiny bit far-fetched. We can pay Mario £160k per week, but we can't pay Khedira (who, I forgot to mention, won't be joining Arsenal. You may have heard his agent saying no one contacted Real to try and buy the German. It may be just a trick to wind up the interest in the player, but I tend to believe it) £150k? Hmm, I sense something wrong here.

Moreover, I don't think we need Balotelli as a player. Apart from the fact, that the Italian is not quite right in the head and has a nasty temper (I've talked about both here), we plainly have a packed  front line, which will only get better once Walcott returns. Let's not forget we've bought Sanchez (You have already forgotten, haven't you? Eh? I know you have), who can play across the front three. Though he's more likely to play on the right for now (to cover up for Walcott), as soon as Theo gets back into the fray, we will have an interesting situation on our hands. I'd say we'll have two central strikers and I don't see a need for Balotelli, who is not much of an upgrade on Giroud and is definitely second fiddle to Sanchez.

The other major bit saw us linked with William Carvalho. The story states we have offered €30 million for the Portugese, while Sporting wants €45 million. Frankly, it's nuts to pay so much for a player so young (we aren't Manchester United after all. Leave this meaningless spending thing to them). I do realize Wenger wants to strengthen the centre of our park, but there are better (and cheaper) options. Like Schnedelin or Bender brothers. I've heard one of them even comes with Zoidberg. Could be handy.

Finally for today, you may have noticed I've changed the design a bit. You can now subscribe via email, view archive and such. Feel free to do it.

Right, that's it for today. I'll return as soon as something new pops up.

Until then

Mathieu Debuchy signed, but we still need a player and a half

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:

"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