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Barnet, New Signings, Cesc, Cole, etc…

By on July 20, 2010

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Eo2qt9LbY&feature=related]

Arsenal put in a measured performance  for a 4-nil victory at Underhill on Saturday in their now-traditional pre-season opener at Barnet, who finished 21st in League Two last season. As usual, Wenger fielded two different sides in the first and second halves.

There is always a tendency to say too much about these early pre-season matches, but good matches were had by Emmanuel Frimpong and Jay Simpson. Arshavin looked lively at times and Wilshere was involved for much his 45 minutes on the pitch.

It is not the end of the world that new-signing, Koscielny, did not look particularly impressive, though it is slightly worrying to see his thin frame being pushed off the ball by League Two relegation battlers. Koscielny is young and will need time to adjust to both the speed and power of the English game.

Marouane Chamakh came on in the second half and, despite not scoring, had some good touches. As we saw at Bordeaux, he is capable of scoring big goals. The biggest question surrounding Chamakh, for me, is how and how often Wenger will employ him as the season progresses.

There are renewed rumours regarding our interest for Phil Jagielka, in the form of an £18m offer. To me, this seems to paying way over the odds for such a player. But no one can deny the desperation involved in finding a suitable partner for Vermaelen in a timely manner. Having just missed most of last season, it is highly unlikely that Djourou can step right in and do the job and Koscielny does not look anywhere near ready for that level of responsibility either.

Speaking of paying over the odds, Wenger’s comments about Barcelona’s transfer tactics do not seem to have had much effect. Some report that Rosell is flying to London with a new £34m bid. Do they really think that Arsenal’s rejection was a quibble over a few million pounds? Barcelona’s heads are so far from reality when it comes to the Cesc situation it is staggering.

They obviously expected the player to demand the request meaning they could then get away with these ridiculous offers. However, that has apparently not been the case. The only way Cesc can do right by Arsenal in leaving, and to protect his reputation at the club, is to ensure that Arsenal are fully compensated for his leaving. At the moment, he does not seem anxious to go to Barca at any cost.

Meanwhile, Joe Cole appears to be choosing money over staying in London and staying in the Champions League. Apparently, a £90,000 per week offer from Liverpool is enough to turn Cole straight-up mercenary and make the things that were, supposedly, most important in his considerations, family and football, not so important after all.

Nevertheless, Joe Cole is not what the Arsenal need. It seems most of us would much rather see Jack Wilshere given more responsibility and more first-team minutes. One would hope that in the coming weeks, Arsene is able to secure a quality keeper to replace Almunia and another central defender to plug the gap left by Gallas’s departure.

In other news, the club has confirmed that Robin van Persie will be wearing the #10 shirt upon his return from his post-World Cup vacation. Carlos Vela will take over van Persie’s old #11 shirt. Also, Chris at Gooner Talk exclusively claims that Arshavin is set to sign a 1-year contract extension locking him up through the 2012-13 season. Finally, with Eduardo not making the trip to Austria, it appears that his rumored move to Shakhtar Donetsk is imminent.

Now, the club travel to Austria for their regular pre-season tour. However, instead of the usual lower-division opponent ala Burgenland XI, Arsene is preparing the side for a friendly on tomorrow evening with Sturm Graz, who finished 4th in the Austrian Bundesliga last season. The club’s 27-man roster for the trip is available here. Then it is on to Neusiedl for another friendly next Tuesday before returning to London for the Emirates Cup where Arsenal will face AC Milan on July 31st and Celtic on August 1st.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-Eo2qt9LbY&feature=related]

Arsenal put in a measured performance  for a 4-nil victory at Underhill on Saturday in their now-traditional pre-season opener at Barnet, who finished 21st in League Two last season. As usual, Wenger fielded two different sides in the first and second halves.

There is always a tendency to say too much about these early pre-season matches, but good matches were had by Emmanuel Frimpong and Jay Simpson. Arshavin looked lively at times and Wilshere was involved for much his 45 minutes on the pitch.

It is not the end of the world that new-signing, Koscielny, did not look particularly impressive, though it is slightly worrying to see his thin frame being pushed off the ball by League Two relegation battlers. Koscielny is young and will need time to adjust to both the speed and power of the English game.

Marouane Chamakh came on in the second half and, despite not scoring, had some good touches. As we saw at Bordeaux, he is capable of scoring big goals. The biggest question surrounding Chamakh, for me, is how and how often Wenger will employ him as the season progresses.

There are renewed rumours regarding our interest for Phil Jagielka, in the form of an £18m offer. To me, this seems to paying way over the odds for such a player. But no one can deny the desperation involved in finding a suitable partner for Vermaelen in a timely manner. Having just missed most of last season, it is highly unlikely that Djourou can step right in and do the job and Koscielny does not look anywhere near ready for that level of responsibility either.

Speaking of paying over the odds, Wenger’s comments about Barcelona’s transfer tactics do not seem to have had much effect. Some report that Rosell is flying to London with a new £34m bid. Do they really think that Arsenal’s rejection was a quibble over a few million pounds? Barcelona’s heads are so far from reality when it comes to the Cesc situation it is staggering.

They obviously expected the player to demand the request meaning they could then get away with these ridiculous offers. However, that has apparently not been the case. The only way Cesc can do right by Arsenal in leaving, and to protect his reputation at the club, is to ensure that Arsenal are fully compensated for his leaving. At the moment, he does not seem anxious to go to Barca at any cost.

Meanwhile, Joe Cole appears to be choosing money over staying in London and staying in the Champions League. Apparently, a £90,000 per week offer from Liverpool is enough to turn Cole straight-up mercenary and make the things that were, supposedly, most important in his considerations, family and football, not so important after all.

Nevertheless, Joe Cole is not what the Arsenal need. One would hope that in the coming weeks, Arsene is able to secure a quality keeper to replace Almunia and another central defender to plug the gap left by Gallas’s departure.

Now, the club travel to Austria for their regular pre-season tour. However, instead of the usual lower-division opponent ala Burgenland XI, Arsene is preparing the side for a friendly on Wednesday evening with Sturm Graz, who finished 4th in the Austrian Bundesliga last season. Then it is on to Neusiedl for another friendly next Tuesday before returning to London for the Emirates Cup where Arsenal will face AC Milan on July 31st and Celtic on August 1st.

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