Ca$hley, Henry, Ad€bayor, Na$ri, Cesc, RvPer$ie, .... Song?
Is it just money or ambition? With Cashley, Adebayor and Nasri no comment is required. Henry dedicated the best part of a decade to the cause and the Messiah has even had successful second spell at the Emirates. Cesc was a youngster who developed into a superstar. He was always going to go back 'home'. RvP i am not so sure. Blogs up and down the country on the web have been discussing the last 24 hours: Some conveying absolute hatred, while others indicating accepting reality and moving on.
RvP
As this is the hottest topic at the Emirates since the signing of our new play-maker Santi, i too shall lend my voice to this debate. No one man is bigger than the badge on his chest. No one man shall hold a club worth over 600M to ransom over wages. RvP in July: "Financial terms or a contract have not been discussed, since that is not my priority at all". Becoming the clubs highest earner and buying Poldi and Giroud indicating some sort of ambition (I fear he was on his way out by the time Cazorla was signed) did not seem enough. I'm certain that Aw would have done everything to keep RvP. He had lost his head already. There was no turning back. But the decision to move to ManUnited? Disgraceful. Humiliating.Unforgivable.
Whether he was sold before or after the Cologne game, or whether he was told by Wenger that he didn't not feature in his plans, or whether he agreed to stay with no contract being signed; we don't know. Those are rumours. You weren't there, period. Move on from speculation.
Scoring that wondergoal Vs Everton on Arsenal's 125 Anniversary was a step towards being honour like 3 other greats that day. You shall never be immortalised. Your name will not be remembered. End of.
So where to from here?
Is our goal to win the title? Realistically no. We cannot compete ... yet. Champions league spot has to still be the target for this season. An FA/Capital1 cup to go with would be fantastic for the fans. With Cazorla, Arteta, Wilshere (eventually) and even Diaby, Frimpong and Ramsey, the middle of the park is covered. Up front Poldi, Theo, AOC, Giroud, Gervinho and the sneaky little Russian, we have enough reinforcements for now. The top priorities need to be addressed.
I believe Flappyanski cannot be relied upon to provide Chesney with competition or replace him if something (God_forbid) hapens to our No1. At LB, Gibbs also needs competition. Santos as a wide left or left midfield would be better suited. His defensive abilities have clearly been suspect last season. Sagna is by far our first choice but to keep him competitive, Jenko is not good enough, yet (VdWiel anyone?). At centre back, Kos/Verm is clearly the BFG as back up. Djourou i feel should be playing at a mid level Premiership team and Squillaci in League 1. No further comment there. At DM Song is class. His vision and ability to play with RvP was magnificent. Without the latter will he combine as well with out new strike force is yet to be determined but M'Vila is not good enough...yet. Barca need to f*** off. So what if an offer in the region of 15M is being prepared. We DON'T need the money. We need to support our backbone. Not weaken it.
The Armband
Vermaelen or bust. What do Vieira, Henry, Gallas, Cesc, and now RvP have in common? Those are our last 5 captains. They left. TV5 appears to be showing some Adamsy kind of team spirit. Something we are desperate for.
The Line-up
Chesney - Sagna/Kos/TV5/Gibbs - Arteta/Song - Cazorla/Theo (or AOC)/Poldi/Giroud.
4-2-4 with Giroud playing in a No9 position and Poldi No10 position may work in my opinion.
"no one player is bigger than the badge on his chest". Arsenal need to instill in their players what it means to play for us. Certainly NOT a stepping stone to bigger and better things. I do feel there is time to salvage the situation. Its a new season. We have a new front line. We have a new playmaker. A few shrewd additions and a positive start against Sunderland will do wonders for this teams confidence and morale. Onwards and upwards...#gooner4life.
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