he was 19 with very little experience, jumping up 2 leagues, to a massive club and in his first year. it's not his fault wenger decided to use him as 2nd choice rb instead of 3rd choice with some, but limited, games to ease him in, as he probably should have been. saying that, he's shown both naivety and promise in equal measure. he's decent going forward and gets some good crosses in, but lacks experience and guile when defending. i think we'll see more consistency over the next 2 years and then be able to judge him properly. the thing is, we do still need depth for both full back positions anyway, preferably an experienced rb who can cover lb without too much problems when needed. oh, and let's not forget something important......he's a born and bred gunner.
Agreed. I think Arsene is showing a little naivety (at least publicly) in regards to Diaby. No part of his track record has shown he can stay healthy for any reasonable amount of time. And Jack is hardly a sure thing at this point. So we start the season with Rosicky & Wilshere out. If Diaby gets crocked, that leaves us with Arteta, Song, & Coq at CM. Anyone know the timetable on Ramsey's return, and if he'll be given any time off? Sounds like quite the gamble to me....
Yeah, coming around to the earlier calls for a CAM. I really think that, if they are saying October for Jack, we can expect a post Christmas first appearance. Does anyone watch much of the Russian league? I ask because I am curious about the Honda kid from CSKA Moscow. Dzagoev and Doumbia were linked to us but in looking at the squad, Honda seemed like a useful player for us. Good freekicks and a bit on the larger size so useful both with and without Jack on the pitch. Can't judge too much from collections of You Tube videos though.
Just read Arsene's comments on M'Vila (on Arsena.com). It does not look like he is closing the door on the player. He may just be trying to put pressure on Rennes and get M'Vila on the cheap. "Wenger also dismissed talk of a move for Yann M’Vila and said he is already well stocked in midfield. “No [I am not interested]. We wait on Diaby and Wilshere,” he said. “When you look we have Song, Ramsey, Coquelin, Wilshere, Arteta and Diaby. “In defensive midfielders and box-to-box players we are not short if they are all coming back. If we have setbacks in pre-season it could be different.”
With Arsene you never really know. Of course, when he says, "If we have setbacks in pre-season it could be different," about Jack and Diaby, has he really said anything at all?
On a different note, interesting video on Arsenal.com on the Gunners trip to Asia. They have travelled in style in a private plane. http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/player-asia-tour-news-bulletin-july-22
I'm disappointed we're going into the season with any expectations of Diaby making a contribution to this team. Honestly.
Getting himself injured in the game tomorrow so we had to sign M'Vila would be a pretty good contribution to the team ;-)
i'm sure journos on twitter had it out already. i had read it from reasonable sources before you posted here.
Diaby's middle name is setback and to expect Jack who hasn't kicked a ball in months to really contribute for more than half the season is lunacy in my opinion.
as i'm sure you had a scoop and were first to reveal to the world a link with cazorla.... well, all except the fact you weren't and it was already out there.
Guys, you should have known Arsene by now. I would take everything he said with a pinch of salt. He has always been very cagey on players personnel issues and transfers. He was denying any interest in Podolski a few days before the deal was announced, ditto for Arteta and others. At this stage I am willing to bet that he is still chasing M'Vila and just trying to put pressure on Rennes to get him on the cheap. He is totally in for Cazorla as well if we read his comments about the spanish player. Here are Arsene's comments about RVP. "Van Persie is a world-class striker and I am a big supporter of him. I have supported him through his whole career. He has one year left and is in demand but our desire is to keep him. "However, we will do what is in best interest of the club. If you have a decoder in your head you can decode that." Let's try to use the same decoders he mentioned to try to decode his comments on potential transfers as well. By the way, I like the "I have supported him throughout his career " part. A definite dig for RVP.
When he claimed never to heard of Cazorla, then you know somethings happening there. Wenger knows about the 15yr old 2nd choice goalkeeper playing in the Nigerian Under 16s 4th division. He certainly knows all about Spanish internationals
The thing is that this summer, and so far, things were really looking up. 2 pretty good early signings and strong rumors about several players made it seem like this was gonna be the summer where the team really turned the page. Which is why Arsene's comments are so surprising. I doubt he is being honest. At least Cazorla is looking pretty likely at this point. Incredible set piece taker.
He was using his poker face yesterday. He has always been a Cazorla admirer. Look at the comments below: Wenger comment on Cazorla yesterday " I don't know this guy! " Wenger, Cazorla in for Spain (Euros): 'I can tell you the technical level of this team will not decrease with Cazorla in'.
From what ive seen of Cazorla he tends to come in narrow from the left hand side. He isnt natural width and doesnt go around too many defenders....if our first choice full backs pick up injuries again then our play will be back to what it was last season when Sagna, Gibbs and Santos were out but this time we wont have RVP to bail us out. It also answers the question about Podolski starting on the left of a 3 man attack. Are we going with Poldi as our CF? Cazorla doesnt excite me in the same way Gervinho's signing didnt excite me. There are far better players that we should be signing.