Written by Mean Lean on Friday, 20 May 2011 12:22
So the first casualty of the Arsenal squad is likely to be Denilson after the Brazilian confirmed that he has sought pastures new. Quite a few things here are no surprise.
Starting with the man himself, he hasn't featured very much at all for the last few months, in fact since the rapid rise of Jack Wilshere, he has found playing time somewhat difficult to get hold of this season. The return of Aaron Ramsey has somewhat blocked his path into the team so it is no surprise that he wants to play first team football elsewhere. This is clearly not a surprise. We knew that he would be one of the players to make way this summer. Or at least had a good idea.
Another non surprise has been the reaction to his comments twisted by The Sun, which certainly should not be a surprise to us fans. Yet the outrage that has come out about certain comments is a little strange. I suggest actually reading the full interview before taking anything that The Sun newspaper says seriously.
To be fair, I think the reaction is very much linked to how he is viewed by many Gooners. He is not a fans favourite and is often the scapegoat when the team doesn't do well. When the team does well and he does play then he is often ignored as part of the reason why the team played well.
This season has been a poor season for Denilson, he has clearly been way below the required level for the most part that much is obvious. I do think that many things such as formation, lack of games, confidence and form has contributed to his downfall but I have seen enough of his strengths to be confident that he will succeed elsewhere.
His preference is playing in Spain or Italy, a move to either country would suit his playing style far more than the hustle and bustle of the Premier League.
It hasn't worked out for the midfielder and it may well be best for both club and player for him to move on but what I do not understand is the venom and aggression directed at him as if he was Ryan Shawcross.
The lazy tag has often been hung around his neck as a reason to sling as much mud at him as possible but then that does not explain why he covered more grass (statistically) than any other player the last time he played a full season for Arsenal. Yet if a fans favourite such as Cesc looks disinterested then it is because he is fed up of playing alongside the 'likes of' Denilson and Diaby.
This is not to compare the contribution of the two players, purely the attitude of people who judge them.
As much as fans would love to blame Denilson, Diaby, Almunia and Eboue the truth of the matter is that those players have hardly featured in the last few weeks and it is those weeks that have let us down the most.
What this almost certainly means.. well in my opinion. Which makes the 'almost certainly' completely redundant.
What this could possibly mean, is that Arsene may well already have his eye on a central midfield player, a more defensively minded midfielder. If that was the case then I would assume that it would be an experienced player and perhaps a captain of a current club or/and his national team. That would make sense to me, especially as Alex Song and perhaps even youngster Emmanuel Frimpong could be off to the ACN.
I will probably write an article at the end of the season about which players I imagine will leave the club and which areas of the team Arsene will address so I won't go into much detail on that now.
Did anyone catch Arsene's press conference yesterday? There were some top quality questions put to him by the journalists. One in particular came out with this real gem.
'Arsenal, can you promise Arsenal fans, next season a trophy?'
For a start he called Arsene, Arsenal. Secondly what a stupid mug. He may as well have said 'Arsenal can you walk through walls?' or he could have gone with 'Arsenal, if you close your eyes tight enough do you think you can turn invisible?'
That question doesn't even deserve a response. Or if you are going to respond to the question, Arsene may as well have stuck his middle finger up at the journalist whilst answering the question in a dignified manner.
Idiot!
Other interesting points from the manager was the coaching set up not changing. This will no doubt infuriate many but as far as I am aware, I don't remember the coaching set up being a problem in 2003/04 or any other time we won silverware under the current management.
What we clearly have to do is work harder on addressing the weaknesses in the squad and that will come from new players and many of the current players we already have at the club. Wenger used the phrase 'defensive efficiency' when talking of what needs to improve. Which is probably a flashy way of saying 'stop letting in stupid goals when you don't need to'
We have enough defensive minded coaches at the club to correct our set play issues and it must be dealt with this time. There is no doubt about that.
Whatever the set piece strategy is at the moment, we must rip it up and redo it. I can absolutely understand the growing frustration about why these problems have not been fixed and it could be suicide if those issues are not resolved but given the statistics are so clear, I cannot imagine that it will be swept under the carpet. At least I hope it won't.
A Japanese journalist has asked Arsene about Ryo Miyaichi and what his plans are and Arsene spoke glowingly about the 18 year old.
He will return to Arsenal for the pre season so he can have a good look at him and if he is ready for the demands of the Premier League then Arsene will use his powers to gain the young man a work permit or something like that.
We have to be weary of building a player of 18 years old too high because it is one thing doing it on loan in a weaker league and it is another doing it in the Premier League for Arsenal. We all remember Carlos Vela running rings around Real Madrid but since he has come to Arsenal, he has struggled to get games.
Having said all that, I shall not heed my own advice. Certain players just excite you (footballistically of course) and whether they make the grade or not you just want to see more and more of that player.
It was the same for Jack Wilshere. At 16 years of age he was playing in the reserves, playing with players who were older than he was but he just stood out. Had that little 'something' about him. Although Ryo is a different type of player, he still has that little 'something' well at least from the games that I have watched.
While I do not expect him to come in and play 50 games for Arsenal next season, it would be nice to have someone as direct as he is for the last 15 minutes of a game where we need that something different that does not involve passing into a crowded wall or a low cross into the first defender.
Anyway we shall see what happens with the personnel from now until pre season because plenty could change. Arsene said that he expects Arshavin to stay at the club next season. I am no body language expert but I got the feeling that it wasn't said with the same conviction as he has with other players in the squad. He also said that he expected Eduardo to stay at points last season but we know what happened there.
Many people have said this and I have to agree with it. Ignore what Arsene says and judge him on what he does. The two are often very different.
Right, time to hit the road Jack and I shall come back tomorrow.
Happy Friday.
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