I think it’s fair to say that we Gooners have seen better Christmasses.
Of course we’ve also seen worse ones too, but I think I’m not alone in saying that hearing the extent of Cesc’s injury confirmed made me feel physically sick. Cesc, our new captain, our engine, and the most loved of all our players, effectively out for the rest of the season. With his time at Arsenal apparently limited to just a few more years it’s difficult to stomach any of that precious time being snatched away.
So in the immediate future we face what suddenly looks a massive game against in-form Villa, without Adebayor or Cesc. And in the longer term we face the rest of the season without any sort of midfield to speak of. There will have to be a lot of gritting of teeth, puffing out of cheeks, and squaring of shoulders from fans and players alike.
Arsene has great, great faith in players like Bendtner and Diaby. Now, more than ever, we need that faith to be repaid by these players. We need to see that they were worth Arsene’s investment of trust. You’d struggle to find an Arsenal fan who honestly believes they are, but we need them to surprise us – and soon.
Today seems to be all about the Great Cesc Replacement Suggestion Extravaganza. So far, we’ve seen names like Parker, Inler, Veloso, Noble, Arteta (an astute shout from the Arseblogger, that one), Barry, Senna, Alonso, Toure Yaya, Defour, Arshavin, Arda Turan and Mouyokolo. You can add UpForGrabsNow’s name to that list. We are willing and ready to fight for Arsenal… jusht ash shoon ash we’fe finished thissh mincshe pie.
Of course, some of these names would obviously not compensate for the loss of Cesc because they play in completely different positions.
The Arshavin saga will rumble on with the bizarre tabloid logic seeing him (a forward who can play on the wing) as the solution to our gapingly empty central midfield. Having heard Wenger yesterday, I think there’s definitely something going on with Arshavin and I wouldn’t be too surprised to see him arrive in January, though as a winger, not to fill Cesc’s boots. Arsene was very canny in the press conference on the topic, saying that it was not worth discussing “now” because it was not a ”realistic solution right now”.
To me this just sounds like he wants him but Zenit aren’t playing ball with a realistic price, holding out for an Abramovich-scale bidding war which just isn’t going to materialise. The good thing is that since he is in a big strop (saying he’d only be a Zenit player on paper if he doesn’t get a move in January) they have absolutely no bargaining power and no-one else (of any stature) wants him. If he does come in, expect it to be for a fee some way short of £10m, which is probably not much more than he’s actually worth.
In terms of actually replacing Cesc, I think Wenger will definitely bring someone in from outside the club, “internal solutions” or no.
There’s been some pretty perverse reaction from some of our fans. I’ve read people writing things like “Cesc’s injury is really bad, but at least it will force Wenger to spend money in January”. This is a totally warped point of view, twisted by hours spent impotently ranting against Wenger’s management, an activity which makes the ranter lose all sense of proportion and reason as their whole life-force seems to be channelled towards demanding big-money signings at Arsenal FC.
Forgive me for pointing out that the ultimate aim of football is not to force visionary managers into spending money at the expense of the outstanding footballers they already possess, and that maybe, just maybe, it would have been better not to have lost our best player and be forced into an unpromising market for a stop-gap solution. But at least the bleaters will get their signing at long last, which ought to quieten them down a bit (but probably won’t).
From the names being bandied about at the moment, I like the sound of Arteta in particular. Veloso and Inler are players who seem to be much admired around Europe and who would both be available at a decent price. I haven’t seen either enough to properly form an opinion of them, (and would be interested to hear the thoughts of anyone who has) but they are both still very young and I feel a more experienced player like Arteta or Alonso is more like what we need right now.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts, though of course the only thoughts which really matter right now are those of Wenger and he’s probably got pretty different thoughts to the likes of us. He doesn’t regret selling Diarra. Gotta say I do regret that. A wee bit.
He also said he was looking forward to everyone coming over very “imaginative” in their speculation. So we can expect to see the Daily Mirror staging an open-air Nativity play in which a wise man, a shepherd and one of the cows are unmasked one after another as expensive South American solutions to Arsenal’s mid-season malaise smuggled into the UK by Arsene under the pretence of popular seasonal drama in order to avoid work-permit complications.
Of course the best thing would be if we could sign God Incarnate, who was rumoured to have been shown round London Colney last Thursday and who would certainly provide a bit of steel at centre-half.
Tags: Andrei Arshavin, Cesc Fabregas, God Incarnate, Michael Arteta
December 24th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
isnt alonso the guy that injured cesc at the frst place
December 24th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
in my own opinion i will suggest arsene wenger buy a centra midfielder who is not cup tie and plays denilson in the attacking midfield.in another way he should nasri play nasri in the attacking midfield position and get a good midfielder that can operate from the left.
December 24th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Personally i think if Wenger can use Nasir in Fabrigas` role and bring in Vela or Ramsey,then buy a defensive midfielder, it could work. Remember in Man united match Fabrigas was out and Nasir played that role very well.
December 24th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I beleived no need for replacement of cesc couse nasri can fill that compeletly so wenger should buy amidfeild difense and good left wing from the above mentioned players i would say mark noble and maekel arteta noble is very important for arsenal as an english and future . Arteta is also provitional for baclays and great attcker
December 24th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I think we should chuck Ramsey straight into cesc’s role. The kid has something about him and has a touch of class on the ball which is similar to cesc himself. Let’s remember that cesc was only seventeen when he was starting for us!! Something good could come out of this disaster after all!! 2 fabregas’s next season!
December 24th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
i think fab is about to leave arsenal, it is really sad news for us all but let us hope he recovers fast. I always fear having injuries to key players in arsenal, afterall records has it that most of the arsenal good players leave after long spells with injury, take an example henry, pires,viera, cole, and many others.By the way merry xmas to all gooners.
December 24th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Fuckin nice tactic to get hits with headline huh? good one “grabber”
December 24th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I’ve been following Inler’s progress with Udinese since AW announced that we could “expect to hear news of a new signing next week”. That was back in August, but Inler said “No thanks, I’m staying in Ude”.
He started the season like a WORLD BEATER, so did Udinese and I thought we’d missed out on greatness. As the season has progressed Udinese have lost their sheen and Inler looks like he doesn’t want to get his shorts dirty. AC Milan thumped Udinese last Sunday. Inler was not at the races. He just sailed disinterestedly through the game. On that showing, give me Alex Song every time.
Also been following Flamini, very, very ordinary in the “run around like a headless chicken” mode. Nearly impossible to see Hleb, hasn’t started in La Liga for Barca. Very ordinary subs.
December 24th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
it’s grabs, actually.
December 24th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Bergkamp’s TM, really interesting to hear that about Inler. From what you’re saying it sounds like he’s a bit of a “summer” player – a bit like Reyes was, brilliant when the sun’s shining in August, September, April and May but hopeless in between.
Would you say he’s more of a passer or a tackler?
December 24th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Here’s the problem: bring in an Arteta or Veloso…what happens when Cesc comes back? I understand Moyes has been playing Arteta in a holding role the last few games, but that’s surely not his natural role. Are we looking at an Arteta/Fabregas central midfield in the future? Would that work? I’m not sure. Furthermore I’m convinced that Wenger will not allow anything to hamper his wonderkids’ development/advancement. Bringing in a worldclass signing would force someone to sit…whether it’s Denilson, Song or Diaby. I like the idea of not buying a creative, attacking CM to replace Cesc while he mends. Instead buy someone to replace RoSICKy on the wing. Move Nasri to Cesc’s roll in the meanwhile.
December 24th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
think arteta is the man. has epl experience, good ball player and when cesc comes, he would move over 2 the wings.a defensive midfielder would also be great.
December 24th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
”bring in an Arteta or Veloso…what happens when Cesc comes back?”
ey??..veloso can play centre back or defensive midfield..therefore what happens is our midfield gets a hell of a lot stronger and a possible solution for defence to keep senderos out that bit longer.
grabs good article but i disagree with you about ‘the bleaters’-for one they have had a good point for some time, song denilson and diaby belong on the bench, certainly not starting that many games, and certainly not with such a small amount of competition from world class players.
a lot of people forget cesc did actually take a while to come through and was allowed to enter the fray slowly but surely. no need to bin song and co but better quality is necessary if we want better than uefa cup for the next few years (which if we want a full house/sponsorship is essential) cesc’s injury is a terrible thing but it will indeed force wengers hand into the market. Baros makes a good point about long term injury players leaving but i personally believe at his young age, it will make cesc a lot hungrier to win something with us, especially if on his return we have a stronger squad with more balance.
December 24th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
we need a left midfielder badly, nasri can play cesc’s role but who are we gonna play left? diaby gets worse every time I see him, rosicky was brilliant for the few weeks he was actually fit and we have never got a replacement with this injury of his.
we would b best to buy a versatile midfielder, and arteta is certainly that.
but I think we need another midfielder as well, Walcott, rosicky, fabregas out leaves us with a choice of nasri ramsey song denilson diaby and eboue. which is frankly pathetic, apart from nasri these players wouldn’t get a look in at any of the other top four.
denilson can’t play wide right like he has in the last few games, so maybe a right mid is necessary as well. denilson/song and nasri would be fine in the centre, arteta on the left and ? on the right.
December 24th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I know what’s happening but can’t say why or how. I know this sounds like attention grabbing but all i will say is Veloso for around 8 mil’ and V.D Vaart for around about the same. We have players who can fill the centre mid’ but no width and A.W also realises that we need cover at both DM, CH and on the wing and these 2 can fill all 3 positions. Merry christmas, Santa is red and white…
December 24th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
Alonso and Arshavin are also options but not 1st choice…
December 25th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Arteta may well be able to do the best impersonation of Cesc in terms of how his head and face look. I doubt he’d leave Everton FC as he seems really at home there, and he’s neighbors with his teenage friend Xabi Alonso according to a piece on Arteta I read a while ago, I think in The Guardian.
May 5th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the pictures on this blog loading? I’m trying to figure out if its a problem on my end or if it’s the blog. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.