Forward Arsenal

Transfer Window CLOSED!!

Two of the many international
captains Arsenal have.

Soooooooooooo….the transfer window is closed, and I am super EXICTED. Well one of the reasons why I am exited is because our transfer activity was good and quite encouraging. And in contrast to what people say about them not being super quality, I am very content with the buys. In all honesty I would have loved if we bought Eden Hazard and M’vila, but as talented as these guys are they are not experienced and that is not what arsenal need right now. What we need is an injection of Experience and quality which we have in the players we bought. We cannot afford to buy inexperienced players when they do not really have enough experienced and consistent heads to look up to in the team. And this might lead to talented players like Hazard feeling like they carry the team by themselves (which might lead to pride). Look at Nasri. Now that we have a number of experienced heads in the team like Captain Robin, Verminator, Mertesacker, Rosicky, Arteta, and Benayoun, younger players would be able to learn and provide good competition for these players. All these new signings along with the emergence of pplayers like Ryo, Chamberlain etc, I can’t contain my excitement.

Team Spirit

After the …..*cough*… game that must not be mentioned, it is tough to tell exactly how low morale and the team spirit are despite the arrival of new players. Before that game we all saw how hard the team fought in every game, and I hope that spirit and commitment isn’t lost. If that spirit is as strong as ever then we can definitely get back on track with a big win against Swansea. I am personally hoping for a repeat of the 6-0 drubbing of Blackpool against Swansea or at least something close to that. Fingers Crossed.

Arteta

New signing Mikel Arteta

I am quite exited that Arteta has signed for Arsenal as he has the perfect mix of experience, leadership, and quality. Another exiting thing is that Arteta is good at set-pieces and he is a dead ball specialist which is something we kind of lack at arsenal. The only convincing set piece taker is Captain Robin and to add Arteta to that list is quite convincing. Because Arteta accepted a wage cut to join Arsenal some people think he is committed to playing for the Arsenal. I think that is yet to be seen. I think he took the wage cut because of the lure to play in the Champions League, and nothing more. But I hope he gets really committed to wearing the Red and White. Arteta’s arrival also takes a lot of weight of Ramsey’s shoulders, because he cannot carry the weight of our creativity all by himself. And after ‘that’ injury, he needs to be nursed back to form.

Mertesacker

This is the signing that excites me the most. When I heard we had signed him, I was very happy. Standing at 6ft 6in he is perfect against teams like Stoke amongst others who like to play the long ball game. I feel we will see a lot more rotation in central defense which is a very good thing because we need them to be fit and we do not want to play them in too many games because that can lead to tiredness and loss of concentration at times. One thing that bothers me is that Metesacker is not necessarily a fast defender and with the way Arsenal plaa high backline, he might be caught many times against very fast forwards. With that being said, I hope Mertesacker fits in to the Arsenal style of play as soon as possible

Quick Side Note

People seem to have forgotten about Koscielny since Mertesacker has arrived. Underestimate him at your peril.

Andre Santos, Benayoun, Park Chu Young

I am excited about Andre Santos’s attacking prowess but I still hope to see how well he will do in the defensive department. I definitely hope he won’t become a weak link in the defense.

Benayoun is one player I believe is going to surprise Arsenal fans this year. Because he really didn’t feature last year with Chelsea doesn’t mean he won’t be a good player for us. To me Benayoun isn’t really a cast away or a leftover because 2 years ago he was one of Liverpool’s top players and was just unlucky with injuries last year. I wish him the best.

Park Chu Young is a player I am looking forward to seeing on the pitch. Like many asins who play in the major leagues he is very hard-working and I feel that will be needed if he wants to break into this Arsenal team. He was the main star in a decrementing Monaco team last year and had to do a lot of work alone upfront and still managed to reach double figures for the Season, which is quite impressive. I wish him the best as well.

Theo Walcott

Theo probably doesn't get enough credit.

I feel this is one player who probably doesn’t get enough credit in the Arsenal team. Since the beginning of last season I have notice how hard Theo has been working on improving many areas of his game, most notably his set pieces. But it seems many gooners don’t really seem to appreciate or care about that. Personally I can’t wait for Theo to also become a dead ball specialist and curl those free kicks in along with Van Persie and Arteta. Theo is trying his best to become a top forward by shaping more facets to his game and I wish him the best.

Samir Nasri

“I didn’t want to be a leader in a team that cannot win trophies”.

Did he just say leader?

Tim Payton

“Per Mertesacker is a poor man’s Jagielka”. Errrr…WHAT??? That’s a fail Tim. A HUGE one.

I read a view about Tim Payton here and I totally agree. All for the good of the club..

http://www.thebeautifulgroan.com/2011/09/01/transfer-business-is-being-spun-to-suit-preconceived-ideas/ 

Twitter: @beautifulgroan

Park Chu Young and Captain Robin scored 3 and 4 goals against Lebanon and San Marino respectively. Gervinho also bagged a goal and 2 assists against Rwanda. Even though the opposition in those games were quite easy, I still think it is a sign of good things to come. Hopefully they bring that form whenever they wear the great Red and White. I definitely hope none of our players return from international duty injured because, you know, that happens a lot.

Overall I am very excited about the rest of the season and can’t wait for the Swansea game. Victoria Concordia Cresit. COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!

By Ajibade Babajide

Follow him on Twitter: @ajibade_jide