Arsenal consider a bid for Barcelona midfielder

Posted on July 16, 2012 by admin

Ibrahim Affelay missed almost the whole of last season for Barcelona due to a cruciate ligament injury picked up in training last September. The 26-year old Dutch international finally made his return to the team as a substitute at the end of April. His lack of match fitness was apparent in his appearances for Holland at Euro 2012, but he did show some signs of the talent that made Barcelona sign him from PSV Eindhoven in January 2011.

The attacking midfielder was hoping to cement his place in the Barcelona first team this season but he may not get the chance if Arsene Wenger decides to make a reasonable offer for him. Barcelona only paid £3 million for him and noises from the Spanish media suggest that they would not need alot more than this to let him go.

French club Lille are thought to have agreed a fee with Barcelona for Affelay but the player turned down the transfer as he wants to play for a big European club. He is a big admirer of Arsenal and Arsene Wenger and would welcome a move to the Emirates, apparently.

His technical ability and creativity make him just the sort of player that Wenger tends to go for so it could be ideal for all parties. Barcelona are trying to raise some money to finance their bid for Javi Martinez and they already have an abundance of creative midfielders.

Inter Milan are also believed to be keen on Affelay so there is no time to lose. Should we make the move?

Tags: Affelay, Barcelona, Wenger
Category Arsenal News, Arsenal rumours, Arsenal Transfer News CALLING ALL GOTHS !!!! UNIQUE HAND-MADE GOTH JEWELLERY AT GothicChameleon.com
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Should Wenger consider substance over style as Arsenal legend claims?

Posted on Tuesday, 19th April 2011 by Taaza Banda

Arsenal legend David Seaman has called upon on Arsene Wenger to consider shifting away from style in favour of substance.

The ex-England international, who won 3 league championships and 4 F.A Cups trophies with Arsenal, told Sky Sports News:

‘The manager’s done great there, but Arsenal is a club that should be winning trophies – when I joined we were expected to win trophies.’

‘The way we did it wasn’t the best football in the world, but at the moment Arsenal can play the best football in the world but they don’t win anything. It’s about getting that fine balance of effective football as well as playing some great football.’

I totally agree with him here. David Seaman admitted that he played in a team which did not play the best football in the world, but it brought home silverware. Now Arsenal are known for playing the best football in the world, but ultimately, have nothing to show for it. Maybe the former Arsenal player has a point. We need to stop trying to walk the ball into the back of the net and just try belting a few in from outside the area. We always make one pass too many in the opposing box, which leaves a number of fans frustrated and shouting ‘shoot!’ at their TV screens.

It seems Wenger has failed to find the perfect balance between defence and attack, and as a result, footballs biggest critics have tagged Arsenal as a team that attack like men but defend like boys.

Maybe we should change our style of play. Maybe adopt Blackpool’s style of play where their main objective is to out score their opponents. Maybe we should try a more physical approach, or just stick to our free-flowing football which seems to have no effect on physical teams that are able to disrupt our game with their beefy players and hard tackles.

When you have no idea of how a tactical change may affect the team’s performance, a change in philosophy can be described as suicide. However, we have kept the faith for nearly 6 years now and still have no trophies to show for it. Maybe its time we took a gamble.