Arsenal fail in £18million opening bid for Edin Dzeko

Posted on August 31, 2012 by admin

Arsene Wenger has stated that he only intends to sign “Special Special Special” players if they become available, and according to the Guardian Arsenal have made an £18m offer for Man City’s hotshot striker Edin Dzeko. They don’t state their source but they have made a headline out of it so they must be pretty convinced it is true.

The Bosnian international arrived at the Etihad in a fanfare from Germany last year, and despite scoring 17 goals in 44 games for City he has found first team opportunities few and far between last season, and now that the prodigal son Carlos Tevez has been welcomed back to the fold he is even going to be further down the pecking order.

Dzeko was a phenomonem in Germany, scoring 66 goals in 111 games for Wolfsburg, and would certainly be a first-choice striker at any other club in the world. There have been many reports of his unhappiness at sitting on the bench so it could certainly be true that he is trying to find a way out of the club.

It looks like Wenger has offloaded Bendtner, and Chamakh and Park are sure to follow, so it would seem sensible that Wenger brings in another out-and-out striker?

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Point Taken In Opening Day Draw

As the sun blazed in the north London sky, there was a sense of déjà vu. A new season, north-Eastern opposition, a goalless draw, a World Class player departed, another key squad player close to leaving. That is where the stories diverge. Arsenal are in a better position to deal with the changes this season, two weeks of the transfer window remain and the club is moving in the market. According to reports this morning, Arsène has picked up his daily baguette and sundry groceries, along with Nuri Sahin from Real Madrid. Presumably flights will be timed so that he can drop Alex Song at the airport and pick up Sahin. It saves parking fees and mileage claims.

Sunderland were as predicted in yesterday’s preview, obdurate opponents. It’s a tough job, this punditry lark. That said, they opened brightly – relatively speaking – but their initial attacking endeavours faded as they ceded possession to Arsenal and retreated into two rows of defensive barriers. Avoiding defeat was their aim and that was achieved, rather too comfortably in some passages of play.

As Arsenal dominated possession, Santi Cazorla shone brightly. Post-match the manager suggested that the Spaniard was feeling the effect of long distance international duty; if that is the case, Premier League beware. His darting runs were the spark as the Arsenal midfield flared into attack, his speed of thought at times far quicker than the movement of his colleagues. Gervinho was equally creative, particularly in the second half when his trickery created chances for Podolski and Gibbs. Walcott, by contrast, was subdued, an in-and-out performance.

There was a distinctly opening day feel; these matches are either gloriously high-scoring or the bridge between the pre-season and the second weekend when sharpness generally returns. The over-riding feeling is that there is more to come from this team, second gear barely reached let alone fully engaged.

The visitors provided an early wake-up call to the defence, McClean’s shot cannoning off Szczesny’s legs to safety whilst Colback forced the Pole into a smart save at the second attempt. But that was as good as it got for them; Szczesny barely touched the ball once we had passed the halfway mark of the first period such was Arsenal’s dominance of the ball.

Despite this, Arsenal did not achieve many shots on target. Cazorla tested Mignolet between the two Sunderland chances before missing the target with a later chance from a similar distance. Alongside him, the returning Abou Diaby provided support in attack, coming close with a stumbling effort that narrowly missed the post. The midfield had a ‘getting to know you’ feel about it. The trio of Arteta, Diaby and Cazorla playing together for the first time and the Frenchman in particular, was seemingly unsure of his role at times. That is hardly surprising given the length of time away from the pitch he has endured. Overall, he should be pleased with his return and it is a decent foundation upon which to build.

Lukas Podolski joined the party, leading the Arsenal attack at the start. The German might have scored from Jenkinson’s cross but like Theo Walcott, he could not convert the chance. The manager noted afterwards that Podolski’s fitness is still short of where it needs to be; you sense that is the case for a number of the players. As with Cazorla, Podolski made a promising debut. His movement was good and adapting to the movement of the team will take a couple of games. Next week’s visit to Stoke will be an interesting – and judging by their performance at Reading yesterday – bruising experience for him.

As he tired, Olivier Giroud entered the fray and was presented with the best opportunity of the game. As Cazorla mesmirised the Sunderland defence once more, the Frenchman slashed his effort wide. Cazorla’s dismay was evident as was the manager’s. Wenger noted that “he had more time than he thought and we expected him to score that one, of course“, as a thousand scribes penned the line that it was the type of chance that van Persie gobbled up, neglecting to add that it was also the sort of chance he was equally capable of missing. No revisionism, simply highlighting that even though it sometimes felt like it, van Persie did not score with every shot.

Arsène noted afterwards that the performance lacked zip, zing or whatever zest might normally be expected. That was not a surprise as such with the week seeing two first team regulars leave. The fee for Alex Song is good business but it remains to be seen whether refusing to pay him more than £55k per week, as is alleged in this morning’s Sunday Mirror, is. The salary structure is being shifted and if Matt Law’s theory is correct, the decision to cap Song’s pay gives credence to stories of discontent with the player’s attitude.

Arsène said that the returning players such as Wilshere, offer him comfort that the defensive element of the midfield can be dealt with by the squad. Sahin’s arrival might hint that the creative aspect is expected to be sorely tested. Whatever the case, there are two weeks to go in this transfer window. We know not to panic unless there are two minutes to go and Arsenal haven’t signed anyone.

’til Tomorrow.

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Who should be in Arsenal’s midfield for the opening League Game?

Arsenal’s Midfield Against Sunderland: by SV

With the Cazorla deal edging agonizingly closer, and the Sahin move gathering pace,it seems that Arsenal will have an embarassment of talent in midfield. But,unfortunately, we can’t play them all at once – though they will all play a part as injuries come in; so we must select a starting three. Today’s article will focus on who I think will start on August 18th. Please note that this article is made with a couple of assumptions in terms of transfers; that Song will stay and Sahin will sign.

Well, I am sure that we can all agree that Song is a must start if he is still here. He is our only proper defensive midfielder with EPL experience so there are no real questions about him. I also suspect that the player who will play alongside Song will be chosen partly to allow the Cameroonian to express his creative side and venture forward.

There are, in my opinion, two players vying for this aforementioned position: Diaby and Arteta. Arteta has become a fans’ favourite since his transfer, and his professional performances have certainly deserved the praise. He brings calm, composition and experience to our midfield and we suffered when he was injured at the end of last season.

But the ability and class of Diaby cannot be underestimated. Before his injury problems, he was being toted as the next Vieira and I honestly think that, with time and commitment, he could become our answer to Yaya Toure. I rate his defensive abilities higher than Arteta’s and, on his day, his attacking influence can be greater too. However, he doesn’t bring that consistency and unfailing reliablility that you get with the Spaniard so, overall, I would still start Mikel. Another positive from this pairing (Song – Arteta) is that they already have a strong understanding from all those games last season. Besides, Diaby will need to be eased back into Premier League action.

The final position to be filled is the attacking role. With the injuries to Wilshere and Rosicky, we have lost our two preferred players in that position. However, we still have Ramsey and (hopefully) Sahin and Cazorla available. Sahin is a classy player with a good passing range but, from watching him at Dortmund, I would say that he might be more suited to the slightly deeper ‘Arteta’ role. I think that both Ramsey (yes, Ramsey) and Cazorla both have more creativity than him.

Ramsey has had an excellent Olympics so far and has looked truly top class. He has looked confident and his passes have been very accurate in the most part. If you were to look at his highlights, you would see a range of exquisite passes, from dinks to arrowed through balls. All in all, I really wouldn’t mind at all if he were to start.

However, we must consider the abilities of our new signing Santi Cazorla (touchwood, touchwood, touchwood). He really is a top class player and could turn out like the player that Arshavin intially promised to be. Cazorla’s a tidy passer, got a great shot and (like seemingly all Spanish players) is a decent dribbler. I said before that he can provide that explosive burst in the final third which is extremely useful; he can commit a man or two and lay the ball on a plate for a striker. So he would be my first choice, if he does eventually sign.

I realise that there are some options that I didn’t consider, such as Diaby in the attacking role, or perhaps even AOC there – after all, Wenger did say that he would play there eventually. But I don’t think that either of these options are as good as the ones I’ve detailed above, which is why I didn’t into detail.

But I’m rambling a bit. Overall, my starting midfield would be Song – Arteta – Cazorla as it would provide a pretty good balance between attack and defence, experience and youth, composure and explosiveness. I would also have Ramsey and Diaby on the bench, in case we need a bit of impetus and solidity respectively.

And that’s all folks.
Till tomorrow.

If you liked this article, you can follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SVGunner.

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