Another person who has not yet been linked to Arsenal but whom I feel we should seriously look at is Mathieu Flamini . The combative central midfielder is a free agent come this summer and we will definitely need another midfielder because there is the African Cup of Nations. There is a chance we may lose both Alex Song and Emmanuel Frimpong during this period and even though we have Fracis Coquelin whom almost every Gooner rates highly he is still relatively young and therefore prone to occasional lapse in concentration . That role is too important in our team to rely on only the youngster to do the

I am an Arsenal Fan from India. So if my English is not upto usual standards please bear with me. I started watching Arsenal from 07/08 season. The team was playing the best football and according to some even better than they saw during The Invincibles. So became an instant fan. 5 seasons down the line today we feel we have a very strong foundation on the basis of which we can build an All Conquering Team. That makes this summer very important.

The most interesting transfer rumour I heard was that of Alessandro Del Piero , the 37 year old Juventus Captain. It got me thinking why was Arsene be interested in guy who is at the tail end of his career and who has played his entire life in Italy where football is played at a much slower pace than the English League . Then I looked up at his CV. He is a seven time Serie A winner (I am also including the 2 Serie A titles that they were stripped off because of match fixing because you know they did win the league) on the way to win it for the 8th Serie A title . He has won the Champions League once in 95-96 and has 3 runners up medals as well.  This kind of a player will be very useful during the business end of the season someone who has been there done that. I am not necessarily saying that he will be a good transfer. He may turn out to be a Silvestre or Squillaci kinda transfer but their experience has not gone to waste. They have been helpful to our youngsters and someone like Del Piero can be a huge asset when it comes to educating the likes of Benik Afobe and Joel Campbell.

Another person who has not yet been linked to Arsenal but whom I feel we should seriously look at is Mathieu Flamini . The combative central midfielder is a free agent come this summer and we will definitely need another midfielder because there is the African Cup of Nations. There is a chance we may lose both Alex Song and Emmanuel Frimpong during this period and even though we have Fracis Coquelin whom almost every Gooner rates highly he is still relatively young and therefore prone to occasional lapse in concentration . That role is too important in our team to rely on only the youngster to do the job for 1 and a half months. Also Flamini brings title medals this time along and that experience will be very valuable. Also no need to say he is highly versatile.  He Has played in the Premier League before so won’t take that much time to get settled and he also knows there is no Christmas break so will be better prepared for it . He is still has friends at the club so his transition into the first team will be seamless.

Don’t get me wrong, we do have players who have won league titles in other nations . Thomas Rosicky has won the Chezh League 3 times and has also won the Bundesliga . Vermalaen has won the Dutch league and Gervinho has recently won the Ligue 1. They also have the experience but the more the merrier. Why I am insisting on buying  league winners is I feel there is always too much negativity thrown at our beloved club and I am pretty sure if we are in pole position to win the league next season there will be many people reminding us how we have floundered before and how we will do again . Also don’t forget the mind games from Fergusson and how he just recently succeeded in playing with our players minds ahead of the Wigan Game .So during these times people who have the experience of being in a league run in will always be helpful The next season I believe is too crucial for us and if we don’t win something the daggers will be out again.

Mean Lean’s Response

Thank you for the article and your English is probably better than mine so no need to apologise. I loved the 07/08 team. It was criminal that they did not win the league title that year as we were the stand out team but Manchester United as they so often do, grind out win after win all season and show remarkable consistency. Until today, we haven’t had that same togetherness as that squad did. It all seems so obvious now because we see it with van Persie, Vermaelen, Arteta, Benayoun, Koscielny and many others.

I am not sure how much of that is due to experience but whether a player is experienced or not, the player needs to have the right character. Jack Wilshere on the pitch has the right character and he is still very young. The same can be said for Aaron Ramsey.

I would eat my hat (if I had one) if Arsene Wenger was at all interested in Alessandro Del Piero. The end of his career, not having the physicality to play in the Premier League and what would be large wages would stop any Arsene interest in the player. I suspect any rumours were agent/media mischief.

As for Flamini, personally he has had his chance and in this case there is no need to go backwards. We have young midfielders who I believe will be better players in time and they need games. Francis Coquelin is a player that springs to mind. I would much rather see him get games than give those games to a player who jumped at the chance to leave the club.

Arsene knows his players more than I do but it almost feels as if Francis Coquelin was under used this season. When he filled in at White Hart Lane he was our best player. He was fantastic in the Carling Cup also, didn’t look at all out of place against Manchester City’s experienced squad.

I hope he gets more of a chance next season, perhaps rotated with Alex Song in certain home games. His pressing of the ball, commitment and energy can inspire those around him and if given a long run in the team I really believe he can become a top class player for us. Currently he is streets ahead of Emmanuel Frimpong and I will be shocked if Frimpong manages to surpass Coquelin.

Coquelin will need patience though, there is a long list of players ahead of him in our midfield area so he will have to play the long game.