So a week to go before the window closes. It will be a final push from the club. Angel di Maria has been linked with us and I guess it is dependent on Gareth Bale joining Madrid. We would also need to persuade the player to join according to reports. He would be the Gervinho replacement and a certain upgrade on the Ivorian. I love his jinking, zigzag dribbling style. Kinda reminds me of a lanky but obviously not as good Messi. But what sets him apart from many quick, direct wide players is his ability to spot and find that final pass. Something Gervinho perhaps never ever did at Arsenal. di Maria can cut inside from the left spot Theo darting from the opposite direction and put him in on goal through a crowded penalty box. If we are going to see more of that counter attacking football we produced at Craven Cottage then di Maria would be an excellent addition but I/we’ve been here before.

Oh Arsene, you don’t help yourself at times fella.

His comment about the brainwashed Emirates has struck a cord today, he has prodded an already irate bees nest. It is why post Aston Villa defeat he told the journos that they had got what they wanted. I am sure Wenger’s recent comments are meant for the media but supporters won’t like being told that there views are shaped by the media. That said, many views are shaped by what they hear and read and I am not just talking about sport. It has been this way for years.

So much so that you have Tottenham fans mocking Arsenal about trophyless seasons when all they have won is a Carling cup in thousands of years.. roughly. That is what the x amount of years narrative without a trophy has done. It was the same as Arsenal have picked up x amount of red cards in Wenger’s reign. And recently the ‘Arsenal don’t like it up em mantra’ which caused brainwashed supporters of other clubs and I dare say referees to have a subconscious view that it was ok to kick Arsenal because well, they don’t liked being kicked off the ball. Because well, the other ‘ard clubs like it.

I digress here and don’t really want to get into that, I may end up so deep that I can’t climb out but I do think we are missing the point here. Ask yourself why is Arsene lashing out at the press for the negative atmosphere at the ground? Whether he is correct to point the finger in a certain direction or not you have to ask why he is lashing out.

Take his word for it or not, Arsene Wenger has said

“You seem to know as much as I know about the situation so I don’t think we need for me to clarify that.
“You’ve certainly tried to go out with a girl and find she has chosen someone else. You don’t commit suicide.”

While Manchester United have had less to do than us, the fact remains that they have larger resources than us yet failed to secure the players they wanted i.e. Thiago, Cesc etc. Just because they have less to do, it doesn’t mean they don’t care about not getting the players they want. If they wanted any of the Spurs targets then they would have bought those players, so would we.

Wenger also said that the club tried to buy early so at face value the club have tried for targets but were unable to get those players because they chose other clubs. This may be the case, it may not be. What is almost certain is that the manager will have his own list so there is no point saying ‘What about Capoue?’

Football fans cannot decide amongst us which players should be brought in so a football manager is likely to have his own list of targets. Once again though I drift away from my point. My point is that for whatever reason, the atmosphere at the Emirates was/can be highly negative and from my understanding of Wenger’s management style he wants his players to go out with freedom and express themselves as they did so well in Turkey and Fulham just gone.

I believe that Arsene Wenger couldn’t give a monkey’s about the venom directed towards him but he fears that the venom hinders his players. But here we are again back at this point. The point where paying supporters stand one corner and the good of the players we have in another corner, punching gloves together, each trainer telling their fighter that they are right and the others are idiots. Trouble is when you watch the video back it is one boxer smacking himself in the face, really hard. Self defeating and painful to watch.

Anyway, the only thing the team can do to change that is to win football matches. Even if nobody joined and we had 11 fit players left in our squad, victory keeps the negativity away just like an apple does to the dentist. Or at least that is what I was told.

So a week to go before the window closes. It will be a final push from the club. Angel di Maria has been linked with us and I guess it is dependent on Gareth Bale joining Madrid. We would also need to persuade the player to join according to reports. He would be the Gervinho replacement and a certain upgrade on the Ivorian. I love his jinking, zigzag dribbling style. Kinda reminds me of a lanky but obviously not as good Messi. But what sets him apart from many quick, direct wide players is his ability to spot and find that final pass. Something Gervinho perhaps never ever did at Arsenal. di Maria can cut inside from the left spot Theo darting from the opposite direction and put him in on goal through a crowded penalty box. If we are going to see more of that counter attacking football we produced at Craven Cottage then di Maria would be an excellent addition but I/we’ve been here before.

Link > Hype > Player joins another club or stays put.

In an ideal world I would say nothing but an Arsenal blog with no content is a little meh. So if it falls through then blame me. 

Another player with even stronger links is Yohan Kebab Cabaye. Pardew’s comments seem like it is close to happening

“The Cabaye situation needs to resolve itself one way or the other because if we lose him we need to replace him,”

I like the player, have done for a few season’s now. I don’t know what his positional sense is like but if it is good then he is very much suited to what we want. I see that many still have this idea that a sitting midfielder can only take up the shape of a big marauding yellow card machine someone with big muscles and bulging thigh muscles. Someone who will protect Wilshere. I need that one explained to me. Unless his task is to throw himself into tackles that are aimed for Wilshere I am not sure how a player is supposed to protect Wilshere from being kicked. If his role is to kick people who kick Wilshere then we better start practicing playing with ten men because referee’s like Anthony Taylor would love nothing better than to brandish a red card in dramatic style to *brainwashed* red card crazy Arsenal who don’t like it up em who remain the only team to not have won a trophy in x amount of years.

I see Cabeye as a younger Mikel Arteta but one with added through balls goodness. Someone who is comfortable receiving the ball in tight areas, someone who can play passes through the lines to Santi, Rambo, Jack and *ahem* di Maria. We need someone who can position themselves in the right place to intercept passes, someone who stays on their feet and covers full backs not the footballing hulk who saves the day. The game has changed, physicality for the most part is blown up for a foul.

There isn’t a great deal of talk about a striker but I hope that doesn’t mean that one won’t be arriving. Giroud is in super form and has been so all pre season but another top quality forward is needed for sure.

That is just about that for now. Although I know there was something else I wanted to say but I cannot remember. I’ll remember after I’ve posted no doubt.

Anyway, thanks for reading make yourselves comfortable in the comments section below, I’ll grab you all a tea or coffee if you are nice.

’till the next time.