Sneaky, sneaky, Wenger

In his Friday press conference, Arsene Wenger spoke frankly about Silvestre and the in code about his interest in Barry/Alonso.  First to the Silvestre story, Wenger let out that the player had already “been released” by Man U and was virtually at the signing table with Citeh — rumor is he’d even already had a physical with Man City — when Arsene swooped in and offered the player a spot at Arsenal.  So, one of the questions that I had was completely put to rest; how on earth did Ferguson allow a player of any value go to a title rival?  Simple, the player was released by the team and anyone who would pay the agreed upon fee (£750,000) could negotiate with the player. The fact that Fergie corroborates Wenger’s story makes me feel really good about this signing.  Not only does Arsenal get a vastly experienced player who plays his heart out on the pitch, but they got him dirt cheap and the pulled one over on Ferguson’s acolyte Mark Hughes.  I’ll bet if Silvestre stays healthy he will be seen by Gooners as yet another master stroke by the boss.

Meanwhile, the boss was more circumspect with his statements about Barry/Alosno.  I’m lumping both players together here because, they are both 27, both play midfield, both are cup tied, both are Arsenal targets and both players fit Arsene’s quotes.  Thus, I consider Arsene to be chasing both players and whichever one we get, I think Arsenal fans will be happy.  I’d prefer Alonso because I think he’s a technically superior player, he’s Spanish, and he would fit right into the Arsenal midfield.  On the other hand, Barry would bring steel and English-ness to the team, and let’s not let the importance of having Englishmen on the team fall to the way side.  Rumor has it Arsenal have already negotiated a contract with Alonso but Liverpool is refusing to lower their value of the player at £18m, even though, as Arsene points out he’s cup tied.  Villa, similarly, are stuck with their £18m valuation since they have already turned down a lesser bid from Liverpool.  I suppose they could offer Arsenal the player for less, but wouldn’t that allow Liverpool the same chance to swoop for the player that Arsenal just did for Silvestre?

More importantly for me is I don’t get the sense that Barry wants to play for Arsenal.  No.  He wants to play for Liverpool, you know, to “fulfill his dream.”  I think Barry is a smokescreen.  Arsenal are in for Alonso and Alonso only.  We’ll just have to wait and see.  Just the other day I was preparing you all for a summer with no more signings and now here I am hopeful that the team will sign the one player I wanted all summer — starry eyed optimist that I am.

On the injury front, Diaby is getting better, Song is back, Silvestre has a strain, Rosicky is two weeks away and Cesc is being evaluated day-to-day to see if he’ll play on Wednesday against FC Twente.  If there’s any chance he’ll get hurt, don’t play him.  End of story.  As for Diaby/Song, I suspect that Song will play in the holding midfield position but you know, after Wenger put Eboue there, it’s pretty much a crap shoot as to who will play where right now.   In which case, I’m going with… Gael Clichy in the holding midfield spot.  Why not?

It was inevitable after the signing of Silvestre but there are now two rumors about Senderos.  One has him going to Milan (Vincenzo Morabito anyone?) and the other has him going to Newcastle.  I think Arsene really likes Senderos, in spite of the collective wisdom of the Football Manager playing population, and wouldn’t be shocked to see him stay at the club.  If they let Senderos go, there will only be 6 defenders left, right?  That’s not enough depth to make a serious challenge for the two big trophies.  Sorry, I’m skeptical.

The Story That Won’t Die

Almunia is making noise about playing for Engerland again.  Dude… you don’t want that shiat storm.  Almunia would have a better chance winning over Spurs fans after a switch than he would of convincing English fans that he should be the English #1.  He would have to be the best keeper England ever had in order to just keep the blatant xenophobia down to a low roar.  No, I think Capello would lose his job if he appointed Almunia and I stand by ready to eat my words.

Finally

Just an honorable mention to Rambo, who was selected to play for Wales in their World Cup run up.  Good for you, son.

And I only got 7/10 on this quiz about Silvestre’s transfer to Arsenal.  How many can you score?

Ade gets his wish

Emmanuel Adebayor penned a new deal with Arsenal today for a reported £80,000 a week.  The deal is also reported to keep him under contract with the team until 2012 or until he scores 32 goals in a season and demands a higher wage and Vincenzo Morabito shops him around to Italian and Spanish teams: which ever comes first.

Adebayor is staying

As I predicted, Emmanuel Adebayor is staying with Arsenal and within days will sign a contract extension.

What I couldn’t predict is that Adebayor is completely insane, a pathological liar, or king of the retards (or all three) because reading the interview he gave to Arsenal TV is like a trip into the twilight zone.

Obviously, the big question for everyone is “why were you such a putz about demanding more money or a transfer to Barcelona?” Comically, Adebayor response is that when he went on vacation he didn’t read the papers or pick up a phone or use the internet so he really didn’t know what was going on or what people were saying about him and so it’s all a bunch of lies that he said he wanted to leave.

No, seriously, that’s what he said. Here, read for yourself:

When I was on holiday I never went on to the internet I never read the newspapers so to be honest I was with my family so my phone was off so I didn’t know what was happening. When I came back I realised what was happening but you know the thing has happened already so now the most important thing is behind me and I’ll show everyone this club has given me a lot of things It gave me a chance to be who I am today so I have to thank them and I think the boss understands that as well, so now we are in the same boat, now we have to work hard together as a family and to deliver better than what we did last season.

Of course, even the guy on Arsenal TV doesn’t buy that excuse, because besides being completely implausible, it is patently false: he have an interview to El Mundo Deportiva in May and another to News of the World in June. You remember the latter, where he claimed to deserve the same pay as Thierry Henry. Yeah.

So the interviewer presses him and, amazingly, he holds the line.

Like I told you I was on holiday and you can imagine a lot of people would be imagining things and saying such things because I was in Togo Africa but I can tell you surely I never told anyone that I would be leaving this club. Never ever.

At this point, I’m seriously questioning my own sanity. Did I imagine the two interviews? Am I imagining this blog? Because if this is all just a figment I’d rather think that I would dream up something a whole lot more successful. No wait, then he slips: the interviewer asks him if he feels like he needs to win over the fans who imagined stuff and he slips…

I think the most important thing is today, because what you read in the newspaper anyone can put what they want in the newspaper. You can do it, somebody else can do it. Today I’m talking on the TV, when else have I talked on TV. My first interview was in Austria in June just before the Euro final and I have never said I would be leaving Arsenal so what people read in the newspaper is not coming from me. When you haven’t done anything wrong in your heart you feel free. All I have to do is play my football and I know the fans always love me so there’s no reason to not love me anymore because I’m still here

AH HA! I didn’t imagine it, that’s a relief, he did give an interview in June to News of the World, in which he demanded retarded money or he would leave the club.

Barcelona have made a good financial offer and there is also the chance to play alongside great players. Yes, I am still under contract to Arsenal but it’s up to the directors to satisfy my demands or I’ll leave.

No retractions of that above quote were ever made, he hasn’t opened a lawsuit against NotW, he didn’t fire his manager for making false statements on his behalf. Nope. Instead, he literally went on TV today , looked us all in the face, and said “I never said that.”

Honestly? His bald-faced denial puts a sort of Bushwellian spin to this whole saga. Maybe that’s what Bush has contributed to the world: the ability to stand up in front of TV cameras and just straight out lie. I mean, I don’t know.

But the worst part of this is that he’s trying to re-build bridges with this interview, Wenger too with the follow up, but given the content of this interview, I seriously don’t see this working. He could have made it work if he’d have just said “I pledge my future to Arsenal” and left it at that. But to make up some lame story about being out of the loop and then lie about how you never gave an interview is not the way to get the Arsenal supporters behind you.

*sigh*

But now we all have to get behind him, right? Because he’s going to be on the pitch, he is a talented player, and the club do need him to score goals, right? So, Arsenal fans are going to shed their histrionic nature and join hands in welcoming Adebayor back into the fold, right?

RIGHT???

What am I saying? You’ll all be booing him as soon as he gets his first offside or misses his first open chance. Which is going to drive me crazy; because, how on Earth can I defend a man who is so retarded?

Cute, real cute…

Arsenal have finally announced the major summer signing that we’ve all been waiting for: Citroën UK will be Arsenal’s Official Car Supplier.  [que the loser music from The Price is Right]

Don’t get me wrong, I think this is a good piece of business, but to get cute about it and call it a “major summer signing” makes me laugh, but AT them not with them.  Just sign a player already, damnit.  Hopefully some 8 foot tall wild eyed alien killing machine.  Or better yet, some 8 foot tall wild eyed killing machine with an English passport so all the xenophobes will shut up for once.

The only signing Arsenal were even rumored to be looking at was Goekhan Inler and Udinese released a statement mere moments after I went to press yesterday putting the kabosh on that rumor.  Sure, there are rumors that Mario Gomez is either coming to Fulham or Arsenal but how much credence can you put in a story that says the player is going to either a top club or a pub team?  None.

And that’s what we are left with, kids, nothing.  I guess there’s a friendly today between Arsenal and Jens Lehmann but I can’t watch it here in the states.  Nothing.  Joey Barton lost his whopping 5 figure shoe contract with Nike!  meh… nothing.  I even did a search for news on Adebayor, called all my contacts, searched through the rolodex for long lost lovers with an inside scoop.  Nothing.

I wonder what position Wenger will have the Citroen play when half the team is out with injury in January?

File under: Ok what the hell is going on?

I woke up this morning, checked the news and see that Milan are claiming that Adebayor’s price tag has dropped by “half” to £19m.  Now, before you get your blood pressure up this story depends on a quote from our favorite dude, Vincenzo Morabito Super Agent.

IF it’s true, it’s a very bad thing.  Adebayor is worth more than £20m and the only thing that a price lower that that means is that the player is seriously unsettled.  It’s possible that the rumor about Yoann Gorcuff being included in the deal is what’s lowering the price, I don’t know.  Hell, no one knows, well almost no one, evidently Vincenzo Morabito Super Agent knows.

If there’s any truth to all this it could also be chalked up to Milan’s attempt to play hardball over this transfer.  Of course, this could all be a load because it was only a few hours earlier that reports had Milan calling the whole thing off.

Meanwhile, Barcelona’s link to Adebayor has pretty much died off, which can’t be helping Adebayor’s valuation, and their interest in Hleb has picked way up, to the detriment of Andre Arshavin.  This has, in turn, prompted the Russian playmaker to turn his affections on Arsenal.  Which has, in turn, prompted me to laugh my ass off.  Arsenal are not paying £24m for anyone, much less a 27 year old who was completely shut down by Marcos Senna and looked to be in such poor shape at the end of the match that Arsene Wenger wondered aloud about the player’s fitness.  There’s nothing in this story unless Zenit lower their price to the £10m range.

Today must be “winger week” in the press because not only is Arsenal linked to Arshavin but they’re also being linked to N’Zogbia and Gareth Barry.  I like both of these players and they would both satisfy Wenger’s close season pledge to buy a Premiership player.  I’d rather Wenger buy Barry than Charles just because Barry is a much more physically imposing player but I think N’Zogbia could be a good player — in a few years.

According to reports, Arsenal are pursuing Barry in a sign and trade deal with Traore Hoyte as the sweetener.  Traore has a lot of potential and I’d hate to see him go, but getting Barry would be a great signing and would see Arsenal pip Liverpool for the first time in my memory.  I don’t think there’s much to the N’Zogbia link because it’s down to the player saying “I’d love to play for Arsenal… or Tottenham” and there’s no indication from the club or the press that Arsenal have signalled any interest. Funnily, a player saying they could play for either Arsenal or Tottenham doesn’t shock me as much as it would the old timers because, as I’ve said before, I see Chelsea more as a rival than 12th place Tottenham.

Charlie isn’t the only player who “would love to play for Arsenal” some guy named Gervinho is also pushing his name around as someone who’d love to play for Arsenal.  Good luck kid!

Sepp Blatter’s Slavery Sideshow

In case you’re still interested in Sepp Blatter’s attack on the EPL there are a couple of stories I recommend.  First, Pele spoke out against Blatter and Ronaldo’s stupid remarks with a single sensible and measured statement “You are a slave if you work without a contract or you don’t get paid.” And second, James Lawton (who often uses Arsenal as a whipping post) has written a damn fine piece on the whole controversy.  Check it out if you’re bored.

And finally…

U.S. national team goal keeper Brad Guzan has apparently sealed a move to Aston Villa.  This is great news for the player and the national team, if you’re into that kind of stuff.  Good luck Brad, and welcome to the EPL.