What to do with Marouane Chamakh?

The player screams the word 'enigma'. He can look a real handful at times, as he showed during the first half of last season, but he can be a frustrating motionless oaf like he showed during the second half of last season.

You may say 'well he didn't get as many games during the second half of the season' but that's an excuse for not scoring enough goals or not being as sharp but he barely seemed to try. He just sat on the shoulders of defenders and didn't move. His lack of effort and movement are the things that bother me, I think 'does he want to be playing?' 'Or is it just laziness?'

I don't know but I do question whether he's worth keeping as I would probably rather we kept Bendtner than him as he is a better player in my opinion. But Bendtner wants to go, whereas Chamakh doesn't so it's probably best to keep him and sell Bendtner.

My question about him is: 'Is he good enough?' I think he is good enough to be backup on his day. But he hasn't been on his day since Novermber. I would much rather us get a keen, pacey striker in there instead of him or play Walcott or Gervinho there in van Persie's absence.

In conclusion, I don't think we should 'get rid' because we don't want our squad to be too small, especially with all the injuries we seem to suffer from but I do think he needs to buck up his act. I am going to the Emirates Cup at the weekend and I would like to see Gervinho or Walcott played upfront and I think then we'd know how needed Chamakh is.

Arsenal Fans- Don't forget what you have

I think sometimes we are all too busy thinking about what we don't have, to think about and appreciate what we do have.

I've just be reading an Arsenal fan's forum about the 2005/06 season, where Arsenal got to the Champions League Final, finished fourth on the last day ahead of Tottenham (who occupied it going into the last programme of fixtures) and got to the Carling Cup semi- finals. Patrick Vieira had just left and Bergkamp, Ljungberg, Pires and Campbell were all on the decline and didn't contribute as highly as they had done in previous seasons. Therefore there was more responsibility put on the shoulders of younger players such as Fabregas, Flamini, Toure, Senderos, Reyes and van Persie, as well as maybe one or two more. Ashley Cole's head had been turned by Chelsea's money but he was out injured for most of the season despite staying, as were Campbell, Lauren and Clichy, which resulted in Flamini spending a lot of time at left back as well as youngsters Eboue and Gilbert at right back.

It was a transitional season with younger players such as Fabregas and Senderos coming into positions of higher seniority, replacing those declining senior players. Being very inexperienced, they struggled with the physical demands of the Premier League and consequently finished fourth by the skin of their teeth, and also failed to get results and goals away from home.

Anyway, in their comments about this season the fans on the forum described this as a 'horrible horrible season' and one claimed to have 'erased it from his memory'. Basically they slagged the season off as a really bad one and the way they were talking you would have thought Arsenal had got demoted to League 2. I couldn't help but read their comments with disgust and wonder what someone who has supported a lower league side who had been in the lower leagues for a long time would have thought to their references of Arsenal's fourth place finish and Champions League runner up season as being 'horrible'. Or even a supporter of a Premier League club whose team finish near the bottom every season.

I once heard a philosophical statement on a very wise and thought provoking programme by a very intelligent character (Trigger on Only Fools and Horses),  and it is one I admire and agree with. 'You never know what you've got until it's gone' is what he said. And it applies here. I think these fans would look back on comments like that and regret them if Arsenal were to, one day, fall down the football league, or even just the Premier League. Fortunately, they probably won't. At least, not for a very long time thanks to the way the club is run and largely thanks to the way Arsene Wenger has managed the club for the long term, transfer- wise and financially- investing in a new stadium, buying quality young players for small amounts of money and not spending beyond his wage and transfer budgets. And this is the man they partly criticise for that 'horrible' season. The man who 2 years previous to that season guided Arsenal to the league title whilst achieving the great success of going the whole season unbeaten.

Don't get me wrong, I am an Arsenal fan who takes huge pride in being an Arsenal fan and I love the club. I also love the majority of fans, I think our away followers are some of the best in the UK at following and supporting the club, in terms of attendances and vocally. Some of our home fans are great too, the atmospheres at the Chelsea and Barcelona games last season were terrific, as it always is for the big games, especially the Tottenham games. In fact, I think the Emirates atmosphere on derby day is often better than the White Hart Lane atmosphere on derby day.

But, I think some Arsenal fans get carried away with all the hype about lack of trophies and have been used to their team winning a lot over the last 15 years, since 'that man' came to take charge of the club. Which is fair enough, after all they, we, are only human. I just think some get too carried away and I think a lot of this is down to the media witch hunt about Arsenal not winning trophies and not spending big money. Yet Liverpool have gone about the same time without a trophy and are never criticised for this. They are only praised for their history (which we should be as well). They also failed to finish in the top four in 04/05 and they are never criticised for that when Arsenal have managed to consistently maintain their top four status and constantly are criticised. Where's the logic in that? This is one of the great (in a sense of the word) mysteries of English football but it just seems like that is the way it is. But that's a debate for another day.

Back to the fans, I just think we should all appreciate what we have. We are near the top of the Premier League every year, in the Champions League every year (touch wood) and are battling for 4 separate trophies. We also look set to stay in contention for honours over the coming years with our crop of young players, our sound financial position and the fact that its a healthily run club. Okay, we aren't winning these honours at the moment, but we are close and we are in a position a lot, probably about 98%, of clubs and fans would love to be in. Remember what you have my fellow Gooners.

Cesc hates Arsenal!!!

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas is on his way to Barcelona once and for all! The Spanish skipper today launched an obvious sign that he is set to quit crisis club Arsenal and join the European champions.

Here at our 'news' paper we have gained pictures of Fabregas entering London Colney, Arsenal's training ground, in his car but none of him out on the field with his Arsenal team-mates. The skipper is reportedly angry after arriving at the ground and seeing a training ground full of Gunners rather than Barcelona players, our chief 'spokesman' has found out.

This is further backed up by his 'quotes' to our chief reporter: 'I'm very happy to be back and to see my team-mates again after a relaxing summer.'

Clearly, the skipper is frustrated at Arsenal and wants to join Barcelona. He hints here that his summer was too 'relaxing' and wished he was jollying it up down at the Nou Camp with his Barca buddies.

Furthermore, we have taken a photo (below) of Arsenal full back Emmanuel Eboue waving, supposedly in the direction of the Arsenal captain as he drives away on a one way trip to Barcelona. Also, the Spanish midfielder was seen driving into the training ground not smiling or laughing, we believe presumably due to the fact he's stuck at Arsenal and not yet with the mighty Barcelona.

To add to this, he was listening to Spanish music as he arrived at the training ground, and our chief reporter has told us this is because he misses Spain so much and hates England and it's 'non- Spanish' music like he has hated the country ever since he was tied up in the back of a van and driven here by none other than Arsene Wenger back in 2003. He was then forced to play for the club to save his family's life, held hostage by the Arsenal backroom staff on the orders of chairman Peter Hill- Wood.

It is now surely time that Cesc Fabregas will leave to go to Barcelona. We have provided you with our usual levels of compelling evidence to back up our fictional story on the Arsenal captain, and demand you all believe us when we say he's going this summer to Barcelona!

And finally, we have no other news today as we have been too busy mindlessly obsessing and speculating over this story which has no substance behind it, no quotes and no evidence whatsoever that Cesc Fabregas will leave Arsenal this summer, as we have been telling you for God knows how long now! Barcelona have said they don't value him as highly as last summer and they haven't got enough money to persuade Arsenal to sell, but to hell with that, we know he's going to Barca this summer! Believe us! He's going!!!!

Does a youth policy work?

I've been thinking over the last couple of days about how Arsenal approach things. Don't get me wrong, they do things the right way, they don't do it the Man City or the Chelsea way and just try to buy success. Arsenal actually HAVE a scouting system and we don't tap up players like Barcelona.

We bring in players when they're young and cheap and nurture them as a team together. For example, bringing in Fabregas, Clichy, van Persie and Flamini for pittence and nurturing them up toegther. Then adding to this season by season in the likes of Walcott, Nasri, Wilshere and Ramsey. But the trouble is a lot of footballers are just disloyal money grabbing mercenaries and you do get the occassional traitor like Flamini, Adebayor and (possibly) Nasri and when they don't get success right away (not the aim of a youth policy) they want out and get grabbed by money and the team is dis-orientated and there is a need for further re-building.

When these players join the club they must know what they're getting into and that we aren't a club like Chelsea that flog £100 million a season for instant success ad that we are building a team for long term success and stability. It is a good policy in that it is a long term one, a stable one financially and it is good at gelling the players together over the years they spend together. If Fabregas, Wilshere, Nasri, Ramsey and co stay together for a few years then their understanding will develop, their relationships on and off the field will and this will benefit the team by giving them a mutual understanding, allowing their play to be more effective.

Which hints at the possibility, or fact, that footballers are just generally thick. They don't consider the aims of the club when they sign, or if they do, they lose sight of them when big spenders like Man City come along waving sacks with big dollar signs on in front of them. Yes Barcelona spend quite big and yes they are a terrible club off the pitch but they have built a team from youngsters and add to this with bigger singings where needed and the likes of Nasri need only look at this as an example that this policy can work and that building a team for the long term works and that you have to be patient. They went 5 years without winning anything in the process of this and look where they are now. It's not even like Nasri and other players like him are approaching the end of their careers, he's 24, has years ahead of him as did Flamini when he left, Fabregas is 24, the ingredients are all there for Arsenal to be a success. But this begs the question, is this the reason Nasri hasn't signed a contract yet and that the reason is simply money.

So my point is, is there room for a youth policy in todays football environment of money grabbers and big businessmen coming into nothing clubs like Man City and buying success? I think money is getting in the way of it, in the form of ridiculous wages, clubs that have limitless funds and clubs that spend big no matter what they're financial position is. Hopefully these financial fair play rules can sort it out, along with some player loyalty, but the bad thing about this is that they don't come into action until next season for some reason.

The main point is that it should be allowed to work, it shouldn't be spoilt by money because the worry is that Arsenal won't be able to compete with the likes of Man City and Chelsea when it comes to bidding ridiculous sums of money for players and offering them ridiculous wages. And being able to offer our players much better contracts than we can, but this is hopefully something the financial fair play rules will sort out.

A good example of all this is where will new Arsenal 16 year old signing Hector Bellerin be in a few years time if he proves to be a success at Arsenal? Will Man City come in and offer him £250,000 a week to take part in their 'project'? Will this happen sooner, like in a couple of years? This sort of thing would defeat the object of a youth policy and that is my point.

I'm not blaming Arsenal for this, I'm blaming the footballing environment and the ridiculous boundaries that are set in todays climate by clubs like Man City and Chelsea who are spoiling football. The right/ Arsenal way shouldn't be made virtually impossible by these teams, and something has to be done.

Nasri- Scum?

Now, I am writing this after having just read Sky Sports News' article on their website saying that their 'sources' understand Nasri is 'closing in on a deal' to join Man 'we want to buy success' City.

A few points spring to mind here. Firstly, what does 'closing in on a deal' actually mean? He's agreed a contract? Arsenal have accepted a bid? Or simply that Man City have just submitted a bid and Sky are trying to hype it all up?

It's hard to imagine Man City, if they are trying to sign Nasri, have done things in the proper way- putting in a formal bid to Arsenal without talking to Nasri and/ or the media before having a bid accepted. But that's another matter.

Samir Nasri was a young, promising midfielder playing in France and was found by Arsene Wenger who has nurtured him into one of the Premier League's best attacking midfielders. He has given him the opportunity to play in the best league in the world, the home of football, for a great club with a history to be proud of, with excellent facilities, to play with world class players and one of the world's best managers and coaches, to play in front of 60,000 passionate supporters every week that sing his name. And he would walk out on that?

OK, there's nothing concrete yet but I bet Nasri can't wait to get his grubby paws on £180,000 a week (well probably about £100,000 after taxes). Yes, some cynics may say that we'd all do it as well but this isn't like any other profession. Children and adults will walk the street, go to the game and sing his name wearing a shirt with his name on the back that they payed good money for just to have this arrogant mercenary walk out on their support, their loyalty and their admiration. It disgusts me.

Let's not forget the other players too. He is supposed to be good friends with them and he slaps loyal players like van Persie in the face by walking out on them? That strikes me as a jerk. He does strike me as the type as well. Before I was mad at Arsenal for not offering him what he wants but if it is in the region of £180,000 a week then I don't blame them.

And he's supposedly a player that 'loves his football' and it isn't all about the money as I'm pretty sure we've heard him and other say in the past.

Oh and I bet there will be some quote from him if he signs about how he has come to take part in the Man City project that he is excited about and because he has ambition for trophies, but it will all be about money. It would be like he'd be washing his hands of Arsenal and saying 'the league cup defeat wasn't my fault. It's the other players. We haven't won any trophies at Arsenal. That's not my fault, it's the others.' And it doesn't show much 'ambition' on his part does it, because when he looks back on his career and see's no trophies won with Arsenal it will be a failure for him, he'd just be jumping ship, so a potential move wouldn't be about ambition, it would be about money, the arrogant French mercenary.

But I could be getting carried away and getting worked up about something that might end up not happening and he will show the loyalty to the manager, his friends and his loyal fans that he should. Let's wait and see.

All we need to do is look at Barcelona

While they are a team  I hate with a passion, I must admit that they are the perfect role models for our trophy- less team. I don't hate them because they have won a lot in recent seasons or because they play beautiful football, I hate them for their tapping up of Fabregas, their disrespectful comments about our club- a club with a great history to be very proud of, and for their cheating on the pitch (waving imaginary cards, diving and surrounding the referee).

But, they are a similar team to us, one with similar philosophies and we only need to look at them for inspiration and faith in our policy and our quest for trophies. I have looked at the Spanish records and Barcelona went on a run between 1999 and 2005 of not winning anything. Not the Spanish league, not the Spanish cup, not the Champions league, not the Spanish league cup, not the annual Spanish raffle.

So that's six years without a trophy. Let me think, who does that remind me of? Hmm, let's see, oh yeah, Arsenal. We have gone six years without a trophy whilst we have invested in youth such as Fabregas, van Persie, Walcott, Song and Wilshere but to name a few. Just like Barcelona did in between 99 and 05. This was the time when Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, Pique and Messi were coming through, at different stages just like our lads and their investment in youth has proven successful.

I'm surprised at how similar the two situations are. The likes of Fabregas, Wilshere and Ramsey need only look at that team and think 'that could be us in a few years, there's no need to panic about lack of trophies in recent years, look at Barcelona's records'. There is plenty of reason for faith and we have plenty of talent in our squad to achieve something like Barcelona in the years to come, and our chances will be enhanced if the likes of Fabregas and Nasri stay and show their belief in this team of very talented players. And we couldn't ask for a better manager to guide us towards similar achievements in Arsene Wenger. We also have the financial stability that Barcelona don't have, therefore it's not just a short term plan,it's a long term one.

Barcelona- 1999-2005   NO TROPHIES

Arsenal- 2005- 2011   NO TROPHIES

Season 2010/11 Awards

Not all these award are going to be honourable, but here are my '... of the season's. First up:

Player of the Season

While Jack Wilshere has had an amazing season, and isn't undeserving of the award, my player of the season would be Robin van Persie. Just. If he'd have been fully fit for the first half of the season he probably would have won it hands down. The best striker in the world in my opinion and that shone even during the extremely bad times at the end of the season. He's scored here, there and everywhere and always shows a first class attitude. God knows what he would have done this season had he been fit throughout the whole season. If he was English, the pundits wouldn't ignore him.

Break-through of the Season

Jack Wilshere just pips Szczesny. Both have done a lot better than expected but Wilshere's constance in the team wins it for him. He has shown the sort of attitude more Arsenal players should be showing, has excelled in all sorts of games from games against lesser teams in the Premier League to European giants like Barcelona, Man Utd, Blackpool (just checking you're paying attention) and Chelsea. His performance against Barcelona at the Emirates was the most impressive performance I have ever seen. To come up against a team like that and to have the confidence as well as the ability to outwit and get the better of Xavi 'The Tapper Upper' Hernandez, Iniesta and Biscuits throughout the game was unbelievable. Let's not forget also that his season didn't start so well either, giving the ball away on the edge of his own box at Liverpool who went and scored as a result. But he bounced back from this with some great performances. And he's one of a few players that actually clap the supporters when he comes out on to the pitch at the start of a game. (Not that that's a contributing factor to this award, just fancied mentioning it).

Team Performance of the Season

Has to be one of two. Whilst things have been bad lately and everyone is looking at the negatives, Arsenal have put in a lot of excellent performances this season. But the Barcelona (home) performance just, just edges it ahead of the Chelsea (home) performance. Defensively solid, efficient and stylish going forward and we beat them all over the pitch, pressing them well and showing a real superiority against them in the second half. If Man utd want to beat Barcelona tomorrow, they should watch a DVD of that game and study Arsenal's performance that incredible night. Especially Evra.

Player Performance of the Season

Hmmm. This is one I haven't thought about before writing this. Jack Wilshere vs Barcelona is the obvious candidate but Alex Song against Man utd earlier in the month is a contender. But you have to bare in mind the quality of the opposition and the workload so Wilshere gets it. Excellent from start to finish. Although Nasri has some 1st half of the season contenders such as at Everton, Man City and Aston Villa away and at home to Fulham. Oh, and Koscielny v Barcelona is a close call to Wilshere too, as well as Vermaelen at Blackburn.

Goal of the Season

A lot of thought has gone into this. Arshavin vs Barcelona just beats van Persie vs Barcelona and Nasri's second vs Fulham. A terrific team goal, from the defensive sharpness of Koscielny to Bendtner's pass in- field to Wilshere's quick release to Fabregas who played an exceptional pass to Nasri who showed good composure as I and many other Arsenal fans were thinking 'shoot!',  he knew better as he played a perfectly weighted pass to Arshavin who placed it beautifully, not just past the keeper, but past the Barcelona defenders in the way. He could have easily blasted that over the bar but just when you need a cool head to finish a move off, there's Arshavin at his best.

Disappointment of the Season

Cesc Fabregas. Last season's player of the season, argubly. He has been hampered by injuries which is the biggest disappointment but his impact when not injured wasn't as big as we have come to expect. He didn't play terribly as he has had some brilliant performances such as Chelsea at home, Man City away, Barcelona at home and Tottenham away but his injuries have held him back and he has also had more poor games than usual, e.g. Newcastle at home and away (where we needed him as a captain to calm things down), as well as Liverpool at home. Additonally he has made a couple of silly mistakes which you wouldn't expect from him, Barcelona away and S***s at home. His no- show last Sunday doesn't help him either.

Signing of the Season

Laurent Koscielny. Marouane Chamakh contributed highly during the few months of the season but Koscielny has contributed throughout the whole season. Yes, he has made some mistakes and looked panicky occasionally, but he has been impressive especially in the big games, which is probably where it's most important and harder to be so. Plus, let's not forget he's played more than expected and not really had a regular partner at the back, coping wth the dodginess of Squillaci quite a lot too. Even the people of Arsenal- mania think he's good, so blimey, there must be something there if they think he's good!

Surprise of the Season

Szczesny pips Wilshere as he has been even more of a surprise than Jacky boy. Who would have thought a year ago that he would be our current number one now? He has been very impressive with is confidence, consistency and ability as well as his fantastic bounce back after the Carling Cup disaster. He showed great mental strength, those two controversial words around Arsenal.

Johan Djourou also deserves a mention here as despite a couple of late season blunders, generally he has been outstanding when in the team this season, most notably his form during our only period of having a regular centre back partnership with Koscielny between Christmas and the cup final. And he broke the Drogba whoo-doo, keeping him quiet throughout and I've never seen an Arsenal player deal with him as well as he did that night.

Highlight of the Season

Arsenal 2-1 Barcelona. The memory of me jumping up and down around the room whilst screaming 'YESSS!!' whilst my phone propelled out of my dressing gown pocket and onto the floor is one that brings back such great feelings for me! Plus the atmosphere that night was fantastic, the sight of thousands of Arsenal's fans at the game holding up their arms and scarfs after the second goal whilst singing 'By Far The Greatest Team' is one of the nicest for me. And a great performance as I have said.

See, it's not all been bad has it?