Afternoon, arsebandits.
Yesterday I wrote about the swap deal + cash rumours around Felipe Melo and Emmanuel Eboue, after thinking more about the deal I have found another way that the deal would just not be practical.
Eboue is our only right back cover, we have Gavin Hoyte but he has looked average at very best and when you are looking for a player to do a good job in the very biggest games, Gavin Hoyte wouldn’t fill you with confidence, would he?
Yes he is young but it would be a very notable weakness in the squad and Wenger would have to go out and buy another player to replace Eboue, whilst also using a massive portion of his transfer budget on a player unproven in the very best European leagues, a player that would take a season to adapt, and a player that is ridiculously overpriced from what I have seen.
It would undoubtably lead to more upheaval within the team, it wouldnt just be any old player leaving it would be the most popular one within the dressing room. But, there is no room for sentiment.
To be honest, I don’t really want Melo. His price is totally unreasonable and I don’t really like the idea of exchanging a player + cash, unless its Philippe Senderos.
You really do have to wonder…are there any decent defensive midfielders around at the moment that would actually move club? And even then, would it be a reasonable price?
There has been a bit more speculation around Balaise Matuidi, I don’t see him as a viable option either… Is he really better than Denilson and Alex Song?
I have admitted quite frequently in the past that I really rate Denilson, he has got another season under his belt and the stats do speak for themselves, he did perform very well last season. Yes, he had some bad games but who didn’t? Fabregas hardly set the world on fire did he?
There is a long time to go this summer and we will probably get linked with a new player almost every day, 99% of it will be total and utter bullshit.
If you have something to say regarding the Melo-Eboue situation feel free to air it here in the comments.
More tomorrow.
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buy inler ! he is better than melo
i agree with your statement about hoyte but 4 things
1.he can improve
2.a CB can play at RB (silvestre,toure)
3. we can easily buy a cheap RB (dabo)
4. eboue already plays sh*t at RB so we might aswell sell him.
oh yeah i think melo is worth the money i have got a strong feeling he is going to be good next season.
Gunner2k9..
Right so what you’re saying is that we shouldn’t buy anyone because of ‘upheaval within the team’. And that we should keep Eboue because he is popular in the dressing room and ignore the fact that he is shit. You’re also saying that we should forsake the opportunity to buy a proven DM (if overpriced) just so we can keep a crap right back who wont play if Sagna is fit.
That makes bugger all sense to me. Surely it is more important to have a solid and potentially brilliant DM to a back up right back? And what does it matter if we pay a little more than is reasonable, its not as if its coming from your own pocket (its not as if the ticket prices are going to rise because of this one deal) and spending more is inevitable in this age of extravegant prices.
But really i guess your right, lets employ clowns instead of footballers so that the lads can have a laugh after the game, and heaven forbid buying an expensive footballer because that might create upheaval in the team which is according to you far more important that filling the blatant gaps shown last season (i.e the defensive midfield spot). Really swell idea.
Agree with ann.
Brazilians will enjoy arsenal style of football when they are represented by Melo and Denilson, it great to have them as they are ranked the 1st in the world.
Sell Silvestre he is not a good player also Eboue should not go buy melo with cash.
RM: Denilson and Song are ‘potentially brilliant’. Eboue isnt shit by any means, he is the kind of player that is vital to any succesful team, he is willing to play in any position and give 100%.
You have taken my words right out of proportion mate, infact i said:
“But, there is no room for sentiment.”
i agree with u about Melo. i mean wat has he actually done to be worth 25 million. He is inexperienced and from wat i have heard and seen he has not got the greatest tackling technique and is prone to receiving large numbers of cards over a season which means sitting games out suspended. Altho he did have a good confed cup i still think gilberto looked beta. wat do u think about Mahamadou Diarra??? as he could be available for cheap. he is a Vierra kinda player who is very experienced(having played for Lyon and Real)and has played 52 games for Mali. He is 28 and to me that is perfect as it shows the younger players that he is just there to fill in while they develop. i still think Denilson is going to be a star but he needs pressure taken off him at the moment.
buy veloso, hes cheap good and not too young.he cant be tht bad if man utd, man city and the rest of europe want him.
Dare I mention it: 20mln + Flamini for Adebayor. Ok, so the guy was a disloyal twat but he’d bring our midfield back to its best.
Eboue doesn’t have the necessary consistency though is a good cover for Sagna. If the deal is good, he goes.
Eboue is good civer 4 sagna but wen sagna was injured we used toure there. so i dont understand that.
Well well, I would say that Eboue and Melo swap deal is a perfect proposal. Eboue is already like shit nowadays. He is no longer the same player that he once was, when he first burst into scene. He is a typical shitty player now. I think he is past his peak. He dives, he falls easily, he is a one horse pony, he cant pass and definitely not shoot. He style of play is always the same, play a one-two and try to out run the player. Kick the ball forward with his the outside of his right foot, and try to out run the defender. Its is always the same. Play acting and things like this.
yes, he is a cover for sagna and walcott. But he does not seems happy at all. He wanted to leave earlier stating that he wanna be a starting eleven. But is he worth it? Nope I would say. His defense is terrible now, he is no longer the same player.
He has been given chances after chances (just like diaby) to find his form back, but nope, they screw every chance that they were given. Remember the wigan game, that was the worst piece of display from an arsenal player, I almost had a heart attack when he passes the ball not once, but numerous time to wigan players.
I believe we should just sell him away when another team wants him. Gavin hoyte can be a good player. Gavin hoyte is tall and fast. Just because his brother sucks for us, does not means justin would just be as sucky. I can foresee a good future for gavin hoyte in arsenal colours. He left on loan last season, and next season he would have a certain amount of experience with him. If wenger can give gibbs a chance, he can give hoyte his chance too. If gibbs can do it, hoyte can do it as well. Remember, the rule on the quota of foreign players is gonna kick in in the champions league soon, therefore, we need more english homegrown players.
On the eboue being the cover of walcott, this is redundant as we have many players capable of covering him in his position (nasri, arshavin, rosicky, bendtner, vela, wilshere, lansbury etc).
We should just get rid of him asap and get what we all know we need. I defensive midfielder, some one to protect the back four and relieve cesc his defensive duties.
So let me get this straight. Rather than having a strong starting 11, the author would rather have almost the same team as last season and save money? You sir have no claim to any criticism of Arsenal for the rest of your life if that is how you see things. CMs are the new superstars – just look at the other big clubs in England and Eurpe and how much they’ve spent on their CMs: Carrick – 20M, Essien – 24M, Mascherano – 18M, Diarra – 22M. This position is iby no means one in which you want to skimp on – Makalele made sure of that when MAdrid totally screwed themselves by selling him. What Melo could bring to Arsenal is far more important right now than whatever Eboue can do from his bench point of view.
I cant believe the way people talk about eboue. He clearly turned a corner this year after his problems and was playing better than ever. It’s like his potential was being realised.
He covered left back for a game, and his attacking runs with and without the ball were excellent. Imo he should have been in ahead of gibbs for the 2nd leg against man utd, not because of the slip, but just cos hes more solid.
Gibbs obviously has brilliant potential, but for a game of that size it would have been better to play someone with more experience.
Eboue shouldn’t Cover for walcott. He should be in ahead of him. He does far more to justify his place in terms of work-rate and technical ability. It’s like we’re just hoping walcott will take a chance when he gets it, but he does it so rarely, its not worth starting him in most cases. To be honest, neither should be starting for us and hopefuly Rosicky coming back will mean neither have to. But id rather lose walcott and have eboue as backup, as he offers nothing defensively, and its like we’re always just waiting for him to take a chance or do something special. This happens probably one game in 5 or 10, but in the meantime he’s nothing to us. At least eboue works hard. On top of that, we have wilshere, merida and vela coming who have far more to offer than walcott ever will. I think bischoff would have been a better option for RM as well
“CMs: Carrick – 20M, Essien – 24M, Mascherano – 18M, Diarra – 22M”
– melo has shown nothing to suggest he’s anywhere near as good as these players
if we are going to spend big on a CM, great, but it’s got to be for the right one. If hes really going to change things, then i have no problem in letting eboue go as part of the deal, although Id rather include senderos or diaby; i just dont see it with melo
@ Davi Melo may not be at the standard of the DM’s mentioned now but if you actually compare him to when they first moved to the clubs their at now ie, Carrick at Spurs, Essien at Lyon, Marcharano at West Ham Diarra at portsmouth I think Melo easy easily as good and will improve with better players around him.
That being said the 13m that Spurs payed for Wilson actually looks decent.
So let me get this straight. Rather than having a strong starting 11, the author would rather have almost the same team as last season and save money? You sir have no claim to any criticism of Arsenal for the rest of your life if that is how you see things. CMs are the new superstars – just look at the other big clubs in England and Eurpe and how much they’ve spent on their CMs: Carrick – 20M, Essien – 24M, Mascherano – 18M, Diarra – 22M. This position is iby no means one in which you want to skimp on – Makalele made sure of that when MAdrid totally screwed themselves by selling him. What Melo could bring to Arsenal is far more important right now than whatever Eboue can do from his bench point of view.
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Have i said i want to save money? NO
I just dont see the point in wasting it on unproven players.
For fuck sake i wish people would not take my words out of context.
Really easy boys…Senderos+12 million pounds for Melo. Thats it. Eboue is our key utility man on the right side and until we fill either vacancy for utility man at RM/RB then Eboue should stay. There are other CDM to look at. Inler, Cana, Diarra, even the Flamini swap + money would due quite nicely. However, I like the Ade for 20mil.+ Flamini deal. Use the money from Ade’s sale to buy Huntelaar or Chakmahn wuteva. And Flamini would solve our CDM solution with a man who already knows Wengerball and who I believe regrets leaving Arsenal simply because of a salary issue. Arsene this is a good deal.
Gooner4lyf
If we move for Melo, I think the best deal for Arsenal would be Senderos + cash. Eboue, while not being a first team choice, IS an important player to the squad. And sentiments aside (I do like the lad, personally), he does bring some versatility as cover for RB/CM when needed. If there was one thing the squad lacked last year it was DEPTH. So I think hanging on to Eboue is pretty important.
Having said that, if the offer from Milan is legitimate (and who really knows at this point??)…I would rather have that deal than anything else currently being considered. It solves our DM issues with Flamini, allows us to keep Eboue, gives us some more cash to spend if we want to bring in another CB or striker (although I think striker is not likely) and may actually give us a more flexible attack by allowing either Theo or Shava to move forward in a 4-3-3 on occasion.
Song has been sensational in the past couple of months, so if we were to get a DM someone like Gilberto/Senna would be perfect as they can pass a lot of experience onto him. Personally I agree with the writer of this blog, I suspect many of you haven’t ever seen Melo play and from what I’ve seen he isn’t worth a straight swap for Eboue, who showed some very good form towards the end of the season along with Song.
I don’t rate Denilson though, and maybe we can have a good long look at him and hopefully the much bigger and physical Diaby through pre-season and maybe waiting until then for a strong DM, atm I’m happy with Song and Eboue in the squad.
…u think Eboue is adequate cover at RB? I think Song can be better cover…we didnt know how well Flamini could cover at RB until A. Cole went down in 06, did we?
I think Eboue and Senderos can go, we can go get Haageland, cos I think Toure wants to go (which is fine by me). Sell Adebayor for straight cash, we dont really need Flamini, if we have Melo besides Flamini’s salary is a lot now
I tink we shld buy melo or lorik cana.if we don’t buy a defensive midfielder to cover for fabregas we will end up d same way we have bin 4 d past 4 seasons.
scathing comments @ Eboue. I trust Wenger coz he loves d club jst as much as y’all do, or even more. Right now I’d rather savour this moment for Roger Federer has jst won yet another wimbledon afta an epic match against Andy… Murray! oh, sorry goonblogger, I meant to say Roddick.lol
B – Im not sure about that. Diarra had put in some brilliant performances for us and for portsmouth. I remember him standing out in preventing man utd from scoring in the FA cup semi, and him dominating gareth barry for us.
Mascherano was renowned before he went west ham, and was known to be a top player in argentina. Essien was known to be big. The only one I was surprised about is carrick. Before he went to man utd, I didnt really see what was good about him. I would still contend that he isnt worth what they paid for him.
You might be right, I’m basing my assessment of melo almost entirely on the confeds cup, and i think he would be a good signing for us, but not for the money that’s being talked about.
It could be that he is better than he showed in confeds cup, I believe he is used to playing in a 3 at fiorentina, and perhaps the role didnt suit him.
IKE: Song is not decent right back cover…he has never played there. Its a bit like saying Almunia could be a decent striker cover…
The fact is, if we let Eboue go, we would have to replace his position within the squad with another player.
And also… there would be no more dancing
I have no problem if people don’t like Eboue’s personality, but to say he plays shit is simply to show how little you know about this level of soccer.
Donno why people say so bad about Eboue. He’s not good, agreed, but he works hard to be good. So unlike Diaby who won’t learn that he can’t dribble and try to pass the ball rather. Walcott is being over-rated, he’s a gr8 potential but there’s still got a huge room for improvement, thus, he should be in the first 11. I will fancy a swab deal involving Diaby + Senderos for Melo, he’s not worth more than that, he’s just average and i think i can match his feats if i remember to tie my lace. As for Sly, isn’t there an offer? Or, do we keep him for christmas, he may b parceled to a team in Saudi Arabia or some league lower. It’ll be a huge gift! All the same, Arsene knows more than any other sucker does. He steers the ship and all your blabs will remain a mere ‘OPINION’. Chaio!
I think we should forget about Melo. We’re not going to pay what fiorentina wants, and from what I’ve seen, he’s not worth it anyway.
And Eboue really deserves a bit more credit. Yes, I know there are akers of room for improvement, but he always plays with his heart on the outside, and the way he turned things around after that horrendous sp*rs game last season really impressed me.
I’d rather we kept him for another season, but I won’t be insomnious if he went
For me… ARSENAL MUST GET Trophy … sell rubbish and get good commando that value to the club…
dont get rubbish as reyes, wiltord…
trow traitor like call adebayour…
Arsenal can also extend Eboues contract by a year and slap a 15 million price tag on him then bring Floerentina to the negotiating table, simple. He remains Arsenal best no.2 at right back and is also the teams ‘utility’ player, like him on not. He has come on as a right winger or a left back, on both occassions comments were positive.
[...] I think the fact that Juventus have also not offered the full amount speaks volumes, but, you have to be wary that these Italians may just be playing games with us, throwing another hat into the ring to try and get the full price for Melo. I guess all will be revealed at some point but I have made my position on the matter perfectly clear. [...]