One current transfer rumour is highly disturbing: Matthew Upson is one of the defensive options open to Arsene Wenger.
A few years ago Upson was a decent defender, maintaining his affiliation to Arsenal through a plethora of injuries throughout his career. The question I have to ask is if Upson wasn’t good enough for us back in 2003 when he was actually a decent defender what makes Arsene think that he is good enough for us now when he is clearly over the hill? It would be a typical Arsene defensive signing by making it look like he is doing something about it but spending hardly any money but he can claim that he has signed a quality player.
It would be just about as successful as the Silvestre signing if it happened.
Thankfully I was told yesterday that he is very much a back-up option if we spend, and there is no garuntee we will. It all hinges on the fitness of Sebastian Squillaci, if he returns in a week or two from his injury with no problems I am sure we won’t go into the market but a setback can change that. There is no great surprise that Thomas Vermaelen is facing the rest of the season out injured, the club still dont know the cause of the searing pain in his achilles. When I wrote this I came in for an awful lot of stick, I was informed around that time that the chances of seeing Vermaelen in the next six months were very slim, I didn’t publish it but its all too true.
Signing Upson would be anything but a signal of intent, City go out and slash £30-40 million a time a whilst I know that we can’t spend sums of that magnitude, spending the cash is a signal of intent and it sends a message out to your rivals that you mean business. The squad must look at a lack of investment and must feel very happy they don’t have the competition or wonder just how much Arsenal want to win something rather than report brilliant financial results that only a select few will ever see the benefit of.
There is a weakness in the squad and it needs fixing, regardless of who is injured or who it may freeze out the picture. Who is bigger, the club or an aspiring player? At times it does seem the latter and we just can’t afford to lessen our chances of winning anything by giving a player less game-time – the nature of the Arsenal squad shows that an injury crisis is never too far round the corner anyway. Arsene just needs to bite the bullet and buy quality, the options are out there.
The time has come and gone for rhetoric about the ‘right player’ not being available. We need to buy Arsene.
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From a West Ham fan all I can say is please take him, you are very welcome to him. He has no commitment or loyalty for the clubs he plays for and to be honest, his best days are far far behind him.
As you say, there are so man y better players out there.
top post but it will go all down to the wire again and perhaps all our targets then out of sight. Which means no signings and no ambitions to win something. New blood is needed. In every department of Arsenal FC!! Project youth failed but he is to stubborn for admitting this.
@matt ryan
not to rub it in but i think he’s why you guys r still at the bottom. U are lucky to have parker.
The sad thing is that buying Upson now that he is finshed is exactly the sort of deal that Arsene has become known for. When he arrived at Highbury and inherited the greatest defence the world has seen, he also had Wrighty & Bergy all he had to do was add a couple of MF ( and he did ) and we won the double. He was lucky enough to have those great defenders all the years he won trophies…when they were gone AW has shown he has no idea how or who to create a defence with. His cheep special offers like ‘Senderos, Cygan, Campbell and Stepanovs prove the point. Fergie on the other hand has spent big money on great defenders and how it shows. We will win nothing again because Arsenes lack of defence is killing the team…think how it feels to know that the berks behind you cannot keep a clean sheet ever?
DONT BUY UPSON, NOT A GOOD CHOICE AT ALL, NOTHING IMPRESSIVE ABOUT HIM. WENGER SHOULD NOT BE STINGGY, QUALITY PLAYERS COST A BIT MORE BUT THE WORST THING IS TO GET ANOTHER SYVESTRE TYPE. WILL BE REALLY DEMORALISING…ESPECLLY WENGER HAS NEVER BEEN GOOD AT ORGANIZING DEFENCE. eVEN WITH THE KEEPERS, HE KEPT PERSISTING WITH THE LOSER-ALMUNIA, COST ARSENAL SO MANY GAMES.,AND POTENTIALLY THE TITLE LAST SEASON.
Don’t worry, Wenger will never sign him. Wenger himself never said he’s interested in Upson.
btw, splashing the cash is NOT a signal of intent. Plenty of clubs been splashing cashes around at the present and at the past, had anyone of them won anything? Liverpool for example, over the years how much money they had wasted on their so called “signal of intent” act – buying buying buying?
agree 100% on upson,i love wenger but he needs to get hi prioritys right,the club has money to spendand very frustrating that he will not spend it,this is arsenal not wenger he needs to remembr that,i mean come on nobody is asking him to break the bank,is 20million on a top cb to much to ask or a top cf,for 20million wenger could sign sakho of psg or lukaku from anderlecht but he wont cause it would kill seb squillaci or b52,it seems that these kind of players careers are more important to him than winning trophies for our club and thats not acceptable in my opinion
Gone are the days of fantastic buys, of unknown players who could come in and do the job from day one.
Even the youngesters we buy now are around the £7-8 million (avg) mark. They are 16-17 years old, we pay them better salary than anyone else in the country (thus we have one of the highest salary exp). Half of them dont even make it, yet we have spend money, time and effort. A very small difference in overall cost perhaps if one buys an experienced player aged 25/26.
Enough with the youth project failure rant.
On Upson….it’ll be a nightmare signing. Silvestre Part 2.
Wenger had to add 3 midfielders: Petit, Vieira and Overmars plus Anelka and Ian Wright was a passenger by the end of the double season. Wenger only won the 98 double with the back 4 he inherited. by 2002 Campbell, Lauren and Cole were the mainstays of the Arsenal defense. so Wenger has won with his own defense as he brought in Lauren, Campbell and Toure.
Please be nice Matthew is my uncle. Everyone, even AW, knows that he is not an Arsenal material. Romours is that Chelski might sign him to replace JT, lol!
Spend £12m on Cahill. Job Done.
Wenger now has habits of splashing lots of cash to get youngster but instead prefer the cheap oldie defenders. Began from Silvestre, then Campbell and now targeting Upson. What the hell.
Who told we cant spend that kind of money,if you look at the books we can easily afford a 50 mil outlay and exactly what excuse will Wenger use when he pockets 50 mil in the summer on Cesc because you can rest assured he will not spend one penny of that income ????
Arsenal is a finacial powerhouse,Barca and Madrid keep spending loads of cash the never have so why shouldnt we be able to splurge once to remedy the team,it is all swenger spin that we are skint,we were but we are no longer.
At the moment, Kos is not good enough for the Prem. Offer £12m for Cahill and we sort out the league, save Kos for the Champ League.
Bolton will take what they can as they are £95 in debt, throw in Squid (and Vela on loan) and we save on wages as well.
£5m for Charlie Adams anyone?
A 2-footed, combative midfielder, who can organise, shoots from outside the box, takes free kicks and corners and is a leader as well.
£30k a week better spent than some of the weak minded dross we have at the moment.
if we want win we have to spend 3-4 players hold midfielder striker and differed …
Seasonticket, bit of truth there mate, thank you.
who? other than wenger actually thinks djurou is going to make it in defence.
he was made to look average against championship team ipswich the other nite. he is another no hoper in a team full of no hopers.
until wenger realises his youth policy is s***e we will carry on winning nothing.
Who is this unnamed prem club that has snapped up pienaar for 6million?,ive a feeling its us as wenger is an admirer and has said nice things about him before,he has also praised arsenal and arsene.To sign upson would be disgraceful,upsetting and once again would show this clubs failings in signing defensive players.Arsene spend 10 to 20 million on quality in that area and deliver the crown,simples.
Please, please, please, take Upson,
and we will throw in Louis B.M & Can’t Contol.
As a Job lot
ive just heard that wenger has been chatting to marsaille desailly at a motorway service station…rumour has it that the retired central defender(who is luckily french) is back in training.
Apparently he will play for nothing and every goal he is to blame for he will pay 10 grand into the arsenal coffers.sounds like real business acumen to me!