There is no player that shadows the recent fortunes of Arsenal more than Gael Clichy.
When he was thrust into the limelight in the wake of Ashley Cole’s departure to Chelsea, we were full of hope. We didn’t miss Cole and also had a fine center-back in William Gallas – at that point it looked like we got the best of that deal.
Sadly, Clichy failed to build on a promising start and hasn’t developed on the raw quality he had back then, for all the attributes he has to be one of the finest left-back’s around he seems to have a problem mentally when the pressure is on. His disintegration from a bright ray of hope to the sighs of despair when he is about to deliver a cross show that not only have the fans lost faith in him, but now it seems Arsene Wenger has too. It is a shame, but probably right for both parties to part ways.
Clichy always gave everything and will be remembered fondly, he is still pretty young and has plenty of football left in him despite being at Arsenal for what seems like an eternity, it just shows how young he was when the pressure of succeeding Cole was put on him – he dealt with that fine – its just a shame that he now has a reputation for making costly errors.
With Clichy undergoing a medical at City today, the £7m fee is not as over the top as the fees for Kolo Toure and to a lesser extent Adebayor were, City have a decent player there and if they can get into his head and iron out his flaws they will see a decent player progress into a fine player. No bad feelings on this side though, as I said, he always gave everything.
Arsenal must have some kind of replacement lined up though, Gibbs is far from ready and his injury record is shocking at this moment in time. It is all well and good saying he deserves a chance, but that isn’t progression and improvement. That is going back to where we started, in one sense this summer has almost been one of regression, signings are needed fast. We all appreciate that there are complications in deals but Arsenal are developing a rather annoying habit on losing out on their chances – using wages as an excuse is a kop-out, we have one of the highest wage bills in the league, it is mismanagement of the finances that mean we can’t ship out some of the dead wood because they are paid far too much for other clubs to pay. The rewarding of failure has to stop for Arsenal to move forward.
So, Gael: Cheers for years of good service. Sorry it wasn’t as much of a success as it looked like it may be at one point. You will be richly rewarded at City. I’d say good luck, but it might be us in need of it next season. Farewell.
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In arsene we rust,always on the cheap,well done wenger
Blimey, at last someone gets it. Good riddance to Clichy, he’s been shit and Man City will be weaker with him at left back. I hope Arshavin comes up against him next season, just play balls down the channels for the Russian to run into and he’ll destroy the prat.
Nice little piece you’ve written there. I think Clichy’s concentration levels and lack of height have cost us in the past and although I am not too disapointed by him leaving, I still accept he is a good player. However, there are better left backs out there, eg, Baines, my fear is that Wenger will take the cheap option and install Gibbs as the new left back. I’m also unsure as to whether Enrique is the answer either as i fear he may be a one season wonder.
“not only have the fans lost faith in him, but now it seems Arsene Wenger has too”.
Wenger wanted him to stay so we can’t credit Wenger with any foresight.
Wenger wont buy a replacement he will play TV there~@*% Clichy has been on a downward curve since Birmingham 08.Gibbs just isnt good enough
Well done Wenger indeed!
Clichy was at the heart of most of our defensive disasters in recent years and we were clearly not going to move forwards until he moved on.
A very fair and sensible post although I gave up long ago believing Wenger has a replacement lined up.A fit Keiran Gibbs mighjt be like a new signing or we might be sold the0 prospect of a revitalised Armand Traore!
The thing that is stacking up opposition to Wenger is that he desperately needed to fire the enthusiasm of fans by getting stuck into the market as soon as possible but he so rarely senses what would enthuse fans and has a huge arrogance that his way is best.It is very hard to envisage a sharp,improved sqyuad turning out next season and dealing with the tough games we have.The need to save every penny drivesd deals to the wire and puts them at risk as Martin Samuel writes in the Mail today.
Oh how we laughed at Cardiff as we chanted “USA” derisively at Man U.Who’s laughing now?
Was A.Traore sold or do Arsenal still own him ?
Im fine with him leaving but I’m not fine with him going to another Premier League team…
The thing about Clichy is that in 8 years at Arsenal he had one a single great season. And that was about 3 years ago.
It’s much mentioned how long he has been in the squad, yet no one grasps the significance of that when you consider that he is a LAST player of our back four that you’d want defending a 1v1. Would anyone think the same of Evra for example? No – that’s why he is always picked before Clichy.
Also much mentioned is Clichy’s large number of tackles last year. Well has no one considered that the Arsenal defensive style is to jockey and funnel players rather than gamble and leave your feet? This is why Clichy’s mustakes cost. And that is before we consider his inability to play offsides properly – again unnaceptable after 8 years of training.
A nice guy off the field, and I salute him for that. But if you are looking for grizzled veteran defenders who will win you a trophy it is NOT Gael Clichy, unfortunately.
And to stick the nail in, remember that in Flamini’s sole season as a makeshift left back he produced far better two-way performance than Clichy ever did in EIGHT season of specialisation at the position. That realization right there is the clincher. He wasnt good enough to be wanting even more money – he should have been justhappy to be picked before Gibbs who was no worse, and probably better when compared at same ages really. Sorry Gael, but its the cold truth.
Just bring in Bains and we’ll be more stronger..
For sure that is the beginning of Arsenals strength
agree with simms21,you dont sell a player too a rival whoever they are,why strenghen them and weaken ourselves,ud never see chelsea,man u and city do business between themselves unless there on a free,then its down to the player,wenger has to have a transfer plan,we regardless of press speculation will not know what it is until its done its wengers policy to hold his cards close to his chest,i for one would of maybe liked to of seen shay given come in exchange at least wed be strenghening 1 area with experience,but they wont sell to us,they not silly
Thank you for Clichy, he will be a great addition to our squad, not the same transfer fee as kolo or manu, but also he wont have the same impact.
do the Arsenal fans think Nasri will follow him, Just to let you know, Stuart pearce tried to sign Nasri when he was at Marseille but he turned down a move at that point
It always appears that if we sell a player they go cheaper than the current rate. When we try to buy a player the price doubles.
Clichy was a good player but has gone backward in the last 2 years but at the curent market rate 10 million would have been a fair refelction. He is still one of the best left backs, he is still young, and has premier league experience. I just hope he does no tkick on at City.
well said.
One option might be to play Vermaelen there (played years there before at Ajax) in the tough away games at stoke etc (IF we can recruit 1 or 2 decent CBS) and use Gibbs as a more attacking option at home against crap teams
how about Vertonghen to rotate LB position along with Gibbs, Vermaelen and he could also play CB.
All the best gael,thanks for your service to this fine club.Gael and cesc owe arsenal nothing as the clubs transfer policies failed them and that is the reason they are departing.Samir on the other hand owes us though,we have developed his game greatly and he has only been here 3years.The club and fans adore him singing his name constantly.You may go samir and earn more money,but be a proper man by staying here and showing respect,bravery and fight to win trophies.We can win trophies samir if as i expect arsene sorts the defence out.Samir show respect to arsene especially aswell as us fans.Mr nasri arsenal is your home so stay son and continue to show class off the pitch aswell as on it.We need you.Be your own man and dont listen to outside influences.Both manchester clubs have more money than us but will never have the class the arsenal have in terms of always conducting themselves properly and we our a club steeped in tradition which the others cant match.Give us 2 or 3 more years minimum then go like gael and cesc with our blessings,you can go down in the clubs history samir as an absolute great.Samir arsenal fc believe in you,be remembered one day here like the legend thierry.Henry had class in everyway and is simply a god here,we will always love what he done for us on the pitch but even more so love the love he showed and continues to show for the arsenal.I trust you will make the right decision samir.
We now have a £52m transfer budget, with 3 more defensive sales (Eboue, Squillaci and Hoyte) we could lift that to £62m. Then purchase 3, Jagielka, Cahill and Samba for around £40m.
Sagna Samba Cahill Vermaelen
(Jagielka Djourou Koscielny Gibbs)
(Jenkinson Bartley Miquel Traore)
Then we can start on the midfield with £22m plus another £60m from the sale of Cesc and Nasri and any of the other dross we can shift like Rosicky, Denilson, Eastmond and Diaby.
July 25th 2009, Clichy: “I really believe if you are a player who thinks only about money then you could end up at Manchester City.””
sums the bloke up hes shit just compare his stats to a decent left back
With the greatest of respect www wenger will never spend all that money which you believe we have.Im simply basing that theory on his track record here over the years,i hope to god he does because we are in trouble big time at the moment.Shame on the club for treating us loyal fans like shit when surely to god they know we are suffering and are in urgent need of a big pick me up.If all these players leave the club cant say how dissapointed they are with the players disloyalty when the club its self have been more than a shade of disloyal to its own fans.Im truely staggered and with desbelief,shock and despair as to what is going on behind the scenes.
TV is our best CB now i am reading comments say play him at LB.Fucking madness.Just go out and spent money on a quality LB.We’re doomed
Clichy has been targeted by teams for about 3 years and is by far the busiest left back in the league.
He leads the Arsenal team in terms of tackles per game 3.4. Higher than Alex Song slightly. As well as this he leads all other Arsenal players in interceptions per game with 3.4 also.
Also if you take a look at clearances per game, Clichy is 4th highest Arsenal with 4.5 per game.
If you add these 3 figures together you get 11.3 key defensive plays per game. 3.4 tackles, 3.4 interceptions and 4.5 clearances
Compare this with evra 7.3 key defensive plays per game and Ashley Cole 5.1 key defensive plays per game and you can see that Clichy does a hell of alot of work for the team.
Ideally we are looking for a left back that will be constantly exposed due to the system that Wenger plays, targeted for long balls, derided by fans for every mistake, required to sprint forward and back, must pass at a rate that makes average midfielders look poor, and needs to be able to provide crosses into the box for a team with one real center forward.
This player does not exist
http://www.7amkickoff.com/2011/gael-clichy-yet-to-recover-from-eduardo-tackle/
Dont worry Gooners Downing Barton and Doyle are on the way.Hooray
Yes well …. Clichy had the basic attributes but Arsenal under the Wenger plan are / were unable to teach him how to defend properly. This means keeping the ball out of our net and integrating within a tight defensive unit. This won’t happen till Wenger is forced to allow in a strong defensive number two coach and game winning tactician. Or better still till … Wenger goes upstairs with the old farts.
Wenger told this will be a busy summer.I never thought he is telling about selling…
Fucking joke of a club.Really dissapointed with the muppets running the show.Where is samba,gervinho,cahill,chamberlain,alvarez?.
We sold Clichy.We lost the best interceptor .Now we can grow Gibbs and can sell him to ambitious clubs.
hhmmmmm for some reason my comment got pulled
i assume it was because i used some stats I got from another blog, but also cited the blog….
Basically it was saying Clichy gets through an almighty amount of defensive work twice as much as Ashley Cole and 50% more than Evra when you look at tackles per game, interceptions per game and clearances per game.
What we are looking for in a replacement is someone with the same defensive stats yet can also bomb up and down the line making a rake of assists etc.
That Left back does not exist
Wilshire,ramsay and walcott next to leave next summer?.Why doesnt the club make an official announcement as to there future plans,assuming they have any.Surely they are aware of fever pitch disillusionment and frustration with the people who are meant to mean something i.e the fans.This club started a slow and painful death the second dein got chased and the cavemen left behind are ever so stubborn and strong in their believes not to change one bit.Dont think for one second that arsene is different than fabregas,nasri and clichy,because hes obviously playing ball with these idiots making sure he is getting a big secure wage coming in every year.Does wenger want a trophy so badly like you and i?.
I blame this all on Agents….Nasri clichy vp and fab all represented by same guy
Gooner tank you need to understand that statistics require CONTEXT.
In modern defense actually tackle volume is not crucial – in fact it can be NEGAVIVE. Particularly at Arsenal where the defensive philosophy is not to jump into tackles and leave your feet, but rather to sheperd attackers and delay them.
Also the high level of activty by Clichy is a direct result of teams targeting him. Under pressure he does make mistakes and it only takes one mistake and one goal to decide a game. Meanwhile you focus on statistics he is racking up before he THEN goes on to cost us the game!
You want to show me statistics, show statistics of mistakes percentage made under pressure, or number of blown offsides traps. These are what matters.
ziontrain. I take your point. He is heavily targeted and he is continually on his own against two players because of the system we play. The reason he is targeted is more to do with the fact that our left flank was continually wide open, not just because it is clichy playing there.
I accept Clichy does have lapses at times but in all honesty I can count these on one hand (serious lapses). His work far outweighs these errors down the last 7 years.
I was just demonstrating how much work he does actually do. Whoever comes in will have to cope with the same workload yet also bomb up and down the line providing crosses, scoring opportunities and assists.
My point was that this player doesn’t really exist. So you could get Ashley Cole or PAtrice Evra and we’d still be in the same rut.
It is all to do with the system that continually exposes the left side. In addition I think we can safely say the 4-4-2 was where CLichy played his best football
Fact is city got an average player in clichy and just pray they dont get an outstanding one in nasri.Gibbs is only average and also very injury prone so tight bollocks arsene needs to buy quality right through out our defensive line,somehow given his track record i dont hold out much hope nor do i hold out great expectations for the new season ahead.This board has dragged its current playing staff and fabulous fans right through the gutter and has only itself to blame for being the new feeder club to city and others,This is the arsenal for gods sake and we should be very powerful in all that we do.We have massive support,income and have billionaires and lot and lots of unspent resources stashed away.Shameful,shameful behaviour.Put our club back in business and quit making us a fucking laughing stock.