New beginnings

You must agree that there is some sort of assurance and confidence of a better tomorrow that comes from starting over. That’s why people are often excited by a new year because of the possibilities. But what do you do when after about eight new years are gone and you find that you haven’t achieved the goal you have been setting all those eight years? Set another GOAL! Lool! Well the very popular quote says that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. So I think when you have tried to achieve something for eight straight years using a particular system and it doesn’t work maybe its time for some changes Duh! I guess Wenger would disagree with me but well it still has to be said. Arsenal cannot compete effectively with other big teams and win trophies without bringing in very GOOD players. With big emphasis on good…

  

Following my last piece on “Dumping excess weight” Here is a list of five players linked to Arsenal that can revive the team next season.

Stevan Jovetic

The biggest move Arsenal are linked with this summer is for Fiorentina's Stevan Jovetic. 

The Gunners are prepared to break their transfer record to sign the £20 million rated Montenegro striker.

The Fiorentina striker is believed to be the top ­summer target for Arsene Wenger and Arsenal after scoring 12 goals in 24 league games for the Champions League-chasing Viola side. The 23-year-old Montenegrin has impressed in Vincenzo Montella's 3-5-2 formation this term and is Serie A's standout striker behind Napoli's Edinson Cavani.

The Fiorentina striker is well aware of the interest he is generating in North London and Manchester. Recently he issued a "come and get me" plea to both Wenger and Roberto Mancini via (The Daily Star):

“It sure is nice when you are interesting big clubs like Arsenal and Manchester City.

“I’m very comfortable in Italy but the Premier League is at the top of the football world – and perhaps the best.

“We will see what happens in the future."

Arsenal playing in the Champions League may be the deal-breaker here.

Alexis Sanchez

Arsenal and Barcelona have long been bed-follows when it comes to transfers between teams. Usually the players travel away from the Emirates, but this time it could be the other way around.

Alexis Sanchez is now surplus to requirements at the Camp Nou for Tito Vilanova and the Daily Mail has the Gunners leading the charge for the £22 million-valued star.

The 24-year-old left-sided forward and attacking midfielder would instantly change the entire complexion of Arsenal's attack. Sanchez is another in a growing list of world stars who learned their trade in Serie A, having started with Udinese. He would bring another level of creativity and penetration to an already creative Arsenal side.

All Arsene Wenger has to do to capture him is hold off interest from Manchester United, Juventus and Inter Milan.

That might not prove all that difficult considering his agent's recent words on the matter:

"Sanchez needs to play the ball on the ground, just like Arsenal. That would be his ideal game."

Ashley Williams

Arsenal have conceded 32 goals from 29 games this term, so it is little wonder that they are linked with good defenders, especially defenders of the central variety.

Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen have all performed far below expectations this term. The Gunners' captain, Vermaelen, has particularly enjoyed a decidedly poor season.

The Premier League player Arsene Wenger is being linked with by the South Wales Evening Post to shore up the Gunners' porous back line is Swansea City's Ashley Williams. The Welsh international has been nothing but impressive for the Swans over their last two seasons in the EPL.

He is a commanding ball-playing centre-back and would slot straight into any Wenger team from any era.

Adil Rami

Adil Rami is one of the best centre-backs in Europe at this very moment in time. He is the type of player any ambitious club should be linked to.

Metro has Arsenal and Arsene Wenger tracking the Moroccan-born French international for some time now. With his contract due to end in 2015 the time to strike is now.

The 27-year-old is a calm presence at the back for Valencia, and if Wenger can capture him for a modest fee it could signal that Thomas Vermaelen is about to move on. There can be little doubt that Rami would be an immediate improvement on the Belgian this term. However, Vermaelen has far more potential which could be the deciding factor in his sale.

Rami has been quoted recently as saying he feels good at Valencia and is contemplating their contract offer. However, he also stated his desire for first-team football. This, in negotiation-speak, means he will join whoever plays him and plays in the Champions League regularly.

James McCarthy

Wigan Athletic's James McCarthy may just be the best midfielder in the Premier League not currently playing for one of the traditional big-guns.

The Irish international, at the tender age of just 22, has already played over 220 professional games. He made his debut in the rough and tumble of the Scottish First Division at just 15 with Hamilton Academicals.

Arsenal have long been linked with the jewel in Wigan's crown. His intelligence and versatility mean he would be the ideal partner for Jack Wilshere or Mikel Arteta in midfield. Comfortable anywhere along the spine in a support or defensive role, McCarthy has shown maturity beyond his years for Wigan and Ireland, and he could bring a bite and drive sadly lacking in this modern Gunners' team.

As the season draws gradually to an end, lets hope Arsenals new season is truly a new beginning

Till next time stay true 2 soccer...

Dumping the Excess Weight

Moving on is part of life. If one is to move on in life the mistakes of the past are to be let go and tried to be avoided in the future. Therefore for progress to be made changes have to occur from time to time. I believe same applies to football. For any football club to move  forward, players will be let go new players will be bought.

My case in study will be Arsenal. Here is a team that has always promised a better tomorrow for its fans but somehow have failed to achieve such. Its now been 7Years, 10Months, 5Days, 14Hours, 3 minutes,10 seconds  and counting since Arsenal won a trophy. Yep! I have to keep count. One of the things Arsenal needs to do to restore the lost faith is to certainly get rid of some players who like the teams have always promised a better tomorrow but always presented a disastrous today.

The likes of Andrey Arshavin, Sebastien Squillaci and Denilson Pereira will all surely be on their way when their contracts expire this summer.

However, there are still several players whose deals run beyond this season that the club urgently need to get rid of.

Nicklas Bendtner is becoming something of an albatross around Arsenal's neck. His Arsenal career was essentially deemed over a couple of years ago, and yet Arsenal have not managed to sell the big Dane.

First he went on loan to Sunderland, where he hardly set the world alight. Then this season he joined Juventus on loan. There were high hopes for him in Italy, but his time in Serie A has been dogged by injury.

Arsenal will be desperately hoping they can find a club prepared to gamble on Bendtner this summer.

Santos

Arsenal fans were delighted to see the back of Andre Santos when he joined Gremio on loan in February.

His poor performances for the club were compounded by his infamous clinch with Robin van Persie at Old Trafford. His relationship with supporters of the Gunners broke down beyond repair, and a cooling off period seemed like the only sensible option.

However, come the summer Santos' loan with Gremio will be over, and Arsene Wenger will be faced with a decision on the Brazilian's long-term future.

With Kieran Gibbs and Nacho Monreal both flourishing in the left-back role, it seems likely Santos will be moved on permanently.

Marouane Chamakh

Marouane Chamakh is currently plying his trade with West Ham. However, with doubts over the future of West Ham manager Sam Allardyce, it is impossible to predict whether or not the Hammers will have any interest in keeping Chamakh beyond the summer.

The omens don't look good. The Moroccan is yet to score for his new side, and has faced stiff competition for a first-team place from both Carlton Cole and Andy Carroll.

The most likely escape route for Chamakh looks to be a return to Ligue 1 and France, where he was so impressive for Bordeaux.

Park Chu-Young

Park Chu-Young remains one of the most baffling signings of Arsene Wenger's Arsenal career.Hopefully Park's impressive international record is enough to tempt another club to offer him a chance to resurrect his career away from the Emirates Stadium.

Vito Mannone.

This season started so well for VitoMannone. With Wojciech Szczesnyand Lukasz Fabianski injured, he was briefly Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper.

Now, however, he seems to have sunk down the pecking order to third-choice. It was telling that when Arsene Wenger wanted to drop Szczesny against BayernMunich, he turned to Fabianski. The Pole hadn't played a senior game in more than a year, and yet was preferred to the Italian.

With rumours that Arsenal may look to sign a senior goalkeeper this summer,Mannone's time with the club is surely up.

Monday.....What If it wasnt...

Don't you just love it when things happen when they are not supposed to happen?if it favors you,its sweet and lovely,if it doesn't....well..bitter and sad....apparently spring began last week Wednesday and yet it snowed almost the entire weekend. So we journey on with the bitter and sweet. It was a weekend of international football and let's just say you get to learn more about geography than enjoy football with countries like San Marino involved.

Other than the great joy of international football,the biggest question of the weekend was, did Michael Owen fulfill his career as a footballer? There were many different answers but it raised a lot of what if questions in my head and of course I would want to share that with you....

What if Ronaldo de Lima did not get injured?

Well for those of you that don't remember him,he is that Ronaldo that is referred to as Fat Ronaldo......and if it doesn't still ring a bell,then google him....he was by far the most feared striker in the world and even after not winning the world cup in 1998,Ronaldo was possibly the best player in the world. In 1999,Ronaldo tore his knee ligaments and was out of the game for over 2 years. Although he came back to the game,winning the world cup with Brazil in 2002,becoming the highest goal scorer in world cup history and going on to play for Real Madrid, there were arguements about if he was still the Ronaldo he was before the injury. He had domestic problems and not to mention his weight problem. He was not the footballer we knew him to be.He came back good and scored wonderful goals,won a title or two but what if he never got injured at all?

What if Messi chose Spain over Argentina?

Well not like I want to imagine what it would have been like but I thought I'll throw this in there.Messi living in Spain since he was 8 would have made him eligible to play for the Spanish side. That would have been death to world football as other teams will simply play just to get 2nd spot in every tournament. The Spanish side is re-writing football history winning the European cup,World cup and the European cup in succession.With the form they have at the moment,they probably would have won the African nations cup if they played in it. So with all that power they possess,imagine if they had Messi......Ronaldo would cry more than he does now ( well assuming he cries now) because he will have no chance of being the best player in the world.

What if Gareth Bale was English?

Okay,apologies if my innocent thought here has insulted any Welsh person but this is what snow does to you. When you are cuddled up and have nothing else to do your mind tends to wander. So am sorry..
Well seeing as England has never really had a dominating left winger and Giggs decided to play for Wales,I just wonder what it would have been like if Gareth Bale played for the 3 lions. His name would be the first on the team sheet,Milner would probably not make the team. Furthermore, if Bale had played with Heskey,Heskey would have scored more goals than he did and the entire Welsh community will switch completely to Rugby...well just a thought....he is so Welsh...

What if Robin Van Persie signed for man city?

Well I think the light blue wouldn't suit him as much as red has just because he is so pale. He would probably score a bit  more than he has for United and would have had at-least 3 or 4 fights with Balloteli. The little boy in him that was crying pushed him in the right direction with United who are 15 points ahead of city and looking like champions elect. Tevez would have been sold,Dzeko will probably not make the team and the Arsenal fans will still be a bit bitter towards him. So the united fans are definitely saying thank you to that little boy.

Well enough of my what if questions,I think I have left you enough to ponder through the week. International  football continues this week,so we hope the players come back clean and injury free so the weekends are worthwhile again.

Finally, my answer about Michael Owen is simple,I think he had an extrordinary career,played for wonderful clubs and yes his injury problems got the better of him but I think he can look back and have no regrets. The only english man to be crowned European footballer of the year in this century and the only former Liverpool player with a premier league trophy....eat that Steven Gerrad....Happy Monday.

In more words..Sabi Boi