Arsenal Transfer Talks: Should Arsenal Sign Free-Agent Patrick Vieira?

As of June 16, 2011, the Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira is a free-agent after finding himself outside the plans of Manchester City’s manager Roberto Mancini. The 34-year-old Senegalese-born defensive midfielder spent a year-and-a-half long spell at the Blues, scoring three goals in 28 matches.

Now that he is a free-agent, we can’t resist but ask the question: Can he be the salvation for Arsenal’s arguable lack of winning mentality?

On the surface, Vieira looks like a transfer target that Arsene Wenger may not be quick to dismiss. He is free to join any club he wants, has rich history with the Gunners, and is very experienced. But what makes him most considerable for Arsenal’s signature is his much-familiar character.

Who could forget his indomitable spirit and leadership qualities?

Patrick Vieira was the captain of Arsenal for four hugely successful years in the club’s history: from 2002 to 2006. He was a key member of the “Invincibles” squad of 2003/04 and was the man who added the last significant trophy to Arsenal’s accolade room in 2005: scoring the winning penalty in the final of the FA cup against Manchester United.

But it was his character, more than his abilities on the field, which was in the root of many successes for Arsenal. He was the leader, a man who team-mates could look up to in difficult times. He still has it in him.

Roberto Mancini has reportedly offered Vieira a coaching role at Manchester City because of his influence on the other players, but the soon-to-be-35 player has refused with the belief that he still has something to offer to the game the most likely reason.

“It is still 50-50 at the moment [to retire or keep playing].” Vieira said earlier this month  

“It would not be a problem for me to stop tomorrow because I have been lucky enough to experience everything… I still want to play and if I have an exciting proposition here (France) or somewhere else in England, I would probably play on.”

“If I have nothing exciting, I will stop. There is a chance I could stop, but at the moment my mind isn't telling me that I will be stopping in a couple of months.”

Quatar, where he can still find clubs who will be able to match what he was earning at Manchester City, the Major Soccer League, where his Arsenal ex-team-mate Thierry Henry is playing, or going back to France remain some of the probable destinations for celebrated midfield veteran.
But could it be Arsenal?

He could play an important role as a player/coach and will definitely offer something to the considered “green” squad of Wenger. Undoubtedly, he can exercise positive influence on the players in the dressing room by infecting them with that much-sought-in-life attitude of “never give up”.

The biggest block to such a move would, of course, be the wage the Arsenal club is willing to pay to the aging player. At 34, he is unlikely to be offered an astronomical wage, but his motivation may lay elsewhere: he is a fan of Arsenal and is likely to play Champions League football again.

Whether Arsenal signs him or not, there is no doubt whatsoever Vieira will remain one of the club’s all-time legends.  

But as in fairy tales, wouldn’t it be wonderful for the great performer to perform in front of the audience that witnessed the best of his years as a footballer yet again?  Wouldn’t it be wonderful for Patrick Vieira to end his career at Arsenal?
 
It certainly will.

Arsenal: Tweaks to Defense Is the Key to Long-Awaited Title Glory

“Titles are won by the defense” said Tony Adams, Mr. Arsenal, in an interview earlier this year. Actually, he is not far from the truth.

While there are a lot more other factors that could contribute to a successful football campaign, history has backed his statement more than once.

Last season, the team with the second-best defense, but nevertheless with the best attack, snatched the precious silverware.

A careful look at the statistics from the seven seasons preceding that event will reveal that the teams that have managed to concede the fewest goals have been crowned champions of England (2009 Manchester United—24 goals conceded, ’08 Manchester United—22, ’07 Manchester United—27, ’06 Chelsea—22, ’05 Chelsea—15, ’04 Arsenal—26, ’03 Manchester United—34).

As you can see, a big factor for winning what seems to be one of the hardest competitions, apart from obviously scoring more than 90 goals, is to concede less than 30 goals.

That, however, looks beyond the currently drowned in trophy-drought Arsenal.
Why you may ask? Well, because Arsene Wenger’s team is still a few steps away from being complete.

While the men carrying the red badge showed enviable skills in attack, they somehow failed to curb the goal galore at the other end of the field. Since the famous “Invincible” season which the Gunners finished without suffering a single defeat, they have performed under the requirements set by their own genius.

Last season, Arsenal conceded 41 goals, the one before 37, in 2008—31, ’07—35, ‘06—31, ‘05—36. The matter of fact is that Wenger’s men have been conceding more than 30 goals in every season after their last Premier League triumph.

But before pessimism envelops us, we must remind ourselves of the transition that Arsenal has been going through since that undefeated run in 2004. The erection of the new Emirates Stadium undeniably delayed the rebuilding of the squad due to financial issues, but also opened new doors for further development.

Now, Arsenal is gathering the fruits off the tree that was planted four years ago (Emirates Stadium was opened in 2006). Things are slowly returning to normal, and although the team is still incomplete, it is in no way far from it.

Wenger has managed to put together a squad capable of inflicting deadly damage to any opposition. But that has not been enough, and the French tactician knows it. The time has come to smooth out the defense.

Last season’s partnership between William Gallas and Belgian revelation Thomas Vermaelen managed to defy the critics.

Following consistent good performances by the two, Arsenal’s carefree life at the back was cut prematurely short by an injury of William Gallas which uncovered the insufficient defensive depth.

That shook the defensive stability, and eventually Arsenal finished the league third, having conceded 41 goals in the process.

A fast forward up to now, and we see that little has been done to alleviate this pain.

An exodus of experienced, but considered by some unfit to play due to their age, defenders has occurred.

William Gallas, Philippe Senderos, Sol Campbell, and Mikael Silvestre bid their farewell to the Arsenal cause. The signing of Laurent Koscielny has put the fans’ minds to rest for a while, but certainly more needs to be done to avoid a repetition of last season’s scenario.

And I’m not saying this only when considering the defensive depth of the team. With one more defender, the depth will be sufficient, and if not, the problem will possibly be delayed up until the winter transfer window.

The thing is that the defender needed must be the right one.

At the moment, Arsenal has three capable and of similar mould central defenders: Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, and Johan Djourou—all of them posses pace, strength, and good positioning. This type of defenders would fit perfectly well into the dynamic style of play that Wenger is obviously trying to implement.

The facts are that Vermaelen has the tendency to go forward, Djourou has been tested as a midfielder in preseason, and Koscielny is still adapting, so we must wait a bit for him.

Their speed supports the dynamism and allows them to go forward when set pieces are involved. If the attack is unsuccessful, for example, they can hurriedly track back to prevent any damage from counter-attacks.

Add Song, who can also track back to help them defend, and things look bright on paper.

So far so good, but what lacks is dependability—a defender that does all the little seemingly insignificant things and stays responsibly back at all times; a tall defender preferably with above average speed and very good positioning. Not someone to organize the defense, but someone who is stable and consistent at doing his defensive responsibilities; someone in the mould of Steve Bould, for example.

This way the other defenders will feel safe to contribute to the attack of the team.
The only one I can think of, and that Arsenal have in the current squad, is Johan Djourou. He fits the bill, but his injury proneness might create headaches as the new season starts.

A good way of dealing with this problem is by buying one more defender of those depicted qualities. If Le Professor does that then the team would be only one step away from completion—and that would be the goal keeper step.

With the new fascinating emblem that the Emirates Stadium is, the leverage has drastically multiplied, and as time passes by it will continue to do so.

Let’s just hope Arsene Wenger will listen to the advice of one of his ex-players, Tony Adams, and will put the final brick into the defensive wall.

You never know, the title might be one central defender away. Just the right one.

Why Trophies Will Follow at Arsenal

During the past four years the fans of Arsenal have become disgruntled by the way the board has behaved after not winning any trophies. The board of Arsenal has acted as they aim for something completely different than winning some much wanted by the fans trophies.

And the cold truth, and no secret to all, is that they aim for profit.

Arsenal is a business.

Even after countless statements made by the chairman Peter Hill-Wood, in which he explains how he loves the club, it is still run as a business.

Let me point out some of the things that become evident when we examine how the club has been run for the past few years.

Firstly, it has become not as important to win trophies to make a healthy profit. In a way this is an understandable tactic employed by the board since there is a global crisis going on in the world economics.

It has worked well so far and because of it Arsenal are in a stable financial position, not to mention that the club is still waiting to capitalise on its residential development of the old stadium at Highbury Square.

In addition, Arsenal has not been able to compete financially with teams like Chelsea, Manchester United, and Manchester City of recent due to the reason that Arsenal has not received an outside influx of resources.

So the choices that were set before Arsenal were either to give in to those teams and concentrate on the long run, or allow a take-over and an influx of money from outside, which would have probably brightened the picture but only in short term.

The reason I say this is because we never know the next idea that may come to the mind of a billionaire.

Can you count on them for supporting a club forever?

Another thing that comes to mind is the sensible approach of the club in the transfer market. It has also been a trademark of Arsenal’s for the past few years.

The most notable signings that signify this approach are exemplified by those of Eduardo for the sum of 7.5m, Andrey Arshavin for around 14m, Samir Nasri – 12.7m, and Bakary Sagna – 6.1m. They are good players bought for a considerably small amount of money.

So how can that way of management of the club bring trophies to the club in the future?

If we compare the spending to teams like Real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester United, and others it seems like Arsenal are only aiming to preserve a stable financial position. That would certainly leave the importance of winning trophies on a lower step in the ladder of priorities.

I cannot agree with that.

If you look at the big picture the truth is that Arsenal has also been going through a change of personnel on the field.

The last trophy that it won was the F.A. Cup in 2005, when the “invincibles” have already started to fall apart.

Since then the team has undergone a deep transformation. Only Kolo Toure has remained from the side that was the “invincibles”. But the manager is the same; the financial situation is getting better despite claims that it’s bad.

So, it could be said it is completely normal for Arsenal to go through a trophy-less period after it faces a change of generations and players. The reason I called the transformation a change of generations if that when you look into Wenger’s decisions in the transfer marker you will see the only player that he didn’t want to lose from the team and still lost was Flamini. The others were above 28 years of age.

But now Arsene Wenger, with a little help from the board, has built a new team. Although there are still more holes to be filled, the transformation is looking close to completion now.

The big plus is that so far no players have left the team for this year. With one or two more “sensible” signings we will be looking at a perfectly capable team of winning the Premier League and pretty much everything else.

Even though fans will remember those years as years of famine in terms of trophies, it cannot be denied that Arsenal has made progress.

You only have to look at the results in the strongest competition in Europe, Champion’s League, to consent.

Arsenal is getting stronger and the building of the team is near completion.

So why doubt them. Trophies are coming for sure.

There is a considerable amount of truth in what Arsene Wenger said: “We have to keep the belief and the trophies will come naturally.”