Dagens Arsenal - 15 & 16 Januari 2009 *UPPDATERAD*
Wenger
Efter Manchester citys rent av astronomiska bud i jakt på Ac Milans Kaka så tillfrågades Arsène Wenger vad han tyckte om vad som numera råder i transfermarknaden: ”It does not look real to me at all. It is like an abstraction. It does not look in connection with today's world because on one side we have the economic situation which is quite worrying and for me this is abstraction.” Hur ser du Arsenals situation ut? Kan man på något sätt konkurera med sådana transfersummor? : "We live in a football club who lives in the real world. That means we spend the money we make from our income. We are in a world where we live from three kinds of income - gate receipts, the sponsors and the television money. That is the real world of football.” Vidare filosoferar Wenger om fansen och deras roll i att få klubben att blomstra: "Football has different types of people coming to the game. You have the client, who is the guy who pays one time to go to a big game and wants to be entertained. Then you have the spectator, who is the guy who comes to watch football. These two categories are between 40 and 60 years old. Then you have two other categories. The first is the supporter of the club. He supports his club and goes to as many games as he can. Then you have the fan. The fan is a guy between 15 and 25 years old who gives all his money to his club. And you have to keep, at the moment, these categories faithful to our club. Some of them have been hit harder by the crisis - or will be. For at the moment England every day loses 3,000 jobs. You think that has no consequence on our game? It will have.”
Orden så många fruktade kom tillslut. Wenger likställer de skadade spelarnas återkomster som ”new-signings”: "We are open to any transfer deals but do not forget that we have Rosicky, Fabregas and Walcott who are all creative and offensive players. They will come back at some stage. Eduardo has recovered very well and his coming back will be like a new signing as well. He will be back in two to three weeks in the first team.” Och återigen bekräftar Wenger sin tilltro till de spelare han redan förfogar över: "That is like being on a transfer market for us. I believe we have a strong team and we want to do the maximum with the team we have."
Emmanuel Adebayor har haft svårt att leva upp till den sensationella form Togolesen hade under fjolårssäsongen. Men enligt Wenger så jobbar Adebayor intensivt på att förbättra sin form: "At the moment, he is working very hard to come back to good form and is on a good way. He had dropped off a little bit, but that can happen sometimes. Ronaldo scored 44 last year, and it does not look like he will score 44 this season, because he and Adebayor had exceptional numbers. What is important is that he works hard and contributes to the team - if he opens the way [to goal] for other players, for me it is the same importance.”
Många fans har oroat sig över brist på aktivitet på transfermarknaden från Arsenals sida. Det enda konkreta målet som Arsène Wenger uttalat sig om har varit Andrei Arshavin. Men nu lugnar Wenger fansen genom att hävda att Arshavin inte är det enda målet för Arsenal under transferfönstret: “I don't think it is worth to talk about Arshavin at the moment because we are nowhere near signing him. But he is one of the players we consider. He is not the only one we are on. Also speaking about a player like Arshavin - he cannot play in the Champions League. If he comes here now he will have 15-16 games and it will take five, six, seven maybe 10 games to adapt. You don't know."
Spelarna
Pengar kommer inte automatiskt innebära framgång. Det menar nu Arsenals långtidsskadade kapten Cesc Fabregas som tror att Manchester City har mycket att jobba på om de ska vara med och utmana om ligaguldet i framtiden: "A team is not built by the cheque-book alone. Money is not the most important thing in football. I think the important thing is not to rush into signing a new player just because money is available. A good team will develop naturally and trying to speed up this process with lots of money can be dangerous.” Vad innebär då detta för Manchester City i det korta perspektivet? : "I am sure City will now have bigger ambitions. But only time will tell how successful City become. At Arsenal, we do not have the right to qualify for the Champions League every season. And City do not have that right either just because they are now very rich. In the future, City can perhaps be a top four team. With the foundations they have and what may happen in the future, anything is possible."
Eduardo da Silva talar nu ut om sin långa skadefrånvaro i månadens Arsenal Magazine. Kroaten talar även om att målen gärna kan vänta och att komma tillbaka rent fysikiskt och hjälpa laget måste ses som första prioritet: "Every professional footballer knows how the media works so I’m not worried about what they might say. If you score a goal you're on top, if you don't you're at the bottom. Even the very best strikers in the world might score two goals in a game and then not score for another three or four games, and that's how it works. But my only concerns are my fitness and how I'm going to help Arsenal. And if I happen to score a goal, it will be just as it always was."
Skadeläget
Alex Song har en chans att kunna medverka mot Hull i helgens Premier League-möte. Song som haft problem med en lårmuskel sedan mötet med Aston Villa på Boxingday kommer testas imorgon för att se om kameruniern är i speldugligt skick. Vidare är de båda franska mittbackarna William Gallas och Mikael Silvestre borta i minst 2 veckor till. Sedan är ju Theo Walcott, Tomas Rosicky och Cesc Fabregas borta en längre tid framöver.
Transferrykten
Lazios mittback Modibo Diakite ska enligt rykten intresserat Wenger då defensiven inte varit vad man förväntat sig denna säsong. Nu gör i alla fall Diakites agent slut på spekulationerna och hävdar att Diakite inte tänker lämna Lazio: "Lazio is like his family and he has no intention to leave the Italian capital. There is no possibility that Modibo will leave Lazio also because he has just signed a five-year contract extension. Lazio does not want to see a player they have helped develop leave."
Och sedan till Ryssen. Vad har Wenger att säga om affären som alla tyckt gå och vänta på? : "We are not close to making a signing today, so we have no new news. We are in negotiations but we want to respect our principles." Men tror Wenger att Arsenal kommer värva Arshavin under januari? : "I am very hopeful. In days? Yes, because the transfer window will close and we have already crossed halfway. It will be days. But, if it doesn't happen then it doesn't happen. “ Arshavins agent Dennis Lachter tror dock inte på att någonting kommer hända förrän nästa vecka: “It looks like nothing will happen this week now, but there may be some movement early next week."
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