Adebayor + the role the fans didn’t play in helping Rosicky
IT’S weird cutting yourself off for the Arsenal speaking world. For the first two weeks of my hiatus I limited myself to weekly checks of the Arsenal.com squad page and with no new faces and none seemingly missing, I left it at that.
Then a few days ago while on a news-news site I spotted a link to an Arsenal story that left me excited enough to want to take another peak.
Adebayor was off. And for £25 odd million no less.
For so many reasons (and not just the fee) it currently appears a great piece of business. His relationship with the fans had broken down to such an extent that his continued presence at the club was divisive.
The player must take the lion’s share of the blame for his lazy, lacklustre performances of last season. The minority of fans who went into last season seemingly more interested in him failing than the team thriving should shoulder a pinch too.
On top of that, we have genuine congestion in attack. Usually when Arsene talks about how too many experienced players can “kill” the youngsters he is trying to defend the indefensible in midfield.
But on this occasion the point rings true. RVP, Eduardo, the fast improving Bendtner and of course Arshavin all merit games in attack.
Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri and the returning Tomas Rosicky all offer genuine quality on the wings and Carlos Vela and Jack Wilshere genuine promise there too. And there is always Eboue as well.
Funnily enough though it wouldn’t surprise me were Arsene to bring in another forward. He’s a man who can never have too many.
The same can not yet be said for midfielders. Barring a fairly radical shift – whether it be in tactics or performance levels from certain individuals – we still look short there.
Last but by no means least it’s a big welcome back to Tomas Rosicky, who started Saturday’s friendly at Barnet, his first appearance in 18 months.
I think we as fans should perhaps feel a little guilty about Rosicky. I’ve been to just about every home game since he trotted off against Newcastle and I can barely remember his name being sung once. The online world was hardly filled with get well messages either.
I suppose Eduardo’s injury was fairly easy to understand. Rosicky’s less so. A bit like the difference between cancer and depression. Everyone can understand the former, fewer the latter, despite it’s huge prevalence. Footballistically we all understood Eduardo had a broken leg. None of us could quite get our head round Rosicky’s injury, even though it was no less genuine, seemingly equally career threatening and took longer to heal.
People will say he was being paid handsomely throughout the 18 months, but we are fans and not moral arbiters of the rights or wrongs of footballers’ remuneration. Were we were the latter then with no rational justification could we continue to follow the game.
So perhaps the Rosicky example is a case in point where we as supporters need to up our game.
Either way, it’s good to be back and the new season feels very much upon us.
21 July 2009 at 7:57 am
Good piece ‘Playa. Welcome back.
21 July 2009 at 8:09 am
I thought about Tomas often and am very glad to see him in the shirt and on the ball. I hope the rest of pre season goes well for him because the prospect of a rosicky fabregas arshavin midfield assault is a beautiful one. Of course we need that DMF but, it will come. I really believe that.
Nice to have you back playa.
21 July 2009 at 8:21 am
Welcome Back Goodplaya….and well written….i kept checking back on this blog hoping that you ended your break early.
I seriously seriously hope that we get a DM this summer. With the Adebayor money we can even look at someone like De Rossi (wishful thinking I know). Up front we are packed although I would love to see a Van Persie + Huntelaar combo in attack
21 July 2009 at 8:22 am
do we think that maybe the Eboue to DMF experiment is going to be repeated? Last pre-season he play a couple of games there quite impressively. He`s got the size & pace, is apparently very popular within the squad, so maybe AW might try him again, to find a role for him.
cheers
21 July 2009 at 8:29 am
I really like the last few paragraphs you wrote about Rosicky. Well said.
I guess I can no longer use this nickname, no?
21 July 2009 at 8:57 am
We were told on countless occassions that Rosicky would be back in a month, then 2 months, etc, etc. Maybe that is why fans did not post messages of support, we believed what the club was telling us…..
21 July 2009 at 9:04 am
Good, thoughful article.
Agree that ‘we still look short’ in mid-field. Maybe Sami should stand on Andrey’s shoulders.
21 July 2009 at 9:14 am
DM? Why not bring someone we all know very well and he is available. The name: Viera. He may not have the legs and pace but as a defensive holding midfielder, no one can stand up to him. Besides, after two more years, he can retire and Coquelin or Fimpong can step up.
VIE…RA OH OH OH VIE…RAAAAAAA
21 July 2009 at 9:16 am
we do not seem to listen to the manager when he speaks.
i was reading the aug. edition of Arsenal mag. and i quote,
“i have said many times that i want to continue to develop the players that i have. In central midfield we have Song, Denilson, Diaby, Fabregas of course and dont forget Ramsey. People always want you to psend money and buy new players but then what do you do with people like Ramsey? we bought a player who is 17 for £5m in the summer, so if you then buy another one who is 28 when does Ramsey play?
i think that speaks volumes. i also brlieve from his statement after the Banert game we just might not buy anyone except something happens during preseason to force his hands.
so as fans we should brace ourself and support the team whatever the case
21 July 2009 at 9:20 am
Kudos to you. All the maniacs who called him Rosicknote….that made me sick.
21 July 2009 at 9:21 am
Now ade is gone, lets wait until eboue, song, kolo, denilson to leave then we can read positive stuff on all these blogs. I am just tired of the negative posts on all these so called arsenal blogs. why on earth support arsenal when you really like the big spenders. wont it be easy for these negatives to support man city, liverpool or manure and leave us arsenal fans in peace. I am utterly gatvol(as we say here in Afrikaans)
21 July 2009 at 9:22 am
Tomas is a brilliant player, and yes I hope he gets enormous cheer during the pre-season games and opening matches to welcome him back. He of course will appreciate it, but all the rest of the team will as well, especially if they find themselves in the same lonely position at some point in the future. Come on everyone let’s start supporting all our players again 100%, and I am sure that the current players will see what has happened to Hleb, Flamini and Adebayor, and appreciate better what they have got at Arsenal. Eboue does make mistakes, but he has always given 100%, and if AW can find the right role for him then he still has plenty to offer – he has never complained wherever he has been put, and he must have felt a lot of disappointment when Sagna came in and he lost the right back role – Eboue would still make a good right back for many top European clubs, but still possible he could make it in the defensive midfield role if given the chance – his challenges are much better than 12-18 months ago, and he has pace and stamina to burn. Bendtner is coming on really well, and he is becoming a lot more humble after realising that he is not so perfect on or off the pitch, and that is good sign he can become a consistently good player at the highest level. We really can do much better than 4th this year, but we all have to start believing in it now and playing our part – football is a team game, and we will only win if we work as a team – Van Persie and Fabregas have shown their faith when they could have easily walked away, now we really need to show our loyalty back.
21 July 2009 at 9:27 am
Glad to see troublemaker ADEbugger off!! Even gladder to see Little Mozart back in the ranks.He will surely receive a great ovation when he steps onto the turf versus Atletico Madrid and more adoration after scoring from 30 metres and assisting Arshavin’s 5.
We have soooo much enjoyment to look forward to this year.
Hleb! Soak your bench at Barca in tears!
21 July 2009 at 9:46 am
agree re rosicki…but it just shows how massively unimaginative we have been with making up songs for our players in recent yrs. we had great songs for th/pv/rp/fl/db/sc even reyes/rvp when they came. recent signings havent been so lucky. we even gave up singing for adebayor. we need to get our act together so we can give individ ditties to each of our players.
should be a supporters priority for the next season.
plse, can one of you great bloggers take the initiative?
thanks
21 July 2009 at 9:53 am
SUPPORT THAT TEAM 100% RIGHT NOW AND GET READY FOR THE SEASON!!!
21 July 2009 at 10:07 am
Welcome back Goodplaya.
I was at Barnet on Saturday and as far as Rosicky was concerned the “Super Tom…” chant started the moment he came onto the pitch and his every touch was cheered. I think we were all very glad to see him back.
Regarding supporting our team one thing that disappointed me on Saturday was the lack of cheering for the subs and the reserves. Each memebr of the “first team” was cheered as their name was read out by the annoucer but almost no cheering for the subs and nothing for the reserves. I just wish we “suporters” were passionate about our support for all those who wear an arsenal shirt not just the mega stars perhaps that would give them more confidence to go out and do their best.
As an example Randall (who I thought palyed well on Saturday but may have been trying too hard) was given little encouragement by the crowd and I just feel a bit of cheering would have helped him settle.
Anyways here’s to a great season ahead regardless of who we do or don’t buy or sell.
21 July 2009 at 10:14 am
Yes, Chalmers, all our African players are crap.
21 July 2009 at 10:24 am
Then just make sure you’re all ready for that first home game when Tomas returns … songs … Czechoslovakian waves … bunting … a little defenestration perhaps …
21 July 2009 at 1:11 pm
Supporters should up their game in most departments, and yes Rosicky’s recovery was one of them. However I think it was partly because it wasnt an horrific injury like Eduardo’s but lots of little niggles.
@longblack cloud
I would not put it past Eboue to be converted into a DM, he has all the necessary attributes. Unfortunately he will be playing in the AFC meaning we will be still left short in that department for a significant part of the season
21 July 2009 at 2:48 pm
welcome back goodplaya.
great bit of timing, you have nasri to comment on now too. do we have enough strength in depth to cover both him and Ade?
21 July 2009 at 3:13 pm
Eboue’s not a DMF, doesn’t have the tactical know how, and do supporters hate Denilson so much that they’re contemplating Eboue in his position?
21 July 2009 at 3:41 pm
Suggesting Eboue for the role doesn`t equate to hating Denilson, I think he does a great job. Was just a thought, as I remember it was reasonably successful last year but only tried a few times. My thinking is if he had a real talker and organiser behind him, and Cesc beside pulling and prodding him into position his pace, size and enthusiasm, not to mention his possible lack of morals!(our most obvious cheat) might be an asset there. Grimandi did a very effective job in that role for a few years (& Winterburn in little cameos in his last season) and I wouldn`t have considered him, for the role. He also had the required nasty streak although he was obviously a far more inteligent player then Eboue.
cheers all
21 July 2009 at 5:58 pm
Denilson isn’t a “bad” player and most people don’t “hate” him. I personally agree with the view that he is more of a Fabregas lite than a Gilberto Silva. He has the playmaking abilities but not nearly enough strength and physical presence to be a DMF. If he bulks up and gets stronger then he would certainly be excellent. Diaby on the other hand has the physical attributes but is FAR too erratic and FAR too confident in his own dribbling abilites (he does lose the ball a fair bit). Song is too raw to really fill the role consistently so I think we DO need a signing. I don’t know who we’d go for but it would be exciting if we can steal M.Diarra from Madrid.
21 July 2009 at 10:07 pm
I for one dont think this is a good deal. y in gods name will wenger sell to a team who r now well known favorites for a top 4 spot. Does anyone remember that just a yr ago he had been our top scorer with not even a single player in our team managing to score quater of what he scored last season. Sure he didnt have agreat yr last season but he was still able to cough up 10 goals. Van Persie was practically fit for the whole season and scored only 11 goals which is only one more. If we buy Chamakh i will go berserk coz his goalscoring record is rubbish when u compare it to adebayor. I for one believe arsene is using adebayor as a scapegoat for his own misfortunes.
22 July 2009 at 1:11 am
I am grateful for all the kind words for Eboue here. My supporters’ group (out of country) was so down on him and Adebayor, it seemed that they were indeed hoping for failure, as Goodplaya suggested. I would love to see the experiment with Boo-Boo (as we call him) as DM continue, if there aren’t going to be any more purchases. He’d be an improvement over both Denilson and Diaby, as long as he kept his occasional nuttiness in check.