Sunday, August 29th, 2010 « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does

By Walter Broeckx

Sébastien Squillaci, (note the right way his name should be written), is the new player we have brought to the Emirates.

If we remember Wenger is the man who never buys experienced players working with a board of directors who never want to spend money.   So who is this “unknown” player and what has he done in this career so far?  After all, he is the third player coming in this transfer window – so he must be someone special.  Let us have a look at it.

On paper he is French as he was born in Toulon a city in the south of France. But in fact he is born of parents who are from Corsica, Ghisonaccia to give the name of his home town.

And he is Corsican and so not 100% French in fact.   To explain the significance of this here’s a very brief diversion for the next two paragraphs.

There was once an independent Corsican Republic, but it was incorporated into France in 1769 – being known in French it is known as “Corse”.

In 1972, toxic waste was dumped off the Corsican coast.   Some of the locals took direct action and bombed one of the ships carrying the toxic wastes, and there were further bombings and an assassination.  Fighting followed by fighting between two different independence groups, there was a strong French military response which alienated lots of locals, but ultimately the troubles died down.   A local referendum this century rejected greater autonomy for the island.

Now back to the football.

This 1m 85cm tall central defender played most of his career in the south of France.  His breakthrough came when he was loaned to the Corsican team Ajaccio by his club Monaco.

He then returned to Monaco and later went on to Lyon and then to Sevilla. And from there on we bought him.

Has he won a bit in his career? Well I think he has won on his own more than our whole team together so far. His last trophy was the Spanish cup in 2010. And with Lyon he has become champion twice, won the French Cup, the Coupe de la Ligue and some other lesser cups.

At Monaco he won the league, the Coupe de la Ligue and played on the losing side in the Champions league final against Porto in 2004. And with AC Ajaccio he also won the league but this was in the second division.

So for those who have been asking Wenger to buy someone who has won things in his career it looks like that Wenger has done what they asked.

But as nothing is perfect in some parts of the AAA world they now moan about the fact that they didn’t know him personally. Just as they didn’t know Anelka when Wenger bought him, or Henry or Pires or Vermaelen or … I think I have made my point. For some people no one will ever be good enough I think.

And we have to see what he brings to the team in the next few seasons but at the teams he has been in his career, the trainers and the fans have always been very satisfied with his attitude and his behaviour. But for me he is very welcome and I hope that he brings his experience in winning to the rest of the team.

And maybe he will be like his most famous compatriot from France and from Corsica: Napoléon Bonaparte. He conquered the whole of Europe at first and became emperor of a big part of Europe including the parts where I live.  [Err – I think it is not very politically correct for our UK audience Walter – but I’ll let you off just this once – Editor]

So welcome Emperor Sébastien Squillaci let your coming to the Emirates be the start of Arsenal conquering Europe and the rest of the world.

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