UNTOLD ARSENAL » 2009 » February » 08

Not much more than a week after the transfer what-not shuts down and its off again with BarBarBarca saying right, in the summer we’ll have Van Persie, Adebayor, and, oh of course Cesc, and in return little Arsenal you can have….  Hleb.

That is the same Hleb who were prized away from Arsenal because, according to Barbar Arsenal is a selling club going nowhere fast.

This is so bizarrre it has taken me two cups of coffee to get my head around it.   BarBar says, “Hey, Hleb, you’re a genius, come play for us, we’re a big club, what you doing with little Arsenal, come and be a big big star…” and so he goes.

And then they say, “Hey guys we have this player.  He could have started 20 major  games this season but he actually started 4, with 7 as sub.  Hasn’t scored, we don’t like him, and don’t want him, but you might be able to make something of him.

They must be utterly out of their minds.  It is like WC Milan offering us Flamini on a similar basis.

I have not read any commentaries from Flamini about his current position save one in which he made the obvious point that he would sooner be playing, but Hleb has spoken about his problems, and how his manager suggests that Hleb has been slow in learning the lingo.

I obviously have no knowledge of what goes on in the minds of players who can earn more in a week  than I can (even with my stunning writing skills) in a year, but if any of them are tempted we ought to show them pics of Hleb and Flamini, just to remind them.

Of course this will go on every transfer window, so we need to be prepared – and as we have seen before a lot of this is just a childish game with the clubs in Italy and Spain trying to prove they are bigger than each other.   Much is also about unsettling players, and it is in one sense a tribute to Arsenal that their hit list always includes three of our players.   Next year it will be Jack Wilshere and Denilson.  (Incidentally just before the transfer window shut there were stories all over the place than Manchester Arab offered Arsenal 40 million for Van Persie.

In fact WC Milan will probably offer Flamini in exchange for Denilson in the summer (Hey News of the World, you read it here first).

It reminds us indeed of what a team we have.  Yes, this season has not resulted in the position I had hoped, but then had I been told that our three established creative midfielders would be lost for a long spell, I think even I might have predicted a struggle.

The phrase “Remember Flamini” was used at the start of the season to suggest what could have been at Arsenal.  Now it shows just how quickly one can go downhill, and just how far above themselves players can play when working at Arsenal.

(c) Tony Attwood 2009