Wednesday
Jul232008
As Kolo falls ill is central defense now Arsenal's transfer window priority?
As any of you
who watched last night's friendly against Hungarian minnows
Szombathelyi Haladas will know, the pairing of brothers Gavin and
Justin Hoyte as our centre backs is not something we can rely on if we
want to prevent teams from scoring against us this season, so it's back
to the drawing board for Arsene Wenger in his plans to shore up our
defense.
The central area of the back four was our major problem last season, as Kolo Toure missed vital games while on duty with Ivory Coast and then missed more when he came back crocked from the African Cup of Nations. William Gallas, in my humble opinion, has lost a yard of pace, which makes him something of a liability against fast Premier League strikers, while back up Philippe Senderos has become infamous for his errors and seems to suffer from real confidence crises.
Other options include Alexandre Song, who looks promising, and Johan Djourou, who I have to admit I prefer to Senderos. Mind you I'll also defend big Phil as he's saved our bacon on a number of occasions and too many fans conveniently forget that.
However, the news today is that Kolo has contracted malaria and that limits our options severely ahead of the new campaign. Quite what strain of malaria he has, I don't know, but it can be a seriously debilitating disease, and he'll certainly miss the first part of the pre-season fitness sessions at the very least.
So surely Arsene Wenger must now be looking at central defense as his priority. Havard Nordtveit might be able to play a half against Barnet, but expecting him to step into the pace of the Premier League is a bit too far fetched for me at present.
Le Boss hinted after the Barnet game that we would see more signings in the next few weeks, so I'm hoping a big powerful centre back will be among those. As things stand, our Swiss contingent - Djourou and Senderos - are our tallest defenders, but with today's professional footballers mostly taller than six feet, I'm hoping Arsene will be looking to bring in someone with real presence to help the Gunners defend our weak spot, especially at set pieces.
With any luck Le Gaffer will have someone in mind who can be similarly successful to Bacary Sagna and slot straight into the Arsenal set up. Gallas will be 31 next month and is therefore unlikely to have his contract renewed when it expires at the end of next season. No doubt we'll see Song covering more in defense this coming season, but I still fancy him as a defensive midfielder.
But who should Wenger target? Are there any particular central defenders you'd like to see at Arsenal this season? Or do you think that the Gunners have sufficient cover in that particular area and that other positions should be our priority? Share your comments here
GM
Reader Comments (6)
NO ONE...Kolo has not left. It's just a temporary abscence. Song/Senderos/Djourou can act as a stop gap until he gets back
is it just me or is the defensive side of the game slowly losing its place in football with arsenal? things were bad enough when captain gallas was younger last season, before flamini fled and while we had a genuine utility player in silva. have i mentiontioned the mosquito worsening arsenals woes by taking out kolo? couple of questions as well, nasri and ramsey, were they signed as replacements for the departed players. the side was said to lack depth and numbers last season, any one who thinks things hev improved put up your hands. i wish i culd be a fly in arsenals boardroom
The malaria story is being overplayed. Kolo is a strong African man. In Africa where malaria is endemic, a full dose of malaria medication normally clears the sickness in 3 - 7 days. Believe me, I have had malaria more than a dozen times and I am always back in the office after three days of medication.
The first two days are normally the worst with a splitting headache, hazy vision, loss of appetite and a bad taste in the mouth. Kolo should have taken the sensible option of swallowing anti-malaria tablets before going to Ivory Coast.
All the same I know he will be ok in under two weeks and that is only because Wenger is overly cautious.
Although I'm not saying we shouldn't buy a defendewr anyway, I think it's really silly to buy a new CB just because Kolo will be out for a little bit. I admit I don't know anything about Malaria so I hope for his sake it's gone quickly, but I really think buying someone as a replacement for a player who wil be back soon is a bad idea. Just like those who want a replacement for Eddie til he gets back- he'll be back very soon and then you have too many players.
Likew I said I won't complain if we get a CB, but buying one just because Kolo's gone for a little bit is really a bad idea i think ande very short-sighted.
regardless of kolo's illness, we should be looking at a new central defender.
defensive midfielder seems to be the other necessary purchase and presumably that's what wenger's after.
if adebayor goes (and wenger has said he won't be) we'll obviously need to replace him.
with current squad and a healthy toure and the addition of a decent dm, we finish with no trophies this season. we just don't have the horses to compete with the deeper stronger sides we will meet in all competitions. look for afc to start strong and fade away at the end.