Plus Campbell has quite a few international caps (and goals) now too. If he's deemed unworthy of a talent Visa, then the selection panel are either stupid, or working for Harry Redknapp.
*cough*Jeffers*cough*. I'm just worried that the Bayern thing is an example of him only being good when played in a certain system ... great for Cologne because they play the right way, rubbish for Bayern because they don't. It's like Newcastle ... the way they play makes average strikers look awesome, but when you take those strikers out of a system designed for them, the magic goes. Happened to Andy Carroll, and the same thing is going on with Demba Ba at the moment. Only time will tell, I suppose.
you could conversely say that the way a team plays makes a good striker look average? like Demba Ba - a good striker, who wasn't being utilised in the right way at previous clubs. now he is being, and the rewards are occurring. wouldn't say the samea bout Andy Carroll tho!! Podolski can do well. But there's always an element of risk. He's coming from a club he knows and feels at home at. Hopefully Mertesacker will help him settle in as he's been there a season, it'll help him a lot to have someone he knows he can hang out with and show him the ropes. If Arsenal pick up another German in Summer (hope!!) then that'd help even more. Would be kinda nice to be the club with the German contingent rather than the French possibly!?
next season strikers: Robin van Persie Lukas Podolski Joel Campbell sell Park, Chamakh, Bendtner and Vela
exactly this!! Bendy is out of contract so will leave for free, Vela is happy in Spain and should fetch a coupla mil, if Chamakh goes for 8m that covers all his wages for the last 2 years but Park will go for a nominal fee, if he leaves, since he only has a year before his military service. Still, it'll free up some space on the wage bill.
Chamakh worth keeping imo. Bendy is obviously out. Park will stay but I doubt he is on much money. We should prioritise getting rid of bendy, squelchy, almunia. arshavin, vela, denilson. Some of those expire this year.
You've given poor examples. Podolski has scored over 40 goals for Germany and he is still only 26 ! They haven't designed their system for Podolski. He's in form and has been scoring regularly at the highest level for years. Andy Carroll had half a good season only - and Ba's not been short of goals for Newcastle this season, if he hasn't been scoring recently put that down to the ACON cos up until then he was.
Bonstar - if Podolski is in touch with his Polish roots then he'll have the keeper to talk to as well Sczezney (sp?) I'm sure Rosicky can speak German too having played there for how many years ....
One year loan does not matter, what matters is how often does he play for his national team. Miyachi though was given the permit because Arsenal could prove he is a "special talent". So the way Campbell progresses while on loan is important as well.
Yes [we want Podolski],’ said Wenger. ‘We want to add some offensive strikers, because many times people say we rely too much on Van Persie, which is true, but if we can find world-class players, we will [challenge for the title].’ Read more: http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/footba...-title-glory-says-arsene-wenger#ixzz1qFlu6XPL
What gives me comfort about this comment is that AW seems to accept that Chamakh hasn't cut it and (perhaps) Gervihno is a squad player....
Well with Ryo getting great experience and Campbell available from next season unless we offload B52, Chamakh and Park we could end up with too many and if there's a committment to buying Podolski then the stock of those we're looking to offload reduces...
That's why it's important that we get rid of all the deadwood asap. Miyaichi is looking good so far for Bolton and has been praised by Owen Coyle saying he's a real talent. Campbell is also performing well for Lorient and has impressed internationally. Add OXO, Gervinho, Walcott, RVP and the Pod, we will have an awful lot of forward players available. What is good is that we seem to have some depth in quality now rather than just depth....
we tried to offload Bendtner cheap, but nobody would pay his required wages. After all he is world-class.
It's funny how good these players are when they leave Arsenal. What they should all recognise is that they look good because Wenger makes them look good! I'd rather we play our up coming youth players than these guys. At least with players like Landsbury, he played with passion when he did play. Talking of Landsbury, i didnt think he played that bad for us when he did.....
If you look at the options most mid-table sides have he would still make the first squad in most of them. His wage requirements will become more realistic as his manager's negotiation power is already weakened.
I think Wenger has some idea of a more fluid interchangeable attacking duo in his mind. He will give RVP more freedom to move around with Podolski slotting into his place and vice versa.
