Trophies, Injuries and Tapping Up All in an Arsenal Summer

Good morning, as the World Cup plods along toward its conclusion on Sunday, eyes begin to turn back toward club football, with transfers and pre-season preparations becoming the topics commanding the headlines.

Today's a fairly busy one for Arsenal, so let's get straight down to business.

Thomas Vermaelen , member of that most endangered of species, the Arsenal Centre-Half, has been speaking of his desire to win trophies with Arsenal.

He says:  "It is not easy when you come from another country because the Premier League is the hardest league in the world."

"I learned a lot from playing at a higher level. I have learned from different situations in the games, so I hope that I can improve next year.

"This year it did not work out, but we have a lot of good players and a good team with a lot of quality.

"We have to continue what we have been doing, we are working hard.

"I am convinced that next year we can win trophies with this team.

"We had a lot of injuries, and if we can all be fit for a long time next season, it will be a good year for us."

Of course, trophies are what it's all about for Arsenal, it's been a while since we won one now; and I think the fans would be much more at ease if the team brought some silverware home next season.

Having said that, no club has a divine right to trophies, or being at the top of the game. Arsenal's standing in English football is the result of constant hard work; if we start believing that we have a right to expect trophies, then the realities of top-flight football will hit us hard and quickly.

We certainly have a right to hope for trophies. We have a team that is, I think, good enough to win something, so it's not unreasonable for us or the team to look at competitions and think, "yes, we could win this." 

The difference between that and complacency is looking at a competition and thinking "there's no way we shouldn't win this." I say so because that's how opponents start getting underestimated, and when a team starts taking things for granted.

England are a team, and a set of fans that think they have a divine right to trophies. God knows why.

Frequently they are undone because they underestimate teams and think of themselves as superior. In football, that sort of attitude tends to get punished on the pitch.

Of course, Vermaelen raises a good point in the injuries that we suffered last season. Injuries, or lack thereof, will have a big say in what we accomplish next season.

Has enough been done at the club since the end of last season to address the question of why we suffer so many injuries?

At the end of last season we were so used to Arsenal having injury problems that people started dismissing it as an "excuse" for poor performances.

The simple fact though, is that you can't take so many top players out of a side and expect a team to hit the same heights as they did with those players in the team.

So, with plenty riding on how many or how few injuries we sustain, it is somewhat annoying, in early July to read of our first injury of the season. 

Nicklas Bendtner is suffering badly with his groin injury. As you may recall, that's the same type of injury that kept him out for a large chunk of last season.

Nicklas made great progress last season, demonstrated that he does bring important qualities to the side.

With added competition for his place in the form of Marouane Chamakh, I'm looking forward to seeing if he can step it up again to keep his place.

One thing we don't want to see is him struggling for fitness before the season even begins.

The Star   reports that Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has met Cesc Fabregas in secret at Spain's training camp in South Africa.

If true, then that is a clear case of tapping up and I'm sure FIFA won't hesitate to punish Barcelona. It's not like they have a record of letting Madrid and Barcelona get away with whatever they like, after all.

Barcelona haven't made themselves look like the sharpest tools in the box throughout this saga with Cesc.

It's clear they've put themselves in a poor negotiating position by repeatedly irritating Arsenal with their insidious tactics, and they continue even now to make it as difficult as possible for themselves.

Barcelona president  Sandro Rossell   apparently wants to meet with Arsene Wenger to discuss a deal.

Perhaps he ought to first reign in his club from pulling stunts in the press, and constantly tapping up Arsenal's player because whilst that continues I can only see there being one answer to his "negotiations."

Young Guns   reports that Laurent Koscielny has trained with Arsenal's youth team, with confirmation of the move expected shortly.

Good news really; the sooner this one is done and dusted, the sooner the club can move on to other targets.

Fran Merida   has no regrets over his move from Arsenal to Atletico Madrid. Good for him.

Some are trying to dress his comments up as some kind of parting shot, but you've only to read what he's said to see that it's nothing of the sort:  "I'm an Atletico fan and I feel enormously proud to be here."

"Atletico is a big club and so is Arsenal, but there were some circumstances there, particularly on the sporting side, which I wasn't happy with and I couldn't fit in.

"I made Wenger aware of that and as soon as I knew Atletico were interested, I didn't think twice."

He didn't feature for us much last season and the smart money says he probably wouldn't have this season, either, and the club he supports came in for him with the offer of first team football.

I think it's the right move for him at the moment, and wish him all the best with it.

Finally for today,  Kesuike Honda   may be open to a move to a big European club, according to his agent.

I can't see Arsenal actually bidding for him unless we get rid of an existing forward, and this talk of Joe Cole turns out to be nothing more than that.

Right then, things to do. Take it easy, more tomorrow.