Giroud, Ozil And Bendtner Score On National Team Duty | A New Striker Is Linked To Arsenal

So much in the news today; international round-off , transfer speculations, thoughts on Ozil (yes you heard it Ozil is in the news again) and Wilshere gets Wenger’s backing. Where do I start? I guess somewhere.

International round-off

Since it is the week of international football, it is only imperative that I have a peep at it. It was a particularly good day for Arsenal players as many of them were on the winning side while some had their scoring boots on. Giroud, Ozil and Bendtner found the net. Giroud got a brace for Les Bleus in their 6-0 romp over Austria while Bendtner, his ‘understudy’ also got Denmark’s 2 goals against Italy. Ozil was also on the score sheet for Germany. Spain also beat Belarus which pushes them closer to securing qualification for the 2014 World Cup and pushes Giroud and company towards a potential play-off clash against Portugal and the likes. Not forgetting England, the Three Lions had no Arsenal player in their starting line-up no thanks to the injured Walcott and embattled Wilshere could only come off the bench with the game already won. Well, I am not sad that Wilshere didn’t start, at least, it keeps him off injury and makes him fresh for us when the Premier League returns next weekend. I will applaud a similar decision against Poland. The Gunners that are through the World Cup are Vermaelen (Belgium), Podolski, Ozil and Mertesacker (Germany), Viviano (Italy). Hope Cazorla and Monreal (Spain) and Wilshere, Walcott and Gibbs (England) make it via automatic qualification and France via the play-offs even if it means Ronaldo not going.

Does Bendtner scoring 2 goals mean he is back to goalscoring form? How interesting it would be for him to translate that form to Arsenal. Despite scoring 2 goals, he hasn’t fully addressed the problem I have with him. Bendtner is not only wasteful, he is also very lazy. For him to have scored 2 goals, I wonder how many he wasted ( didn’t watch the game ) but maybe it is too early to judge him. Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and see how he plays for Arsenal. I am eagerly waiting to be surprised but can Bendtner do that?

Arsenal’search for a striker continues with a new striker linked with the Gunners every time. This time, it is Juventus’ Spanish striker Fernando Llorente. According to the Daily Mirror, Arsenal are weighing up a loan move for him in the winter window. Personally, I don’t believe he is the type of striker that we need since his playing style is similar to Giroud’s and lacks the versatility we really need but for the interim, I believe he will do a good job, certainly better than Bendtner or Sanogo. The fact that he is reportedly coming on loan means he isn’t much of a financial risk ( well, he is still a risk considering we will pay his wages and a loan fee to Juve ). Should he exceed our expectations, we keep him and should he fail to leave up to the hype, we put him back on the first flight heading to Turin. I believe he would want a new lease of life and want to play well at Arsenal so as to have a decent chance of making Spain’s squad to the World Cup though that’s a bit remote now but you cannot rule out what injuries and sudden rich vein of good form could do for a player.

In related transfer news, Arsenal seem to have won the race for Bristol’s highly rated teenage goalkeeper Matt Macey. According to Sky Sports News, Arsenal are set to offer him a three year deal after he impressed on a trial recently with Wenger regarding him as ”one for the future”. The implication of Macey joining Arsenal is that Wenger might not be pursuing his interest in US goalie Brad Guzan. Arsenal seem to have the goalkeeping department covered even in the event of Fabianski’s exit at the expiration of his contract at the end of the season. Viviano could be signed permanently at the end of the season, following Almunia’s path. The former Arsenal goalie was on loan from Celta Vigo before Arsenal made the loan permanent. Viviano moves to replace Fabianski as back-up to Szczesny while Damian Martinez becomes the 3rd choice goalkeeper and new boy Matt Macey replaces Martinez in the reserves ( well, that is my thought).

From transfer speculations to Mesut Ozil. The German is in the news again. The media haven’t really taken a break from discussing him since his surprised switch from Real Madrid on deadline’s day. This time, Manchester Evening News reported that the Red Devils made a late attempt to steal him from Arsenal but the Gunners sealed the deal. I thought Manchester United denied it but how come their ‘official’ gossip news outlet is revealing it. There must be an iota of truth in the story. The implication is that Wenger has an attraction that makes players desire to play for him. It also means Manchester United aren’t as attractive as their fans think or should I say David Moyes is a big distraction. No top player wants to play for him, little wonder he is left with Januzaj. The reason why Ozil chose Arsenal aren’t far fetched.