Comments on: This was the best thing that could have happened to Fran and Jack.

By: tim

tim — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 08:21:45 +0000

@mark — “in England you all stuff your faces, and then wipe your mouths as if you were little angels.” nice. just like in the U.S.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 07:46:21 +0000

According to one source within the club, Merida left because he found the anti-Arsenal bias of the English football establishment and media impossible to live with.

A good source informed me:

“He couldn’t hack it, the whole two-faced rottenness of the system, the bitching carping media, the one Law for the establishment boys, another Law for the others, the smarmy double standards, the lack of protection for foreign players from English referees”.

A player inside the camp told me:

“The attempted decapitation of Abou by John Smith just made Fran snap; he thought ‘What’s the point?’ I’ll ply my trade where I can get proper protection whether or not I’m a foreigner”

He also disclosed to me:

” Fran would rather play in Italy or Spain. There everyone knows that bribes and backhanders are the norm. Nobody pretends they don’t happen……in England you all stuff your faces, and then wipe your mouths as if you were little angels.”

By: Hartwick89

Hartwick89 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:41:55 +0000

@Tim & Paul C.-

Again it is a shame. As my poster of Jose Antonio Reyes in his Arsenal #19 sits in my basement, and Hleb, and Flamini? What could have been!

By: tim

tim — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:58:29 +0000

@Paul C.– you make a good point. merida letting his contract run out would be in his best interests (money wise, at least).

but the “rational”, self-interested thing-to-do for merida is still a slap in the face to arsenal. because of all the time, effort, and yes, money, spent on obtaining and then nurturing his talent.

still, as many have commented above, it’s not that big of a loss, if true. arsene has done a remarkable job of securing his team for the long haul (securing players who all could have, like merida, let their contract run out and then move elsewhere for much higher wages and greater playing time).

By: jazbo

jazbo — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 20:15:35 +0000

The departure (if it goes ahead) of Fran will not hurt the club as a said before, because we do have an over abundance of talented players who can play in the centre of the park, Fran was not a DM or an attacking midfielder getting into the box like Cesc, he was a creative player with an eye for the killer pass, but unfortunately in the EPL you need a lot more than that to make it, you have to be strong and have a great engine in the middle of the park, sadley Fran was not that kind of player, but I do wish him well if he leaves and will look foreward to seeing his games for Athletco Madrid on the box.
Time now for Jet, Lansbury and Coqulin to step up and show what they can do.

By: Arsesession

Arsesession — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:03:02 +0000

Walter – thanks for your reply above.

again – good commentary!

By: Paul C.

Paul C. — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:25:16 +0000

Perhaps playing Merida in the Cup was a final attempt to keep him?

People have to get over this “players not signing a new contract and leaving for a free transfer is a slap in the face for our club” thing because it is the way the game is going. The Bosman ruling changed things but agents and players have just been too stupid to realise it. Players are leaving money on the table and when they realise it transfer fees will stop being paid.

Take Ronaldo as an example. Real Madrid were willing to pay 90million to Utd for Ronaldo. Had Ronaldo not signed a contract extension last summer (after Utd’s European Cup win) then he would have been out of contract next summer and could have left Utd on a free. He could have asked Real Madrid to pay him that 90million they were willing to pay Utd as an addition to his wages instead. Ronaldo left 90million on the table. To me, he and his agent are idiots.

Same with Merida, if he had signed a new contract then Atletico would have had to pay a transfer fee. Instead he can get that money as wages.

It is the smart thing to do. Once all players realise this then transfer fees will dissapear.

By: Queen of Suburbia

Queen of Suburbia — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 15:01:36 +0000

If Merida has indeed signed for Athletico, its a shame but keeping things in perspective, we have a lot of very young, very promising talent at the club, even outside of the first team, so his loss is hardly likely to be catastrophic.

By: tim

tim — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:41:37 +0000

tony, let’s hope your logic is true. we just have to wait to hear it from either wenger or merida themselves…

By: Tony Attwood

Tony Attwood — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:32:32 +0000

I have no special knowledge on this, but I wonder, what was the point of playing Merida in the Cup game if he is already on his way to Spain? If we were looking to give experience to a young player why not put someone else in? It is not as if we are short of youngsters coming through.

By: tim

tim — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:01:30 +0000

@The SKAGooner– the more i think about it, merida waiting and not-signing the new contract is a big slap in the face for arsenal. he could’ve signed it, and still begged for a way out if he lacked playing time down the road…obviously it would make it harder for him to move, but i’d imagine he’d find a way like so many players throughout the world have before…arsenal paid quite a bit to get him, and there was that lawsuit, and then all that time spent on him in training…

the respectable thing would’ve been to sign the contract. but in this day and age w/ man city and chelsea, i guess there’s no such thing.

By: TheSKAGooner

TheSKAGooner — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:50:07 +0000

@ Tim – I think Merida’s link to Atletico is pretty solid. AS, the Spanish paper usually trumpeting Cesc’s imminent departure for Barca, seem to have a fair bit of detail on the Merida deal, including the length of the contract. We actually agreed terms on a new deal with Merida earlier this fall, but he refused to sign the contract. I think that was a sure sign that he was biding his time to see how his playing time shaped up this season and to explore what else would be out there should he decide to leave.

By: Gf60

Gf60 — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:49:18 +0000

Well reasoned Walter. It’s very true that had it been a walkover neither Fran nor Jack would have learned a great deal. The old saying that you only learn from the scars on your back is very true. Equally, if they looked at the game objectively after they were substituted, they would have appreciated the difference that Abou and Sami made. Hopefully it was a great learning curve for both of them.

By: tim

tim — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 09:28:44 +0000

TheSKAGooner, let’s hope the report about merida is untrue, as is the one about vieira going to man city…

doesn’t surprise me a bit, though, if true. it’s tough to break into the side for this generation with all the young talent coming through. it would be the same reason he left barca in the first place.

a great team and a great academy produces tons and tons of stressful competition. it’s for the overall benefit of the team, but individually it must be pretty hard, i’d imagine. it must be especially tough for merida, considering the example of cesc before him. if you have agents, family, and media outlets whispering into your ear that you are the next fabregas, but that you have to leave to get a chance to prove yourself, well, i can completely see how he would tempted to leave. it’s too bad if so, though.

as for the other rumored transfer, all i have to say is: f^&k i hate man city.

By: TheSKAGooner

TheSKAGooner — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:46:14 +0000

Good stuff, Walter.

Regarding Merida though, IMScouting reported a short wile ago that he’s agreed terms with Atletico Madrid and will join up with them from the beginning of next season. It’s a tough loss, especially on a free transfer (he was to have been out of contract with us at the end of this season), but with the likes of Ramsey coming on so strong and the host of other mids currently on the squad, one can’t help but understand his motivation to look elsewhere for opportunities.

We should all wish Fran well with his new side.

By: Cape Gooner

Cape Gooner — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:15:21 +0000

Walter and posters. You have said it all, and got it right. I have nothing to add. (Don’t tell my wife!)

By: walter

walter — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:34:07 +0000

Arsesession, you are right.
If you look at the starting line up we had a lot of players that have not been playing that much. Wilshere and Vela hardly played in the first team so far. Eduardo a little bit more but he was struggling a bit the last weeks and needs the games to get better. So the front line without that much game time.
In the middle Song was the only real first choice. Ramsey is very close to the first team (at the age of just 19!!) and Merida hardly played this year. If you also take Silvestre in account who hardly played this year you could say we lacked some experience at the start. The fact that Wenger included some players like Nasri and Diaby on the bench indicates that Wenger might have expected it could happen like it did.
I’m sure that if we would play them more and start with that team in one or 2 years we would play them off the field like we did when Diaby and Nasri came on the field.

By: Arsesession

Arsesession — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:34:06 +0000

Walter – mature outlook!

I did not see or listen to the match, only read reviews from various sources.

I was only wondering how the play of Eduardo, Ramsey, and Vela were impacted by the insertion of Diaby and Nasri?

Vela, Wilshere, and Merida have seen very little 1st team play. To toss all three into the line up at one time, then add to that list, Rambo, and you have a predictable outcome. If you want to give Merida (or Jack) a chance to shine, place more experienced support around him.

Look at how Cesc was brought along – the line ups were not cluttered with 18-19-20 yr olds!

By: jbh

jbh — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:55:54 +0000

A few weeks back Merida was a guest pundit on the Sky Spanish La Liga programme with Guillem Belague. Very level headed and quite impressive English from the young man. He was very supportive of Arsenal in his comments as well (as expected). After the programme a couple of days later Belague on his website had a comment about Merida effectively stating that he felt Merida would re-sign with Arsenal and he also stated that he felt that would be best for him. He’d clearly been talking to him. I would expect Merida is merely testing the water to see if there is any amazing interest in him from some of the top clubs other than Arsenal. Or is hoping for improved terms (more pay or shorter contract).
You need to remember that AW has said on more than one occasion that Merida is an amazing player. And he rarely does that.
Not easy to predict the future for a 19 yr old, but he is clearly highly rated.

By: Getty

Getty — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:31:51 +0000

Walter, great recap! After the game I had the same feeling about Fran. He has been on loan before and probably was hoping to break into the first team sooner rather than later and he hasn’t. I wish he stays as he really is a great talent. But agents make money during transfers and you can imagine the pressure he is under. So, as Tony mentioned it could go ether way. Jack probably go on loan and he obvously open to that as he needs games to keep developing. That kid is a real wizard and I have a feeling that in a couple of years he may end up being a regular. There was nothing more to read from the game against WHU as far as I’m concerned.