Mick Appleton
Having watched the first meaningful friendly of the summer I have come to the following conclusions. We absolutely must replace Squillaci, if he is allowed to be near the first team next term it will be a disaster. Koscielny is worth another chance as he showed potential and the same has to be said of Djourou, who was more good than bad last season. This leaves us with one yes in TV and two maybes in Djourou and Koscielny. If we get two more quality centre backs we could release Vermaelen to play at left back as another thing that became apparent is that Gibbs is not good enough defensively to play week in week out in the Premier League.
I think this is a coaching issue, Gibbs is a converted forward after all and if you're going to completely change a player’s position you must at least offer proper guidance during the transition. I don't think he has a big hole to fill as Clichy has been extremely poor in recent seasons but it is foolhardy to replace one defender who has no positional sense with another. On Saturday we were seriously exposed in the left back area as Gibbs played mostly in the opposition box. This problem is made worse if the left midfield doesn't drop in, and this is an ongoing problem with neither Arshavin or Theo tracking back. If we do not sign two centre halves we need a left back, one who can defend and we need to get our midfield to cover when he goes forward to prevent us being hit on the break.
The comeback of Fabianski should see the end of Mannone's involvement in the first team. Mannone produced some very dodgy positioning and handling errors which actually had me hoping Fabianski would be available to come on and that tells you all you need to know about him. Jenkinson did quite well, he looked extremely upset by his own goal but that shouldn't detract from a solid performance. He will fit in well as he seems to have problems crossing the ball and that seems to be a prerequisite in our full backs.
Jack again looked like the real deal but he must learn to not jump in to tackles that are strongly weighed in the opponent’s favour, injuries and suspensions will cost us if (when) we lose Cesc if Jack is unavailable. Ramsey looked a bit off the pace but hopefully this will be okay by the time the season starts. Frimpong is strong, he reminds me of Kevin Campbell, he has the same physique and the same first touch on occasions, unfortunately. He needs to improve his distribution but he could provide the much-needed cover for Song this season.
Theo's satnav is still on the blink, how he manages to run in to opponents so often is still a mystery to me. His shooting has also been way off so a trip to the shooting range is in order. I am a man of considerable girth but I think Arshavin is out to give me a run for my money, either that or he was wearing a boy’s kit. I hope we will see more from him this season (there looked like there was a lot more of him on Saturday) but I seriously have my doubts. Rosicky has the knack that Kevin Keegan had of always looking like he's doing a lot without ever actually doing very much. He scampers about but his work lacks forward momentum or cutting edge. I am amazed he's still involved as I thought he would be one of the first names on the clearout list with Denilson and Almunia.
I'm sure my perception is clouded by current events but Nasri doesn't look interested and I suspect we are about to endure a whole season of that. I hope I'm wrong but it will be too much if he goes for nothing after a season of not trying, the club really must make him sign or take the money and do it in time to reinvest it. I know he didn't play but I have to speak about Cesc. Why are the club treating us like mugs, do they really think we believe that he is still injured? Most of us knew he was going this summer and all this covert behaviour is to try to kid us on that the inevitable will not happen. Provided we get £35m plus he goes with my blessing, he has served the club well and I think we owe him that. Hopefully next weekend we will see RVP in the same team as Jack as he was starved of service on Saturday. His fitness levels look good and I'm sure his sharpness will be there come the start of the season. As always with Robin, I will be dreading the first international week as that is invariably when he picks up an injury, fingers crossed it doesn't happen this year. In his half hour cameo, Gervinho showed some good touches and turns of speed. His coolness in finishing both goals bodes well for the new season. It will be interesting to see if it's Theo or Arshavin that makes way for him. I'm starting to think that Chamakh's talent was a finite resource which was used up in his first four months with the club. He has no confidence, first touch or attacking prowess. If it's true that PSG are interested in him it may be time to cash in our chips.
All in all the game just served to emphasise what most of us already knew. We desperately need at least one big centre half and a solid left back. If we also reinvest some of the Cesc money in another striker it might be happy days next season.
